Rite to Live

by Total Eclipse

ch. 1 Leaving Home Arc - Waking up in Carousel Boutique

Waking up in Carousel Boutique

The sun rose several hours ago, yet hadn't reached a position where it could peek into the window of the Carousel Boutique’s upstairs bedroom. The huge glowing orb slowly began to sneak its warm rays through the portal closest to the young one's bed and lightly began placing the warm kisses of morning on his cheek.

“Um..hmmhuh..” nonsensical syllables poured out from the child's gaping maw as he tried to ignore the light lapping at his face. The young one’s endeavor at keeping the waking world away crumbled away. A soft patting on his muzzle saw to it that his dreams were ended.

“Unity.” the large intruder said, clearly addressing the half asleep youth. “Son, wake up your mom’s calling you and I can’t cover for you this time.”.

Unity’s hazy vision began to focus on the figure bearing down on him. The creature was at least six feet tall, reptilian in nature, and covered in dull lavender scales. The figure had a scaled underbelly that stretched from its bottom jaw down past his chest. Unity looked up to the figure’s face and it responded with its own look, two emerald green eyes peered back softly as the figure scratched the crown of its head near a chipped green spike.

“Well come on, as much as I know you’d like to lie there you've got things to do.”

“Spike! Is that boy up yet?” An accented female voice called from the lower recesses of the Boutique. The voice was proper and ladylike, yet resounded with as much power as Princess Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice.

“He’s up.” Spike called back.

Spike threw up a dismissive gesture with his clawed hands as he turned towards the door to Unity’s room.

“I’ll do my part to keep your mother from giving you another speech, just make sure you’re down here so she doesn’t give the speech to me instead.” Spike said while making a shrugging motion.

“Yea, yea.” Unity replied as he sat up and rubbed the memories of his sweet dreams from his eyes.

Unity sat up slowly and swiveled his neck around in an attempt to work out the kinks. He groaned - almost a roar - then began popping his shoulders and clawed extremities to loosen up his stiff body. Turning sideways, he stretched his hind legs down to the floor of his room and grasped at the annoying sheets still clinging to his body. Slowly, he pulled them removed them and laid them off to the side of his bed. His form was exposed to the light that invaded his quarters. He was no pony, nor was he dragon, but the parallels in anatomy between himself, pony, and wyrmkin were undeniable.

Unity’s coat was stark white and as wild as the Everfree Forest and covered all but his underside. A tan scaly underbelly, like his fathers, reached from his chin to the base of his tail. His was truly something to behold, it was thick and strong like his father but covered in white fur like the rest of his body, the entire appendage was nearly as long as his body.

The sun moved up to his face forcing Unity to involuntary shield his eyes from the sensation. The forelimb that guarded from the intrusive light was no hoof, though still white and furry like the rest of his coat. The body part that guarded his eye had three claws present, each fully articulate.

His eyes struggled to adjust to the light, causing Unity to tilt his face, exposing himself to the unforgiving rays of the sun. The child’s eyes were as teal as a tropical sea and was complemented by his rustled mulberry mane. Unity had a single horn, not unlike that of a unicorn, that jutted through his mop top mane style. Unlike a pony though, his mane didn't simply end at the base of his neck, rather it thinned out into a single strip that traveled the length of his body and ended as a thick bushel at the tip of his tail.

Unity mustered up the strength to fully step his limp, lazy body out of his bed. He stumbled slightly and caught his balance on the wall. He raised his head to take a deep breath of the crisp morning air, and was suddenly smacked by the heavenly smell of buttermilk waffles and honey. Suddenly, Unity felt as if he had been hit with a massive surge of energy and his internal power switch had been flipped to the “ON” position. With his new found vigor, Unity darted out of his room and down the stair of Carousel Boutique. He slammed into a table that held a porcine vase and toppled the fragile piece, but a quick tail and quicker thinking saved the imported décor from an untimely meeting with the floor. He rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs with such speed that he had to grip the wall to avoid flying off on some leftward tangent and out of an adjacent window. Unity put everything he had into his hind legs in preparation for a leap. The kitchen table was now in sight and sweet sustenance was sitting there waiting for him. He released the pinned up energy and sailed through the air towards that which he desired so, but something was odd he was moving through the air but not towards his breakfast.

“Wha...What!?” Unity squeezed out meekly, his mouth agape from confusion.

As he floated helplessly pass his waffles he racked his brain for an answer to the phenomenon. The mind searching was completely redundant though, he knew from the beginning what was happening. The young hybrid reached out at his waffles in vain. Unity held his head low bearing an expression of absolute despair as his limp body continued on its course words escaped from under his breath.

“Of all the things that could have happened this morning. This is THE WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” Unity yelled as he flailed his legs.

The sound of sad, muffled sniffling could be heard from in front of him.

