• Published 30th May 2014
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The Sun & the Rose - soulpillar



An English knight married a kindly woman, touched in the head, who thought she was an alicorn. She was right.

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Chapter 3: Feathers & piggybacks

Private Styre walked back into the ruined castle's courtyard, alone.

He glanced back to the forest. The stench of that creature clung to his nose, a combination of what he presumed to be sweat and oiled metal. There was something about it, something terrifying and yet pitiful. The way it panicked at Flash Bang's magic tricks wasn't normal fear, not to run shrieking in a single, unbroken pitch. Styre remembered that noise all too well.

He turned back to the camp. From the looks of things, Colonel Purple Dart had picked up from where Celestia left off. His fellow E.U.P guards had already fallen into formation behind him. From the looks of their shiny armour, they were all ready to go in after her.

Styre paused. Ah, right, best get back into uniform. He pulled his mirror-sheen helmet from a hook on his barding and planted it back onto his head. He pressed the blue star on his chest and within an instant, his red coat, yellow eyes and black mane turned white, blue and yellow.

"Private Styre!" The Colonel belted out at him. "Where is Celestia and the creature?"

"The Princess dismissed me, sir," said Styre, gesturing back to the forest and silently thanking Harmony that the Colonel didn't seem to notice. "She's handling it personally."

"Hmmm," the Colonel glanced away, worry etched on his face. "That's what I'm afraid of. I know that she's an alicorn but I'm not sure she knows what she's doing with--"

"SIR!" Styre winced as Flash Bang screamed at the top of his lungs, pointing wildly at the forest. "She's back, sir! Celestia is back! An-… a-and."

The entire unit stared at the treeline, some of their mouths flopped open. Styre frowned, turning to look.

Celestia and the creature walked side-by-side towards them.

Styre mirrored their stunned assessment.

Murmuring immediately broke out among the unit. Some looked ready to rush to Celestia's side, Flash Bang in particular.

"Hold up," said Styre, raising a forehoof, "He don't look like a dangerous lad."

"Yeah and what would an earth-grubber like you know, Styre?" Flash Bang spat.

Styre turned back. "More about animals than you'll ever forget, sparkles. Look at its head, it’s taken off its helmet, see it hanging off its belt? That thing is flesh and blood underneath."

"Uh, I kinda see it?" one of the guards said, squinting at the thing. "Is any other pony having a hard time looking at that thing?"

"Alright colts, simmer down and let them approach, I wanna hear this," said the Colonel.

After three minutes of watching in silence, Celestia and the creature had approached the edge of the unit. Immediately the guards began to grow rigid, lining up in combat formation. The Colonel stepped forward, spreading his wings. His green eyes stared down the brown-eyed creature.

Styre thought that it was just the distance, but he had to admit, there was something extremely off about it. He remembered his mother telling him about 'blind spots' in your eyes. That there was a part of the nerve that light wouldn't work in. Normally you wouldn't notice, your other eye filled in the detail, but if you closed one and looked just right, things just… vanished.

That's what the thing next to Celestia looked like, drifting into and out of reality itself.

Styre glanced back to the unit; perhaps they were idiots, but they seemed to be having even more trouble as he was. They tried to keep their attention on it, but their eyes kept slipping off. Still, by the second they were getting better at focusing near or just past it.

The thing glared at the Colonel, or at least Styre thought it was glaring. He could barely see its fleshy, yet hairy face. What was clear was the sound of a multitude of small joints popping as the end of its right appendage reached up to its belt.

Celestia spared a worried glance to the creature next to her. She cleared her throat into her forehoof, gesturing to the hole in reality.

There was a shuffle of feet and hooves as everypony's gaze snapped to her, including the creature.

"Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce my--" Celestia froze mid-sentence, her eyes widening as if suddenly remembering something. "My uh--"

Styre frowned, there was something more to that. Ain't nopony could call him a genius but he wasn't an idiot.

