Heavy Burdens
Celestia's mood soured with every step she took away from the baths and the ‘fight’ she had been having with Twilight. It seemed as though the world was determined to balance out every little thing she enjoyed with something disproportionately infuriating. The Daring Do book, for example, had offered her some measure of enjoyment; enough to keep her reading well into the night, in fact. But as ever, any lingering joy had been negated by her early morning grilling at the hooves of ponies who normally trusted her implicitly. Likewise, just when she had made the decision to forgo being a princess for a few precious minutes, the world spawned more problems to make up for it. In the back of her mind, she knew some were delayed reactions to her decisions, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.
"How long has he been going at it, Seabreeze?" she asked the pegasus trailing behind her.
When she had a clear mission, the creamy white mare was very focused and driven, making her one of the best messengers living in the castle. Unfortunately, she compensated for her impeccable work ethic by being completely scatterbrained the moment her task was finished, and would probably lose her own tail if it wasn't stuck to her behind. It took the mare several moments before she even realised something was being asked of her, and several more before she finally responded, sticking out her tongue in what was apparently a way to kickstart her brain. “Almost fifteen minutes now, Your Highness. I came to find you as soon as it started.”
“Is it the same problem as last time?”
“Last time? Oh...” Seabreeze shook her head. “Not as far as I know, your highness. He was restless even after having been fed.”
It was not an answer Celestia was happy to hear. Even the smallest of creatures seems determined to make a claim on my time, she thought dourly. "Has he hurt anypony?"
"He hadn't when I left, Your Highness, though if I may be so bold?"
"You may."
"Isn’t it... weird to take care of a baby dragon? He’s all scaley and fiery. Wouldn’t it be better to fly him to the nearest cave and let him grow up there?”
Celestia sighed and shook her head slowly. “Seabreeze, a young dragon will no more survive being left on his own in the wild than a pony would. Babies, of any species, are delicate and should be cared for.”
Seabreeze scratched her head with a hoof, limping along on the other three. “Then why don’t we send out a flight of pegasi to find a dragon that can take care of him? Can’t be that hard; I once saw a dozen dragons when I was younger.”
“Because dragons aren’t like ponies, Seabreeze,” Celestia replied thoughtfully. “When a dragon mother dies, any unhatched children are doomed to die with her. The only thing another dragon would do to him is remove him as competition.”
In her mind’s eye, she could still see the orchid-colored dragon, begging for Celestia to take care of her children with her dying breath. It was over four hundred years past, yet she could still feel the grief of the dragon as if it was her own.
“Princess?”
Celestia blinked and looked at Aegis and Seabreeze, both of whom had come to a halt several feet away and were looking back at her worriedly. “Forgive me. Old memories,” she said, affecting a smile and walking onward. “Thank you for informing me so swiftly, Seabreeze, but you need not accompany me all the way to the nursery. Go about your rounds and I will see you when the next problem arises."
“Yes, Your Highness.” The mare cantered ahead but came to a complete stop at the next junction. "Does that mean you expect more troubles, Your Highness?" she called back, looking over her shoulder.
Celestia sighed heavily. ignorance truly is bliss. "No, Seabreeze, but it never hurts to be prepared."
"Oh... Okay!" Seabreeze smiled briefly before looking down the three pathways she could choose from. As Celestia stepped closer she could hear the mare mutter to herself, "Now where was I supposed to go next?"
A groan was stifled before it could even fully form and Celestia gesticulated at the mare with her head to Aegis. The guard was thankfully familiar enough with Seabreeze that he understood the silent command and saluted. "I'll make sure she gets there post haste," he said, earning him a thankful nod, though he couldn't but add, "Will you be alright, Princess?"
"I will be fine, Aegis,” Celestia replied, stopping just short of rolling her eyes. I’m positive I can handle a stroll through the castle without tripping and killing myself... “Meet me at the nursery once you're done."
"Yes, princess."
The two of them disappeared down one of the many corridors, and Celestia continued on towards the nursery near the castle's living quarters. She wondered, not for the first time, why her presence had been requested. The couple she had left in charge of caring for the young dragon were some of the most patient and... well, caring ponies she knew, not to mention them having decades of experience. Imagining either them having problems taking care of an infant, dragon though he may be, was difficult. She let her thoughts drift back to the young hatchling’s mother and the mistakes she had made that day.
It wasn’t until she saw the sun-emblazoned doors leading to her own room that she realised she’d taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line. "Damn it all." She looked around to see if anypony had heard been present to witness her lose her temper but found only empty hallways, silent statues, and a curious bird that went back to its song after another look.
Nine Hundred and ninety years of stoicism and you lose your temper twice in as many days? When was the last time you took a break? she asked herself. The answer would not come to her, and with a sigh she turned around, going back the way she had come.
The long, winding corridors of the castle had served a purpose once upon a time. They had proven to be an effective defense against invaders eons ago—especially minotaurs, who had trouble with the mazelike interior even to this day. Nowadays, however, the downside was making itself felt more and more. Getting from one end of the castle to the other was more difficult than it needed to be and restructuring certain parts would nearly double the efficiency of the ponies traveling through them daily. Celestia vaguely remembered a report on how much such a thing would cost, buried underneath one of the several mountains of paper that occupied the desk in her room, but looking for it would mean getting stuck in the hell that was bureaucracy again.
Later. I have somewhere to be.
Fortunately, the nursery was close, though it still took her a few precious minutes. She had to cross the nursery proper to get to the room the young dragon had been sequestered in. The nursery itself was a mostly silent room where the only sounds were either laughing or crying, despite the dozens of foals being cared for. The sheer volume of the crying when she opened the door let everypony know that the same could not be said for every infant. That, of course, led to a wave of crying foals who had been awoken from their afternoon nap by the noise.
Celestia quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind her, clamping her ears to her skull in an attempt to keep her hearing intact. The room she had stepped into had rather luxurious furnishings; two soft beds, closets built into the walls which could hold all manner of items, a body length mirror, a crib, and a foldable platform that doubled as both table and diaper changing station; It even had an adjoining bathroom complete with bath and amenities. All of it had been installed after a pregnant noble-mare had been unhappy with the public arrangements some two hundred years past, which Celestia had allowed despite thinking it a mistake back in the day. Now, after being saddled with a dragonling she couldn’t possibly keep near the other infants, it had come in as a welcome solution.
Currently the room wasn't doing too well; not only was there a baby dragon screaming his lungs out, but the crib he was supposed to have been in was on fire. A soft pink pegasus by the name of First Steps was trying her very best to put out the flames by buffeting them with gusts of air, apparently unaware that all she was doing was stoking the flames higher. Her husband, a deep blue earth pony, seemed to have had the somewhat brighter idea of trying to get water onto the flames, though his methods (a diaper in lieu of an actual bucket) were somewhat suspect. Nevertheless, their combined efforts bore fruit and the fire was beginning to waver.
Which still left the auditory assault. Celestia lit up her horn and picked up the dragonling before he set fire to the bed he had been put on as well, and gently rocked him back and forth which made him quiet down surprisingly quickly. She’d never had much experience with infants beyond occasionally being asked to kiss one, but she couldn’t help but smile when he grabbed his tail and put it into his mouth and began suckling on it, the tail serving as an effective pacifier.