Unity raised his head to meet with the origin of the sound. His eyes traveled across the glossy, white kitchen floor and finally locked on to a set of hooves. The youth’s eyes continued upward as he inspected the pony that was keeping him from what he wanted. The mare’s coat was a pearlescent white that gave off a healthy shine and it was perfectly groomed with not a single hair out of place. Her flank carried the brand of all pony kind, the cutie mark; unique to each individual, the purpose of which is to convey one’s special passion, hers, three bluish white diamonds. A deep indigo and mulberry gave her mane and tail both color and depth. Her tail was combed, pressed, and curled leaving it in a bouncy curl and her mane was styled similarly except instead of one curl there were three swept over to the right of her head. She sat the levitated youth next to her and turned giving him a piercing glare; a single curl migrated across her azure eyes.

“The worst possible thing, is that what you think of talking to your mother?” she said in a smooth Trans – Atlantic dialect.

“Mom,” Unity said with a sigh of exasperation. “you know that’s not what I meant.”

“It makes mommy glad to hear you say that. I’m off in Canterlot handling larger orders so much lately that I can rarely come back here to visit you.”

“You needn’t worry about something so trivial mother, I understand you need to guide your career.” Unity said in the same speech pattern as his mother, he knew she’d like to hear it.

His mother’s eyes began to tear up and her body began to shiver a little. There was moment of silence between the two that became awkwardly painful and right when Unity felt that the situation was unbearable and he should leave the white mare locked eyes with him..

“I……” She started.

She stumbled on her words as she wrapped her forelimbs around his neck in a tight, loving embrace. They held the pose for what felt like an eternity, Unity felt heavy, then it dawned on him….when was the last time he was with his mother like this? He returned the gesture, even adding in a caring nuzzle.

His mother's coat was comforting, soft like the feather stuffing of a pillow. She smelled of plums, the sweet scent helped him relax and removed the tension from his muscles. He could feel her heartbeat, the steady pulse and heat from her body made his prior disappointment melt away. Unity gripped tightly closing both eyes. All these details, he’d commit to memory.

She released her vice on unity and gently laid a hoof on his shoulder.

“You and your father have grown so close in the past two years and..I …I’ve been on the sidelines far too long, but NO MORE!” The mare exclaimed dramatically. “Now go along and eat so you can head out and finish your errands. I want us to have as much free time together on your birthday as possible tomorrow.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice, before she had even finished her heart felt speech Unity was shoving honey glazed waffles down his gullet. The mother and son looked at each other strangely for a moment before they let out a light chuckle at the situation.

“I’ll finish as fast as I can, maybe I’ll be back in time for tea.” A piece of waffle fell from his mouth.

A pair of claws gripped the doorway to the kitchen pulling the serpentine head of a dragon into view.

“Have fun catching up with our son Rarity?” A rhetorical question obviously. “Well anyway, Unity has an extra stop today so the sooner he can get out there the better” Spike released a smoky sigh. “And if I know anything its that somepony is gonna try and make it harder then it needs to be.”

Spike gestured for Unity to come with him. The youth quickly swallowed the last morsels of the waffle and complied.

“We’ll Talk later.” Rarity called to them.

Both Spike and Unity threw a claw up in a cool dismissive gesture to signal their goodbyes.

The front door of the Carousel Boutique lurched open with the father son duo appearing from the building shortly after.

“Mornin Spike, Mornin Unity.” Somepony called out.

“G’mornin.” They replied in unison.

Spike snapped towards his, the sudden movement startled him. He took his sons claws in his own and turned them upward in preparation to place something into his clutches. Unity looked up at his father’s face, the dragon’s expression looked as if his heart had been ripped out, but at the same time brimmed with happiness and satisfaction. Spike looked up at the sky and spoke sound more serious than the usual tone that Unity could remember.

“We go to Cloudsdale every year to pay respects and as you know they’ve been building a very special display for one of our closest friends. Celestia has sent word to me that the Memorial of Heroes has been completed and that we are allowed a private visit before it officially opens to the public. Your mother and I can’t make it at the moment, but I’d like for you to have Pinkie Pie take you up there to see it without us.” Spike said.

The dragon reached behind his back and searched under his wing revealing a large ornate bouquet of zap apple blossoms. The polychromatic flowers were charged with power and electricity of every color surged across their petals. He placed the bundle gently in his son’s hands.

“These are from AJ and the rest of us, lay them at the base of her statue.” He slowly closed Unity’s claws around the precious cargo. Father and son nodded at each other in silent understanding. Unity pressed the bouquet close to his chest and started to walk away in a purposeful stride.

Spike watched his son fade into the crowd of Ponyville’s busy streets. His emerald eyes drifted up to the sky, he inhaled strongly then released the breath slowly letting a smirk creep across his face.

“And you were afraid history would forget you?”

Comments

[ShiroExia]

poor twilight...

