Valiant

by Scipio Smith

Prologue: Legend of Twilight Sparkle

Valiant

by Scipio Smith

Prologue: The Legend of Twilight Sparkle

And so, after the redemption of Princess Luna and many other adventures, Twilight Sparkle was transformed into an alicorn, and declared a princess by her erstwhile teacher, Princess Celestia. Together with her friends, the five heroes of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle led this magical land into a new golden age unseen since before the time of Nightmare Moon.

But not all was well in the world. For, in order to restore the Tree of Harmony to health and stop the Everfree Forest from consuming all of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle and her friends had been forced to sacrifice the Elements of Harmony, the strongest magic known to pony-kind and the main means by which they had kept the land safe from evil.

And so, now that the power to vanquish them was no more, evil began to encroach upon the borders of Equestria, and the shadows lengthened around that peaceful nation. By far the most dangerous menace to arise was Grogar, the Tyrant of Tambelon, who sought to make all ponies slaves under his dark power and rule unchallenged as god and king. Grogar's heart was black as coal, in his eyes the flames of Tartarus burned, and he could neither be reasoned with nor taught compassion or forgiveness as even Discord had been taught with time. Stronger than any adversary that Equestria had ever faced before, when Grogar entered Equestria the grass withered beneath his cloven hooves, a cloud of darkness and despair trailed in his wake, and all fled in terror of his coming.

All save one.

Twilight Sparkle alone was brave enough to withstand the fear that Grogar spread before him, and accompanied by her faithful friends the greatest hero Equestria had ever known galloped forth to meet him before he could harm anypony else.

On the last night, knowing that she would encounter Grogar on the morrow, Twilight made camp upon the hill now know as the Hill of Sorrowful Partings and bid her friends leave her now, that she might face the Tyrant of Tambelon alone.

"Why do you want to face him alone?" demanded Rainbow Dash, most faithful of all the princess companions. "Don't you think we're brave enough to stand with you?"

"We've always faced these challenges together," urged Fluttershy, for, though she was meek and mild of spirit, she loved Twilight well, and could not bear the thought of abandoning her upon the eve of danger.

Princess Twilight replied, "I know that you have shared in everything that I have accomplished, and without you I would never have been brave enough to come this far. But without the Elements of Harmony there is little you can do to aid me in this struggle, and I couldn't bear it if you were hurt by Grogar in any way. That's why I'm asking you, please, go home. Wait for me, and we will celebrate on my return."

And so, hearts heavy with sadness, her friends departed, and the next day Twilight Sparkle and Grogar met in battle upon the field of Mareinor. What occured between them, what spells they cast, how fiercely they duelled, can only be guessed at, for there was nopony there to bear witness to it. All that is known is that as the day ended a great explosion was heard and Twilight's friends, who had though better of their departure, hastened back as swiftly as they could. They found the field had been transformed beyond recognition, all the grass and soil turned to glass, and no sign of Twilight or Grogar to be found. Though they searched long and hard, they found no sign of their dear friend, and with great sorrow they concluded that she had defeated her adversary only at the cost of her own life.

And the wailing of the heroes of Equestria was terrible and the tears of Princess Celestia were beyond counting and all of Equestria put on solemn black in mourning for the princess they had lost. And since that day the sun has never been so bright, nor the land of Equestria so happy, as it was before Twilight Sparkle fell.

Yet, it is said by some that Twilight Sparkle did not die but simply...went away. And that, in Equestria's hour of greatest need, she will return.

Thunder Shield shut the book and sighed deeply. "Lady Rarity, who... she was one of the five heroes of Equestria, one of Twilight Sparkle's friends. That's why everypony cares so much."

Kenzi fluttered at about eye height to Thunder, her hands clasped together over her heart. "That's so sad," she murmured. Kenzi was a fairy, the only fairy that had ever been seen in Equestria. Today her hair was long and black, devoid of highlights of any kind, and she had also coloured her eyes black for the solemn occassion. In fact, black seemed to be the theme today even more than usual: black jacket over a plain black shirt, a short black skirt and high black boots that went over Kenzi's knees. Only her gossamer wings provided a touch of ethereal white against the darkness. "Which do you think is worse?"