With her ears no longer under attack, Celestia found it much more agreeable to wait until the pair was done with their firefighting and busied herself with the dragonling. She wondered if all infants were as well behaved as he was; sure, he had been crying, but that wasn’t something she would fault him for.
“I told you that flapping your darned wings wouldn’t work!”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time! Better than carrying water in a diaper at least!”
Celestia turned her attention to the caretakers when the two of them started bickering. Gentle Nudge was the more vocal of the two even though he looked like a drowning cat with all the water he had gotten on himself. First Steps didn’t fare much better, flaring her wings for emphasis but only succeeding in spreading the soot that clung to her feathers far and wide.
“At least my idea helped!”
“You don’t know if my idea didn’t help just as much!”
“Which of us has had firefighting classes and would know better?”
“Neither of us has taken firefighting classes, you dolt!”
Celestia cleared her throat politely to make her presence known. The reaction wasn’t what she would have thought. The caretakers looked at her for only a second before returning to their verbal fighting, only now, she was the subject of their discussion.
“Why’d you call the princess?! We could’ve taken care of this ourselves!”
“I asked Seabreeze to get her before he set his crib on fire!”
Gentle Nudge ran a hoof through his graying hair. “Oh... Is it about...?”
He trailed off quickly, but First Steps nevertheless seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. “Yes,” she replied before turning to Celestia and smiling as though the fight she had just been having with her husband hadn’t taken place. “Good afternoon, Princess.”
It wasn’t the first time that Celestia had seen the two of them get into an argument and forget about it the moment something else claimed their attention, but it never ceased to be a strange experience. Their fighting seemed to be more of a way to vent frustrations without actual anger being involved; a valve that could be closed at will. She offered the two of them a respectful nod. “Good afternoon. How is everything going?”
“Things are going we—” Gentle Nudge winced ever so slightly when his wife slapped him on the back with one of her wings. “Not great. Sorry for calling you here, Your Majesty, but considering the circumstances...”
“Which circumstances might those be, Nudge?” Celestia replied, becoming aware of an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Despite the seemingly normal air the two elderly ponies affected, there was an undercurrent of... weariness to them. The same weariness she often felt while subjecting herself to the ramblings of another madpony in court.
“It’s that hatchling you asked us to take care of, Princess,” First Steps answered her instead of her husband. “He has been so restless and aggressive that we’re afraid to leave him alone for an instant. He keeps trying to bite our hooves off any time we come close and cries at all other times!”
Celestia arched an eyebrow before regarding the dragon hovering by her side with curiosity. He let go of his tail and cooed while extending his arms towards her.
“Goh-ga, goooh-ga!”
“He seems calm to me,” she said, wincing when he managed to grab hold of one of her ears and pulled with all his might. “A little curious and bad with personal space, perhaps but not aggressive.” The two caretakers looked on, slack-jawed, as Celestia carefully disentangled the claws from around her ear. “Have you had any more troubles feeding him?”
“Uh...No, Princess,” First Steps replied after composing herself and swatting her husband on the rump until he too shook himself from his stupor. “Crushed gems seem to be enough for him, though I worry about his calcium intake.”
Celestia nodded sagely. “And what could we do to resolve that?” Truthfully, she probably didn’t know half as much about caring for a young dragon as the two elderly ponies did. Most of what she knew had come from conversations with adult dragons, and only the ones that were tolerant enough to not attack outright. If there was one thing she was good at, however, it was making it seem as though she knew more than she really did.
“We don’t really know, Princess. Normally I would recommend the mother’s milk for a foal this young, but...” First Steps shared a glance with her husband who nodded. “We gathered from your previous explanation that dragons do not suckle their young?”
“As far as I am aware, they do not possess the necessary equipment for it, no,” Celestia said, dividing her attention between the ponies and the hatchling. She had managed to retrieve her ears without any lasting harm, and to her surprise, the young dragon did not seem to mind. Rather than mewl and cry, the dragon was already on the prowl again, this time reaching for her mane.
“In that case, I would say we need a stand-in,” Gentle Nudge said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Though stars know where we’re going to find a mare willing to let that little hellion get close enough to actually suckle him.” He got a slap on the back of his head from a wing and turned to his wife. “What?”
“Don’t say those derogatory of things about the little colt we are supposed to care for!” she scolded him.
“It’s not derogatory! He’s not a colt, and he’s feisty, and aggressive...” he glanced over at the dragon who was inching closer and closer to Celestia's flowing locks of hair and deflated. “Usually, anyway.”
So far her trip to the nursery had brought Celestia nothing but pain. Especially when the little dragonling once again managed to get a hold of something that belonged to her. “What—ow—what would that accomplish?” she asked, forced to look at the caretakers at an angle when the little hellion reeled in his prize, giggling all the while. "As I explained before, dragons do not suckle their young, so even if we could find a willing mare, dragons do not possess the same instinctive reflexes young ponies do."
"I'm not so sure about that, Princess," Gentle Nudge replied, looking off to the side in awe.
"And why not?"
In lieu of a vocal answer, both ponies merely pointed at the hatchling who had gone from merely grasping at the magical strands to stuffing them in his mouth and chewing on them. The hair, reinforced by all the magic passing through it, remained unharmed. The little dragon, however, lit up like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree and hiccuped every time he bit down, followed by a stream of giggles before repeating the process.
“He at least has the instinct to put most anything in his mouth,” First Steps said after a few minutes of watching the display with a smile.
Celestia put an end to the hatchling’s schemes by gently prying everything out of the places it shouldn’t be, and levitating him far enough away that he could no longer reach her hair. She soon learned that that was a mistake. The only warning was a single sniff before the young dragon made use of his powerful set of lungs to make all three ponies clamp their ears to their skulls, and burst out in tears; the cacophony had returned.
For once, time was on Celestia’s side. Specifically, the time since the young dragon’s last nap. He quickly fell asleep when Celestia brought him close to her chest at the urging of his caretakers, completely drained from his experiences. She handed him over to First Steps who made him comfortable on the bed, while Gentle Nudge and herself stepped out into the main hall of the nursery. "So tell me, Nudge," she said, surveying the relatively busy room. "Why did you request my presence?"
Nudge sneezed into his hoof, getting soaked obviously hadn’t done his body any favors. “Truth be told, Your Highness, I—” He shot a glance backwards towards the door. “Are dragons really intelligent beings?”
“Of course they are, Nudge. They are as intelligent as you or I,” Celestia replied while she let her gaze drift over the room, spotting a stack of baby blue towels and levitating one over to Gentle Nudge.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he said, draping the towel over his back. “With the way he reacts to us, I wasn’t sure.”
“And how exactly does he react to you?”
“Violently.” Nudge put a hoof to his chin for a moment before shaking his head. “No, that’s not true, he acts more like a scared animal. The only times I’ve seen him calm is when he’s asleep, and while you held him just now.” He shrugged helplessly and pointed a hoof towards a group of foals who had fallen asleep and curled up near one another. “I have taken care of ponies my whole life, Your Highness, but when it comes to him, we’re not entirely sure what we’re doing.”
