Memories of Gold
Princess Celestia stretched as she got up from her throne, another day of court had finally ended.
“That’ll be all, Raven. Thank you for your work today.” Celestia said. Raven gave a nod of approval before heading off. Celestia began heading to the gardens, her day was not over yet. Princess Luna came from down the stairs, preparing for night court.
“Another outdoor meeting, sister?” Luna said with a knowing smile.
“A princess duties are never done Luna, you know that.” Celestia replied.
“Of course Celestia, but you seem to be working harder during the night lately.” Luna said “Wouldn’t happen to do with certain minister of magic now would it?”
Celestia turned to her sister, smiling. “That is my business Luna, I shall see you later.”
And with that, Celestia headed off for the gardens.
***
As she lowered the sun, Celestia looked towards the gate of her private garden. She knew he would be late, the ministry of magic often delved into ancient magic that required translations of dead languages. Then, as the sun lowered beyond the furthest hill, the gate opened and Celestia stood up to greet her guest.
“Welcome my dear Golden Sword.”
There, still wearing the robes of the ministry, stood her secret love. The tall unicorn gave a deep bow to her.
“Thank you Prin- I mean, Celestia.”
Celestia chuckled. “Well, at least you caught yourself this time.”
Golden Sword blushed as he made his way to Celestia, who had prepared a picnic by the stream.
“Thank you Celestia, I’ve barely eaten since breakfast.” Golden said, wolfing down a sandwich like a starving pony.
“That is something I’ve been wondering about.” Celestia said, taking a sandwich for herself. “Do you and your researchers even eat during the day? Twilight visited you recently and was shocked.”
“We don’t do it on purpose!” Golden retorted, “Amethyst, Emerald, a bunch of others and myself, we all bring food in the mornings, hoping that we can get a couple of rituals done and get a lunch break.”
Golden stood up and looked towards the moon with a sad face.
“But try as we might, the ancient world of magic is a cruel and unpredictable mistress. She plays her constant tricks and causes countless delays and re-trials of the same rituals. Eventually, we look over to all our food and we’re so tired from our work, we shove it aside and continue until we finish our research.”
He turned to Celestia, who smiled knowingly and fell to his knees in front of her, tears falling from his eyes.
“...And we do it all for you, oh Princess Celestia. We do it so we can further our understanding of the ancient world so we can help the ponies of today and tomorrow.”
Celestia rolled her eyes, “Oh darling, you are such a drama queen. Is that passion and constant re-testing the reason why your mane ends are burned?”
Golden felt the ends of his sandy blond mane, which were charred black.
“Today’s rituals involved a tribe of fire sorcerers from the dark age… there were complications… Luckily, I got away with a few singed hairs whereas Scarlet suffered some serious burns, so that’s why I was late.”
“I understand darling, I hope that poor mare is alright.”
“She should be fine, our medical team says she should be back at work in a couple of weeks.”
From there, the conversation drifted from work to other topics as Princess Celestia and Golden Sword eat dinner together under the moonlight, it was nights like this that both of them wished would last forever.
***
On one particular night, Golden Sword brought a book with him. It was large brown book with the symbol of Golden Sword’s family emblazoned upon on it. This wasn’t the first time Celestia had seen it; during Golden Sword’s interview with The Board of Magical Research and Affairs, he had used it to show his research regarding the natural magic of the world.
“Golden, what is that book you keep with you?” Celestia asked.
Golden stiffened and inhaled a breath through his teeth. He looked at Celestia with confliction in his eyes.
“Do not get me wrong, Celestia. I love you but this book-” Golden started before Celestia cut him off.
“If it's like that Golden, then I do understand.” Celestia replied, Golden looked down at his book before once again looking at Celestia.
“No, if I cannot tell you, Princess Celestia, of all ponies about this book, then who can I tell?” Golden said, “Before I can explain what this is, I need to explain something else. Please tell me if the following names ring any bells; Angel Dust, Shining Scale, Brave Lance and Arcane Wing.”
Celestia’s eyes opened wide in surprise, all of those names had been ponies of high importance and power in their own times. Angel Dust had been a minister of her court… nearly 700 years ago.