"Huh?" Thunder didn't understand the question, but he was used to Kenzi expecting everypony else to follow her thoughts without her having to say them out loud.

"Who do you think had it worse?" Kenzi repeated. "Twilight Sparkle, who, you know, died; or her friends, who had to keep on living without their best friend?"

Thunder turned his head, half looking away from Kenzi. Thunder Shield was a dirty white, verging upon light grey, alicorn with a light brown mane and bottle green eyes. Like Kenzi, he too wore black, though in his case it was black armour such as the Royal Guard would also be wearing for this occassion. His voice, when it came, was heavy with solemnity no matter how much he tried to keep it soft and quiet. "Which do you think is worse? You must have some thoughts of your own."

Kenzi pursed her lips, they too wear smeared in black lipstick. "I think her friends were worse off. I mean, don't get me wrong, dying sucks and all, but once you're dead, you're dead right? But having to live with that hole in your heart for years? That's gotta suck."

"Yeah," Thunder murmured, bowing his head. "It really does."

Kenzi's face fell. "Gee, Thunder, I didn't mean to...I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have said anything. Sometimes I'm such an idiot!"

"It's okay, Kenzi," Thunder said. "Really, it doesn't matter whether you say anything or not. It isn't as if the pain will go away if nopony talks about it." He got up, rising to his hooves and walking out onto the balcony. He and Kenzi lived in one of the high towers of the palace, and from the balcony they could see all of Canterlot, and even as far away as Ponyville, even it seemed very small from where they were. The whole city was still and quiet, the normal bustle of the streets suspended out of mourning and respect. Only the patrols by the Royal Guards and Military Police continued as normal, and even they seemed quieter than was normally the case. Already, Thunder could see ponies gathering along the route of the procession, but they did so quietly and without fuss.

"Personally," he said. "I think that Twilight was worse off for a while, but not anymore. Now it's Princess Celestia who has it worse than anypony."

"Really?" Kenzi asked. "How do you figure?"

"Whatever happens when we die, wherever we go, Twilight was all alone there for years," Thunder said. "Her friends had lost her, but they still had one another. Now they're all together with Twilight Sparkle, all except Princess Celestia who won't ever rejoin them. That's why, today, I envy Lady Rarity: because she's not alone any more." Thunder pressed his head against the cold stone of the balcony rail, screwing up his face as the pain of memories assailed him. He tried not to think about the flames and the smoke, the sounds of screaming. He tried not to think about his mother, shrieking for him to run. He tried not to think about it, but he couldn't help it. "There's nothing worse than being all alone. Nothing."

"Hey, hey," Kenzi fluttered up beside him, near burying herself in his brown mane as she tugged on Thunder's ear with one tiny hand. "You're not alone, yeah? Cause you got me, right? And I won't ever leave you."

Thunder looked at her, and managed to turn his lip upward in something halfway to a small smile. "Yeah, I got you, Kenzi. Just like you got me, always."

Kenzi smirked. "Yeah, always. Unless of course I find other fairies and they out to be, like, way awesomest cool people ever, then I'm ditching your loser flank faster than you can say 'see ya around', you know what I'm saying?"

Thunder chuckled. "Yeah, I do. Hey, Kenzi?"

"Yep?"

"You might want to wash that black lipstick and mascara off, you've gone beyond solemn and into fashion statement."

"Really? Well why didn't you say so earlier?" Kenzi flew over to a thimble full of water placed upon the bedside table, and began to scrub at her face.

Thunder waited for her to finish. The two of them had lived together for three years now, after Princess Luna found them both, and it had reached the point where he wasn't sure he could get to sleep without knowing that his little roommate was right there beside him. The room they shared at the top of the Moon Tower was spartan, with only a bed, a small table on the bedside on which rested Kenzi's bed, washbasin, drinking water, wardrobe and the snack box which nopony was supposed to know about (fairies had certain needs, apparently, though as Kenzi was the only fairy anypony had ever met only she could say for sure what those needs were), a ponikin for Thunder's armour and a single shelf of books given to him by the princess. The rest was only the stone walls, bare and undecorated, without even so much as a hanging to adorn them. That was the sum total of Thunder Shield's life: the armour he wore and the books he read, both given to him by somepony else. The only luxury which he allowed himself was the picture of his family which sat just perched upon the nightstand, intruding as little as could be helped upon Kenzi's space.