Their conversation was put on hold when a crying filly crawled towards Gentle Nudge. He scooped her up, put her on the towel on his back, and, with an apologetic smile towards Celestia, brought her back to one of the younger caretakers. By the time he came back, First Steps joined them, looking like she herself had been set on fire. She shook her head and smiled when Nudge started towards her. “Don’t worry, dear, he just belched,” she said, taking the towel and using it to help her husband dry off before turning it black with all the soot on her face.
“So if I understand correctly, you want to know more about dragons?”
Nudge nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. Your knowledge surpasses our own, and we were hoping you could compile what you know, so we can take better care of him.”
The frustration she had felt before ambushed Celestia and very nearly overcame her carefully constructed composure. This is why I had to come post haste? Why couldn’t Seabreeze simply have relayed that message instead? Outwardly, all she did was sigh softly before nodding, but while the frustration she felt was reduced to a low boiling shimmer, it did not disappear entirely. “I will try to write down everything I remember.”
The two caretakers smiled at her and then another, sharing a brief kiss before First Steps said, “Thank you, Princess. We’ll put it to good use and make sure that—”
“—Although I must warn you,” Celestia said, holding up a hoof. “I did not exactly sit down for a cup of tea with any of them, so what I know will not be exhaustive, and will likely have gaps which I expect you to fill in.”
“Most certainly, Your Majesty.” Gentle Nudge nodded gratefully. “We just need to know where to start.”
In her mind’s eye, Celestia was treated to a play by play of the two of them trying to quell the fire. “I think the first thing should be getting him a crib that isn’t flammable,” she said, already thinking of a way to incorporate what she had promised them into her schedule without impacting her lessons with Twilight. Perhaps I can simply let her run wild in the library? Stars know she’d be happy enough with that arrangement. Ugh, I need to talk to Sunny.
Talking through the specifics about getting a crib for the dragon that he wouldn’t either turn into ash or eat only took a short while, and when Celestia stepped out of the nursery, her frustration had dropped to mild annoyance levels. Of course, now that something relatively good had happened (although she was hesitant to call the extra work of compiling what she knew of dragons 'good'), the world was sure to throw another obstacle in her way.
Sure enough, she had not even pulled the door closed before a mare she would really rather not talk to walked up to her. Today, Duchess Blueblood was clad in a salacious dress that, despite its brevity, did not do much to entice. It was a dark shade of what Celestia would have described as 'puke-green' and clashed with the unicorn's coat so violently that, hadn’t she known better, Celestia would have assumed that the mare had made a conscious effort to dissuade any suitors.
“Good afternoon, Princess,” the Duchess said, bowing lightly as though their entire exchange a few days ago hadn’t happened. “I couldn’t help but overhear that there were more problems with a certain young one in your care. Keeping them in line can be terribly taxing, can it not?”
Celestia did not respond immediately, mentally preparing herself for the verbal jousting match that was to come. Seeing the spark of fear in the Duchess’ eyes when she opened her mouth was a little cathartic, even if she found a reason to regret everything she said while angry. She was determined not to make the same mistake twice. “Unless you try to mold them in your own image, yes, taking care of young ponies does have its surprises,” she eventually said before turning and walking down a hall that would eventually lead to the throne room.
Having given Blueblood the chance to become her student was not inherently bad; he had once been a gentle colt that loved nothing more than pretending he was the captain of a ship that charted the high seas of Equestria. From the moment he had gotten his cutie mark at the age of seven, however, his mother had taken the reigns of his life away from him. She was convinced that it was his destiny to be a powerful influence on the country and had him taught by the best tutors money could buy. Had it ended there, Celestia would likely have accepted him as her student, but the Duchess had tried to turn him into a younger version of herself and had, sadly, succeeded.
“From what I heard, it apparently concerned an infantile dragonling, rather than a pony,” Duchess Blueblood continued, very nearly breaking out into a canter to keep up with Celestia's increasingly longer strides. “I can only imagine how much of a drain taking care of two young charges is on Your Majesty’s already precious time.”
“It is no less important than presiding over court or restructuring tax laws. One could even say that they are more important.”
“So it is.” Duchess Blueblood nodded knowingly. “Bringing up the younger generation is our way of safeguarding the future of the country, which is why I wanted to talk about my little... faux pas the other day.”
If Celestia hadn't been on her guard already, that sentence would have put her there. Duchess Blueblood wasn't widely known as a master manipulator, mostly due to the fact that she managed to keep it a secret from most anypony. That in itself was no small feat, but hearing her all but apologise made every hair on Celestia's neck stand on end. And yet, the fencing continued.
“I think we can agree that we let our emotions get the better of us,” she replied, extending the conversational equivalent of an olive branch to the mare. Despite all of her misgivings, having the duchess as an enemy would only serve to make her life more difficult. The mare had a lot of powerful friends, and another civil war was the last thing Celestia wanted.
“I went too far, Your Majesty. Your reaction was understandable,” the Duchess said with a small smile. “So when I heard of your scheduling problems, I immediately began thinking of ways to mitigate them.”
By the shrill note of undisguised glee in her voice, Celestia could already tell that she wasn’t going to like the upcoming suggestion. Nevertheless, she kept her face neutral. If she had to deal with Blueblood’s interference, she might as well try to find out what the Duchess was planning. “And what ways would those be, Duchess?”
“For one thing, we could forgo the duel between Twilight Sparkle and my son. From what I have gathered, Your Majesty hasn't gotten around to teaching her even the basics of such an event.” The Duchess stepped in front of Celestia, forcing her to choose between bowling the mare over and listening silently. “Even if that were the case, I doubt she would be able to beat him, and I would like to spare her the humiliation of losing to a clearly superior opponent.”
Celestia grit her teeth but did not immediately reply. Letting her anger get to her would only exacerbate the problem, but perhaps she could use Blueblood's smug sense of superiority to her advantage. “Oh? What makes you so certain that my protege would lose?”
Apparently that wasn't the response the duchess had expected. Her steps faltered for just a moment, and Celestia slowed her pace accordingly. Already, several of the flock that seemed to hound her daily were beginning to arrive, like sharks having smelled blood, even if they were more annoying than dangerous. They kept at a respectful distance, mindful of exactly who it was the princess was having a conversation with.
“Well, I just thought that—”
“Twilight has shown a natural aptitude for magic that far exceeds anything I have seen in my life-time, and I doubt that teaching her how to use those talents against your son could be called sporting,” Celestia continued nonchalantly. “Have you ever seen magical talent in action, Duchess? I have. They become legends in their own time. Frankly I would rather spare my ‘nephew’ that selfsame heartache you so gracefully wish to save Twilight from.”
“Oh, but surely you are putting too much pressure on the poor dear—” the Duchess began, putting on a fake smile.
“Perhaps,” Celestia interjected, cutting her off. “That, however, is an inherent danger of being my personal student. A danger which little Twilight Sparkle was not afraid of.” She let out a breath and straightened. “Now, as you so eloquently pointed out, my schedule is rather full. So while your concern is appreciated, I really must be going.” She marched onward, giving Blueblood no time to come up with a rebuttal, and allowed herself a small smile for having 'won' that particular argument.