“Yes I know of those names… how do you know them, Golden?” Celestia asked and Golden smiled, pride filling him with confidence.
“They are all members of my family, I am their latest descendant.” Golden said. “My family moves in and out of the circles of power when it desires to. The family has always held magic as something to marvel at, something to be inspired by and most of all, to be studied. We have wandered from place to place, following stories and legends, learning about magic. All of their findings of all of my ancestors have been written and rewritten into this compendium. It is our treasured secret and has passed down from child to child ever since Angel Dust wrote the original book to pass to her son. It has gone from parent to child to eventually my parents and then to me and I will, eventually, bestow it upon my future children with what it contains but also a warning of the power it could hold.”
Celestia thought back on all the names that Golden Sword had mentioned. All of the history of those ponies, all of their legacy… in one book. It was a sight to behold.
“I understand why you keep in secret Golden Sword.” Celestia said “I promise that you that I will not reveal this information to anypony. Your secret is safe with me.”
Golden visibly relaxed, “Thank you, Celestia, thank you so much.”
“You are welcome, dear. However…” Celestia said with a knowing smile. “You said passed down to your children. Do those children involve an alicorn?”
Golden blushed so hard his coat turned pink. “I-I-I d-do-do… I mean, can-can you have children, P-Princess Celestia?”
Celestia looked down, guilt and uncertainty filled her. Alicorns were immortal beings and she did have a mother… but she didn’t know if she could bear children of her own. Her mother had even said that hers and Luna’s birth was not a normal pony one.
“Golden Sword… I have a seen a lot over the years. I believe that anything is possible, given the circumstances. So, I’m not saying now, but maybe down the road…”
“I would love to.” Golden said, a bit too quickly and Celestia chuckled.
***
“Later this week, in the spirit of better understanding the principles and advancements of magic, the various great mages of our neighbouring countries and allies will be meeting in the Zebrica plains.” Celestia announced, her throne room filled with her various ministers and high ranking members of court. “To this important event we send our own minister of magic, Golden Sword, as Equestria’s representative. On behalf of royal family and Equestria, we thank Golden Sword for his efforts and we wish him the best of luck at the conference.”
A round of applause started as Golden Sword approached the throne, wearing the delegate purple robes. He bowed to Celestia before facing the crowd.
“Equestria has always been at the forefront of magical research and our understanding of magic is the envy of the world.” Golden said, clearly excited about the event. “Ever since my appointment, I have been proud to be involved with that effort thanks to the fantastic team I have with me in the research team.”
Golden looks to his team who were in attendance. “I wish to thank them as well for their hard work and determination on our projects. It has been difficult at times and very painful but we have made it worthwhile… and managing to keep all of our limbs intact.”
The research team openly laughed as Celestia rolled her eyes.
“I give my humblest thanks to the Princess and my fellow ministers for trust me with this assignment. I will return with greater understanding and renewed vigor for my research. Thank you friends, thank you everypony.”
The minister's gave another round of applause and the conversation quickly returned to other governmental matters. After the meeting was over, it was already getting late in the day, soon the only ones left in the throne room were Celestia and Golden Sword.
“A fine speech you gave today, Golden.” Celestia remarked. “Your research team seems very excited for this.”
“As am I, Princess.” Golden replied. “To be able to talk to other high mages from other countries and discuss our research is a dream come true for me.”
Celestia couldn’t help but roll her eyes again. “I swear, if I left you and Twilight Sparkle in the same room together for too long, you’d lock yourselves in a library and would never come back from discussing magic.”
“While getting that chance would be wonderful…” Golden said “If that were the case, that would mean I could never be with you again… and I don’t want to happen, my love.”
Celestia blushed, Golden seemingly always had the right words to say.
“Well then, Golden. Since this will be our last night together for some time, will you spend it with me?”
Celestia winked at Golden and he immediately understood what she meant. After blushing, he smiled at her.
“It would be an honour, Celestia.” He said and with that, Celestia led him away from the throne room and up to the Solar Chambers.
***
With each passing day, Luna was getting more and more worried for her sister. It had been 3 weeks since Golden Sword set off for the conference and he was supposed to have returned by now. Then the news came back to Equestria, Golden Sword and indeed many of the other delegates had gone missing. While the search was ongoing, they had turned up no results.