Celestia cleared her throat again, padding her neck with an apologetic smile. "Pardon me; I am still not quite used to the old equipment. This is Sir Gareth Fletcher," she finished.

The thing tilted its head at Celestia's mention of that… last garble of speech. Styre's eyes narrowed, it understood her.

The unit immediately blinked in confusion. A few worked their mouths, trying to mimic the noise that Celestia just made underneath their breath. Styre found himself trying to do it, (Gar-eth Flaeetcher).

"As many of you suspect," Celestia continued, "Gareth is from the other side of the Mirror. I assure you, he is quite alive and quite safe if treated kindly. He is one of the beings from the other side: a 'human'. He has made the decision, an extremely serious one I might add, to remain here, as Prince-Consort of Equestria."

Styre's head pulled back, his eyes wide and face twisted in utter bafflement. All the while, the unit sucked in a collected breath, glancing at each other in varying levels of disbelief and disgust. Even the Colonel looked like he was about to explode into a tirade.

The thing's head flicked up, letting out a few chirping sounds. Its legs buckled, both half bending, while it swang its bag off one shoulder. Its hands reached down in the flaps, after a few seconds of rummaging he came back with what Styre recognised as parchment, quill and ink.

It flattened the parchment on one knee, dipped the quill and began scribbling.

Styre made an intrigued noise in his throat, squinting down at the human's rapid yet delicate appendages. Celestia smiled. The rest of the guards feigned disinterest.

The creature looked up to Celestia, opening its mouth as it raised an index finger.

Styre's ear twitched as the Human spoke to Celestia in its strange mother tongue. The sound was unlike anything he had ever heard. He expected it to make ape-like hooting or screeching noises, instead its language had this low, pleasing timbre. He hesitated to call them 'groans' but it was the best comparison he had, even then, it was lilting, almost bird-like.

It... no, Gareth lay the parchment on the ground, stepping away. He turned to them, pointing down at it, barking something at them in Humanish.

Styre responded by blinking in confusion and trying to refocus his attention on him.

Celestia's gaze traced down Gareth's arm, to the note on the ground. Her face fell, giving him a sad expression. Gareth just smiled back, nodding.

"Colonel Purple Dart?" The Colonel perked up as Celestia spoke. "Gareth needs a message to be delivered to the other side of the Mirror. This is a note that will both allay his friends’ suspicions and ensure that they do not attempt to enter through."

Purple Dart glared suspiciously over to Gareth. Gareth returned it.

"Very well… Princess. I'll ensure it is delivered once the ink is dried," the Colonel said, working his jaw. He immediately glanced over to Styre, raising a brow.

Styre felt his ears flop. Of course, it'll be his job.

Celestia sighed in relief. She turned to Gareth and pointed him towards the royal chariot.

Gareth frowned at it; his eyes looked over the empty front braces. He grunted back, face twisting in what the Styre was beginning to recognise as confusion.

Celestia bobbed her head, pointing at her wings.

Gareth looked to her, then to the chariot, then up to the sky. His face paled. Gareth turned back to her, waving his hands, palms out, and shaking his head.

Celestia let out a burst of somewhat annoyed-sounding Humanish. Gareth just shook his head even more vigorously, protesting loudly.

"What's the hold up, ma'am?" The Colonel asked, the sides of his mouth twitching. He looked like he was trying not to smile at the human's expense.

"Gareth is being a baby, excuse me," said Celestia, "I think I can appeal to his masculinity."

Celestia stepped forward, her long foreleg reaching up to his cheek. She spoke in the most honey-dipped voice that Styre had ever heard. He glanced over the rest of the unit to see that, yes, they were also looking quite interested in what she had to say.

Gareth looked deeply into Celestia's eyes. His hand reached up to wrap around her forehoof.

He opened his mouth.


"Fuck. No."

Celestia and Gareth walked through the thick woods of the Everfree, as they have been doing since they had awoken that day.

She suppressed a frustrated sigh, glancing back at her dirt soiled wings and legs.