That should be enough for a brief respite at the least, she thought with a sigh, mere seconds before the first of her many hangers-on opened his mouth.
Even outside of Equestria's borders, her Court of the Sun was a well-known place. It was so big that it could potentially serve as home for any dragon, and had a ceiling high enough that it could have rained inside were it not for a few skilled weather ponies preventing just that. An imposing place even to those who had only ever heard second (or even third) hoof accounts.
Impressive as the court's size was, however, it was not the reason for the room's fame. The awe surrounding the hall was twofold. One reason was that, as the ages passed, the tales of Celestia's exploits had grown, and the place was seen by many as the actual resting place of the sun after it descended from its place in the sky.
The second was a much more down-to-earth explanation, namely the fact that it was the place many of the now revered agreements had been established. Grand public spectacles like the 'Hoarders Without Borders' treaty had played out within its confines; a most important treaty which signified an agreement between the dragons and all other races that allowed dragons to nest everywhere they pleased so long as they did not cause the indigenous population any undue problems. Or the more closed doors affair dubbed the 'Shades of Gray' peace accord between the gryphons and the zebras in which the former promised to stop raiding the grasslands for supplies, while the later agreed to rescind their curses that had saddled the mountain empire with roughly five thousand years of bad luck.
Celestia had been present at all of them, mediating or making sure that the parties involved even agreed to sit down at the table at all, rather than tearing each other's faces off. But while she always downplayed her own part in the goings on, the Court of the Sun never went unmentioned.
It was part of what she would have called her legacy, had she not been immortal. And yet she could not help but feel a strange sense of disconnection when she finally stepped through the doors. Dealing with those that seemed to be unable to function with a yea or nay from her took upwards of an hour, and finding her court completely empty was a blessing, even if it was also a little disconcerting. Not even the two dozen guards that were usually stationed on either side of the room to dissuade any troublemakers during court itself were present, and were it not for the light teal unicorn seated on the second step of the dais at the end, the room would have been devoid of life.
Getting closer to the dais, Celestia found that she had been mostly right; Sunny Scrolls certainly looked half dead. The unicorn’s normally carefully braided mane had come loose and currently stuck out on all sides in the worst case of bedmane Celestia had seen in a long time, or dais-mane as the case may be. Sunny Scrolls was fast asleep, but even the relative peace that afforded her face could not disguise the deep bags under her eyes. Neither did it hide an annoyed twitch in her left eye that apparently did not leave her alone, even in her rest. In short, the mare looked utterly exhausted.
Perhaps promoting her was too much too soon. She'd only barely gotten her head around taking care of my schedule. Looking down on her sleeping aide made Celestia berate herself for that thought. Like you were any better when you first started out. All she needs is some time. Nopony is going to be able to mimic the work ethic that took you a few hundred years to perfect in just a few short days.
Her deliberations on whether or not to wake Sunny up were disrupted when the door opened and a guard stepped through, barking orders at the sentries posted at the door; At least, it was somepony wearing guard armor. As soon as she had stepped through the door, the lanky mare, who looked a little young to be wearing sergeants stripes, closed it behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. Now that that door was closed, her posture slackened until it was no longer the ‘chin up, eyes front’ stance that was common to Celestia’s soldiers. Instead, the mare barely looked old enough to be called a teenager, whose eyes went wide and who dropped into a shaky bow the moment she noticed Celestia sitting on the dais.
"Y-Your M-M-Majesty!?"
Celestia had stepped in front of Sunny and flared her wings, ready to do battle should the need arise, but seeing her would-be opponent quaver in her presence made her relax. Slightly. Having a pony enter places they shouldn’t be under false pretenses almost always proved to be trouble, and having experienced everything from reporters looking for a scoop that always made her political life more difficult, to assassins intent on... well... doing the job they were hired to do, it was always difficult not to either call her guards or deal with the threat directly. The young mare looked scared enough as it was, however, and although the armor hid the color of her coat and mane, there was something oddly familiar about her.
“Where did you get that Royal Guard armor, my little pony?” she asked the mare who had graduated from a soft trembling to shaking like a leaf.
“I—I...” The mare swallowed roughly. “I stole it from the b-barracks,” she said, bowing again and keeping her eyes on the floor.
Well, at least she’s not an assassin, or if she is, she’s a very poorly trained one. “And why did you steal it?”
“B-because the guards wouldn’t let me into the courtroom.”
“I would surmise not; court isn’t due to start for another...” Celestia briefly closed her eyes, letting the constant pull of the sun slip to the forefront of her consciousness. “Ten minutes, at least. What is so important that you could not wait another ten minutes for court to reopen?”
“W-well...” The mare looked up from the floor from the first time since spotting Celestia and leaned a little to the side to look at the sleeping form of Sunny. “Sunny told me that she was tired, but that she needed to wake up before court started, because otherwise she could lose her job.”
Celestia nodded slowly. It sounded genuine enough, but there was still one piece of the puzzle that didn’t quite fit. “And why would she tell you, rather than say... the guards stationed outside this very room?”
The mare looked confused for just a moment before returning her gaze to the floor. “Because we share everything..?” Even her admission was uncertain as though she had trouble understanding why the princess would ask her such a question.
“You share...Ah.”
Despite an almost daily inquiry by Celestia, Sunny did not often talk about her personal life. What information she had managed to glean from the normally stoic mare had been a few mentions of how boring life outside the castle had been, and half a dozen speeches about her younger sister who had followed her when she moved to live in the castle. To her shame, Celestia found that she did not remember much beyond hearing that said sister was making herself useful as a maid.
“You are Sunny's sister then?...” she asked, trailing off at the end of her question as a prompt for the mare while tucking her wings back against her sides.
“Quarter Time. Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Quarter Time,” Celestia repeated with a nod. “Rise, my little pony. You needn't be afraid of punishment. I think it is commendable how far you are willing to go for your sister.” The mare finally looked up again and Celestia smiled for good measure.
It took a moment or two, but then the mare visibly relaxed and smiled in turn. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Can I... Can I wake her up now?”
Celestia shook her head softly. “Not yet. I have a few questions for you first, Quarter Time.”
“QT.”
Celestia blinked. Having ponies praise her for her beauty was, while not as frequent as one might think, not a rare occasion. Having such a thing come from a mare who was barely old enough to know what ‘estrus’ meant was much more so. “I beg your pardon?”
“Everyone calls me QT,” the mare repeated sheepishly, “It’s a nickname.”
It was unclear to Celestia whether the young mare actually believed that, or whether she had adopted the playful teasing by the guards and wore the moniker with pride. “‘Cutie’, then. Do you think I have put too much work on your sister's shoulders?”
A silence fell between them while the young mare nervously scuffed the red carpet with her hoof.
“Cutie?” Celestia asked, gently nudging the mare's chin up with her magic. “There are no wrong answers here,” she continued when Quarter Time looked up at her again. "I am merely curious as to your opinion on these matters, and I promise I will not become angry with you for speaking honestly."