[Total Eclipse]

387035

I agree, im not truly a writer in any form or fashion i just have idea's to share. Im just bad with the technical parts.

Hopefully as i continue to write someone will be interested enough to become editor or i will learn to do alot better.

[Total Eclipse]

387540

I worry about her.

[ShiroExia]

y u keel twilightz? D: i iz so sadz naow Dx i iz gonna goze cry naow.

[Total Eclipse]

389126

downt b sad...you know the motto.

S*** happens.

[ShiroExia]

dont break into song xD i will sue you!

[Total Eclipse]

*openz pocket*

youd only get a nickle

[Total Eclipse]

405580

Ok lets see what i can clear up.

You confusion is understandable alot of it is because its a prologue so there are things that you dont yet know. Some of it, may very well just be bad writing. The spelling errors where ever they are will be fixed, it was an unforeseen side effect of the copying into the Fimfictions little writing widget, chapter one was like that as with entire words missing even though they are clearly on my original draft.

Youve brought it to my attention that a very important line is missing.

****Firstly, if our bad boy Animus is marching on Canterlot "as we speak", why isn't he there, storming into Celestia's castle? Why send the letter at all if he's already there by the time it arrives?****
****Why send the letter at all if he's already there by the time it arrives?****

-Twilight says he marches on canterlot as she writes the letter, a very important line is missing which puts the whole thing into context. Twilight was going to teleport the message to the princesses but animus did it instead. Between Animus sending the letter and Celestia actually receiving it not much time passed so she still has 2 days to prepare as he mentioned.

****Why are Celestia and Luna by themselves during this crisis? Shouldn't their guards be there with them? Where are their guards and soldiers?****

If you think including the guards could enhance the scene in someway id be glad to include them, but honestly they usually stand there like statues and i cant think of a thing to do with them in this scene other then an off hand mention of them being there standing still since what was discussed was between Luna and Celestia (eventually trickling down to the soldiers). Having the throne room full of guards or soldiers just didnt seem right........If you can pitch me an idea on how to include them in the scene im willing.

*****Why are there so many spelling errors? Didn't you get someone to proofread?*****

half me being a mediocre writer, half copy errors.

Sadly no proof readers, the people I actually know are terrible at this stuff (just had a convo with a friend about how phantom and fathom arent the same word), for now its just me and you cant proof reader your own work very well because your mind fills in blanks that another reader would catch. Maybe one of these days my circle will decide that they want to help out, or some happy go lucky reader will enjoy my vision enough to offer his helping hand.

****Why is MY BEAUTIFUL HEAD FLOATING OFF INTO DEEP SPACE?! WHY?! WHY?! WHYYYYY?!****

IDK....*insert event horizon baby bear comment*

[Brony_Fife]

If you can pitch me an idea on how to include them in the scene im willing.

All right.

The sky was beginning to run red, as if in complete alarm at Animus' approach. The dread that hung in the air of Canterlot that day felt more like a stench, the smell of dead things that lingered about, forever. The buildings had all blackened in the fading daylight, and from Celestia's height, they might as well have been chess pieces awaiting to be knocked off the board by her calculating enemy.

On her balcony did she stand, that awesome creature known as Celestia. The first alicorn, the Sun-Raiser, the beautiful Goddess of the Sun. Her slender figure and great height accented her godly eyes and mystical hair, which whipped and twirled in the air as if dancing, its colors reminescent of the ocean waves at sunset.

This evening, however, Celestia did not feel majestic. No. In all her righteous majesty, her queenly disguise was beginning to slip. Her guards present with her could see it, but said nothing.

Celestia, their goddess, was beginning to panic.

Celestia read, re-read, and re-re-read the message that she held in her telekinetic grip. She hated this. This feeling of helplessness. It wrapped itself around her, like a cloak, and she wore it as if it were suffocating her. How she wanted to throw it off--but like the unwelcome guest it was, Helplessness clung to her emotions, feeding from her like a parasite.

Helplessness was not an emotion fit for goddesses or for princesses. There was still time, thought Celestia. There was still hope, even with her beloved pupil gone.

Her royal guard, resplendent in their armor and tightly disciplined, stood at attention. With a majestic turn, her wings unfurled, Celestia swept at the air around her. With this one awesome gesture, Helplessness was flung from her back, replaced by Resolve. The guards could see her righteous indignation now, her eyes seethed with it. Something awful happened, they all knew--and Celestia would not stand for this. Any of this.

and so on. Introduce Luna, continue the opening setting. We get a good idea what's going on, we know already where Celestia is, her guards are they as they should be, and so on.

If you feel you could use a hoof in writing, let me know with a PM. I'd be glad to help you.

[Total Eclipse]

406216

That is pretty freaking epic. Thanks.

I will use what you have given me, its late right now so ill edit more in the morning