Chasing a Cloud Pt 4 by Ponibius
“...and there wasn’t any trace of them after that, Your Majesty,” I said, finishing our report about the events at the Manehattan manor. A couple of days had passed since the battle with Starlight and now Sunset, Trixie, and I stood before the Empress in her public throne room. Currently the seat of power of the Empire was empty except for us and a hooffull of guards standing around unobtrusively.
Empress Sunbeam nodded from her throne. “I see.”
I shuffled in place as I stood under her gaze. “Things ... didn't exactly go perfectly.”
“Little does in Trixie's experience, even when she is part of the operation,” Trixie said, amending her statement.
“Considering the circumstances, it seems you were lucky it went as well as it did,” the Empress said. “There were only two deaths. The explosion Starlight created could have easily caused a hundred times that.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “Remember all the crazy crap Starlight was pulling? Mind control, stealing ponies’ cutie marks, summoning forbidden creatures—and that's just stuff we knew about. Things could have gone a lot worse. Especially with what she planned on doing eventually.” An angry fire burned in her eyes. “She even wanted to overthrow you.”
The Empress smiled dryly. “Something I rather strongly object to.”
“That is all true...” It was hard to argue that Starlight needed to be stopped and stopped quickly. Who knew what sort of damage she could have caused if she had been allowed to build momentum? A unicorn with Starlight’s raw power and ability could have gotten up to all sorts of trouble. The idea of her taking on my grandmother with the power of thousands of cutie marks was something that could keep me up at night.
Trixie tisked. “The arrogance of some ponies continues to amaze Trixie.”
I gave Trixie a flat look. “Yeah, it's pretty crazy, isn't it?”
“Beyond belief, almost,” Trixie agreed with a staggering level of obliviousness. “Trixie would not believe it herself if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.”
The Empress diplomatically changed subjects. “So then, you can confirm that Starlight and Major Solaris are deceased?”
I nodded, frowning as I answered her question. “Near as I can tell. We tried a variety of tracking spells, but none of them worked. We weren't getting interference, the spells just weren't locking onto them. Then we tried a few divinations and summoned some spirits to question.” I didn't meet her eyes. “They all confirmed that they're dead.”
Sunset spoke next. “Unless they found some completely new way to hide themselves, they’re definitely gone.”
“Then it is as certain as can be without a body,” the Empress said, sounding pleased by the news. “Not that the explosion would have left us with one.”
“That explosions was pretty big,” Sunset confirmed. “It probably atomized them. Our tracking spells would have locked onto anything bigger than that.”
I remembered the final horrible moments Starlight and Cloud lived and the look Cloud gave me when she told me that she would take Starlight up. “Cloud ... seemed pretty determined to go out with Starlight.”
The Empress shrugged. “Love often makes ponies act in strange and irrational ways.”
“And I know I wouldn't want to exist as some sort of abomination,” Sunset said.
I winced slightly at the word abomination. “If that's what she was.”
“You saw her, Twilight.” The look in Sunset’s eyes was hard and uncompromising. “Starlight wasn't exactly showing anything that could be called restraint. Turning her girlfriend into some sort of undead monster is the type of thing that was right up her alley.”
Starlight’s madness was as plain as day, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure about Cloud. There were a few possible explanation for what she might have been. The first was that she was some sort of advanced undead, a walking corpse that retained something of its sapience. The second was that Starlight had summoned some sort of spirit to possess Cloud’s corpse to reanimate it. The third was that it was still Cloud, but Starlight had mind controlled her just like everypony else around her.
I couldn’t say for sure which one was true, without a chance to study Cloud more thoroughly or at least check Starlight’s notes. Neither of those things seemed possible now, though. Cloud had been vaporized, and if Starlight had written any notes they had probably burned with the manor when it caught fire after the battle. I just knew this mystery was going to bother me for a long time. I was used to always being able to find out the answers to the questions I had—usually by going to the library and reading a book on the topic, but that wasn’t going to help this time. That wasn’t going to be the answer to a lot of questions I had these days.
I sighed, deciding to change the topic. “I suppose Cloud's family are going to be need to be told what happened? And Fluttershy too, for that matter.” Now there was something I didn’t look forward to. Rainbow and Derpy were also Cloud’s friends, now that I thought about it, so they’d have to be informed as well. This just kept getting better and better.
The Empress nodded. “Naturally. Major Cloud Solaris will receive full military honors; according to your report, she sacrificed herself to make sure Starlight's self-destruction was contained.”
“That is true.” I shuffled in place, the mention of Cloud’s sacrifice reminding me about something. “I'm kinda curious about something Starlight said, if I may ask about it.”
“What is it, my child?”
I swallowed, knowing that my question could get me into trouble, but I pressed ahead anyways. “Starlight said ... that it was the Ministry that hurt Cloud.”
Sunset snorted. “Because we can trust a single thing that nutjob said?”
“I admit, our information on what exactly happened the night Cloud disappeared is incomplete,” the Empress conceded. “But it does seem entirely likely she was blaming others for her own actions.”
Trixie nodded. “That was Trixie's assessment of her as well. Trixie has heard traitors and criminals say all sorts of things to make themselves seem innocent, and most of the time they lie. Unless there is evidence to the contrary, Trixie is not in the habit of giving too much credence to anything they say.”
I sighed and rubbed my face. “You probably have a point.” There was just something wrong about all of this. Probably because nearly everything about it was wrong.
Sunset placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Don't worry about anything Starlight had to say, Twilight. You'll drive yourself crazy trying that.”
“I would not dwell on it,” the Empress said gently. “Not unless there is something to be gained by it.”
“And there isn't here.” Sunset wrapped a leg around me and nuzzled me. “Look, I know it kinda sucks, but we did the best we could given how crazy everything went.”