They needed to camp out in the Castle courtyard that night. Gareth hid it well, but he was close to collapse. Even Celestia was a bit worn out by the day's events. They both slept like the dead in one of the guard's tents.

Then this morning they set out. On hoof. To Canterlot. From the Everfree.

Celestia glared at out the corner of her eye at Gareth. He walked alongside, using his precious boar spear as a walking staff. He glanced around the woods with barely constrained interest and a near-face splitting grin. Everything about the Everfree intrigued him. She had occasionally needed to nudge him away from following some of the smaller fauna, but he was the one to hurry on when they saw the footprints of some of the larger beasts.

"Gareth?"

Her husband glanced back, turning away from a remarkably gnarled tree.

"What exactly was in that letter you sent to Lord Fletcher? What about your oath to him?" Celestia said, her voice dipping.

Gareth frowned, equipment clinking as he shrugged his backpack.

"Well… Uncle said that I was to bring you back and nothing more," Gareth replied. "I'm still not sure what kind of miasma or other diseases are here. What if I accidently brought back some new variant of the plague? England can't afford something like that, especially not so soon after the civil war. So… I told Uncle to wait for my letter to come at the end of 2 and a half years."

"Two years, four months, dear."

"Right, right," Gareth said, waving her off. "The way I reason, I'll either be fine and there isn't any disease that's particularly lethal… or… I'll be dead. Either way, they'll be fine."

"That's not funny," Celestia muttered. "Are you sure about this, Gareth? You still have time to make it back. You... you don't need to do this."

Gareth stared. A moment later, Cecilia realised that he wasn't looking at her eyes, he was looking at her wings.

Cecilia nervously shifted them, stepping to the side to conceal them from view. She quickly realised that it did nothing to help matters.

Gareth approached. His gloved hand reached out, gently touching her feathers. Fine leather fingers found where the bone of her wing was. He frowned in curiosity, right hand reaching up to his mouth. His canines bit the tip of his middle finger, pulled the glove off, and then stuffed it into his belt.

A chill went up Celestia's spine as Gareth's warm, bare hand began to feel around the base where feather met fur. She turned away the moment she felt herself blush.

Gareth looked up, his expression the pinnacle of clinical curiosity. His right hand reached up, touching the tip of her horn, trailing down to the base. He started playing with her ears, gently pressing and tugging. Celestia quickly folded them back out of reach.

Celestia's blush deepened; a foreleg reached up and swiped his hands away from her. She backed off and pinned him with a glare.

"Are you quite done?" said Celestia, privately thanking Harmony that nopony was around to see that.

An impish grin swept over Gareth's features.

"Can I ride you?" He asked.

Celestia's head pulled back in shock.

"Wh-what? Most certainly not!" She yelped.

"Oh c'mon, no one is around!" said Gareth, spreading his arms out.

"You'd remember," Celestia said, jabbing a forehoof at him and then to herself, "and I could never forget!" She shook her head. "Honestly, a wife bearing her husband on her back!"

"You know I'm going to keep asking," said Gareth, grin widening.

Celestia snorted. "Fine then! I'll let you ride me on one condition; that I get to ride you first!"

Gareth blinked.


"I can't even believe this," said Celestia, now suddenly taller atop her mighty steed.

Gareth marched forward out of the Everfree and into Equestria's verdant fields. Each struggling step punctuated by a groaning huff from his bright red face after carrying Celestia on his back for the past twenty metres. His arms trembled as they hooked up underneath Celestia's hindlegs while her forelegs wrapped over his shoulders.

There was a glint of blue and yellow in the sky as a Pegasus dipped down towards them. Celestia's chest seized as she recognised Colonel Purple Dart.

The Colonel's hooves hit the grass. His face quickly mirrored hers: flat disbelief.

"Princess Celestia… with all due respect, what the buck is going on?" He said, watching a groaning Gareth sway side-to-side as Celestia's weight slowly overcame him.

"Losing a bet," Celestia deadpanned.

