A New Dawn

by Foals Errand

Chapter 3

Luna snorted, watching as the prosecutor left the courtroom with his briefcase levitating behind him. “Good riddance. You should have heard him, Sister... Accusing Twilight Sparkle of willfully risking her friends’ lives. Bah, a pox on him!”

Celestia watched as he walked away, her ear flicked twice before she closed her eyes. “Relax, Luna, he was only trying to do his job. Something that—had I truly been infected with the Nightmare—you would have appreciated, I’m sure.”

Luna simply snorted before walking over and nuzzling her sister’s cheek. “How are you? I hope you are not in any way harmed from the time which you spent in the dungeons?”

Celestia shook her head. “No Luna, I’m fine. After all, I was only down there for a few hours. Although, I think it would be a good idea to have have the dungeons updated and perhaps given a new name; ‘dungeon’ is rather ominous, don’t you agree?”

Luna shrugged. “They have always served their purpose, whether we call them dungeons or something else, but enough about that. Are you hungry? I know that Twilight has not had anything to eat this morning, and I must admit I myself am too wired to sleep, so…” Luna paused, noticing Celestia look away from her

“Celestia, what was that about?” Luna lifted an eyebrow.

“Well, you heard the judge: until they get more proof, nopony is going to believe who I am. That means I won’t be allowed to hold the court I normally do each day.” Celestia pawed at the floor with her ears pinned back.

“Why is it that I sense I’m not going to like what you say next, Sister?” Luna groaned as she closed her eyes for a moment, a mild headache forming right under her horn.

“Most likely because you already know what I’m going to say, Luna. We are a diarchy. When one of us is unable to fulfil our duties…”

“Then the other must take over. Yes, Tia, I recall. Well... if I hadn’t been convinced that it was only you in there, I would be now. I suppose you expect me to change to a diurnal sleep schedule then?” Luna asked with a grin.

“I thought you were trying to do that anyway, to better get to know the ponies of today?” Celestia asked, cocking her head.

“I tease, Sister, I tease. Yes, I’m trying to become a... how do you say... ‘day pony’? Though, it is not the easiest thing in the world.” Luna swatted at Celestia with her wing as Celestia grinned.

“I wouldn’t know, as the morning never started without my already being awake.” Celestia lifted a hoof and placed it on Luna’s muzzle.

Luna’s lips teased into a smile as she stuck her tongue out. Twilight blinked. “I don't think I’ve ever seen you like this before, Princess…”

Celestia smiled down at Twilight while trying to conceal her much sharper teeth. “I’m afraid, my dear Twilight, that Luna always manages to get through my mask even more than you can, Twilight.” Celestia hesitated, her smile fading away as she laid down on her belly before Twilight so that they were face to face. “Twilight, a-about yesterday, about what I said... I’m sorry, Twilight. I know you so well I should have at least checked to see if you might be right. But I… It was so soon after your, ah... ‘episode’ that I… I’m sorry for doubting you. Can you forgive your foolish teacher, my most faithful student?”

Twilight smiled and hesitated a moment at the sight of Celestia’s mane crackling around her head before nuzzling to her cheek. It’s warm… comforting, almost not hot. It’s like Celestia. “I forgive you, Princess. After all, I could have gone about my accusations better as well. I mean, the way I came in like that... If I hadn’t been me, I don’t think I would’ve believed me, so please understand that I was at fault too, and I know this, ok?”

Celestia smiled. She returned the nuzzle, relieved that her precious student wasn’t angry with her, then her lips set.

“...I’m so glad you aren’t upset with me, Twilight Sparkle. But the fact remains that, because I doubted you, our country was almost conquered, and I don't think they would have let us just continue on with our normal lives; not with the way so many of our guards were wrapped up. I feel we would of been treated akin to juice boxes, and I can never allow that to happen again.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I agree, but what can we do to stop it next time?”

Celestia glanced over at Luna, who stared back at her with narrowed eyes. “No. Tia, you can’t be considering that.”

“I am more than considering it, Luna. I plan to do it,” Celestia replied, before standing up.

“You are mad! Don’t you remember what happened to the last three ponies that had that rite performed?” Luna asked, a shiver traveling down her body, the fur from the tips of her ears to the end of her tail standing on end.

“I do,” Celestia stated simply, before smiling down at Twilight. “But with Twilight, I’m certain that neither of us will go through what they did.”

“You’ll need my assistance to do this, but I refuse to until you explain everything to Twilight Sparkle. Completely no secrets, Celestia.” Luna groaned as her belly growled. “...Preferably after we all have some breakfast. Stand close to me. I’ll teleport us back to your room, Sister, then we can send for breakfast to be delivered.”

Twilight blinked in confusion while watching the back-and-forth between the sisters until Luna mentioned breakfast, at which point Twilight’s stomach gently reminded her of its own emptiness as she trotted over close to Luna, but was very mindful to stay within range of Celestia.