The Empress gave me a soft smile. “That is my own assessment. And I am the Empress, so...”
“You're probably right,” I allowed. It didn’t seem like there was much more to report on the incident. Nothing productive, anyways. “So what next then?”
“The matter, or at least your role in it, is finished,” the Empress said. “You will of course need to write a report about the incident, but otherwise you don’t need to worry about this anymore.”
“Excellent.” Trixie bowed elaborately before the Empress. “It is the Great and Powerful Magus Trixie’s pleasure to serve you, though she thinks she will be taking a few days off. Even Trixie can use a break after nearly being killed by some madmare.”
Admittedly, Trixie probably had a good idea of spending some time off. We turned to leave, but the Empress called out to me. “Twilight, stay a bit longer.”
I stopped, wondering why the Empress wanted to talk to me. Sunset also paused, her gaze shifting between me and the Empress. “I'll wait for you outside.” She gave my leg a supportive squeeze. “We can do something nice like go out someplace to eat once you two are done.”
“That sounds nice.” I pecked her on the cheek. “I’ll try not to take too long.”
Sunset stepped out, and I returned to stand before the throne. “What is it?”
The Empress’ head tilted slightly as she considered me. “You seem troubled.”
My ears wilted slightly. A lot of things were bothering me at the moment, but I knew there wasn’t any sense in denying it. My grandmother wouldn’t believe me for a second if I tried, so instead, I brought up one of the things that had been plaguing my conscience for the past couple of days. “I ... killed a pony.”
“She left you no choice, Twilight.” The Empress stood from her throne and descended the flight of stairs leading up to it. “You attempted to arrest her, something you had every right to do, and she attacked you for trying to do so. If you had done nothing, you, Sunset, and many others would be dead.”
“I know, it's just...” I sought the words to try and describe what I was feeling. It wasn’t easy. “It’s hard to come to grips with.”
The Empress wrapped a wing around me. “It usually is for most ponies.”
I grimaced out a smile. “You aren't disappointed with me, are you?” More than one of our lessons had involved needing to make hard decisions, such as when it was necessary to kill. But as I had come to learn, there was a vast difference between those lessons and actually applying them in real life.
She shook her head. “No, Twilight. I think you did very well in an exceptionally difficult situation.”
I leaned against my grandmother, needing the comfort that brought me. “Maybe I just need time to process everything, is all.”
“Maybe.” The Empress squeezed me with her wing. “Talking to your mother might help too.”
I couldn’t help but wince at the mention of Mom. “I was ... thinking about it.”
“Perhaps you should do it instead of thinking about it?”
I sighed, not missing the slight reprimand in her tone. “You're probably right.” It was something I had been thinking I should be doing in any event. Especially after ... everything.
The Empress smiled dryly. “I usually am. I like to think that being over nine hundred years old gives me a little wisdom.”
My smile turned less brittle at that. “That is an advantage of great longevity”
She nodded, then led me to her private waiting room behind the throne room before continuing. “Now, what caused your fight with your mother?”
My gaze shifted to the floor. This wasn’t a talk I wanted to have, but I had a feeling it was all but inevitable. Of course Grandmother would have found out about my fight with Mom. She always found out about everything eventually. “Politics.”
“What sort of politics?” she prompted, turning to face me.
I shuffled in place while under her gaze. “Different opinions on how the Empire should be ran,” I temporized.
The Empress frowned slightly. “Is it about the Circle?”
I winced. “Yes.” Looks like that was what the Empress wanted to get to the heart of, big surprise.
“Ah.”
I sighed and shook my head. “I guess it isn't much of a surprise I learned about them, is it?”
“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Grandmother confirmed.
I turned from her to look at around the room. Portraits of members of my family from across the centuries line the walls. “You've probably gone through this a hundred times by now, considering the Circle seems to have been around nearly as long as you have.”
“In one form or another.” The Empress circled around the waiting room, her eyes flicking from one picture to the next. “Though I suspect some of them do not recall their original purpose. Fortunately, your mother is one of those who remembers.”
Not quite wanting to talk about Mom yet, I said, “That seemed to be part of Starlight's problems. She ... I don't even know where to start with her brand of crazy.”
“She was a deeply troubled pony who apparently lost all control after Cloud Solaris’ death,” the Empress said matter-of-factly. “That is also something I have seen more than once. Some ponies take the deaths of those they care about harder than others. For some, it utterly breaks them.”
“Small mercies Mom isn't anywhere near as crazy as that,” I grumbled. “Still doesn't change we're not really getting along at the moment.”
“I know, but I think that perhaps it is important that you understand at least part of what the Circle is.” The Empress stopped before a portrait of Old Queen Celestia, one that featured her in her full grandeur when she still held the mantle of the sun. “While she still lived, Celestia was one of my closest advisors. She wanted to ensure that others would take up her role after her death. In that capacity, the Circle is an invaluable resource. Celestia and I ... did not always agree, but her perspective usually at least merited consideration.”
“So you ... don't see them as traitors?” I hazarded.
She hook her head. “Those who hold to Celestia’s original vision, no. However, as you have noticed, the Circle also includes ponies like Starlight Glimmer.”
“It's like most groups in that even those with a similar ideology can have very differing opinions.” Certainly there were plenty of examples of that. In fact, I had trouble remembering any organization where that wasn’t true. Organizations were made up of ponies or other sapient creatures, after all. And when you got a bunch of individuals together, differences in opinion are bound to crop up.
The Empress nodded. “Exactly.”
Now that the topic of the Circle had been broached, I decided to move onto some of the stuff that was really bothering me about them. “It was just a ... shock to find out about the Circle. I had no idea that it existed, or that so many ponies I knew were involved.”
