Celestia's Prophet
Part 4: Who is "Shining Armor?"
Foals. Foals with an 's' on the end.
General Night Light was sweating before he even made it to his own street that night. He and his wife lived on Canterlot's cushy upper end, surrounded by perfect parks and clean streets. His rank gave them all the money they could need, and it was a picturesque way of living. Equestria hadn't gone to war in centuries, but it still needed a standing army. Being a general was still a big job, keeping his soldiers not ready for war, but prepared to face it should the horrible day come.
Foals. Foals with an 's' on the end. That's what Celestia's Prophet had said.
Turning the corner in the chilly night, he nodded only briefly to the guard on the corner as he cantered past. Huffing once, then twice more to prepare himself, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. All the scents and sounds of home wafted against him like a breeze of gingerbread-- his wife was cooking. Twilight squealed somewhere in the house, rushing to and fro above his head. General Night Light took off his hat and formal jacket, setting it on its usual hook. He looked to and fro. On the floor was a foam guard's spear, and it certainly wasn't Twilight's. The poor filly had never once in her life rough-housed, much less shown an interest in toy weapons. She was the book-learning sort. And with the magnificant honor of being Celestia's new protege, she was moving up in the world fast. He had no doubt he'd need to beat off any political sniffing once she'd reached the age of majority.
He'll be retiring soon, to spend more time with his wife and family while the foals are still young. More than one foal.
General Night Light only had one daughter. He was dead certain. "Mom!Mooooom!" a colt's voice jerked him to a halt, and his pupils shrank as his eyes widened. "When's dad coming home?! I can't write this report on the Changing of the Guard for school without him checking it over! I don't wanna disappoint him!" It was young, not quite a teenager. Young and virile and striking.
The monster's power had reached into his very home. He listened to the thumpity-thumps of a colt trapsing back and forth on carpet, then on kitchen tile. "He should be here any minute! Just don't tackle him as soon as he comes in the door! He's going to be tired from his long day," his mother said.
Night Light wasn't ready for this. His thundering heart almost kept him from realizing his hoof was moving. He watched it reach into his saddlebag for his military ID wallet. A folded picture floated out, slowly rising to his nose. He looked down at it. Himself. His wife. His daughter... and somepony new. Somepony that didn't belong. His mouth dried as he stared at a stark white colt with an electric blue mane.
There were hoof-steps coming his way. Panicking, he flipped the photo over:
Night Light
Twilight Velvet
Twilight Sparkle, age 8
Shining Armor, age 12
He almost dropped it when a scrappy young colt came tearing around the corner. "Welcome home, Dad!" he belted, school report floating next to him. Night Light blanched at him, sweating. "Wow mom was right, you do look tired," he said. "You okay?" he cocked his head.
"Y-yeah," Night Light said, running a hoof quickly through Shining Armor's mane. He looked pale. Turning with a measured amount of control and grip on himself, he looked for his wife. Twilight Velvet smiled when he peered into the kitchen.
"I know, I know, the whole place smells like gingerbread. I dropped something on one of the burners. But if I'd stopped to clean
dinner wouldn't have been ready when you got in." Twilight Velvet kissed him, nuzzled him twice and then wheeled back around to finish
setting the table. The poor mare was never convinced everypony in her household was eating enough, one of her adorable little quirks.
"I'll get Twilie!" Shining Armor announced, leaving his report on the kitchen counter. Night Light picked it up while he was thundering up the stairs. It was a grade school report on how guards outside the front of the palace changed shifts every eight hours and all the reasons why. All of their little quirks and different rank meanings were in a neat little magic marker chart. Very basic, but he seemed to get the gist of it all.
"You okay, hun?" Twilight Velvet asked softly, coming up to cup his cheek.
"Do you remember when Shining Armor was born?" Night Light asked before he could stop himself.
"Oh yes," Twilight rolled her eyes with a smirk. "I remember the doctor telling me if he'd been much bigger I'd have given birth to a hippo." Her eyes saw the past and she leaned on him. "I'd never seen you so livid, haha! I'm just glad you didn't try to arrest him. He lost his yearling fat, didn't he?"
"Oh erhm... yes, yes he did," Night Light murmured, not meeting her eyes. "I'm just glad he's erm... doing well in school?" it came out like a question.
His wife nodded absently, setting out silverware. "Well with you cracking the whip on his butt its no surprise. He wants to be the general of the army, just like his Dad." she leaned and kissed him again. "I bet you brag every day about that, don't you? Big strong General Nightlight. A daughter as Celestia's protégé a son going into the army just like him."
"Ehh..." Before Night Light could respond there was a stampede down the stairs and into the dining room.
"Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle, reporting for dinner sir!" Shining shouted gaily, sliding his sister off of his back and saluting. Night Light sat hard, staring at Shining Armor. "Uh, Dad?" he said. "Dad? You okay? Equis to Da-ad." he said, waving a little hoof over in front of his face.
