28 - Call?
Chapter 28: Call?
In some ways, dealing with siblings is harder than dealing with your parents. At least with parents, you have the advantage of being the dependent, but with little siblings they can break you with one stare and quiver of their lips. I didn’t know what to say, other than to kind of stand there like an idiot while my arms were being torn out of their sockets.
Word to the wary. Try to pick a side. Please.
“Harmony!” Celestia practically cooed. “Come on, let’s go watch the sunrise!”
I smiled at her and opened my mouth to answer, but Luna cut in before I could say anything.
“No, it’s not fair, sister! He went out with you a couple of days ago! My turn now!” She wrenched at my elbow and I stumbled a few steps in her direction. Her triumphant grin melted away as Celestia pulled me back with her magic.
“Ow, ow, ow!” I grunted under my breath, but the two fillies were heedless of my plight.
Discord sat on the stool, swinging his legs off the side, viewing the whole thing with some level of amusement. From the way he was munching cookies with his eyes sparkling mischievously, it was clear he was enjoying the chaos that was unfolding in the living room.
“I could use some of your help, buddy,” I called out to him.
“I heard from Star Swirl that you should be grateful if you’re ever in a situation where two mares are vying for your affection. I don’t think he meant it in quite this way though.” Discord paused tapping his claws on the kitchen counter. “He did mention looking at the sunset together or something…”
“What has he been teaching you?”
“All kinds of stuff,” Discord replied excitedly. “Want me to show you?”
“Oh no thanks,” I said quickly, ignoring the quizzical look Discord shot me. “How about you still help me with this?”
“Well I don’t know,” he drawled, eyes darting between Luna and Celestia. “They seem awfully determined.”
“Discord, buddy,” I began sweetly, but he gave me a cheeky grin and disappeared with a flash. Grr. Looks like I’ll have to deal with this on my own.
I looked down and saw two sets of wide eyes. They were silent during the exchange between Discord and me, but now that he was gone…
“Come with me!” Celestia pouted.
“No me!” Luna cried.
I sighed as they continued their tug-of-war with my arms.
––––––
“See? This is why we should do things together. Sharing is caring,” I said, munching on a sandwich. Salads and bread were apparently a staple diet here, but they had never heard of a sandwich before. I had to stifle a chuckle when I saw their wide eyes incredulously bulge when I put the salad in between the two slices of bread.
“Sandwich is a weird name,” commented Luna, but she kept nibbling at hers anyway. For some reason she seemed to make a game of eating away the crust, working her way to the soft centre of the sandwich.
“I heard that the Earl of Sandwich, who’s name escapes me at this time, was the one who created it, so they named it from his title. There’s a place in my world called Sandwich…” I trailed off when I saw Celestia and Luna not paying any attention to me. So much for passing on esoteric knowledge from alien worlds. “Okay…”
Fun fact: I had to make my own mayonnaise, but hey, only takes some eggs, a bit of lemon and vinegar and a little salt. Apparently, salt was expensive here, but I didn’t know why. Probably something to do with the geopolitics of the region.
Ugh. Geopolitics, don’t even get me started on that.
“All done?” I asked, finishing my own portion. We had decided to see the sunrise together, even though Luna wanted to fly around a bit. Next time, I told her, even as she whined. It was very calming, a fortuitous day with clement weather. A gentle breeze caressed us and I felt an inner calm and peace that gave me the sensation I was floating along rather than anchored to the earth.
So of course it had to end as abruptly and jarringly as possible.
With a flash, Tempora appeared next to us.
“Moth- Mom!” Celestia greeted awkwardly. Luna was so surprised she rolled over with a squawk. Some feathers came loose in the pile.
“Hello my foals, how are you doing today? Wait. No time for that, Harmony come with me.” Her hoof shot out and before I could say anything I was pulled along the teleportation matrix with Tempora.
The flash still hurt my eyes but I was getting used to it. Not that I’d ever wanted to get used to extremely bright flashes of eye-damaging light.
“Oh, woah, woah! What’s going on?” I asked after getting over my nausea. “We were having a picnic,” I grumbled, then I spotted the elephant in the room.
Figuratively speaking. It was more like a dragoness.
“Oh, Matriarch Scales! You’ve come back!” I said, tipping my head in welcome.
“Indeed I have, and there is a small problem, as I’m sure Queen Tempora will explain.”
I looked at Tempora with a curious expression. What was going on?
“Well ahem, you may not like this but you’ll have to go along with Matriarch Scales for a while.”
I could feel my face crease into a frown already. I cleared my throat.
“Can I ask why?”