Luna’s horn glowed and the three of them vanished in a flash of blue light, only to appear back in Celestia’s room.

Celestia glanced over to see her glass door shattered and raised an eyebrow at Luna, who shrugged with a goofy grin. Celestia simply rolled her eyes, her horn glowing as the glass pieces flew back into place.

Luna grinned, rubbing the back of her head. “Yeah... Sorry about that, Tia. I was in a bit of a panic.”

Celestia just shook her head while closing and locking her balcony doors. “Now let's get some breakf—” She stopped and sighed, catching sight of her black hoof. “That’s right... Luna, you should be the one to request breakfast. Pancakes and eggs should be good, I believe. Twilight?”

Twilight glanced around Celestia’s room. It wasn’t often that she was in here, and even then it was usually to see something which Celestia was loathe to let out of her sight. She blinked upon hearing her name. “Huh? Oh yes, that’d be fine.”

Luna shrugged and opened the door to speak quietly with the guard standing there. Twilight saw him peer into the room before he turned back to Luna, obviously in doubt of doing what she requested. Luna simply stared at him until he slowly walked away down the hall.

“Celestia, your guards have very hard heads.” Luna snorted as she closed the door and retreated to the couch, where she lazily rolled onto her back.

“The phrase is ‘hard-headed’ and they are no worse than the Lunar guards, I assure you.” Celestia smirked as she sat in front of the fire, poking at the fading embers until it began coming back to life. “Come sit with me, Twilight. The closer we are, the faster this—” She held up the hoof chained to Twilight by a thick golden chain, “—will fade away from sight. Not to mention that the physical representation of it is the smallest amount itchy, to be honest.”

Twilight bit back her giggles and sat next to Celestia’s side, smiling as Celestia’s wing was wrapped around her. “I like your room, Princess. It’s warm, like you.”

Celestia shook her head, but smiled down at Twilight. “I find, my faithful student, that a pony’s personal living quarters is one of the places their true personalities can be fully in view. You say my room is warm, but I’m rather fond of your room, Twilight. Both of them they smell like parchment and that reminds me of you, my faithful Twilight.”

Twilight blushed. “Really?”

Celestia nodded with a smile. “Although the smell of dragon fire also reminds me of you, for obvious reasons.” Celestia blinked as a flash of green fire materialized a scroll. “Well, speak of the dragon. Let's see.” She slowly opened the parchment and smiled as she read its contents. “It’s from your friends. They just wanted to check up on you and make sure you aren’t angry enough to stay here forever, because then Pinkie would be unable to give you a ‘Yay You Were Right About Princess Cadance Not Being The Real Princess Cadance and Saving Her Party and That Would Make Pinkie Super Duper Bummed Out’ party.”

Twilight giggled. “Oh geeze, I hope Pinkie doesn’t try to put all that on a banner... Not that she couldn’t; trust me, I’ve seen her do weirder things. But, well…”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, of course. I understand. Would you like me to write to Spike and let them know that I need you here in Canterlot to assist me with a problem?”

Twilight chewed her lip. “I would be careful on how you phrased it, Princess. Otherwise, they’ll think that you might be a changeling as well and come up here ready to attack you, and then if they saw you like… you are, well... I don’t want any of you hurt. Let me write the response, Princess.”

Luna saw Celestia’s ears pin back as she remembered why Twilight was there. “I know it’s difficult, Tia, but we have the greatest magician since Star Swirl the Bearded here to help us. If anypony can return you to your normal self, it is Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight flushed bright red as she wrote the letter to Spike, assuring him and her friends that she did not hate them, but that she needed to stay in Canterlot to help Princess Celestia until her horn was healed after the magical feed back burn she received. Twilight signed her name, confident that if Spike was unable to explain what a ‘magical feedback burn’ was, Rarity would at least have some kind of idea. Well, at least she hoped Rarity would know what it was. “Princess, would you send this back to Spike, please?”

Celestia nodded before placing her seal on the scroll and concentrating, sending the scroll back to Spike with a burst of green light.

Luna watched, a single eyebrow raised in interest. “You are going to have to teach me that trick, Sister. I imagine it is highly useful.”

“It only works if the recipient is a dragon, I’m afraid. Otherwise the spell is useless.” Celestia smiled, closing her eyes to enjoy the warmth of the fire when she heard a knock on the door. “That must be our breakfast. Luna, would you mind?”

Luna shook her head, lazily getting up off of the couch. She went over to the door and opened it to reveal a maid with a solar guard behind her. “Thank you, I’ll place the cart outside in the hall when we’ve finished with it.”

The maid nodded, trembling as she caught sight of the large black mare. She allowed Luna to take the cart before quickly bowing and turning away.

Luna snorted as she closed the door. “It is not as if you are laughing manically and swearing the Moon will never rise again; you are just sitting there.”