“I think so, Your Highness,” Quarter Time replied after nodding. “Sunny would never say that you did, but I haven't seen her at all in the last couple of days.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Well... yeah, a little bit.” The younger mare uncomfortably shifted her weight from one foreleg to the other before continuing. “She worked long hours before, but she's always tried to make time so that we can eat dinner together.”
Flashbacks of the many dinners she had taken alone after Sunny Scrolls excused herself to take one of the few breaks she took during the day flashed through Celestia’s mind. While she had always refrained from inquiring what her aide did during those times, she could not help but wonder. Curiosity was one of the things she tried to instil in her students, praising it as one of the most important assets a pony could possess. It was, however, a double-edged sword, one which even she herself was not immune to.
Hearing at least part of her subconsciously lingering questions answered put her in a much better mood, and her smile in turn became more genuine. “I see,” she said, beckoning the mare closer to the dais with a wing. “Could you tell me what she did say?”
“The last thing she said to me—before she asked me to wake her up, I mean—was that she had gotten a promotion, but that it would probably mean more work and less time for our dinners for a while.”
Celestia sighed heavily and nodded. “I’ve heard enough,” she said, lighting up her horn and gently picking Sunny up with her magic. She floated the sleeping mare over to her sibling and just as gently draped her over the younger mare’s back. “Put her to bed and tell her she won’t have to work tomorrow.”
Immediately Quarter Time stepped forward, fear playing in her eyes. “You’re not going to fire her just because she’s tired, are you?” She stiffened and attempted a half-bow, trying to balance the need to excuse herself with making sure her sister didn’t fall off her back. “Please don’t, she works so hard and—”
“I’m not firing her, Quarter Time,” Celestia interrupted her. “I merely think that she deserves a day off after all the extra work I’ve saddled her with.” She emphasised her smile and waved the young mare off with a hoof before turning to see where Sunny had left the court documents. More proof that ponies in stolen armor always bring problems, she thought with a sigh.
“Your Majesty?”
Celestia's ears perked. She turned back to Quarter Time, who had only taken a single step towards the door. “Yes?”
“What am I supposed to tell her? She's going to be angry at me for breaking my promise.”
Celestia chuckled softly. Becoming angry over not being woken up to do more work... If only I had ten more ponies like her “Tell her that I ordered you to let her rest,” she said, regarding her sleeping aide with a small smile before shrugging. “And if she has a problem with that, she can come be angry with me.”
Slowly, a smile spread on Quarter Time’s face as well, and she nodded before taking her leave.
Waiting never bothered Celestia. It gave her time to think and reflect, or simply enjoy the world outside of the stained glass windows. Unfortunately, she did not get to do a lot of it.
After almost ten minutes of an increasingly frantic search for Sunny’s notes on which supplicants and problems would come forth during evening court, she gave up. Apparently her aide had memorized all she needed, and Celestia had other things yet to take care of, the first of which being lowering the sun. It was immediately followed by apologising to Aegis who stepped into the room through a side door seconds before court was due to start.
The third was, arguably, more important than the first two, since it concerned her word. Even if she had not explicitly given her word, Twilight would, young as she was, have difficulty understanding the difference. Yet, as ever, Equestria—and the wellbeing of her subjects—had to take precedence.
While the doors were being opened and ponies surged through them like it was their last chance to do so, Celestia briefly wondered where Rook was. No matter how precocious Twilight might have been on the way there, lunch should have been a quick enough assignment. Worries that something might have gone wrong wormed their way into the back of her mind, but were quickly squashed. If anypony knows how to handle himself, it is Rook. Everything will be fine.
The crowd continued to file in, and Celestia’s worries about Twilight and Rook were supplanted by worries about ponies trampling one another. Much like a few days prior, it looked as though half of Canterlot had come to evening court (with the other half likely being the cause of Sunny’s exhaustion.) The sheer number of ponies would become a hazard sooner rather than later, and that was without taking high-running tensions into account. The din of voices, already swelling to grating levels, wouldn’t help matters. It seemed as though every pony present thought that they could get her attention by shouting their complaints at her. Finally, she decided enough was enough.
Raising her voice, she tried to address the ones gathered inside the room. “My little ponies! Please calm yourselves!”
The crowd did not respond in the slightest, and even having shouted, Celestia doubted anypony had heard her through the cacophony. She looked to the guards which had entered through the side doors, but found no help there either. Each and every one of them was trying to keep watch while at the same time positioning ponies in a preset way which allowed for the maximum coverage of the hall. Even Aegis was busy, trying to keep ponies from stampeding onto the dais itself, and likely missing his partner in anti-crime while doing so.
She let out a sigh and lit up her horn, using a modification of a simple heating spell to vibrate the air and produce a clear ringing sound that was audible for most of the castle.
The crowd hushed, something she was grateful for. First things first. “I understand all of you have concerns, but the throne room cannot contain everyone at once. If you must speak with me, a guard at the entrance to the castle will make appointments for court at a later date. The rest of you, please return to your homes.” There were some of murmurs of discontent, but most ponies seemed... relieved for some reason. More bizarrely, while a few ponies still wanted to gain entrance to the throne room, many of the ones already inside actually turned around and left after getting a good look at the dais.
After the commotion died down a little and the doors to the throne room had finally closed, court could begin in earnest. Or it would have, if ponies had stayed silent.
“Princess! Thank goodness you have returned!” came the shared sentiment from many voices in the crowd.
Celestia hid her bewilderment behind a motion for silence and waited for things to die down before beckoning one of the closest mares forward. Finding the right way to admit that she did not know what was going on was a challenge, and in the end she settled for a simple nod. Letting ponies fill in the blanks for her was often less arduous than to be questioned about her ignorance.
“There were rumors that you might be sick. Some even claimed that you were dying!” the mare exclaimed, gesturing wildly. “What happened, Princess?”
Celestia looked around the room and saw the relief the mare expressed mirrored in many of the faces present. Perhaps... she thought. Perhaps promoting Sunny without any sort of transition was a bad idea after all. She looked back at the mare and plastered a gentle smile on her face.
“Nothing terrible I assure you,” she said before raising her voice so the entire room would be able to hear her. “My little ponies, the rumors about my failing health are all false. I know it may have caused some confusion among you to see Sunny Scrolls in charge of court proceedings over the last couple of days, but I can tell you that it is a wholly positive thing.”
“Positive? That mare has made more mistakes yesterday than you did in... well... ever!”
Yes, a transitionary period would have been preferable. At least I could have taught her more about how court itself actually works. Celestia bit back a sigh and turned towards the voice. “Does she have both wings and a horn?”
The crowd murmured, but whomever had called out their discontent remained silent.
Celestia nodded resolutely. “I see. Then I believe it is only fair she be given some time to acclimate to her position like anypony would need to given the circumstances of her new office. I guarantee that she is the best mare for the job, and that court will be back to normal within weeks, if not sooner.”
“But why aren’t you presiding over court yourself, Princess?” the mare in front of the dais asked. She looked more worried about the change in routine than she had been about Celestia herself. It was not a big surprise; herd-minded though ponies were, they were still concerned with themselves first and foremost. Yet, something about it all irked Celestia.
