Chapter 10 - Mr. Star Goes to Canterlot
On all the previous mornings, I’d woken up on my own, my own internal body clock waking me up in time for the working day. This time however, I got a far less comfortable wake up call. Instead of gently coming to, I got quite the surprise.
I was still half asleep at first; I didn’t really notice what was happening. Only when I felt the chilly morning air, and the ground disappear from underneath my hooves did I realise something was up.
Opening my eyes, I blearily looked around. I was no longer in bed. Instead, I was suspended some four or five feet above the floor of my bedroom. My bed, the sheets surprisingly already made, was off to my right. Faintly, I could hear the signature wind chine like sound of magic being used, and the edges of my vision glowed with a magenta hue.
It was actually kind of relaxing, being suspended in the air like this. At least, that’s what my half-awake mind thought. However, my view of the situation changed a couple seconds later, as the magenta hue around me fizzled out.
With little ceremony, gravity quickly took over, and I found myself landing on the floor with a dull thud, my limbs all collapsing under me, unprepared for the sudden weight. I thus landed splayed across the wooden floor. Needless to say, it hurt like a bugger. It also had the added effect of jolting me awake.
“Ow! Son of a…” I exclaimed, nursing my bashed chin with a hoof. I lifted my head and looked for the cause of this sudden turn of events. Curiously, although I didn’t notice it at the time, my accent had now slipped back to its normal British English.
Standing just inside my room, the door still open, and looking ever so slightly unhinged, was Twilight Sparkle. Groggily, I got to my hooves and turned to face her. A couple joins popped as I did so.
“Argh!” I winced. “What’s the deal, Twilight?” Twilight however, was having none of that.
“Come on, Blade Star,” she said hurriedly. “We need to get back to the library as soon as possible!” She then turned around and headed back to the doorway, trotting in place there. She really was agitated.
“Any particular reason why?” I asked, briefly taking a moment to tidy my mane; I had a serious case of bedhead. Twilight looked at me as if I’d announced that the moon was made of cheese.
“Don’t you remember?” she asked. “You’re coming with me to Canterlot today.” Glancing around, I found the clock on my bedside table, it read half past five. A fresh wave of tiredness hit me.
I was about to ask her why that warranted waking me up at such a God-forsaken hour, but then I remembered the letter Princess Celestia had sent. She’d said that she’d see us today, but she hadn’t said when precisely. Twilight had evidently interpreted it to mean very early in the morning. I might have done something similar in her horseshoes, although not quite as extreme. Still, there was no sense going off at her about it. I did my best to avoid being too cranky, but I never was much of a morning person.
“Alright, Twilight,” I said, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Let me just get some breakfast and I’ll be right with you.” If she could wait for another half hour or so, until six o’clock, she could have breakfast with AJ and the others. Hopefully the pause would help calm her down. But alas, it was not to be.
“No time for that,” she replied, taking me by the hoof. “You can have something at the library.”
With that, she powered up her magic again, and the two of us disappeared in the flash of a teleportation spell.
That was actually the first time I’d ever had something like that happen. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience, but I put that down to Twilight being in a rush. When we rematerialized in the library a moment or two later, I was once again knocked woozy, and my mane and tail had both been slightly singed. I recalled a similar thing happening to Spike, and under similar circumstance.
Shaking away the cobwebs and regaining my balance, I looked around. I was standing next to Twilight in the main foyer of the library, where we’d all made our plans a couple days before.
Sitting at a table, looking equally tired, were both my parents. A simple breakfast had been set out, courtesy of Spike, who seemed to be wide awake and fairly calm, in contrast to his surroundings. He set down a plate for me, for which I was grateful. I don’t know if it was an effect of the teleport, but I was starving. My parents looked up as I sat down with them.
“Oh, hello, son,” my dad said as I pulled up a chair. “I see you got picked up as well.”
“Yep,” I replied, taking a bite of pancake. “How long have you been up?”
“About a half hour or so,” he replied. “Though I can’t say for sure how long she’s been up.” He gestured to Twilight.