Celestia shrugged. “It’s alright, Luna, I understand her fear. I’m just glad to have you and Twilight here beside me. I don’t know what I would do were I alone.”

Twilight nuzzled against Celestia’s wing. “It’s alright, Princess. I’m not going anywhere we figure this out... I just know we will.”

Luna nodded in agreement, bringing over the three plates of pancakes and eggs. “Indeed, Celestia. We would never doubt you.”

Celestia took the warmed syrup and poured it liberally over her pancakes. “I know, and I love you both for that. What I worry about are the ponies who may hear a rumor or such. Ponies who think they know what is going on are often times more dangerous than ponies who do know what is truly going on.”

---

“I can’t believe it... Are you certain, Lighting Rod?”

Lighting Rod nodded. Once the case had been dismissed and the bond had been forged between the Nightmare and that foolish Sparkle mare, he had hurried as quickly as his legs could carry him to the only pony who could possibly help him: his old school friend and Princess Celestia’s nephew, Prince Blueblood. “I’m telling you the truth, Your Highness.”

Blueblood took a sip of his mocha before licking the bit of chocolate from his top lip... in a regal manner, mind you. “And Auntie Luna and that ruffian student of Auntie Celestia were both there? They were calling for the Nightmare’s release?”

“That’s right, they said just the right things and the judge crumbled. I didn’t even see the point in questioning Princess Luna. The only good news is that she is bound to Twilight Sparkle.” Lighting Rod closed his eyes. The caffeine from the espresso he was sipping was not helping his nerves but he didn’t know what else to do.

“So the judge freed the Nightmare and bound her to Twilit Spackle? Was it not obvious the mare was entranced?” Blueblood cocked his head. “Or is there something you have not mentioned?”

“Yes... well, it seems that Miss Sparkle is immune to the Nightmare due to the Element she is bonded to. The judge felt binding her and the Nightmare would be enough protection.” Lightning Rod sighed, swallowing the rest of his shot.

“What does this mare mean to do? Act in my dear auntie’s place? Run court? Be seen at parties with a black coat? Egads, imagine the fashion!” Blueblood shivered at the idea of what fashion would be like if all the styles were dedicated to dark coats.

“Ah... Yes, Your Highness, but what should we do about it?”

“Right this moment? Nothing. We’ll bide our time until, well… I’m certain that an opportunity will present itself to stop Nightmare once again.” Blueblood grinned as he finished his mocha. “I simply must wait.”

Comments

[Fire Feather]

Cue the ominous music!

[Dimensional Librarian]

Blueblood your a jerk and I think I know plenty of Snipers that have your name on a list so watch your stupid mouth

Sorry just had to get that out

[Rune Caster the First]

Oh no, Blueblood the Useless and Foalish has started hatching a secret conspiracy, becoming very vindictive. We'll have to see if he makes himself more of an idiot than he is at the moment.

Be seen at parties with a black coat? Egads, imagine the fashion!” Blueblood shivered at the idea of what fashion would be like if all the styles were dedicated to dark coats.

Oh please, does that really matter to you?! He's worse than Jet Set and Upper Crust, and they're pretty high up on the Snobbish scale.

[sexy nightmare moon]

blueblood the idiot of time

[Cross Lament]

I'm surprised it hasn't occurred to the gang to give Celestia a dunking in the Elements of Harmony Friendship Laser.

... or take her to the spa for a coat-bleaching.

[TwilightXLuna]

Great Chapter

[nebulaegalaxy]

Why is it always Blueblood??

[nebulaegalaxy]

6718868 Me too.

[Misty Spell]

Noooo Blueblood, down boy! Bad Blueblood! No plotting!

demotivationalposters.org/image/demotivational-poster/0912/douchebags-douchebag-perez-hilton-stupid-celebrities-demotivational-poster-1260144244.jpg

[Jphyper]

This story was so good until you pulled the Willfully Ignorant Villain Blueblood cliché. That's disappointing. It's going to make a lot of things more predictable and OOC from here on out. He's an airheaded dunce, not a thickheaded mastermind.

[Thunder--Clash]

Lovely story, I truly enjoyed reading such a well crafted chapter. Well to my eyes it seems like a well crafted chapter, it was easy to read, the dialog was perfect to the standards that it simply flowed with the rest of the story. SO I say it was PERFECT

Can't WAIT to read more

[Willow the writer]

No prince blue blood! BAD PRINCE! GOTO YOUR ROOM!!!

[Commander Darklight]

oh blueballs just

[Tallow and Port]

Reads last part of chapter Hisssssss! I knew that slimy little rodent, Lightning Rod, was up to something!

[Lore Horse]

Twilight nuzzled against Celestia’s wing. “It’s alright, Princess. I’m not going anywhere we figure this out... I just know we will.”

We will figure this out.

This has a similar plot to another story I read where Rarity was the one who was cursed by nightmare. It had Blueblood trying to play the hero in that one as well. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.