“They should have been honest with you.” Grandmother returned to my side to guide me to the couch.
“I really wish they had been,” I grumbled, that pain of being lied to returning.
“As do I, my child. But we must live in the world that is, not the world we wish for. Expecting perfection out of it will only lead to disappointment.”
“Isn't that the truth...” I looked up at her, frowning. “Why didn't you tell me about them?” It felt almost like a breach of trust to broach the question. I wasn’t in the habit of questioning the Empress. She usually had very good reasons for doing everything she did, even if I didn’t always know what those reasons were, but this was something I needed to know.
“I didn't want to put you in a difficult position, my child,” the Empress answered gently. “Perhaps that was a mistake.”
I groaned and applied my hoof to my face. “That was the same excuse I got from them.” It was an effort to suppress my anger. Blowing up in front of the Empress was one of the last things I wanted to do. I had already done enough of that in front of everypony else. That was part of why ... things turned out as they did with Cloud.
“You were our little girl, Twilight.” She tipped up my chin so that I would look into her emerald eyes. “I remember holding you the day you were born. Your first day of school. The day you earned your cutie mark and I announced you would be my student. It can be hard for anypony to see that wonderful little filly and think about dragging her into the less pleasant aspects of the world. We wanted to spare you from all our adult games of politics. As I said, we underestimated you; you deserved to know the truth sooner, but understand why we did so. It wasn’t because we thought less of you, but because we wished to save you the pain we knew it would bring you.”
My eyes returned to the floor. She did have something of a point. Learning about the Circle had hurt, and I couldn’t really think of a time when finding out about everything wouldn’t have negatively affected me to some degree. There didn’t seem to be an ideal point to tell me, in any event. It wasn’t an easy truth for me to admit, but I knew it was the truth.
“So, how do I deal with it going forward?” I wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing my upper leg. “I feel terrible about all those arguments I got into with everypony, and ... I don't know.”
My grandmother drew me close to her with her wing, all but engulfing me in a feathery embrace. “Family always says things they regret when they fight. Part of knowing a pony so well is knowing exactly how to hurt them. It’s why it hurts so much to argue with family.”
“That's a long way from me liking it,” I said.
“I would be very worried if you did like it, my child.” She gave me a nuzzle. “Talk to your mother. Give her a chance, and I know she will too.”
I frowned at the idea but nodded in acquiescence. “I will. That mess with Cloud and Starlight put a certain perspective on things.”
One of the Empress’ eyebrows rose inquisitively. “Oh?”
When I finally spoke, it was with a quiet voice. “I don't like the idea of ... having unfinished business with my mother. If things hadn't gone as well against Starlight as they had... The idea that one of my last conversations with her could have been me yelling at her—half of it about things I hadn't even been right about—doesn't sit well with me.”
“Child...” Grandmother drew me against her chest.
It started slowly, first a sniffle and then the tears came. Soon I was sobbing into her coat. All the pain, terror, and confusion of the last few weeks poured out of me in a torrent that I couldn't stop. I felt like a confused and hurt little filly after everything that had happened and for this moment, I couldn't hold my emotions in check.
Grandmother gently shushed me and rubbed my back. “It's okay, my child. Let it all out.”
I lost all track of time as I cried in her embrace. Eventually I cried myself out and started to pull myself together. Looking me over, Grandmother wiped away my tears with a handkerchief. “Feeling better now?”
I sniffed and nodded stiffly. “A little.” Part of me felt ashamed of having lost control of myself before my teacher and empress, but the damage was already done where that was concerned. To my relief, she didn't seem upset by my crying fit as she looked me over with concern.
“After what you’ve been through, it’s not surprising,” Grandmother said, almost as though reading my mind. She smiled sadly as she finished wiping at my eyes. “Don't worry. You’re not the first pony to cry on my shoulder over the centuries.”
“Okay then.” She gave me the handkerchief and I used it to blow my nose. “Sorry. It’s just that intellectually you can understand what death is, the risks for it happening when taking certain actions, but to face it like that...”
The Empress sighed and nodded. “You were too young for such a thing. But then, weren't we all, the first time? I know I was full of fire and vinegar to prove myself when I went on my first assignment as a magus. Spilling blood for the first time was ... not what I had expected. Then, despite my best efforts to give her a nice and easy first mission, Midnight faced a much greater threat than any of us realized. The same for your mother and brother, now that I think about it.” She smiled and stroked my cheek with maternal love. “Still, you were equal to the task, even if the danger was far greater than I realized. I am very proud of you, my child.”
I couldn't help but smile with pride at the praise. “That much is good to hear.”
“Now then,” Grandmother said, her tone switching to something a bit more serious. “Do you promise to talk things over with your mother? I don't like to see my family fighting one another.”
I nodded. “I will. I might want a couple of days to pull myself together after everything that's happened, maybe write a couple of practice speeches about what I want to tell her, but I promise not to procrastinate anymore than that.”
“Good.” She hugged me again and I hugged her back. “I love you, Twilight.”
“And I love you too.”
The day after returning to Canterlot, I had met with Fluttershy, Derpy, and Rainbow Dash within the Empress’ vault to tell them what had happened to their friend. My verbal and written report of the incident hadn't made the retelling now any easier for me. Not that I had room to complain considering I hadn't even known Cloud—unlike the ponies before me.
Their reactions were about what I expected for the news. The sudden death of a friend wasn't something that could be taken lightly. Fluttershy whimpered softly to herself, with both of her hooves covering her mouth. Derpy’s face had whitened, her mouth half agape. Rainbow’s face was every bit as ashen as Derpy's and her wings were outstretched as though she were ready to leap at a moment’s notice, though the conflicting broil of emotions rolling over face revealed the indecision over what to do just yet.