“She’s been fretting all morning,” Mum explained. “I can’t imagine though that this princess would send anyone down this early in the morning.”
Well, it was just before dawn, so there was a good probability that Princess Celestia was up and about already. After all, she had to raise the sun for dawn to actually happen at all. I still couldn’t quite believe that we were in a world where such things happened. It was incredible just to contemplate. Early summer dawns do tend to make me a bit wistful and philosophical.
The three of us ate in a familial silence, Twilight having already eaten when she got up. Spike joined us though when he’d finished cooking. Considering his age, he’d done well to make these pancakes from scratch.
Twilight then announced that she would go over to Fluttershy’s and fetch my sister, and then she’d give us a ‘brief’ lecture on royal protocol and other such matters. Having explained that, she disappeared in a flash of light, leaving us alone with Spike.
The four of us chatted amongst ourselves while we waited for Twilight to return. All things considered, my parents seemed to have adjusted fairly well to their current situation. It had only been three days, but they’d already grown accustomed to having a baby dragon around. Like Lizzie, they’d both had to be a little careful, making themselves scarce whenever somepony came into the library.
They had also had a bit of a reward though. Given that the two of them only had the clothes on their back, they’d quickly found themselves in need of new clothing. While it had been something of a challenge, even for her, Rarity had done her best to make something for the two of them. They were now both dressed in somewhat smart-casual clothes, suitable enough for Canterlot.
“Rarity did do a fantastic job though,” Mum said as we ate. “I mean, when you think about all the differences between us and ponies. I mean, she had it done the next day!”
“Please, there’s nothing Rarity can’t do when it comes to clothes,” Spike jumped in.
While I may not have been bound by a Pinkie Promise, I decided to keep my mouth shut about his crush on Rarity. Although, judging by the looks on their faces, Mum and Dad had figured it out already.
“Well, I’m just glad I’m not going before royalty in three day old clothes I’ve slept in,” Dad said.
“That’s one advantage of being a pony, Dad,” I replied, sipping on my coffee, which had properly woken me up. “No need to wear clothes all the time, just special occasions.”
At that moment, Twilight returned, appeared just where she had left, only with Lizzie in tow. Like me, she looked a little worse for wear from the experience. Twilight’s rushed teleport had singed her hair slightly, but it was hardly noticeable. My little sister was quickly herded over to the table, where she joined us for breakfast. Unlike the rest of us though, she looked to be wide awake, she’s more of a morning person than me or our parents.
“Hey, guys,” she said as she sat down and helped herself to some toast. “What’s up with Twilight?”
Lizzie too seemed to have adapted over the past couple days. As I said before, usually, out of all of us, she was the most unflappable. Dad used to joke that she was like Fred out of Galaxy Quest. That’s how she seemed now. It was good to see her back to something like normal, considering how shaken up she’d been before.
“She’s just freaking out a little,” I replied. “She gets like this whenever she has to do something important or meet a deadline. Heck, once, she cast this spell on the entire town by accident, made them all need this old doll, all so she could solve a friendship problem and send a report off to Princess Celestia.” The three of them looked at me in surprise, while Spike merely grimaced at the memory.
“Seriously?” Mum said, somewhat shocked. “I knew magic could do all sorts of things, but I didn’t realise it could do stuff like that.”
“Well, Twilight does have a gift for magic,” I countered. “It’s her cutie mark after all. Most unicorns can only use levitation spells, illumination spells, and maybe one signature spell connected to their cutie mark. Pegasi and Earth Ponies can’t use their magic in the same way, but it helps them fly or gives them more strength and stamina.”
“We have had this lecture, you know,” Dad said, rolling his eyes.
“Sorry.”
I decided not to mention a certain Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, or other advanced magic users. I doubt they’d react well to Discord. For goodness sake, I hadn’t told them much about any of the more dodgy characters in Equestria. They knew next to nothing about Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis and her changelings, or the twisted King Sombra. There’s a point; we were halfway through Season 4 at the moment. What if we were still around when the next Big Bad turned up?