The picture was burned around the edges, were the flames had licked at it, and was tear stained in parts from the days when Thunder had not mastered the self-control he now possessed, but you could still make out all of the smiling faces: his mother, his father, Lightning Strike his very best friend; and Thunder Shield himself, smiling. It felt so strange, looking at him smiling, these days when he so rarely smiled at all except to mock somepony. It was disconcerting to remember that there had been a time when he had known joy.

He wondered if Lady Rarity had felt that way, in the end, looking back upon the memories of her youth and wondering that there had ever been a time when she had been happy.

Hopefully she was happy now, wherever she was, and together with her precious friends.

"One day," Thunder murmured. "Mother...father...Lightning...I promise, someday we'll see each other again."

"What was that?" Kenzi asked, lifting her head out of the thimble.

"Nothing," Thunder said quickly. "Just talking to myself."

"Hmm," Kenzi frowned at him. "You know better than to lie to the fairy stinkeye, right?"

"Yeah, I know better than that."

"Well, okay," Kenzi still didn't sound entirely convinced, but changed the subject. "Is it all off?"

Thunder nodded. "All gone. I don't understand why you put that stuff on, though. You can change anything about your appearance at well, can't you just magic on the appearance of mascara?"

"Maybe," Kenzi said. "But that doesn't mean I want to. It's kinda fun putting it on the hard way, you know, trying out new styles and new techniques. Besides, I don't like messing with my face. Hair: yes, all the time. Face: no."

"Why not?"

Kenzi looked at him as though it should have been obvious. "Because it's my face. If I kept changing it, how would I know what I looked like?"

Thunder considered that. "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess."

The door creaked open - Thunder deliberately kept the hinges squeaky so that he would know when anypony entered his room - and Princess Luna strode inside. While it seemed as though everypony else in Canterlot had dressed up for this solemn occassion, Princess Luna appeared to have dressed down, foregoing her usual crown and necklace, her trappings of royalty. It was the the first Thunder had ever seen wear nothing, aside from the few times when he was a young foal and had slept in her bed to help soothe his nightmares. She seemed a shade darker than usual, her mane less airy and fluid, but rather weighted down by the burden of the princess' grief.

Thunder bowed, pressing his muzzle into the cold wooden floor. Kenzi, flying to his side, performed a strange bow of her own that involved bending her waist until her body formed a right angle.

"It is time," Luna murmured. "Come, both of you." Without another word she turned away, not needing to instruct them to follow her.

Kenzi stayed close by Thunder's side as he trailed in Princess Luna's footsteps through the palace corridors. The guards were all garbed in solemn black, all the banners outside - visible through the windows - flew at half mast. Even the curtains had been turned black by magic, just for today.

Thunder had gone through all this once before, with Lady Pinkie Pie, but it still felt so strange. For the palace to be as quiet as it was, for their every hooffall to echo, felt unnatural. It turned a place of life and light into a tomb.

Yet all places become tombs in the end, so why wait?

Some Royal Guards, nightponies with their distinctive bat wings, fell in behind them, escorting their princess down the steps and through the corridors into the main hall, where Princess Celestia was waiting.

"Sister," she greeted Luna, her voice soft yet carrying with it an ocean's worth of pain and sadness in a single word. Celestia turned her gaze on Thunder. "Ah, this must be your student. Thunder Shield, isn't it? And Kenzi?"

Thunder bowed. "Your Highness. I offer my condolences and grieve with you in this sad time. If there is anything that I may do or you should need, I am at your service."

"Me too," Kenzi said. She flushed a little as she became aware that she had said the wrong thing, and corrected herself quickly. "Your Highness, I offer my condolences and grieve with you. I am at your service."