As the only—well, one of the only—ponies to see the rise and fall of empires, she knew just how important change could be. In fact, she had buried herself in monotony after her fight with her sister, and if she could have changed anything then, she would have.
And it took nine hundred and eighty-nine years and a young filly to snap you out of it.
She conceded the point to herself. Perhaps she wasn’t as different from regular ponies as she would like. And though it wouldn’t be wise to show them as much, it did make her sympathise with them more. She looked the crowd over and smiled. It was different from the ones she usually wore, although most ponies probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference; it was meant to comfort those that found themselves floundering without some stable point in their lives.
“Most of you will be aware that I took it upon myself to educate a young filly, after the incident in the Tower of the Scholar several weeks ago.” She got many an affirmative nod while others vocalized their understanding, some even shouting it as though they were afraid of not being heard. “What you might not know is that, because of this, I’ve had to rearrange my schedule. I have not had a day off in over eight hundred years, and I thought that this was as good a time as any to do so.” The murmuring of the crowd swelled until it looked like they would break out into another shouting match, but Celestia held up a hoof and waited for everything to die down. “As such, Sunny Scrolls will be my replacement in court proceedings going forward. I trust her implicitly and will only occasionally be present at court.”
“What about the council?” a stallion shouted. “I heard you fired all of them! Were they affecting your ‘personal’ time as well?”
“Without meaning any disrespect towards many members of said council, I’m willing to say that they were much too complacent in their positions, and inadequate in their council,” Celestia countered smoothly. “They failed to do the job they were meant to, and as such were relieved of said positions. Do not worry, however, for a new council will be formed in the near future.” Her answer drew a gasp from several ponies, and half a dozen even stomped towards the door angrily. Perhaps not the most diplomatic response Celestia... As soon as the peace returned she cleared her throat and said, “With those announcements out of the way, let us begin court in earnest.”
How she ever got through an entire day of court before, Celestia did not know. All she knew was that, as the hours passed, pony after pony with worry after worry had come forward, and she hadn’t had the heart to dismiss court at its usual time.
Her lack of sleep the previous night made itself known with the most severe case of headache yet, and by the time Celestia turned the corner into the hallways leading to her chambers, she was limping along on three hooves while the fourth had all but fused with her forehead.
All the stress and exhaustion was pushed to the back of her mind when she spotted a very worried-looking Rook. The guard stood in front of the door to Twilight’s room, looking every which way while his stoic, non-plussed guard expression was nowhere to be found.
“Rook?” The name came out a little testier than she would have liked, and the way the stallion jumped to attention made her try very hard to soften her expression. “What is going on here?”
Rook flinched. “It is Twilight Sparkle, Princess.”
Celestia couldn’t help but frown, though she suspected it came out as more of a glare if Rook’s response was any indication.
The guard dropped both his saluting hoof and gaze to the floor, looking more like a remorseful teenager than the professional soldier that he was. “My apologies, Princess. She said she had forgotten her book and wanted to go retrieve it before sprinting off. I lost sight of her somewhere near the infirmary.” He hung his head. “I haven’t been able to locate her since. Please, forgive me.”
“Did you check any of the libraries?”
Rook nodded. “I checked all of them, Princess.”
The hoof on Celestia’s head slipped and she used it instead to rub her eyes. “The baths? The kitchen? The infirmary?” Rook’s nods told her that he had. “Very well, you check the astronomy library again.” She turned to her other guard. “Aegis? Could you alert the rest of the castle staff that Twilight is missing, and that they should bring her to me if they find her? I’ll search the main library myself.”
Both guards saluted her once more and took off in different directions, leaving Celestia to curse the filly under her breath before going back the way she had come.
Having a filly lost in the castle was not uncommon. With well over a hundred families living in the gigantic structure, such things were bound to happen every now and again. It was, however, the first time that it was a filly Celestia had personally taken responsibility for. Which meant that despite the entirely too exhausting day, she couldn’t go to bed before making sure that Twilight was occupying one as well.
Four days was nowhere near enough to really get to know somepony, but all the things she did know about the young unicorn pointed her towards the libraries. Despite her annoyance, she couldn’t help but smile when she remembered how Twilight had disappeared while Celestia herself had sat down to talk with her parents.
Two stairs, three corridors, and an altogether too heavy door for her mind to comfortably open later, she reached the main castle library. Given that the castle was big enough to have entire libraries dedicated to certain subjects, the main library was not as big as it could have been. That did not mean that it did not still hold many thousands of books and the stands on which to hold them, however, and Celestia dreaded having to go through it all in order to find her young charge.
Asking the scant few ponies that were still present if they had seen a young filly was a lost cause. Those that weren’t stumbling towards the exit sleepdrunk had their noses buried so deep in their respective books that they did not even respond when she addressed them.
After half an hour of fruitless searching, Celestia came to a halt near the center of the library, closing her eyes and letting out a deep sigh. As curiosity would have it, that’s when she heard soft whimpering coming out of a nearby alcove. Three steps later, she looked into the niché to find a terrified-looking Twilight Sparkle who was close to crying on one end, and a closed book whose title boldly proclaimed: ‘Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Spellcasting; Mishaps And Mayhem’ on the other. The filly had distanced herself from the book as though physical separation would somehow diminish the reality of the things she had read within.
“Twilight?” she said softly, having a hard time keeping the annoyance out of her voice.
One moment Twilight looked up at her, and the next she had hurled herself forward and clung to one of Celestia’s forelegs. “C-can that really happen?” the filly asked shakily.
Celestia had only a vague inkling of what Twilight was talking about, but the title of the book gave her a good indication of the what and perhaps more importantly the why of Twilight’s little excursion. Better afraid than dead... “Yes, Twilight. Such things can happen if you’re not careful.” The filly’s response was to cling to her leg that much harder, and Celestia realised that Twilight would need comforting before she could even think about putting her to bed. “Don’t worry about it, Twilight. Such things almost never happen, and we’ll make sure they don’t happen to you.”
Talking to Twilight did not seem to have any effect, and shaking her leg likewise produced no tangible results; even her magic was unsuccessful in dislodging Twilight from her foreleg on short notice. She grumbled softly and, in a fit of exasperation, decided that Twilight would have to stay there for the time being. She set off towards the filly’s room, its occupant still firmly holding on to her leg.
On the way she ran into Aegis, who only just stepped into the library to inform her of the progress of the search. The guard saluted and said: “Everypony has been informed, Princess. We’ll search the castle top to bottom if need be.”
Celestia managed a smile for him and lifted up her foreleg to show him the target of said search. “That will no longer be necessary, Aegis, but thank you for your diligence. Could you relay my thanks to the rest of the staff as well?” She used the hoof attached to the foreleg to stifle a yawn, briefly turning Twilight upside down as well. “Twilight and I really should get to bed.”
A hint of a smile ghosted over Aegis’ face before he forced his expression back to neutrality and nodded. “Of course, Princess. A good night to you both.”