I didn’t have time to dwell on that though, as Twilight came trotting back down the stairs, a waistcoat draped across her back. She quickly levitated it over to me.
“Here, put this on, Blade Star,” she instructed.
I figured this too had to be one of Rarity’s designs. It certainly looked high end enough. Putting it on, I quickly buttoned the front up and smoothed it out to ensure I looked presentable. There was also a collar that wrapped around my neck, although no tie to go with it. That was lucky I suppose. I wasn’t good at tying knots at the best of times, I doubt I’d be any better with hooves.
The six of us then continued to chow down on breakfast, with Twilight still a bundle of nerves. Every few minutes, she’d go over to the window that looked out onto the street to see if our transport had arrived. But for the moment, there was no sign. Evidently, Princess Celestia wouldn’t be seeing us too early in the day.
And so we waited as the clock hands slowly crept round its face. By degrees, we all split off to do our own thing. Spike went to clean up breakfast with Mum helping him, Dad sat down with a couple books (Twilight had spent the last couple days helping him learn the Equestrian alphabet, and he’d made enough progress to read at a fairly slow pace), Lizzie went upstairs and watched some of the small birds that were hanging around Twilight’s bird feeder. As for me, I just stayed where I was, and resting my head on the library table, took the chance to catch up on some much needed sleep. God knows I needed it.
A while later, I found myself again jostled awake. This time though it was my dad, so at least I didn’t get an expected reunion with the ground. I’d fallen asleep with my jaw resting on the edge of the table, so my joints were a little stiff as I got up and stretched. Still, I felt well rested now. Taking a moment to yawn and arch my back, I looked around for a clock. There was one on the far wall, ticking away. The time read ten o’clock. I’d been asleep then for the better part of five hours.
“Come on, son,” I heard my dad say, while at the same time feeling someone prod me in the side. “That chariot thing has finally turned up.” I blinked a couple of times and took a moment to straighten out my mane and my waistcoat.
“Alright, alright, I’m coming now,” I answered. I trotted past Spike, who was staying behind to look after the library in Twilight’s absence.
The rest of my family, along with Twilight, were already at the door. They’d have to slip out fairly quickly, and it would have to be a quick dust off in order not to be spotted by anypony who happened to be out and about at that moment. I quickly trotted over to join them. Twilight looked back to our little group.
“Okay, everypony ready?” she asked. She seemed a fair bit calmer than she had been before, although the prospect of going outside with three humans was putting me a little on edge. I said as much to her.
“We’re just all going to go out there?” I asked. “Won’t somepony see us?”
In response, Twilight activated her magic and, much to my surprise, I saw the three human members of my family simply fade out and disappear. It even had the same shimmering effect of a Romulan Warbird cloaking. The gulf between us now joining the conversation, a strange thing, considering I couldn’t see any of them.
“Hang on!” my dad called out. “Where’s everybody gone? Margaret? Lizzie?”
“I’m here!” Mum chirped back, I can’t see you though; just Twilight and the boy.”
“What’s going on?” demanded Lizzie.
“It’s alright,” Twilight reassured them, while I did my best not to laugh at the silliness of the situation. “I just placed an invisibility spell on you so we can get in the chariot without you being seen.” There was a pause.
“So why the heck did we have to spend three days cooped up in here then?” Dad exclaimed.
“It’s difficult to maintain for long periods,” she explained. I noticed her grimace for a moment. “I can probably keep this up for another thirty seconds or so.”
“Okay, c’mon you three,” I encouraged. “You heard Twilight. We’d best be on our way.”
“Says the slow coach,” Lizzie countered.
Opening the door, Twilight and I headed outside, with the others following. We didn’t get too far before somebody yelled.
“Ouch! Watch where you’re going!” Mum exclaimed.
“Well, I would if I could see you!” Dad shot back.
“Keep quiet!” I hissed at them, so as not to be seen talking to thin air. “You’re gonna get us all busted!”