Thunder shook his head minutely. With Princess Luna such breaches of protocol might be overlooked, but with her more remote elder sister it was best not to chance such informality. Thunder and Kenzi had only seen Princess Celestia twice before, and one of those times was on the day of their arrival in the palace. It was hard to believe that she had once played an active role in the rule of Equestria, when now she almost never left her chambers and spoke only to her sister and the First Minister. From pictures of her in the history books, it seemed she had once been a radiant beauty, but now the light had faded out of her, the brightness of her coat dimmed, the colours of her mane faded. She wore a black gown, and around her neck hung a silver locket on a chain. Nopony had ever seen inside it, but whispers - when Thunder bothered to listen to them - said it held a lock of Twilight Sparkle's mane, magically preserved, and the late princess' portrait in miniature.

Celestia stared at them for a moment. "Thank you for your generous offer. I shall consider it." And with that her gaze passed over them. She did not look at anypony else, but stared vaguely into...where? The past? That was Thunder's thought. He believed he recognised the look as one he sometimes found himself wearing when melancholy and nostalgia overtook him.

Luna walked to her older sister's side, but Celestia turned her face away and would not speak to her. And so there was silence in the great hall, silence and darkness and the all-consuming black, until the doors swung open and First Minister Ordered Regulations strode in, flanked by two officers of his Military Police.

The First Minister was an earth pony of slightly lank build, his coat of cobalt colouring, his mane and tail of ocean green, his eyes of grey so dark they were almost black. He wore a conservative suit, dark grey with a black tie, that left his hindquarters and his cutie mark - a bundle of rods with an axe in the middle, an ancient symbol Thunder had learnt was called a fasces - visible to all. His escorts, members of Canterlot's elite Military Police which answered only to the First Minister, were unicorns as all members of that unit were. They did not wear black, but wore their usual banded armour of dark blue with a crimson trim, covered with dark blue cloaks emblazoned with the silver unicorn emblem of the police force.

"Princess Celestia," the minister wore a grave smile as she approached the elder princess, took her hoof in his own, and raised it to his lips. "All of Equestria grieves with you in this dark hour." Thunder had noticed that whether the minister was discussing taxes or grief his voice remained always smoothe as silk and so compassionate one might mistake him for a dear friend.

Celestia bowed her head. "That is a great comfort to me, minister."

"First Minister," Princess Luna's tone was neutral.

The smile did not waver from Order's face. "Highness."

"Is everything ready?" Celestia asked, her voice hoarse with emotion. "Where is Dusk Shine, he should be here for this? Were his unit told to send him here?"

"Fear not, Your Highness, Prince Dusk is outside with Lord Spike and the guard escort," Order said. "I knew that you would not want the last blood relation of Princess Twilight to be absent."

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, minister. I know I can always rely on you."

The smile on the minister's face did not change. "I life but to serve Your Majesty's will. Everything is ready, if your highness is?"

Celestia hesitated, then nodded. "Let us go."

Princess Celestia led the way. The rest formed in a long procession behind her. Princess Luna came next, as was proper, then the First Minister, then Thunder Shield as Princess Luna's student. Behind him, the Royal Guards, and then the Military Police behind them. As the procession left the palace they found more guards waiting for them, including Prince Dusk Shine, great-grandson of Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour and, thus, also the last pony living who could claim a blood connection with Princess Twilight Sparkle, even if he was only a cousin. As he was a prince, he took precedence over Thunder Shield - though not Minister Order, since he was only minor royalty - and so Thunder halted and allowed Dusk to slip into the procession ahead of him, which he did with grace, self-assurance and a smug smile which Thunder found grossly inappropriate. An alicorn with a light red coat and a mane of lavender streaked with blue, Dusk Shine never failed to annoy Thunder by his mere presence, though Thunder did his best to master his irritation on this occassion. This was neither the time nor the place.

The great old dragon lord, Spike, a towering figure who loomed as high as some of the tallest buildings in the city, stood at Princess Celestia's side. He said nothing, but his green eyes were filled with tears.

As more guards fell in behind them, the procession waited. They would not proceed until they had been joined by the case of all this melacholy.

The funeral cortege of the Lady Rarity was proceeded by a mare in a top hat and a tailcoat walking slowly in front of the hearse. The hearse itself was pulled by two grey unicorns of the royal guard, and the carriage was of the finest dark wood, ornamented with small flashes of elegant silver. Freshly picked flowers lay atop the coffin. Six pallbearers: two unicorns, two pegasi and two earth ponies, like the bearers of the elements of harmony, walked beside the hearse as it moved slowly down the street.