Tempora bit her lip. “Well Harmony, it’s a funny story really…”
“Let me guess, something’s happening in the kingdom, last minute and I have to go there. It’s also too dangerous for Celestia and Luna as well?”
Tempora coughed and found something interesting to look at in the ceiling.
A low rumble of laughter issued forth from Scales.
“Hah, perceptive this one! Still as impressive as ever, for a non-dragon,” Scales praised. At least, I thought it was praise.
Tempora sank down into a chair. “Yes, well, you’ve hit the nail on the head. There’s been a border dispute with a rising nation in the region. The griffins, I believe they’re called. I’ll be handling the complex diplomatic nightmare the griffins seem to enjoy so thoroughly. The situation with some of my foreign ministers handling the incident has gotten so bad, the griffins are embargoing salt to Equestria.”
I snapped my finger, sending a couple of sparks into the air. “Ah,” I said. “So that’s why there was a shortage of salt recently.”
Scales nodded. “Diplomacy is a fickle companion, it would just as much try to help you as hinder you.” She clenched her taloned claw together into a fist and slammed it onto the table. “You must always be seen to have the upper power.”
“Or be the power with the foresight to anticipate their moves,” Tempora added quickly.
I crossed my arms. “Or to hold both and extend a helping hand.”
Scales looked at me quizzically, the notion looked as if it were foreign to her. “A noble trait, if a little naïve, but true nevertheless.” She held up a claw in warning. “However, be aware that you do not decide what power you hold. Others do and forgetting that could be your downfall.” She laughed. “Enough of that and dancing around the issue. Tempy! Tell your offspring what lies in store for him!”
Tempora smiled. “It’s not going to be bad,” she said reassuringly. Her horn glowed as a shimmering hologram made of scintillating light brought the figure of a unicorn and a dragon to life. Tempora spotted my expression of amazement and grinned.
“Tell Star Swirl to teach you this little spell,” she told me in response to my dropped jaw. “He’s a little rusty with this, but it’ll be well worth learning from him.”
I approached the table and sat in the opposite chair to Tempora and Scales as they finally invited me to sit down. Scales obviously elected to lie down half-crouched on the floor. I don’t think any furniture in the whole castle would be able to accommodate her rangy self.
“This dates back a few centuries, when the ponies and dragons weren’t on such good terms with each other,” Tempora continued, the ‘hologram’ started animating itself with the unicorn standing off to the dragon. Eventually the dragon towered over the unicorn and the unicorn fled, with the dragon laughing.
“As you may have guessed from the first impression with Matriarch Scales, dragons value power. Unicorn magic, though apt enough for unicorns to wrestle with the natural environment, was not enough to overcome some of the more ferocious inhabitants neighbouring what is now known as Equestria.” The image paused, mid-strike of three creatures, a dragon, a griffin and something I couldn’t identify, attacking the lone unicorn. “Even after the unification of the tribes, we still have a hard time competing as an effective military force with other nations.”
I was starting to get the picture. “So what have you devised as a counter-measure instead?”
Tempora steepled her hooves, smiling wolfishly. “Our castle is lavish, don’t you think? The average pony may be bound by their station in life, but all are well fed and cared for, are they not?”
“Money,” I whispered, comprehension dawning. “You control the world’s finance.”
“Trade, and the ability to trade has made Equestria very prosperous indeed. With our advances in magic and agriculture, we’ve been able to control food production, basic weather management and of course advances in magic.” The animation continued this time with age of wizards mixing spells and potions, some ponies farming and pegasi moving small tufts of clouds.
“But that wouldn’t solve the problem of military forces?” I queried.
Tempora nodded. “A good question. Our military still remains relatively weak as individuals but we’ve learned to use our coordinated talents to our advantage. Organised militia will find it very difficult indeed to cross the land and air if our pegasi whip up blockades of storms. Embargoes on fresh produce that many other countries rely on due to our ability to cultivate on poor soil will throw their economy out of balance. As a last resort, unicorns and spell casters can shield entire cities to withstand sieges indefinitely. Who knows what we may control in the future? Attacking Equestria would throw the world into chaos.”
I tapped my chin, deep in thought. “I see what you mean, but how do I fit into all of this?”
“Well despite our powers in trade, we still run into diplomatic snags. After all, Equestria depends on salt and naval technology from the griffins and stone and metalwork primarily from the dragons. We’re not fully independent, as much as we’d like to be.”
Scales nodded. “No country is ever completely independent. Those that try will be left behind. The dragons have come to realise this and we’ve made efforts to try and reach out to the world, or risk… extinction. An unpleasant set of circumstances, don’t you agree?”