“Thiscan'tbehappening, thiscan'tbehappening, thiscan'tbehappening...” Rainbow murmured to herself, probably without realizing she was doing it loud enough for everypony to hear.
Fluttershy took a deep breath and her voice came out as a croak. “Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be,” I said, trying to find a way to soften the final blow. “We tried a number of spells and rituals to see if it wasn't, but...” I shook my head. “I'm sorry, but she's gone.”
Fluttershy bit her lip. “But you didn't find a body...”
Derpy shook her head. “An explosion like that wouldn't leave much, if anything.”
Rainbow’s wings tensed as her face twisted into a snarl. “Then maybe you're just not trying hard enough!”
I blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?”
Derpy put a restraining hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Rainbow...”
“No! It’s true!” Rainbow jabbed a hoof in my direction. “Cloud’s gone because these two weren't good enough! You should've brought us along! I could have saved her!”
“I wasn't allowed to just bring anypony along, Rainbow,” I said, though my heart wasn’t in it. The Empress probably wouldn't have let me bring all the bearers of the Elements on a potentially dangerous mission. It had been difficult just to convince her to let me and Sunset go. But I hadn’t exactly tried. I had trusted that Sunset, myself, and the escort the Empress sent with us would be good enough.
“What about this moron Trixie you went with?” Rainbow frowned. “You brought her along despite her being an idiot.”
I narrowed my eyes. “The Empress assigned her to help us—and I’ll have you know she’s actually a really skilled magus.” I didn’t like the idea of Rainbow criticising Trixie when she wasn’t here to defend herself. Sure, Trixie wasn’t perfect, but she had put her neck on the line for us.
Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure sounded like it when everypony else was doing her job for her. For being so great and powerful, she didn’t do any better at saving my friend.”
Fluttershy’s eyes turned to the floor, her ears wilting. “It doesn't sound like there was much you could do.”
“Exactly,” Derpy reluctantly conceded. “What could we have done that three high-ranking mages couldn't?”
“How about not let Cloud fly off to get herself blown up by her crazy ex?” Rainbow demanded, tears welling up in her eyes. “Would that really have been too much to ask for? She was our friend!”
“You think I wanted her to blow up?!” I snapped back at her. “I went there to save her!”
“But you DIDN’T!” Rainbow’s chest heaved and a sob escaped her gritted teeth.
Fluttershy spoke soothingly, but I could hear the strain in her voice. “Rainbow, do you really think Twilight would do less than her absolute best to save our friend? I asked her to help when she didn't have to, and she found Cloud when nopony else could. She was almost badly hurt when she tried to get Cloud back. It isn't fair to blame her for what happened.”
“That isn't good enough!” Rainbow shot back. “Her best is clearly crap! If she couldn't stop Starlight and save Cloud, how's she going to hold up when Nightmare Moon comes calling?”
That ... I didn't have a good response to that. Would I be good enough to face Nightmare Moon when the day came when I couldn't save Cloud from some run-of-the-mill lunatic?
Derpy rounded on Rainbow. “Rainbow, that's enough! This isn't helping anything!”
Rainbow didn't back down a step to the challenge. “And what, patting her on the head and going ‘Oh well, you tried—here’s a gold star,’ is? Cloud is DEAD! And nothing is bringing her back!”
I winced and looked away from Rainbow’s furious glare.
Fluttershy shifted to stand besides me. “I wouldn't have asked Twilight to help if I didn't think she would do her best.”
Rainbow continued to glare, but it was undercut as tears streamed from her eyes. “It's not a matter of her ‘doing her best.’ Kids putting on a play do their best. When it comes to saving lives, doing your best isn't enough if you still fail!”
Fluttershy took a deep breath and spoke with a strained voice that risked cracking. “Rainbow, sometimes ... sometimes you can't save everyone.”
Derpy nodded. “You can do everything right and still lose, Rainbow. That's life.”
“So what?” Rainbow hiccuped and turned her back to us. “We should just shrug Cloud off as a practice run?”
I opened my mouth to reply but then stopped myself. Hadn’t I convinced the Empress to let us go to Manehattan because this was an opportunity for Sunset and me to get some experience before facing Nightmare Moon? I had made that argument so that I could see this matter through, but might it have been better to let more experienced ponies go?
Or maybe I was just looking at everything with hindsight. Maybe all of us were.
“No. But what happened wasn't Twilight's fault, it was Starlight's.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I should've known there was something wrong. I knew Starlight was trouble...”
Rainbow let out another sob before kicking over a nearby bookstand. “S-stupid Cloud ... she always could pick the worst ponies imaginable to lust after...”
“Come here, Rainbow. C'mere...” Derpy drew Rainbow into a hug and covered both of their faces with a wing. Rainbow returned that hug fiercely like she was a life preserver and cried into her shoulder. “I don't want... I keep wanting to tell myself that she's just going to come through the door tomorrow, or that I'll wake up in a minute.”
“Did any of Starlight's allies get away?” Fluttershy asked quietly, and there was something in her voice that set off an alarm in me.
“There are probably still equalizers somewhere in Manehattan,” I answered. “I think we got everypony in the manor, and the Ministry is interrogating everypony we captured. I’d be surprised if they hadn’t made some more arrests. Knowing the Empress, she had probably told her agents to crack down on the equalists. Between Sunset and I nearly being badly hurt, Cloud being killed, and the fact that Starlight had threatened the throne itself, the Empress was going to reduce the threat they posed.” At least that’s how things were going to go if I had to guess based on how my grandmother usually reacts to stuff like this.
Fluttershy trembled, and she bit her lip as she clamped her eyes shut. “I want to help make sure this never happens to anypony again. All we can do is make sure nobody else is hurt, and that the ones responsible are brought to justice.”