As the coffin approached, every waiting pony bowed their head respectfully. Then, when the hearse had passed, Princess Celestia fell in behind it, and all the rest followed suit in her wake.

They followed Lady Rarity on her last journey through the streets of Canterlot, streets lined with ponies in thier mourning suits come to pay their last respects to a figure from history. Lady Rarity had been last living connection to a past that, for most of the ponies lining the way to bid her farewell, doubtless seemed as distant and incomprehensible as the era of Princess Platinum must have been to Rarity herself. Reading the history of those days, it was hard to imagine a time when the Military Police had not existed, when there had been no Ministers, when Princess Celestia had ruled Equestria alone, when there had been no wall around Ponyville, no garrison of the Royal Guard. The more recent the history, the more the problems of that era had been emphasised: disorganisation, personal justice and interpretation of the law that verged on vigilantism, cosmic threats to the safety of the country. Yet despite the best efforts of those tomes, Thunder could not help but think that it had been a better time. Nor, judging by the swell of ponies come to pay their respects to the last symbol of that bygone age, was he the only one.

The procession stopped outside the Mausoleum of Harmony, which housed the remains of the other four heroes of Equestria and the empty sarcophagus of Twilight Sparkle. The pallbearers lifted the coffin from the hearse and bore it to the open entrance to the great marble dome, the friezes on wall - depicting the many great achievements of the six legends - looking on in silence as the last of their number was interred.

Princess Celestia stood on the mausoleum steps, looking out over the sea of ponies who gathered outside to witness this moment. They thronged all about the statue of Twilight Sparkle which stood in the centre of the square fronting onto the grand tomb, silent, waiting for their absent Princess to address them for what would likely be the last time in their lives.

"We are here to honour the Lady Rarity, the last of the five heroes of Equestria who, along with Twilight Sparkle, brought this magical land into a golden age of friendship and prosperity," Princess Celestia said, her voice sounding a little rough from disuse, while Lord Spike sobbed quietly beside her. "Those of you who knew Rarity only in her...her twilight years, were very unfortunate. I, who was blessed to know her in the prime of her youth, consider myself privileged to have known her at her best. My abiding memories are of her grace, her ladylike elegance in all things, the grace of her movements, the loveliness of her voice. Above all I remember her generosity, the element, of course, which she bore, her relentless energy and her tremendous creativity in the field of fashion in which she blazed so bright before her abrupt and early retirement.
"My first real memory of Rarity, was on a visit to Ponyville. Many things happened on that, most of them relating to my pet phoenix, but my memory of Rarity is that she, of all ponies present, wore a gown. The same gown, in fact, which she wore to the Grand Galloping Gala later that year. That, in many ways, describes Rarity perfectly: always proper, no matter the circumstance.
"In her later years, as age wearied her as it does so many ponies, I fear that some found Rarity to be prickly, sharp, snappish even. All I can say is that, after all she had done and all she had been through, she had earned the right to be a little prickly."

Thunder, standing beside Princess Luna on the other side of the coffin, closed his eyes. He remembered, when he was younger, Lady Rarity scolding him terribly for his poor table manners. In my day, no young gentlecolt would ever have been allowed to behave in such a manner. As I am still alive, it is still my day, do you understand you young ruffian? All before striking him across the top of the head with a rolled up newspaper. The only pony he ever recalled her showing warmth too was Lady Pinkie Pie; they had been Canterlot's oddest couple while the latter still lived.

"A little over a year ago," Princess Celestia continued. "I stood where I stand now and eulogised Pinkie Pie, who bore the element of Laughter. With Rarity gone, there are none left of those who assisted Twilight Sparkle in so many of her greatest accomplishments. An age in our history has passed, and Equestria has been left a poorer place in their absence.

She bowed her head so that she was almost touching the coffin, her tears falling upon the varnished surface. "Farewell, Rarity. Please give Twilight my regards."

And with that they bore the coffin into the grand mausoleum, placed it in the stone sarchopagus which bore the Lady Rarity's younger likeness upon it, and sealed the door.