I nodded. “What do I need to do?”
“Since you are a royal heir to the Equestrian throne, you now have the power to negotiate trade agreements with other nations.” Tempora gave me a proud smile. “I’m putting my trust in you to see this through.”
I swallowed thickly. “Okay,” I said. “No pressure.” I straightened my posture. “I think I can handle it, though.”
“There is one other point of interest,” Tempora added, as she shifted in her seat.
“Oh no,” I said. “There’s more?”
Tempora was about to answer when Scales jumped in.
“Dragons have a different custom among our kind. As you may recall, power is everything. You’ll have to demonstrate that to the Council of Elders.”
“I’m guessing my mother passed with flying colours?”
Scales smirked, her eyes flickering slightly to some distant memory. “I’m not familiar with that turn of phrase, but yes, Tempora quite adequately conveyed her right to propose to the Council.”
“What did she do?” I asked, curious in spite of myself.
Tempora blushed and looked away. Scales laughed at her reaction.
“She showed them pathway to their deaths,” Scales chortled. “The younger ones were certainly struck with awe. The Eldest was not impressed. She told Tempora she’d long knew her own demise before Tempora had come along. So Tempora simply delved into an embarrassing aspect of her past. I’d never seen a dragoness so flustered and so old! I near choked on my tongue!” Scales flickered out her prodigious tongue, flexing it in the air.
My eyes quite nearly bugged out of my sockets. “Hey, woah, woah! I can’t manipulate magic on the level that Tempora can! There’s no way I could do something so impressive,” I stammered, glancing between the respective leaders of two nations.
Tempora reached over the table and patting my hands with a hoof.
“Don’t worry Harmony, I have faith that you’ll succeed. Matriarch Scales will send a dragon to accompany you and you will be under her protection during your stay within the dragon-realms. I’m scheduled to meet with the griffins later in the week but I’ll be gone for the better part of the month. The meeting with the Council will be a couple of weeks, so you’ll have some time to prepare,” Tempora explained, glancing over to Scales. The dragoness nodded along agreeably.
“Just remember, the Council isn’t looking for a show of force, just a demonstration of Power. Make the country you represent proud,” Scales said, then glanced out the window. “I think I have lapsed my stay for now. It was a pleasure talking to you, fare thee well, young one. I look forward to witnessing your act of power.”
With a humorous tilt of her armoured skull, Scales exited the room with serpentine grace. I watched her leave and glanced back at Tempora. She smiled at me, but the pleasant countenance faded when she noticed my frowning face.
“Is something the matter, Harmony? Are you upset about the trade agreements?”
I waved a dismissive hand. “No, no, it’s not that,” I said gently, coming over to her side of the table. “Have you seen Dad?”
Tempora’s eyes grew distant and I felt her royal armour drape itself across her frame. Instead of being annoyed, I only felt a little sad.
“No,” she finally answered. “Not recently at least. Max is- He’s just… not the same.”
I sighed wistfully. “I just miss his old self. I just know something like that will take long to recover from. If I know my Dad he’ll be out of his funk in half a year. Are you alright?”
Tempora nodded absently. “I’m keeping busy,” she said neutrally. It wasn’t really an answer but I guess I’d have to satisfied with that.
“Okay,” I said. “Celestia and Luna are dying to spend time with you, you know?”
Tempora jerked her head up to meet my grinning gaze.
“Really?” she asked me.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course,” I stated, crossing my arms. “They crave your approval. Every child of their parent does.”
Tempora gave me a lopsided grin. “You remind me of your father sometimes, Harmony.”
I threw up my hands, laughing suddenly. “Oh no, anything but that!” I joked, but I sent a sympathetic smile across to the distraught alicorn.
“It’ll be better, I’m sure of it,” I said.
“Ah Harmony, always the optimist,” she commented wryly, but she seemed to be in the lighter mood.
I nodded and turned around quickly, opening the door and taking a step out of the room.
“I’ll give you an update if anything happens, but I think this will be the last extended meeting we’ll have of each other,” I called back. I paused. “Thanks, Mom.” I quickly closed the door and half-sprinted through the corridors, anxious to get back to my little picnic. Celestia and Luna would be worried.
Also, it wouldn’t do to stare too openly at the giddy grin plastered all over Tempora’s face.
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Okay first look at this and i found this
gave me quite the chuckle at seeing this with my eyes
*edit*
if you havent noticed by now or just didnt have the time to check this by now arms was supposed to be eyes...
GHOSTBUSTERS!
What? You had to expect that to happen at least once with the recent chaoter titles.