“To you as well.” And with that, she left the stallion to his duties and walked back through the door, down the hallways and up the stairs, albeit it slower than before, conscious of her precious cargo.
When Celestia finally reached Twilight’s room, she mustered her magic and pried Twilight’s legs from her own, levitating her up and setting her down on the bed. “Good night, Twilight. Please try to get some rest.”
She turned around and got halfway to the door before a tiny voice behind her asked, “Princess?”
Another sigh escaped her before she turned back to the sight of a shivering filly with tear-filled eyes. “Yes, Twilight?”
The filly sniffed and swallowed a lump in her throat. “Would you... would you stay with me tonight?” The reasoning behind her question remained unsaid, yet was clear as day. Twilight was terrified of what she had read.
In her diplomatically trained mind, Celestia found a thousand and one excuses, explanations and reasonings for why Twilight should simply lay down and try to sleep. Cold logic debated for efficiency, annoyed exhaustion thought an excuse about being late for something or other was the best idea, and Sunny’s sentence about becoming too close whispered caution. Yet, after hearing all of their positions inside her own head and even considering some of them, she managed to convince herself that she was tired enough that any bed would do, and that, if it helped her student sleep, then so much the better. After a full minute of silence, she shrugged, said, “I don’t see why not,” and walked back towards the bed.
Sleeping was always hard for the Princess of the Sun, partly due to her history and the connotations towards her sister that she still could not shed after so long, and partly because she always buried herself in work lest the sadness of the former overwhelm her; while Twilight’s small frame fit into the bed many times over, for Celestia, it was only barely big enough, and that was only if she let one of her wings hang from the side.
And yet, even though she had a hard time finding a comfortable position, the scared young filly insulating herself against her neck made all the difference. Normally, Celestia had to chase after sleep, as though it were an elusive butterfly that did not want to be caught.
“Good night, Princess,” came Twilight’s high-pitched voice after a few more moments of silence.
Princess Celestia did not respond. This night, sleep had found her.
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This is going to be a rather hard transition for Twilight, now that she's terrified of what can happen with magic.
I'm honestly looking forward to the duel, though. I imagine Celestia would make the rules something simple, like being pushed out of a ring without physical contact.
There is a surprising difference between being an adult female and a mature mom.
Upon a unicorn and dragon forge, Celestia is hammered into shape.
If Duchess BlueBlood had any real inkling of what it really meant when Celestia said "a natural aptitude for magic that far exceeds anything I have seen in my life-time" she would be terrified to have he son duel Twilight. When a immortal magical being of 2000+ years says something Exceeds anything she has ever seen it means it's more than anyone has ever seen before. Though I do guess we the readers do know Twilight is, well face it terrifyingly powerful, so we'd know better.
5050678 mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw7544_small.jpg
5050764 with the aptitude we've seen from the Equestrian "Guard" any one of us would only be in trouble if they brought the entire guard against us, even then they'd proably cause more harm to themselves than anyone else
Sounds as straightforward as what I'd say.
Can't wait for another update! Wonderful as always.
'Get the diapers?'
"Check!"
FWOOOOOOMSH!
"Uncheck!"
So, Celestia was fond of a younger Blueblood until his mom started "raising," him in earnest. Maybe she should take him on as a student just so he has a positive influence in his life.
i really like this story hope to read more soon
Momma Blueblood is just asking to get flash fried...
We need more slice of life Tia fics.
5050894 We've mostly seen the guard being defeated by Incredibly powerful magical beings or literal swarms of insectoid creatures. The average horse has a kick that can break bones. Add to that sentience and, in some, the capacity for flight or a magic wand jutting ot of their skulls and you'll find the guard is probably more than adequate for the Average agressor, even if they were human
Aww. This fic always cheers me up.
This... this is just beautiful.
I am looking forward to when Spike and Twilight Sparkle meet.
5050523 The duel could also contain a lesson on when not to use magic.
If ponies are like cats, then the cuddling makes sleeping harder, not easier
Still...adorable.
Nice reference.
I love how the Duchess is still trying to get her son being teached by Celestia, and the Princess player with her ego xD
I really want to see Twilight kicking his ass
Why do I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before Celestia snaps at something at this rate (again) - with how bitter her thoughts are for the most part, and how exhausted she is by the end of the day, something has to give sooner or later. Granted, Sunny's new assignment was supposed to alleviate that, but that looks like it will take some time to kick in. And if Sunny is on the verge of collapsing from simply taking over a part of Celestia's duties, that's as good as indicator as any that the princess has been running herself ragged over the centuries and is long since due for a break.
One can only hope those frustrations don't seep in to her interactions with Twilight - who is already something of a scaredy cat, so a grumpy / annoyed disposition by the Princess is only going to mean they get even less accomplished than normally (which likely will sour Celestia even further, heh).
But yeah, the Princess really should get some free time for herself (and her student), because if we want to be fair she has done precious little teaching so far and has mostly been stuck dealing with other issues, which isn't helping Twilight's lessons - and then there is that duel looming in the not so far distance that Twilight truly is unprepared for.
Not in the sense that she doesn't have enough power to beat Blueblood ten times over (the Duchess really should pay attention and consider what it means that a millenia old immortal says Twilight is something she has never seen before, unless she truly is so arrogant to thik herself some special one-of-a-kind gift to ponykind as well), but in getting her to actually use said power.
As it stands, especially after reading that dreadful book, Twilight is much more likely to freeze up than anything else at the mere notion hat she should try and "beat" someone with her magic. It's going to take a lot of work to coax the filly out of her shell .. time that Celestia seems to be lacking at the moment. A conundrum indeed, I look towards seeing how it gets resolved.
5050523
And on that note, I can see little Blueblood being embedded into a wall some distance away due to Twilight's first strike, providing she gets over the trauma from reading the magical mishaps book first.
I beautiful ending to a hectic chapter...
5051569
Swarms of insectoid creatures that got their butts kicked by the dozens by just six civilian mares. Sorry, not impressed.
5073645 One of whom happens to be a Magical Powerhouse trained personally by an immortal deity, who proceed to ascend to deityhood herself not long after this just on the merit of her magical ability, One of whom happens to be One of the most capable fliers in the world, capable of breaking the sound barrier practically at will, one of whom happens to kick things incredibly hard for a living and who's an accomplished athlete in her own right, One of whom can Judo throw bears around like they're nothing and can impose her will on things by making eye contact and one of whom casually violates causality, sensibility, the laws of physics and common sense. And also there's Rarity, who's goddamn fabulous
Daawww c:
5074570
That doesn't make them superponies. They're still civilians with no combat training at all, and only six of them at that, against a force of at least fifty changelings. And half the things you mentioned were never even used in the fight; apart from the Twilight-gun, they beat them with nothing more than their bare hooves.
The Guard has far greater numbers and is (or at least should be) made up of professional fighters. They should have at least been able to give the swarm pause. Is it any wonder they're regarded by many as a purely ceremonial force with all the combat capability of a wet noodle?
No argument there.