And thus did an age pass.

---

The mourners had dispersed, the funeral was over, the great crowds had all gone home. The princesses had returned to the palace. Only Thunder Shield and Kenzi still lingered on the mausoleum steps, staring at the now closed doors and the friezes carved into the wall. Princess Luna had commanded clear skies for the funeral then rain afterwards, that the skies themselves might weep for Rarity, and so the rain fell heavily upon Thunder as he sat outside, still as Twilight Sparkle's statue.

Kenzi's fairy wings flickered like flashes of lightning in a storm as she struggled to stay aloft by Thunder's side. "Come on, Thunder! Can we go home now before I drown in all this rain? Do you know that I could choke on one of these raindrops?"

"You go," Thunder said calmly. "I'll see you later.

"No way, what about you? You'll catch pneumonia if you stay out here."

"I'll be fine. I want to stay here," Thunder replied. "I have to."

"Why? Why do you have to sit out here and get soaking wet staring at a tomb?" Kenzi demanded irately.

"I have to console Lady Rarity," Thunder explained. "After all, I'm alive and I don't have anypony, and even if she's dead she has her friends; she can look at me and take comfort from that. Though, to be honest, I'm always hoping that, if I offer consolation to her, maybe she can console me too."

"What?" Kenzi yelled. "What does any of that nonsense even mean?"

"It means funerals make me miserable," Thunder said.

Kenzi's face assumed an expression that was sympathetic, but not overly. "Oh, Thunder, honey; I'm here for you, really I am, but could you please mope around indoors, maybe somewhere near a nice warm fire?"

"I already told you, you don't have to stay," Thunder said sharply.

For a moment there was silence, the only sound the patter of the rain as Kenzi stared at him. "Yeah, I do. Because I'm your BFF, and that's what friends are for, right? Getting sick because you're an idiot."

Thunder closed his eyes and hesitated. "Okay, we'll go. You're right, there isn't a lot of point to this."

"Oh, thank Luna you can still recognise sense," Kenzi said as Thunder got up and began to make his way back to the palace.

The streets were mostly empty on account of the rain, but there were still one or two ponies out and about; and the Military Police were around too, as Thunder and Kenzi discovered when they came across an elderly pegasus mare corner by two unicorns in Military Police cloaks, looming over her menacingly.

"Come on, grandma, you know that it's a toll to use this road."

"Oh, please, I only have enough to buy groceries. My grandchildren-"

"You should have thought of that and planned ahead better, shouldn't you?" one of the two unicorns demanded. "We work hard keeping these streets safe for ponies like you to walk around. Aren't we entitled to a little compensation for all our hard work? Or would you rather we left and let just anything happen to you?"

Thunder growled wordlessly.

Kenzi said, "You're going to get involved, aren't you?"

"Yep."

Kenzi sighed. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Thunder spread his wings and glided the last few yards separating him from the disturbance. "My name is Thunder Shield," he said. "There are a lot of things I hate, but small ponies abusing their petty authority is definitely one of them."

The unicorns glowered at him. One of them said, "Who are you to talk to us like that? We're members of the Military Police!"

"Yeah, nopony messes with us!"

"And I'm Princess Luna's personal student," Thunder said. "Which means there are two ways this can go. First, you can walk away and we'll say no more about any of this. Or two, I can beat you until you give me your names, then I'll report to the princess so she can have your boss discipline you appropriately. I kinda like that option, how about you?"

The unicorn who had been doing most of the talking so far snarled. "Are you threatening us? How dare you threaten the Military Pol-"

He fell silent as, with movement so swift it was practically instantaneous, Thunder appeared between the two unicorns, his wings spread out so that his feathers were touching their necks.

"You guys seem to like saying the name of your branch a lot," Thunder observed. "That must be what they call esprit du corps. Now, as you might be able to feel, my wings are sharp enough to shave scales off a dragon. So I'll ask again, which option do you want to choose?"

The unicorns backed off. "You haven't heard the last of this," one of them called as he fled.

"Thank you," the pegasus murmured. "Thank you so much."