Luckily, after that, the trio managed to avoid bumping into one another and we soon reached the chariot.
It was a moderately sized, somewhat gaudy golden thing, pretty much identical to the one that had ferried Twilight to Ponyville on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. It was a bit of a squeeze, but we all managed to fit on board without too much trouble. When we were all aboard, Twilight closed the side door with her magic and sat down.
“Well, this is gonna be a long trip,” Lizzie commented. “That castle on the mountain must be thirty miles away at least. And isn’t Twilight’s spell supposed to run out in a minute.”
“We’ll be alright once we get up to a decent altitude,” Twilight replied offhandedly.
The stunned silence from the rest of my family told me that they mustn’t have seen the chariot land. They didn’t know that we’d be flying.
“What d’you mean ‘altitude’?” My dad asked. “Those might be pegasus ponies, but there’s no way this thing will fly; it goes against all the laws of aerodynamics.”
The two guards, dressed in their ornate golden armour and blue plumage now began to canter forward and flap their wings. Even though I couldn’t see them, I could imagine the looks of my parents’ faces.
“Well, you know, Dad,” I replied. “They said the same thing about bumblebees.”
And with that, we began to climb up into the sky. Mum let out her signature ear piercing scream as the heavy chariot lumbered into the sky. I actually found myself asking the same question though. The show never did explain how these things stayed up in the air and level, rather than pulling the pegasi down with it. After a moment of thought, I mentally shrugged my shoulders and chalked it up to the old standby excuse; ‘because magic’.
We were soon high above Ponyville, far enough that nopony below noticed when Twilight’s invisibility spell finally gave out. In the same manner as they had ‘disappeared’, my parents and little sister shimmered back into existence. It certainly made the chariot seem a bit more cramped. Before, it had just been Twilight and I, with a large gap between us. One of the guards pulling us briefly looked back, and was no doubt surprised at the strange creatures he saw. But, as usual, he remained stoic, and said nothing, quickly returning his attention to the task of flying. We too all settled in for the trip up to Canterlot.
“You could have told me,” Mum said to me, half scowling. I grinned back.
“You never asked,” I replied. I ducked to dodge the half-hearted smack behind my head. “Come on, this is no worse than flying to Jersey. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Thirteen minutes actually,” Twilight replied. “And before we arrive, I’d like to go over a few important things with you. You are going to be meeting the princess after all.”
“I think we have a fair idea, Twilight,” Dad replied. “Bow, call her ‘your majesty’, don’t say anything too rude.” Twilight cut him off.
“It’s a little bit more than that,” she replied a little hotly. “We’re going to be in Canterlot Castle.” I jumped in too.
“She’s right, Dad,” I replied. “You ought to know about the Royal Guard too. They may be ponies, but I guarantee that they’ll lay you out if you cross them. There like the guards at Buckingham Palace; ceremonial, but still soldiers. They don’t talk or move, but you shouldn’t mess with them. After all, their captain is Twilight’s big brother.” I bit my tongue a moment too late; I really need to stop running my mouth.
“I think what he’s saying, dearest,” Mum added. “Is that you need to be on your best behaviour. We don’t want an action replay of the Dáil Incident.” All four of us, apart from Twilight, collectively cringed at that memory. Dad still wasn’t allowed in the Paddy parliament.
“Alright, alright,” he conceded with a wave of his hand. “I promise I won’t do anything rash. But I do think you ought to let me do most of the talking, lad.” I frowned.
“I know more about this world than you do, Dad,” I replied.
“True,” he agreed. “But I’m not sure the human race should be introduced to this lot by a lad who’s barely out his teens and froze up when he met six girls.” I turned red at that, still sore about it.
“We’re not introducing the human race,” I replied shortly. “Just us. And since we’re throwing TV shows around, this isn’t some first contact away mission, Mr. Trekkie!”