5077546 I'm just saying, they're not just your average citizens. They're all somewhat above average. And the entire point of swarms is to overwhelm through quantity, not necessarily Quality. Say each Guard pony can take on 15 Changelings by themselves easily and that the number rises exponentially the more of them that get together. The changelings are numerous enough that they could throw 20 a each guard and still have thousands to spare and said guard'd likely already been infiltrated in the first place by Things capable of Perfect camouflage and mindcontrol, Preventing from Regrouping. Say a small group of guards gather together and get in formation, so as to be able to guard one another's back. Then boom, turns out One's a changeling or mindcontrolled and there goes saftey in numbers. And also trust. If you're fighting alongside someone who might turn into your enemy at any time, or your commander might be one of the enemy themselves, any possibility of cohesion as a group is lost. I mean, hell, the captain of the guard himself had been compromised. It was entirely possible that all the guards scheduled to be on guard that day had been replaced with changelings and the actual non-changelings had been given the day off or set to guard somewhere remote or possibly even sent off on some sort of Wild Goose Chase. "This train contains a Magical artifact capable of annihilating everything we hold dear. We's sticking it in a big ol' hole somewhere. Guard the Cheeswheel of doom WITH YOUR LIFE" sort of deal
Maybe I spend too much time anylizing a Children's show about magic horses...
...Nahh
5077619
Somewhat above average I'll buy, but there are limits. Winning a fight against twenty to one odds without so much as a bruise is well south of those limits, unless changelings are very weak individually. In which case I have to wonder why the citizens of Canterlot themselves didn't put up a fight.
As for infiltrators in the Guard, I don't think there were any changelings in Canterlot aside from Chrissy. If there were, they wouldn't have needed to beat the shield down. Besides, if she's any indication, changelings can't impersonate another person's behaviour worth a damn. If the plot of the episode hadn't basically required the entire cast except Twilight to act as if their brains had been replaced with fish, she'd have been found out weeks before.
Course not, that would just be silly.
5077786
Maybe we were watching two different episodes, but I recall the mane6 actually losing that fight. Sure, they did well at first, actually breaking through to the tower where the Elements were kept, but they were eventually overwhelmed by the changelings. Also, the changelings did not need to be inside the dome before it went down to infiltrate the guards. All they would need would be to find a place out of sight to change guises, allowing them to make an impromptu infiltration on the spot. In the kind of chaos shown happening during the attack, it would be child's play to carry out such a tactic.
But, I do agree that everyone (especially Celestia) had to have been dumbed down to make Twilight's isolation from them more credible... not that it was all that credible to begin with. Her friends at least (who did not know Cadance, but knew that Twilight knew Cadance very well) should have been a bit more credulous when she noted that something about her was off. Chalk that up to bad writing.
5090343
I was talking about the first fight, the one outside, on their way to the Elements vault. They were stopped by what must have been at least 50-100 changelings, which they beat handily. It wasn't until they entered the vault itself and it was packed wall to wall with more of them that they lost. Getting your insectoid asses kicked when you outnumber the enemy by that much doesn't speak well of your combat ability.
But then'd have to basically walk up to a Guard unit, out of the blue while there's an invasion going on, and they don't know any of the procedures, passwords, organisation, names of officers, etc. They'd stick out like a sore thumb almost immediately.
And if they're that weak individually, any infiltrator that tries to backstab a guard would get stomped immediately by the others. It'd be a momentary distraction at most.
a very well written chapter, I really do find my self enthralled and lost admist your writing, its so well written that i can joyfully exclaim that i await the next one. Keep doing what you do best ^^ and I'll stay right here reading and enjoying your story ^^
Reading through nine-year-old Twilights exploits, I think its safe to say that she could give the cutie mark crusaders a run for their money in terms of sheer trouble making prowess. Plus, she's totally adorable!
5136979
Indeed Twilight can cause quite a bit of a mess at that age, but don't forget unlike the CMC she just a single filly. Howeeevvvveeerrrrr~ toss a little pink cutie pie
and just a dash of rainbow 
...and well I think we all know just how crazy THAT could get~ 
Though I would LOVE to see such a story done very well in that way...good god the havoc...all of little Twily's magical power, RD's super pegasus speed/skill, and Pinkie's....well pinkie-ness in one young trio of impressionable and playful fillies. I believe the results would have brought tears of pure joy to Discord's eyes.
5149858 Well, she is just one filly, but remember how she got her cutie mark? I think that beats pretty much anything the CMC have ever done. Think of what chaos she could cause! Discord would be proud, and maybe a bit jealous.
Yes can't wait for the next chapter since this one was pretty good. But please tell me Twilight is gonna beat Blue Blood.
I too am looking forward to an update!! I want to see Blueblood and his mother's reaction to Twilight handidly beating him. I want to see Princess Celestia's reaction to her student beating him, and her comments to Blueblood's mother. I just want to see this story go on, and P. Celestia slowly becoming more attached and motherly to Twilight as it all goes along!!!
i know i commented on this chapter before and i am sorry to bug you i was just wondering if by any chance you know when you might post next chapter
i understand that life can get in the way and i don't want to rash you or anything i just asking if you don't know that is okay
and take your time on making a grate chapter
5254236
I've been busy on my contest entry for the sixth Twilestia contest. That was finished a few days ago and I have since started writing on the next chapter. It's on its way.
5255362 okay thank you ao much for letting know
some things are better left unsaid
...This is sooooo fluffy.
By which I mean there hasn't been a chapter yet in which I've not gotten the warm fuzzies from something... Damn your eyes, sir. Damn them and you're ability to induce the d'awwww's!
The dawws! Thanks for sharing.
by the way, can we assume that Celestia lowered the moon before bed? other than that, i enjoyed yet another chapter of this story, you have done so well so far :D i look forward to reading Tell Me Your Secrets next!
needs end " marks.
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6209718 dear mate, that was as part of Celestia's thoughts and were stated as known duties in the narration during the day before she even conducted court. my concern was that in every previous chapter, there was dedicated narration to the act of Celestia lowering the sun and raising the moon, but this was the first time it was taken for granted, because after court finished, i'm assuming before night, because unless she does court up through the night time which i cannot explicitly recall ever reading such, i can only assume court was during the day, and at no point was there mention of Celestia actually enacting the lowering of the sun/raising the moon before she fell asleep next to Twilight Sparkle.
"you" –> "your"
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Didn't see you're comment till today. Sorry. But they were in Evening Court. Rather than the Morning Court as in the last few chapters took place in. Evening takes place during 5:01 - 8 PM. Now we see that Tia can raise the sun and lower the moon without any pomp or ceremony anywhere at anytime [as we see her do so with the sun, in an infirmary, half dead to the world with sleep.]
So her raising the moon inside the building, without her actually being outside to raise it. Is a very real probable thing. And yes, while not shown, and a taken for granted thing. Both with the time of day it was, the lateness in which it ended [aka. Time for bed], and the court being in evening time when the sun is either setting, or getting close to setting depending on time of year. Her simply raising it from within the castle while going to find Twilight and ending her busy day. Is plausible with what we've seen in InVerse cannon.
Pretty sure that's not what "connotations" means.
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Basically, to Celestia, the word 'sleep' is forever associated with her sister, the princess of dreams.
Sleep has additional connotations to Celestia.