“Fluttershy, what are you planning on doing?” I asked. “Maybe we should—”
“I need to go,” Fluttershy interrupted. Before I could object anymore, she was gone. Something told me I could go after her, but what could I tell her to make her stop? I couldn’t think of anything.
Rainbow broke her hug with Derpy and marched off of after Fluttershy. “Knew we couldn’t trust a nag like you,” she growled as she passed me on her way out of the vault.
I was too beaten down to reply to her barb. The only good thing I could say about this meeting was that at least Sunset wasn’t here. Something told me that she and Rainbow would’ve gotten into it if Sunset had also been here to give the news, and I had wanted to avoid that. Not that things had gone all that much better.
Derpy sighed. “Look, I know you did your best. Rainbow does too, deep down anyways. Give her time, and ... it's just...” To my surprise, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
I blinked in surprise but hugged her back. “I understand. I ... don't exactly have many friends, but I can understand that it hurts.”
Derpy grunted and let me go. “We've... Empress, we go all the way back to Flight Camp, and...” Her words broke up with a squeak as her eyes started welling up with tears. “I'm going to ... um. I'm going to check on Rainbow. Be back.” She exited the vault in a hurry, and I could hear her breaking down as she left.
I slumped down on a nearby cushion. “Great job finding Cloud, Twilight. You sure are a winner.”
I returned to Sparkle Manor later that day. As I promised Grandmother, I was going to talk with Mom. Not that I expected this to be an easy conversation, and I had perhaps delayed it a bit longer than I should have. Grandmother had already set the sun and I was running the risk that Mom might head to bed early that night.
Steeling my courage, I went looking for Mom. I found her in the manor library, lying on one of the old couches in the room in the middle of reading a book. “Mom?”
Mom’s ears perked and she turned her head to face me. “Twilight.” She took a deep breath, though whether it was one of relief or to calm herself I couldn't tell. “I heard you had some ... trouble.”
“I was sent on my first magus assignment.” No sense denying the truth and something she probably already knew.
Mom sat up, giving me her full attention and setting her book aside. “How did it go?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. This was a part of our conversation I knew I wasn't going to enjoy. Especially after my report to the others earlier that day. “Do you want the full truth, or the version that will make you feel better?”
“I think we both need the truth,” she said with a slightly reproachful look.
I sighed and nodded. She did have a point. Keeping secrets or sugarcoating what happened wasn't going to fix anything, and it wasn't like the Empress didn't know what was likely to come up between us when she encouraged me to talk to Mom.
I gave Mom the unabridged version of everything that happened. By this point I had all but memorized the story, even if that didn't make it that much easier to tell it again. By the time I finished, Mom was grimacing. For that matter, she hadn't stopped grimacing since I got the part where we found Cloud. “So it's even worse than I heard.” She shook her head as she let out a sad sigh. “I'm just glad you made it back. I don't even want to think about the idea of you being hurt.”
“You and me both.” My ears wilted. “Not everypony else was so lucky.”
“Magus work is hard and dangerous.” She took a deep breath. “I'm glad you didn't ... I would not have wanted things to end this way.”
I rubbed my leg, as it wasn't hard to deduce what she meant. After all, hadn’t I said that wasn’t how I would have wanted things between us either? “Same here. What happened with Starlight ... put a certain perspective on everything. I didn't want one of my last conversations with you to be us yelling at one another. To act like we couldn't stand to even be in the same room.”
“Neither would I.” Mom stood up from the couch. She looked at me for a long time, looking older than I was accustomed to seeing her. Then she finally, if hesitantly, hugged me.
I hugged her back, even if the gesture felt awkward. “I don't want to fight with you anymore, Mom.”
Mom sniffed and nodded shakily. “It hurts too much.”
“It does,” I agreed.
She rocked me in her hug, something I hadn't realized I needed until I was in the embrace. “So can we make peace?”
I nodded and gave my mom a squeeze. “I would like to.”
Mom slowly broke the hug, but she kept a firm hold on my forelegs. “Even if we don't agree, we're still family.”
“That seems like something that we should keep in mind,” I agreed.
“I never forgot it,” Mom said, an unyielding look in her eyes as she stared at me.
I winced. Mom probably hadn't intended for that to sound as accusatory as it had, but it still stung—a lot. Looking back at everything, I had done things I wasn't very proud of. “I ... kinda did.”
Mom put a supportive hoof on my shoulder. “I think we both said things we regret.”
“Can we put it behind us?” This certainly wasn't something I wanted to dwell on forever. Not that it felt like I had a right to demand forgiveness from Mom. Yes, she had lied to me, and that fact probably wasn't going to go away overnight, but that didn't justify how I had acted towards her. I should have dealt with what I had learned differently than I had.
“I would like to,” Mom admitted. “I should have been honest with you a lot sooner, and I plan on being better about that in the future.”
“Thanks.” I rubbed my eyes. While I felt a lot of relief from finally getting all of this off my chest, the experience still left me profoundly drained. “Everything has just been too much lately.”
“I know.” Mom led me to the couch and we sat next to one another. “I can't imagine how Tor's going to take this.”
I grimaced as the topic turned back to Cloud. Probably inevitable now that Mom and I had patched thing up again. “You mean Cloud's father? Trixie said she was going to take talk to him and the rest of Cloud’s family. Something about how they would probably prefer to hear the news from an experienced guardpony.”
Mom sighed and nodded. “I don't envy her.”
“Me either,” I agreed. “Her friends took it pretty hard too.”
Mom rubbed her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. “The Circle is going to have a hard time dealing with this.”