Mum and Lizzie, as well as Twilight looked a little uncomfortable as the two of us butted heads. In hindsight, I can’t help but find it quite funny. After all that had happened, we were arguing over who got to talk to the princess. Luckily, before things got too out of hand, one of the guards called back to us.
“If you two wanna pipe down back there,” he called gruffly. “We’re starting our decent. We’ll be landing at the palace in a couple minutes.” Twilight now took over things again.
“Okay, everypony,” she said, out of habit. “My brother, Shining Armor is going to be waiting for us when we land, he’ll escort us to the throne room to see Princess Celestia. I’ll introduce you, and then you just let the princess speak. Clear?”
“Yes, Twilight,” Dad and I nodded, nodding dutifully.
“Good.”
I felt a twinge of anxiety as we drew nearer to the ground. In a few minutes I’d be meeting Princess Celestia herself, however brief it might be. I’d never met my own monarch, but this would certainly be damn close to it. I was certain that she’d want to speak to all of us at some point. I just hoped that I could avoid freezing up again like I had when I first met Twilight and the others.
On the other hand though, I couldn’t help but wonder if there would be a chance to meet Princess Luna. I’m not gonna lie; I’m a bit of a Luna fanboy, always have been, always will be. It might have been a silly idea, but I was still hopeful our paths would cross, simply to say hello if nothing else.
As I pondered these two possible encounters with Equestrian royalty, the chariot jolted ever so slightly as we touched down on the ground once more.
Well, as much as you can call it ground when you’re a couple thousand feet up an almost vertical mountain.
I think my ears just popped.
We touched down on what I suppose you could call a landing platform. It was a bit like a helipad back home; the sort you saw on top of police stations and hospitals. I guess this was where all the chariots pulled by the Royal Guard came from; like a depot of sorts. The area was presently brimming with activity. There had to be at least a dozen guards waiting for us, all armed, although none of them seemed particularly aggressive.
Standing at the head of this little assembly was a clearly senior officer, even if you didn’t know much about MLP. In contrast to the fairly simple gold armor of his comrades, this fellow wore a more ornate set, with light and dark purple trim, and the blue plumage, his mane which sprouted from a gap on the helmet, had a few natural highlights in it instead of the single blue shade. It was easy enough to recognise this stallion, even if I couldn’t see his cutie mark. It was Shining Armor; Captain of the Royal Guard.
Well, we were important enough to warrant the attention of Celestia herself, so it only made sense that she’d send her best man to escort us. I was a little surprised to see him though. I’d always thought that, after him and Cadence took over looking after the Crystal Empire that he’d moved up there. Apparently though, he still fulfilled his duties here in Canterlot. And I always thought you had to be hard up to work two jobs.
The wings of the two pegasi snapped to their sides as the chariot came to rest, and Twilight opened the door at the side. She quickly ran over to her brother, or BBBFF as she would put it.
“Shining!” she called out, trotting over to him and embracing him in a hug, which he gladly returned.
“Hey there, Twiley,” he replied warmly. “It’s good to see you.”
Twilight now turned around and motioned for the four of us to step out. Dad went first, then Mum, then Lizzie, and I brought up the rear. Shining and the other guards watched with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Still, they stayed fairly impassive, and took no action. Twilight introduced us all.
“Shining,” she said. “This is Roger, Margaret, Lizzie and Blade Star.” She pointed to each of us in turn, with Shining giving each of us a respectful nod.
“I’m Captain Shining Armor,” he replied, pausing briefly to remove his helmet and tucking it under his foreleg. “Princess Celestia has asked me to escort you to the throne room for an audience with her. If you’d like to follow me please.”
“Sure, Captain. Lead on,” my dad replied with a wave of his arm.
The guards formed an effective ring around us as we moved. Shining was at the head, while a few other guards followed, acting as a security detail. A silence quickly fell on our group, particularly as we made our way into the castle.
As I’ve said before, the show doesn’t really do justice to the world of Equestria. The great halls of Canterlot Castle were no exception. Beautiful stained glass windows let light into the opulent marble hallways, and glittering chandeliers hung from the ceilings. We were all in awe of it. It certainly put places like Buckingham Palace, or even the Vatican to shame.