Despite everything, Celestia still came to day court and kept that same regal radiance that she had maintained over 1000 years of ruling Equestria. While she had other ponies thinking she was fine, Luna wasn’t fooled. Gone was the outgoing and dutiful Celestia and in her place stood a near broken mare who often spent all of her free time in her room. She could tell her sister was in pain and no matter what, Luna refused to allow her sister to suffer in silence, not after what happened the last time. So on one fateful night, when day court finished, Luna approached her sister as Celestia headed up to the Solar chambers.
“Celestia… if you want to talk about it, know I am here for you.”
Celestia sighed and smiled at her sister. “There is nothing to discuss Luna. I am sure Golden is fine and I just have to be patient.”
Celestia tried to walk past but Luna blocked her path.
“Don’t give me that, Celestia.” Luna retorted. “Golden Sword has practically disappeared and there is no results from any of the searches. That would break anypony. You may be able to fool other ponies but you will not fool me.”
Celestia expression suddenly darkened. “Choose your next words carefully, Luna. I am in no mood to be lectured.”
“We both know where bottling up our emotions leads, sister.” Luna implored, “Please Celestia, let me help you.”
“LUNA!” Celestia roared and silenced her sister before taking a deep breath “I appreciate your offer, I truly do… but I just need some time to think about what I can do.”
With that, Celestia brushed passed Luna, her head down. Luna couldn’t help but shed a tear; her dear sister Celestia, for all of her power, wisdom and experience, could be so blind to those around her.
You may not want my help, Celestia. Luna vowed But I will save you from yourself.
Celestia collapsed on her bed, not even bothering to remove her regalia as she started sobbing into her pillows.
Oh my darling Golden Sword, where have you gone? Celestia thought, eventually crying herself to sleep.
***
Celestia was surrounded by a dark forest, the trees bunch so tightly together that the sky was barely visible. She could hear rustling around her. Celestia turned to face the noise, her horn glowing.
“Who is there?” She commanded.
You cannot save him a voice went and Celestia was caught off guard.
All of your power and you cannot help him It continued and Celestia quickly turned around trying to face where the voice was.
You are weak! It finished and suddenly hundreds of pairs of glowing eyes peered through the dark foliage, constantly repeating You are weak!
“That’s not true… I will save him!!” Celestia roared, firing a blast at the eyes, which dodged out of the way.
Well then The voice went Why don’t you try…
“CELESTIA!” a voice screamed and Celestia recognised it instantly as Golden Sword’s. She dashed through the forest, following the source of the voice. She burst through the trees to find a cliff edge blocking her path and a deep ravine. On the other side of the ravine was Golden Sword, his horn covered with a magic blocker and dark figures pushing him towards the cliff.
“Hold on Golden!” Celestia roared, lifting her wings to fly. Suddenly, two dark vines wrapped themselves around her wings, preventing her from flying. Then more dark vines came from the forest and wrapped themselves around Celestia’s limbs, pinning her down to cliff. She tried desperately to use magic but the vines prevented her from firing even the simplest of spells.
“CELESTIA!” Golden scream as the dark figures were done playing around and pushed him into the ravine.
“GOLDEN! NO!” Celestia screamed unable to do anything but watch her lover fall to his doom. Then, A blue aura appeared around Golden Sword and he stopped falling. The sky turned dark as a bright moon appeared in the sky and Luna came from on high.
“Foul demons of the dark.” Luna yelled “As long as I live, you will never hold sway in my sister’s dreams. Her horn then erupted into a bright flash and a powerful blast slammed into the forest, a boom like the crashing of worlds. Celestia found herself free and the forest gone. Luna then turned her attention to the dark figures and using similarly powerful magic, she destroyed them.
She flew down to Celestia’s cliff side, placing Golden Sword down beside her.
“Luna… Thank you…” Celestia said, calming down.
“It is alright, dear sister.” Luna said “I told you that I would help you, even if you wouldn’t ask me to.”
With those words, Celestia could feel tears breach her eyes and soon she knelt at the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Oh Luna… The nightmare is right.” Celestia moaned. “I cannot save Golden Sword from what has happened to him and I can’t even save myself from my own nightmares… I truly am weak.”