“How bad is it going to be?” I might as well learn a bit about the Circle while I was at it. If keeping secrets was what had driven a wedge between us, then maybe some honesty would help mend things. Not that I expected Mom to tell me everything, for reasons of operational security, but at least she would be honest with me if she told me that was the reason she couldn't tell me everything.
“You remember what I said about how the Circle has its own divisions?” Mom asked.
“I do.” That had been one of the biggest revelations I had heard about the Circle since I had discovered its existence. Not that I knew many details about those divisions quite yet.
“Starlight was in one faction, while Cloud was in another,” Mom explained. “And what we’ve been able to piece together, Starlight killed Cloud and turned her into some sort of undead abomination. There’s going to be serious fallout from that.”
I couldn't help but grimace. “That sounds like the type of thing that could start an internal conflict. It probably didn't help that I killed Starlight.” Near as I could tell, the Circle seemed to recruit pretty heavily among family. That made a type of sense; after all, if you couldn't trust family, then who could you trust? In addition to ideological divides, there were also familial clans within the organization. But by the same token, it made things so much more than just a betrayal if someone broke faith, or worse—actually killed someone else. Depending on how the Circle dealt with internal divisions, this could have serious repercussions both within the Circle and without.
“Exactly.” Mom frowned. “I'm going to be very busy trying to put out this fire.”
“Wish I could help, but I'm probably the wrong pony for that.” The fact I wasn't a member of the Circle and that I was knee-deep in this mess pretty much disqualified me.
Mom waved off the issue. “The Circle can take care of itself, Twilight. You focus on your own life.” She sighed. “I don't want to drag you into my problems.”
I placed a hoof on her shoulder in support. “We're family, aren't we?”
“Yes. Yes we are.” Mom wrapped a leg around me and pulled my head to her chest. “But here’s the thing: you have your own life to live, and you're doing important work for the Empress. Cloud ... she was pulled into the Circle because of her family. I don't want that to happen to you.”
That put a certain perspective on things. I had to wonder how many ponies had ended up joining the Circle out of a feeling of familial obligation? The idea that Cloud might have died for an organization she didn’t really want to be a part of was ... depressing.
“That does make a bit of sense,” I finally said. “I'm probably going to have a lot on my plate anyways.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Do you have any idea on how to activate centuries-long dormant ancient artifacts of great power?” It was a pretty fair guess that the the Circle knew all about the Elements and the Empress’ designs for them, even if they didn’t seem to have a unified policy on what to do with Nightmare Moon after she had been defeated.
Mom shook her head. “Sorry, not without months of careful study.”
“Didn't think so,” I grumbled. I was starting to become seriously worried about how little progress we were making with the Elements. We might need to start to take more extreme measures in short order. Looking at the history of other magical artifacts offered at least a bit of insight into how to activate them, though a lot of them weren’t particularly pleasant. But for now, I decided to ask Mom about something she might have an easier time helping me with. “How about some relationship advice for Sunset?”
Mom smiled and stroked my mane. “You two seem quite happy together.”
I also smiled as I nuzzled her. “I like to think so.”
“That's the most important thing in any relationship.”
“Though her place is a bit on the small side for the both of us,” I said. “There isn’t exactly enough room for both of our book collections.”
Mom chuckled at that. “You could always come home. It’s been kinda sad to have two of my babies out of the house.”
“I guess.” I bit my lip. “Though I do like being with Sunset too.” Ugh, this was going to be one of those type of decisions where I had to pick between two things I liked. “I don't suppose I could invite Sunset to stay here too? We would have a lot more room here than in her apartment.”
Mom frowned and stopped stroking my mane. “Ah. That would be ... awkward, if I’m going to be honest.”
I groaned and rubbed at my cheek, still feeling tired, but at least not as stressed as I had been a little bit ago. “Thought it would be.” Go figure, my parents would find it awkward to have their daughter bring her fillyfriend under their roof. Especially since we were … um. Intimate.
“But I could spare some bits to help you two get a nicer apartment,” Mom said. “Though honestly, I'd have to imagine Sunset's place is small by choice rather than because of her budget. Really, what you should be doing is asking her what she wants. There’s no sense making these type of plans without her.”
That seemed logical. Sunset wouldn’t exactly be thrilled if I made a major decision like that without talking to her first. It felt like I had already pushed my luck with moving in with her on short notice. “I'll make sure to ask her what she thinks next time I see her.”
Mom nodded. “Take it from me, communication is the key to a happy relationship.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know that, Mom. I read it in a book.”
“Not everything about relationships can be found in a book, Twilight,” Mom chided lightly. Still, she kissed me on the forehead. “I just want you to be happy.”
“Thanks.” I let out a relieved sigh as I leaned against Mom. “After everything that's happened, that's good to hear.”
“That will never change. No matter what.” She nuzzled me in the way only a mom can.
I wasn’t going to pretend there weren’t hard days ahead for all of us, but at least this much was going right.
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
1,010 users online
431,553 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Bittersweet but full of good feels at the same time. I think this is actually going to bring the Elements closer together. Rainbow's angry now but she seems to be more angry at herself than Twilight.
Fluttershy being on the war path kind of scares me.
Losers always whine about doing their best. Winners go home and
the prom queen.
I just love Fluttershy going out to start some shit. That's an interesting development for her, considering she started as an honorable knight.
I really like how Rainbow was in her AU element here, being brutally honest as that's the only way she could have reacted. And it's still consistent with her mainline Winningverse characterization.
Sighs. I am afraid this arc was everything i feared it would be down to the letter. It really had nothing. Maybe some character development but one utterly reliant on randomly murdering one of the characters, and one supposedly needed. this is the same exact issue AS the incident with Pinkie pie. Reliance on ending a character's development for the sake of others.