Gareth halted, struggling in place. He looked up at the burden on his back, then to the Pegasus in front of him. At once, he made a most curiously squeaking noise before collapsing. Celestia yelped to the ground with him, both flopping into a heap of flapping feathers and clinking metal.

Celestia stood first, untangling herself from his limbs and carefully stepping away.

Gareth let out a groan, still trying to get his wind back. He twisted in place in the grass, huffing and looking up at Celestia with a red-faced, triumphant grin.

The Colonel simply shook his head. "Your majesty? Noble Era 'humbly' requests your presence back at Canterlot," he said, his tone bitter. The sides of his mouth twitched angrily. "You're naturally free to ignore the request. I personally despise the idea that he has been using my Wonderbolts as messenger-mares and stallions, least of all myself. Unfortunately, he's gotten quite good at pulling bureaucratic strings that even I can't override."

"Noble Era?" Celestia asked.

"Ah, quite," the Colonel nodded, his face becoming neutral. "He's the 'leader' of the unicorn noble houses. He is sly, smug and reliable for only one thing; that he will look after the interests of his own 'kind' first, second and third. Remember, he has no special authority over you ma'am, but no-doubt he'll try to impress that idea upon you."

Celestia glanced down at Gareth. Gareth looked back, his face shifted from happy to concerned.

"I don't like leaving Gareth alone like this," Celestia said, turning to the Colonel. "There's still a long ways to walk to Canterlot."

"I understand ma'am. I'll have Private Styre keep an eye on him. He seems to be rather good at that."

Celestia lowered herself down to Gareth's level, her head craning in as her legs folded up. "Gareth?" she switched to English, "I need to leave for a while. I'm a princess here and… well, over two years without me has not made administration any easier. Will you be okay here by yourself?"

Gareth tilted his head to one side before nodding and smiling. He reached forward, patting her on the neck. "Don't worry, love, I understand. Besides, I'm a gamekeeper, I think I can somehow survive on a verdant meadow. Frankly, I'm just glad that I was able to trick you into paying me as much attention as I did."

Celestia paused, the gears ticking in her head. Then she couldn't help it, she laughed, a clear, delighted, noise. She turned to the Colonel, changing back to Equestrian, "Gareth said that he understands."

The Colonel seemed to smile despite himself, "Of course, ma'am."

The two of them stood, Gareth finally had his breath back.

She turned to him, smiling as she did, then leaned and licked his cheek.

Gareth flinched away.

Celestia's blood froze. "Gareth?"

Horror filled Gareth's face as he swiped away at his cheek. He stared at the saliva on his hand, then to her, eyes trembling.

She took a step forward.

He took several steps back.

Celestia's eyes widened. She looked him up and down, trying to think what she just did wrong.

"I, Gareth? I-… g-goodbye," said Celestia in a rather clipped tone. She turned away, an uncertain expression on her face as she opened her wings.

With a single beat, she took to the skies. Flying as far and as hard as she could to forget about what she just felt and saw.


Celestia's hooves hit Canterlot castle's landing balcony.

She retracted her wings, breathing deeply, trying to get her breath back under control.

Celestia felt numb, from her head to her legs. The scene played over in her head. She hovered to the side, watching her lick her husband's face. What possessed her to do that? She could see the discomfort on his face. She knew that this… transformation of hers, couldn't be pleasant for him. Yet it seemed to natural to...

Ever since they were married, when they were near each other, it was often physical. He'd hug her, tug at her, play with her hair. She'd nudge him, stroke his arms and occasionally pinch him when he wasn't looking. It was different now. Celestia knew that in the forest, that was Gareth trying in his own way to come to process it.

A series of hooves hit the balcony floor behind her.

An entire wing of Wonderbolts flanked her. They had escorted her in all the way from the edges of Canterlot. She didn't get a good look at their faces, but she was certain they were the same ones who 'rescued' her from Rockingham.

Celestia shook her head, she couldn'y think about this right now. There was far too much to attend to, even her filth-covered hoofs meant little; she needed to regain control as soon as possible. Then she could decide what to do next.