Thunder's expression was neutral as he turned to her, and placed one hoof upon his heart in the traditional salute of the Hipparchian Guard. "To live is to serve."

---

Princess Luna knocked on the door to Celestia's room. "Celestia? It's Luna. Please let me in." Some hope of that, but at least her sister might open the door to her room.

There was a pause, then the door opened.

"What is it, Luna?" Celestia sat with her back to the doorway, facing the window on which raindrops pattered. Pictures of Twilight and her friends hung on the wall, the only spots of colour in an otherwise relentlessly grim room.

Luna looked around warily, and steeled herself for the argument. "Celestia...you need to get out more."

Celestia did not look round. "Excuse me?"

"You need to leave this room, you need to leave this palace, maybe even leave the city. When was the last time you spent longer than a few hours away from here?"

Celestia hesitated. "I think it must have been-"

"A hundred years ago, exactly," Luna said. "I know you loved her, but this is...it's not healthy, sister. You need light and your subjects need you."

"Are they unhappy?" Celestia murmured. "I raise the sun for them each day, and the government continues in my absence."

"And what a government," Luna cried. "Are you even aware of half the things that are being done in your name?"

"The First Minister-"

"Cannot be trusted so far as I could pick him up and throw him," Luna snapped.

"He serves me well," Celestia said softly. "He is glad to assume the burdens of government I can no longer bear to shoulder."

"Oh, I am sure he is," Luna scoffed. "But these powers were not meant for mortal ponies, Celestia. It corrupts them, as it always has."

"I hear no discontent."

"Because everypony is too afraid to voice it," Luna shouted. "If Twilight Sparkle could see what you have allowed Equestria to become she would weep!"

Celestia stiffened, and Luna retreated a step. "Forgive me, I went too far."

"Yes," Celestia's voice was crisp as fresh-fallen snow. "You did. I think you had better go."
"You cannot mourn her forever," Luna pressed on. "At some point enough must be enough. Do you think Twilight would want you shut yourself away in here with only your memories of her company?"

"I think she died before she could tell me what she wanted, before we could..." Celestia's voice broke as tears began to fall. "Before I could say goodbye to her."

Luna let her have a moment. Then she said, "The newest class of Royal Guard trainees pass out in a few times, the graduation ceremony is being held in Ponyville. I'm asking you to go and attend the event. Go to Ponyville, see your little ponies again, let them see you. Do this one thing, and I promise I shall not raise it again for another hundred years."

"And if I don't?"

Luna smirked. "Then I shall pester you until you agree to do something."

Celestia sighed. "Very well then. I suppose you will make all the arrangements?"

"Indeed," Luna said. She glanced at the pictures on the wall. "Great mares."

Celestia nodded. "We shall not see their like again."

"Indeed we shall not," Luna said. "But that is no excuse for not giving anypony else a chance at all."

She turned to go, knowing exactly whom she would send to Ponyville ahead of her to oversee the preparations.

Author's Note:

This story owes a debt to the fanfic My Little Unicorn: Magic is Believing, by Dakari King Mykan, and to the redo by RaisingShadows, who gave me permission to write this fic.

The fasces, which the First Minister has as his cutie mark, was the symbol of imperium given to magistrates in the Roman Republic. I read in one book that the rods symbolised the right to beat criminals, and the axe the power of life and death. It also gave them the right to raise and command troops. I'm not sure how such a thing could have gotten into Equestria, but I liked what it says about Ordered Regulations that he has such a thing as his Cutie Mark, especially in view of what we'll see of the Military Police.

Hipparchia, the name of Thunder's destroyed home, comes from Hipparchy, the ancient greek term for a cavalry squadron. I was going to use the greek for horse but I'm quite sure what that is.

Comments

[VampDash]

What a coincidence I was planning on using the Tyrant Of Tambelon myself.

[HJSDGCE]

You sir, have piqued my interests.
There is so much backstory in this that it makes me wanna squeal.
The description already made me liking it, but with your writing style, I can tell that this is going to be a long and eventful story full of feeling and sadness.
And I'm very sure you're gonna try to reduce any piece of comedy in this (not that I'm complaining).
You earn my favourite.

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

This story has promise. Looking forward to more.