The worse part is that this is the second time that this has happened. Are the elements of harmony so cheap in your opinion that ANYONE is a good enough? That further creates more issues. The chosen ones for some magical artifact, hell chosen ones who were CHOSEN by it to begin with, should not be so easily replaced or disposed of. Just for character development that, honestly, becomes hollow because of the reality of the death. How unnaturally it is set up.
Honestly this repeat of character death simply does not sit well with me. It borders on the realm s of lazy writing.
True the chapters presented were written by another, and the reaction of the characters is good, but the issue stems from your killing off yet another character. The reactions someone else wrote saves it from just being plan lazy, but honestly i have not much hope for the rest of the story if this is the norm of it all.
I know this is Starlight we are talking about, but still it bothers me how the only ones who seems to oppose Sunbeam´s rule and dare to do something about it are either evil, incompetent, or a mix of both. It kinda validates Her Royal Sociopathicness.
7950971
I agree with most of what you say, except the "chosen one" part. The cliche that the protagonist must have been born within the right bloodline and under the right star to accomplish things and screw the rest, including those who actually work for it, is old and trite even in Equestria.
7950971
I don't know if I would say lazy writing as I am getting more of a feel that it is done to be edgy but that really is no better IMO. To me it feels like we are doing things just to show that this world sucks and bad things can happen but unfortunately I do not get a good feeling of being attached to THESE characters rather I am attached to what these characters were before in many cases. This is especially problematic with Pinkie as we get very little time to get something out of her cameo and then she is taken to show that the world is crappy. We do not get a good idea on how this changes things either or how she was really different and in this sort of story that is one of the things many people will look forward to seeing.
Batshit Crazy Starlight remains the best Starlight... it was interesting to see her go down hard in this reality, although sad that she took Kicker with her. Honestly, I think that CK was a fine choice to play up the differences in this alternate reality by letting her come to a bad end (if indeed she's truly gone... lack of bodies always make me suspicious.). The importance of the character to the Mane cast here is inferred based on her relationships in the other continuity, but she was largely expendable within this one.
It's odd to see Trixie live up to her name for once, but she was a dynamic part of the fight scenes, and I had to love Twilight, Sunset and Trixie teaming up to curb-stomp Starlight in any reality. The story also did a good job of forwarding Twilight and her crisis of loyalty. It was interesting to see such a seemingly sensitive and caring Empress there at the end... she does keep me guessing.
I enjoyed this side adventure, and I look forward to the thing with Dash and whatever Fluttershy is up to coming to a head!
Yeah, this really didn't get the element bearers any closer to all being friends with each other, did it.
These were two nice chapters.
and so the empresses lies are beginning to form cracks.
It's a trope of the Super Hero genre You Don't See a Body, They Ain't Dead.
For the rest, I said that the group should handle this together to build cohesion. They didn't & now look. I strongly recommend a few group missions.
At least something went right. That bit with Rainbow was... quite painful.
But seeing Sunbeam show some (seemingly) honest emotion and care, as she did before the confrontation Twi had with others, was a really nice thing to read about.
OK. I have two questions about this branch that are bugging me.
1. What happened to Lyra? If she's dead, then that opens up another character spot for more unsavory viewpoints. If she's alive, then she could/would have shed more light on what happened that night. So where the hell is she?
2. Did Cloud's armor provide magic resistance or magic absorption? If it was magic resistance then she might still be alive even after being at ground zero of a magical explosion. If it was magical absorption, like Shadow's Armor which I initially thought it was, then wouldn't bringing it into contact with Starlight's over saturated self start to bleed it off?
And this doesn't even begin to convert the whole whatever happened to Cloud bit. So many unanswered questions.
Call me paranoid, but am I the only one who wonders if this outcome was planned? Lyra kills/severely inures Cloud, causing Starlight to go full crazy, thus no matter what the outcome, the Circle gets burned by the fallout. It all seems a little too convenient.
I feel like I'm reading some sort of alternate reality fanfic where the Nazis won World War II and the Gestapo are the heroes.
7956640
To be fair, the Empire is more about cultural assimilation than genocide. Sunbeam considers every race as children to be guided... one way or another.
7956640
7978266
Sunbeam is 'Do what I want or die' in the end. She's definitely fascistic, and the Ministry of Heart is flat out Orwellian Secret Police with a slightly nicer slant.
Like, my one hope here is this is all building to the 'Sunbeam is not a good pony, and the reckoning comes due' because...yea. I'm pretty sure Chengdar is aware of that, but at the same time - well, I mean, I have to think if Putin had 900 years to consolidate an Empire he'd be much like Sunbeam in many ways.
7956640 Not... exactly? But the sorta-good-guys have a secret police, one which is uncomfortably close to a Cheka or Okhrana. And the eternal ruler is comfortable with tolerating a secret society of perpetual rebels.
More like an alternate reality where Czarina Catherine's alchemists gave her the philosopher's stone, and she ended up conquering the world.
Oh damn, Cloud died in this universe? That really sucks, I liked the way she and Starlight were playing off each other (s7 spoilers) and we'll never get to see Cloud play with Starlight's kites *sniff*
Good adventure mad scientist type writing, was fun to read. Also alternate realities are great for killing off loved characters.
Hope to see another chapter sometime soon.
After several years of following the Winningverse without really creating an account on FimFiction, I just couldn't do it anymore after reading "Broken Circle". What an AMAZING chapter. It's one of my all-time favorites, alongside Pretty in Pink, for how it managed to surprise me and shatter my heart at the same time. I loved it! Thanks for creating this amazing universe for us!
I'm going to have to personally disagree with everyone saying that having lots of characters die is an inherently bad thing.
The biggest issue I have with most stories is the sheer amount of plot armor the main characters have. There's just no stakes when you're almost certain noone important will die until the very end of the story.
It's true that this might not be good storytelling, but it's certainly more believable.