THE DESU IS RISING!
In light of the anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender, why not throw in some bending?
Bend some lava or something. Make it epic.
5659509 Or he could simply pull an Aang and fly there with a ring of condensed rocks, swirling water, and ring of fire while using guided wind as a method of travel.
5660488 Nah, too... cosmic. They've already seen cosmic of the temporal sort.
5660492 Eh, fair enough. Though there is no accounting for taste. Then again, he is only human. Granted, he has magic, but not a whole ton of skill with it. Except open ended growth matrices, with help from Discord.
5660517 There's also no accounting for how his magic will react with the adrenaline that'll inevitably be present, what with being surrounded by god knows how many talking furnaces with wings.
Well, this will be interesting.
I'll sound chlichéd, but it would be quite funny if Harmony presented his power in the form of a Thu'um. Not the typical unrelenting force, but dragonrend
5660524 True. Though I suspect that that will just make whatever he does do into an impressive failure if nothing else.
5658232 it's actually wasn't .....
5660531 If they're looking for power, just do another open-ended spell matrix
What could go wrong?
5661586 If he does it wrong then the results would certainly be explosive. And maybe level where ever the dragon council meets.
5661496 well it was the first line i looked at and had the thought of the "cute" look which can make hearts explode so there can always be mis-understandings. still think that though it was then said that they pull at his arms....
I am thinking that they stare at him like that while also pulling at his arms.
>>Kendoras ok. BTW, your picture is really disturbing...
That was fun. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
5666632 I think I understand what you're getting at. It's not necessarily true-- she just believes it to be because she has yet to encounter something to challenge that viewpoint. Just because she says it doesn't make it true. That uncertainty clears things up immensely. You don't come across a situation like that often in fiction. It reminds me of what Obi-Wan said: "What I told you was true from a certain point of view."
As a side note, every time I think of Queen Tempora's name, I think "Queen Tempura" instead, which makes me hungry.
5668177 Exactly, spot on! Thank you for taking the time in reading my response and for commenting again.
hmm, not bad
5676006 Not that I'm aware of, sorry.
finally got around to reading these.
5676009 um. I ran into one where celestia pulls a human into equestria to watch him suffer for entertainment, then at one point rips discord out of his statue and turns him into a foal version of himself, then teleports him to the human who adopts him. but the story is kinda... a just random pick on the human don't take serious story....
oh there is.. i forgot it's name as well. the character is called sharky and basically an event occurs in the story where a clone of discord is born and the human adopts discord's clone
both of which the authors havn't updated in ages. the first i don't know about. the second one I kinda started to think he got tired of writing because sharky is a dunce when it comes to realizing ponies are in love with him, even to the point they flat out yell it in his face and he goes. "nah shes just saying shes my best friend." It was getting really old and readers where getting annoyed. so I think he got fed up and quit. could be wrong however. I haven't seen him post a blog or chapter in ages... hmm I should check up on him.... just have to find the story... 8drads going and hunting through his Favorited list*
5604294 Wait... WTF? Last time I checked this FiMFic it was further along on it's storyline! WTH happened?!?! I is so confungled...
5916164 Actually it is on track on its timeline. The other chapters have been excised and made into side stories (because they don't really go into the main arc of the plot and taking them out doesn't affect the overall narrative too much). If you're interested they're still available in separate side stories in the description. I just... haven't updated this in a while.
5916173 Oh... Well they actually do fit in because you keep making references to those events creating an gap for those who are unaware of the history behind those illusions. I'd also have liked a bit of a warning (unless there was one and I'm just too stupid to see it in which case I apologize) before you go and send my poor brain for a loop.
5916201 Sorry, they were in the author notes, and for the time skips, I believe I referred to them and linked them within the actual story itself. Only Kayla is really considered necessary, but even then it's not a major plot line connecting to the main story. You can still read the main story without backgrounding the Kayla-verse gives. Future Chronicles is for fun rather than lore.
Wait... so you're saying that Discords evil nature... is Harmony's fault!?!
Good foreshadowing with the whole salt thing earlier.
...
And now, (as a timelord) I must say, F you Tempora! You have made so many paradoxes in this story... the very fabric of reality should be falling apart! Does she have a cannibalized TARDIS (AKA Paradox machine) stashed away somewhere? Because, if so, I gotta... ok. That's it! Time to go tell off an ancient long dead queen!
5744035
yes, say that after the whole "tree of harmony's creation" scene. that was intense sh** right there! As well as whatever went down in Kyla verse.
5744035 My better life? That Sharky?
This story is still kinda serious at this point. You may as well have left Kayla-verse in.