As we made our way through the corridors, a question popped into my head, so I trotted over to Twilight, who was walking just behind her brother.
“Say Twilight,” I said, keeping my voice fairly quiet. “Did you tell your brother about…well, everything?” Twilight shook her head.
“He’ll be with us when you meet Princess Celestia,” she replied. “I thought it best we explain everything then.” I nodded in understanding.
“Fair enough,” I replied. I had vaguely considered attempting to strike a conversation with the larger unicorn. But I didn’t want to throw him by displaying knowledge I shouldn’t have. So I decided to hold me tongue and let myself drift back to the rear of our little group.
We eventually came into a more recognisable hallway. Here, the stained glass windows depicted events from the show. There was Luna’s return, Discord’s brief escape, the Changeling invasion being repulsed, Sombra’s defeat, and finally, Twilight becoming an alicorn and princess. It was still a thrill to know that I was in the same world where all these things happened.
Coming to the end of the corridor, we came upon the doors to the throne room. Off to one side, I could see the entryway for the vault, where Celestia had previously stored the Elements, until Discord decided to have a bit of fun and hide them during his escape.
We stopped in front of the impressive doors. They were massive, even by human standards. Easily large enough for even Celestia to pass through without trouble. At present, they were shut tight and guarded by two more pegasi of the Royal Guard.
Shining Armor nodded to the pair who, without a word, moved and pushed against the heavy wooden doors, opening them up and letting us into the throne room.
Our little group was ushered inside and we found ourselves walking along the plush red carpet that eventually led to the dais the throne sat on. That was the first time I laid eyes on Princess Celestia in person. She was sitting on her throne, waiting for us, her face calm, but nonetheless welcoming.
We were led inside as the two great doors closed behind us gently, hardly making a sound. Faintly, I heard the locking mechanism turn. Evidently there were to be no interruptions.
The group of guards that had brought us here now broke off, including Shining Armor, and took posts around the edges of the room. Shining Armor walked to the foot of the dais and offered a brief bow, which Celestia returned to what was essentially her equal. He then stepped to the side to let Twilight up.
Well, moment of truth. I wondered how things would go. There was only one way to find out.
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I already miss the Casablanca reference.
8922902 References are good for making a reader smile. But when you find yourself putting a funny reference, just for the sake of putting a in a funny reference, you're doing it wrong. There's still plenty of them in there.
Here's lookin' at you, pony.
And yet she was the one that cried.
Some Earth ponies can!!
All I can say is...
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/thomasthetankengineertl/images/6/6a/OldSlowCoach.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110904205253
2:56
9105250 Out of curiosity, what is it you Americans have against bowing to a monarch that isn't your own? It's done, in the story at least, purely out of respect. Were I to find myself in the White House, I'd still call Donald Mr.President, even though I have no obligation to as a British citizen. It's not a sign of subservience, merely respect for custom. Just curious because I've seen this sort of comment a few times on here.
9105508
I think it's more pride than anything, the whole colonial rebellion tends to make stereotypes. I'm a fan of the Japanese culture as well as anime so if I was in the position to show respect I'd give a slight bow. I'm sure Celestia would give a little leeway on the etiquette since she goes to all those diplomatic meetings. unless the person is being a total ass like some of the human dropping into Ponyville stories I've seen, then it just seems out of character to not even give them a hard stare
I can almost guarantee that most of those guards are incompetent.
9835263
They just suffer from a disease called Plot Requirements.
9105508
Know im late to say but i think its because most of us US citizens have no respect for anyone that is a "old world" like leader (just to be clear by old world i mean countries that owned/own the majority of colonies)
Edit: Most people in the US dont seem to understand its not a "compliance" to follow a non law custom but just polite id hope someone outside the states would follow US polite customs as long as they are comfortable with it
Actually, the second. In a previous chapter Twilight teleported Blade to
reassure Blade's father that teleporting was safe.