As to complaints that the solar empire is a fascist dictatorship:
It might be sort of fascistic, but at least Sunbeam isn't actively conquering other countries by force. If (and only if) the historic accounts are correct, the conquering mostly happened as a direct response to enemy invasions. Personally, I don't really see that as nearly as bad. Especially as they're apparently full citizens now (again, assuming the sources are correct. We don't know how much is propaganda).
The dictatorship part is less of an issue in my opinion. The principle issues with dictatorship is incompetency, oppression required for the sake of keeping power, internal power struggles and succession issues.
Sunbeam isn't particularly more or less incompetent than any democratic elected leaders nor than Celestia, so that's not that much of an issue. From what I can tell from the story so far, ponies seem to still be mostly free to do as they please. A bit heavy on regulations maybe, but that's highly disputable as to whether or not that's bad.
Oppression for the sake of maintaining power is honestly the biggest issue here, but it's also not that bad. Yes, Sunbeam is probably being excessively harsh on attempts to undermine her power. However, so far none of the things the MoH did significantly affected innocents. Starlight turned out to be leading the Equalists, and the Nightmare cult should be obvious. AJ was merely detained for a week until she told her story, and after that she was freed (from what I can tell at least) and Braeburn, the pony she was covering wasn't even imprisoned (at least not for long, as he's in Appleoosa right now). Not to mention that she apparently dismantled the nobility, which is something I'll never complain about.
We do know that most ponies are apparently afraid of the MoH, but we don't know if that's merely due to rumors as no pony has so far brought up any actual examples. So insufficent information either way really.
Internal power struggles: Well, I should probably clarify what I actually mean with that. The thing with dictatorships is that they're generally not that easy to maintain. Power is given by the people, so you have to get some way of making them give you that power. In order to enforce that, the direct subordinates are always going to have significant amounts of power in order to maintain said dictatorship. Those people usually are going to have to be ambitious to get that high, so you have a relatively instable system where those subordinates conflict with each other.
That doesn't seem to be an issue with the Solar empire as noone can really directly oppose Sunbeam. Or at least, noone believes that they can. And she knows so much it's hard to try to consolidate more power without her express knowledge. That problem with dictatorship, strangely enough, can be solved with a sufficiently stronger dictatorship; her power is not just from agreement but because she raises the sun and moon and is ageless; she is not as dependent on her subordinates.
Lastly, succession, which would be the biggest issue, is none at all.
I'm not sure what the original quote was, but "Democracy is a horrible system. It's just the best one we have." A competent dictator isn't really that much worse than the clusterfuck that comes from having to make uneducated people happy as well. To be clear, that isn't meant as an insult to said people, but when you have no way of knowing who to believe, short term gains with (to you) unclear long term consequences seem like a good thing to choose.
I'll state this one last time. We haven't seen any direct evidence that Sunbeam is being excessively oppressive. She very well could be, but I'd rather withhold judgement until we see more scenarios.
As a side note, Rainbow Dash, I know you're just angry, but go buck yourself.
8608640
Honestly I think that proves my point. Forcing them to work with users that are not ready to use them (by not being friends for instance) will make them useless. Yea you might get a pretty light show but that scene shows that it does not do the job that they are designed to do. The elements are not about making pretty lights they are to accomplish great feats and that scene shows that they are not capable of doing that in the possession of those who are not "worthy" (that is term I am going to use for this though it may not be the most accurate). Right now they are possibly going to be able to create a light show but it will be potentially functionally useless and if so it will be all due to how they are forcing this.
I had to go back and look up what I said so long ago so I think this is following the point I was trying to make back then.
Being that "Equalists" is the name of the group, it should probably be capitalized.
So, is Lyra dead or not? Either way Sunbeam knew more than she was telling. Should have sent the whole group, it could have been a bonding experience. Instead it is tearing the group up.
& it has been almost that long since the last update
Chekov's Law says that AJ will be back
You HAVE finally finished The Lunar Rebellion & that is good
So, in the words of Oliver Twist "Please sir, may I have some more?"
8657066
I actually just finished the super-rough draft for a new Tales chapter yesterday.
8658918
Is there anything left of the palace by now?
Hello, my name us Every Cloud Kicker Fan That Has Ever Lived.
You've killed Cloud Kicker.
Prepare to die.
Seriously, though. First Pinkie, then Cloud and likely Lyra...
Are you George R. R. Martin in disguise?
Oh boy... So, I've been considering reading further, but...
Look, its not bad, but really Sunbeam is not the leader sort. I'm sure theres some reason here she's on the throne and Celestia I assume dead, but judging from the comments, Sunbeam runs a 1984 esque police state alla princess from Adventure time. I have a few thoughts mind, but this debate on tyranny is stupid. Its entirely immoral to force people into being ruled, which is what seems to be the case. And more then likely the whole thing is going to collapse under its own weight soon enough, and since Sunbeam is solely responsible, guess where the blame lies?
I wonder how a letter to herself would go...
"Dear less impressive me,
Its me, Empress Sunbeam, writing to you from the future. Its been many years since I spontaneously became a mare at her peak performance with a side order of wings and have since smashed Discord and killed diamond dogs for some odd reason.
How are you? I'm doing swell. I have a Empire! Do you have one? Mines full of tools... for my amusement! Also a Lyra. I pay her to be somepony I send to ruin someones day.
Well, my masseuse is here! Oh, if you're bored, look for a some fancy Mirror and hit up the humans world! You can totes take them over, their defenses sucked! After most of their world was ash, I took the few nations people left and integrated them! I keep them around for ear scritches, belly rubs, and if of martial promise, to be very angry in my name!
Keep in touch!
Imperial Majesty Sunbeam Sparkle.