Celestia trotted forward into the depths of the castle.

The interior had changed little from what she remembered. Guards remained at their positions, servants still served, and tapestries depicting the rotating twin-alicorn flag still hung high on the walls.

However, the shouts and screams of infuriated nobles echoing down from the hall, were new.

The Wonderbolts surged forward, announcing her to the guards on either side of the massive purple doors that lead into the court. With a harried salute, the two unicorns telekinetically gripped the centre of the doors and pushed them open.

The throne room was in a state of utter pandemonium. Ponies from all tribes, Earth, Unicorn and Pegasus, verbally tore into one another with heartless abandon. Some were noble, some were common, but all were in utter disharmony.

A sickening pit weighed in Celestia's stomach, her muzzle twisted in indignation. Celestia unfurled her wings with a loud flick of feathers and wind. There was an echoing 'thump' as a pulse of golden energy spread throughout the room.

She stood high as everypony in the room stopped and slowly craned their head to her.

Celestia couldn't help but take a small amount of pleasure in seeing their eyes widen and their heads bow. She unflinching strode past them, directly to her throne.

Her throne was likewise as she remembered. It lay at the end of a long, red carpet, raised upon a gentle, stepless incline and ending into an oval chair fit for an alicorn. Once again, there was something new. Something even more unpleasant. The throne was currently occupied by somepony else.

Celestia's muzzle twitched in barely concealed ire.

The golden-coated unicorn sat up in her throne, turning away from directing a squad of Royal Guard. His smoothed-down, silver mane befit a unicorn of his stature. Dark brown eyes widened at Celestia's approach, immediately standing. The moment he did Celestia could spy his cutie mark, an open book with blank pages.

Celestia walked up the incline, stopping a yard away from him. "You're in my chair."

Noble Era immediately stood, stepped aside and respectfully gestured to her rightful place, all in one motion.

"Tis' an honour to see you again, your majesty," said Noble Era in a cultured Canterlot accent, his tone was infused with an effortless kindness. "I humbly abdicate the throne."

Celestia glared as she walked past. She turned and sat, gazing out to the circus that her court had become. She couldn't help but think on Noble's tone and his actions. She glanced down at the positions of the Royal Guards, they looked prepared to start to arrest the more… violent dissenters. Painful as it was to admit, she would have done the same in the event of such a riot.

"You are Noble Era?"

He nodded.

"Why did you take my throne?"

"A formality, your majesty," Noble Era said. "My line descended from the original line of unicorn monarchy before Equestria’s reformation. We have always been ready to take on your burden should... something unfortunate happen."

"Ah, thank you," Celestia frowned in confusion. "Wait, why did you just explain--"

"About succession?" Noble Era smiled. "Rumours travel at the speed of sound, m'lady. With all due respect, you've just confirmed your amnesia."

She could have heard a pin drop. Everypony in the room stared, twisting their ears towards them.

Celestia flushed in embarrssment. "Tis' true," said Celestia in a dark tone, "but that does not make me any less the rightful ruler of Equestria. Some monarchs might have thought that you were attempting to take the throne from them. That would be an… inadvisable course of action."

"Nothing of the sort, m'lady. We-- I have always seen you as my rightful ruler," Noble Era said, his voice softening. "Just look at what you've done. The Throneroom was in utter chaos, an you calmed it in an instant. It is you who should bear the Equestria's crown, not mortals such as I. Yet… even the divine can need help at times," Noble Era smiled warmly at her, bowing deeply. "Should you ever need such assistance, be it getting up-to-date on political matters, a messenger or perhaps even just a sympathetic ear to talk to, I would be honoured to help in these troubled times."

The noble unicorn bowed once more, stepping backwards. A second later, he turned and left down the red carpet, never flinching once.

Celestia knew that he was playing his own game. Any fool could tell that. Yet, despite herself, she couldn't help but feel intrigued concerning the nature of this 'Noble Era'.