Suddenly, Luna stomped her hoof to the ground, getting Celestia’s attention.
“Celestia, if you were weak, then how did you manage to rule Equestria for 1000 years by yourself!!” Luna roared. “How dare you insult yourself and everypony that looks up to you by calling yourself weak?”
Luna’s anger faded and she knelt down to her sister with a smile.
“Dear sister, do you remember those 1000 years you spent alone? You never forgot about me and nor did you allow my name to disappear from history. You took up an unenviable task of ruling our kingdom alone and you did it with grace and with wisdom and when I returned, you helped me come to grips with the modern world and atone for my sins. You have been there for me for countless years and now… I will be here for you.”
Celestia looked at her younger sister and for the first time in weeks, she gave a genuine smile.
“Thank you, dear Luna.” Celestia said and the sisters embraced, the nightmare over.
***
The next evening, Celestia was alone in her room, preparing a spell. Something else had been bothering her recently. She had been having bizarre cravings and certain unspeakable areas had felt tender. Celestia hadn’t been feeling ill but she need an answer. She closed her eyes, slowed her breathing and her horn started glowing. The spell began probing her body, checking everywhere. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary…
Thump, Thump
Celestia stopped, around her abdomen and focused deeper.
Thump, Thump
There it was again, a heartbeat. But it wasn’t hers. It felt small… like… like…
It hit Celestia like a blast from a water cannon and she placed a hoof on her abdomen. She was pregnant… with Golden Sword’s foal.
***
Celestia arose from her slumber, tears in her eyes as a range of emotions filled her. So much had happened and so much had changed. Despite all that happened, Celestia was determined to find Golden Sword and find out what truly happened on the plains of Zebrica.
Small breaths caught her ears and she looked over the edge of her bed to see Mythic Light, still sleeping in his crib. She smiled at her foal, it was partly thanks to him that she felt as good as she did. When Celestia’s world was at its darkest point since Luna’s banishment, it was her foal who gave her light.
She rose from her bed, preparing to raise the sun for the next day. She turned to her foal.
"My little light, you shine everyday I see you."
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What a heartbreaking performance, I hope more on the foal in the future.
Nice to finally see some backstory for golden sword
So…is Celestia preparing for an incursion to Zebrica? If she and Mythic on their way to find Golden whereabouts?
If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
Wow, just wow
So his father had an ancient book of magic that may hold unfathomable power within it and then disappeared mysteriously?
The plot thickens. Is the book now under Celestia's care?
Nice chapter, good work.
YAY this is alive. I love this. Keep up the good work.,
it was worth the wait
stayclassy
Wowsers, this was a unique Chapter. Welcome back big brother. Oh, I made some changes to my most recent chapter of my story "Family of the Night". If you get time, I'd like to hear what you think of the edit.
Damn. Im out of the loop on this story.
Does this mean you're back to new chapters every 2 weeks?
If Celestia and Mythic do go to Zebrica, will they or someone nearby discuss the differences between swallows?
8441270
Go back to the chapter "My time will come"... you'll have your answer
nice to see you back at the storyn looks good so far and will be intresting what happens next
8441225
Do you mean what they would sound like or what voice actors would I have play them?
-Glad to see you back. Enticing as always my friend
Good continuation and bonding backstory. Luna's conmitment to help her sister is an admirable trait that I like about her here. I wonder about Celestia, how will she explain Mythic? And what will he do with the information?
8451071
That might be the case, though that doesn't mean he has to be a jerk about it. A bit of trust goes a long way. And said trust is something Fluttershy granted him when he needed it the most.
My gosh!!!!
IT'S...........ALLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVE!!!!!!!!
Nice chapter! ^^
I call changelings are involved.
8515351
Changelings replace those they capture other wise they would draw attention to them self's.
But someone did find out about the book and what it contains didn't they, and that is why Golden is missing
Someone wanted his book and the knowledge it and the researchers possessed
9733644
Though there's a very good chance that the plans to get their dirty hooves on the book have been in motion for hundreds of years.
It may be, that - as these stories tend to go - Mythic Light will need to protect this book, not just as his charge, but also as part of his legacy.