Twilight Velvet cocked an eyebrow while Twilight Sparkle did her best to stay quiet while the older ponies were talking.
"Nightie? Honey?" Velvet leaned a little. Her husband looked positively haunted.
"Er, yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Just a... stressful day at work... sport." he said, licking his lips a little. His eyes slid to the pictures on the wall. Himself and the colt at a hoofball game. Himself hugging Twilight and Shining Armor. Himself holding a squealing yearling with an electric blue mane. Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle beaming into a camera that was way too close to their faces. Twilight Velvet and Shining Armor, the colt holding up an all-A's report card.
He was already there. A whole history. A whole life laid out before him, that hadn't existed three hours ago. Night Light gave a nervous smile to his waiting family, reaching for his fork with a lightly trembling hoof.
=-=-=-=-=
"Would you like to tell me why my must trusted general quit his job yesterday, arranged his military affairs, then turned a mind wipe spell on himself to keep you a secret?" Celestia sat across from Lauren, looking rather cross. "I thought to ask him myself, but all he said was--"
"'Ponies that are in the eye of a storm don't feel its rain until its too late.'" Lauren said, lifting her teacup.
Celestia fixed her with a frown. "Yes, that's right." she said carefully, levitating the tongs to offer her 'guest' another cube of sugar. Lauren nodded and took three, stirring idly. She rang the spoon against the side of the teacup three times before setting it down. "Care to explain yourself?" asked the white alicorn.
"I told you yesterday he would be quitting soon, just not how soon." Lauren smirked just a bit mischievously. "I just didn't say how soon. Like I said, to spend time with his wife and family while the foals are still young."
"You made up another pony. A little colt this time. That's the first child you've ever made... that I know of." Celestia said carefully, lifting her teacup. "Why did you do this? What is your purpose?"
"Purpose?" Lauren looked up at her as though surprised. "I've been here almost six years, and you're just now puzzling that one out? What is your little red-headed monster's purpose?" she sipped her tea twice. "Oooh, this is the Jasmine. Quite good, thank you."
"I prefer 'Prophet.' It's more polite." Celestia parried with narrowed eyes. "I've kept you here to study the limits of your power and to keep you from harming anypony. It's already perfectly clear you could leave if you wanted to," Celestia paused, for Lauren's eyes flicked at her with a flash of... panic? Alarm? It was gone as soon as it came, though, and so she kept speaking. "So I suppose my latest question to you is... if you hate it here, why do you stay?"
"The reason you put me here, is the same reason I stay." Lauren whispered into her teacup, not meeting Celestia's eyes. The alicorn's wings opened, then resettled. One of her impatient body language flags. the cryptic answer hung in the air between them for a long silence. "But more about the general, yes?" the red-maned creature said, setting her teacup down with a little clack. Reaching without permission she stroked Celestia's mane twice before getting the folder on her side of the table. She flipped it open and Celestia opened her mouth to scold her, but stopped. It had merely plucked General Night Light's picture from its paperclip, and dropped the folder itself back to the table. "Here is a military man. Er, stallion." she smiled. "Six years and I still say man, guh..." she shook her head a bit. Celestia had already gathered a small lexicon from their conversations over the years. 'Man' meant stallion. "Here's a military stallion," Lauren tried again. "Cut above the rest. Handsome, powerful, by-the-book. A family stallion, and a good leader. However, at the end of the day he's still military."
"You have a problem with your military caretakers?" Celestia asked. "I could've arranged for something else if you'd liked."
"No, it's not them. Just him," Lauren said. "He's Twilight Sparkle's father, and, left to his own devices, would do anything to protect his little girl." Celestia filled in 'girl' with 'filly'.
"Mhm?" Celestia asked, listening intently.
"You think I couldn't hear him, beyond the wall there?" The creature said, turning the teacup around and around. "He saw me as a great threat to Equestria and all her holdings, whether he voiced it to you or not."
"So do I, but you've not conjured a twelve year-old into my household." Celestia said.
"Yes, but yours is not a military mind. You seek balance, not conquest," it said sagely. She lifted a hand before Celestia could protest. "I'm not saying he's a warmonger, no no. But, given what he thinks of as no choice, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me if it was to protect his family and his country."
"You think he could harm you?" Celestia cocked an eyebrow.
"You've seem me bleed, you know I'm just as mortal as you." Lauren said matter-of-factly. Celestia conceded this. When they'd captured her, she was bleeding from the feet for trying to run across a wide gravel road. She'd fallen with a shard of rock in her sole, the poor naked thing. "General Night Light was getting more and more paranoid that I was going to create an army of griffins, or a natural disaster, or some jail-breaking super-pony," she quoted the stallions own words for her.
"So you got rid of him," Celestia said with a frown.
"In the gentlest way I could. I gave him a son," Lauren paused to say before sipping her tea again. "A very successful son, mind you. Just wait until he grows up and-!"
"I don't want to know," Celestia rose with a rather blatant scowl. "Please, stop pulling at the strings of fate like you are," she begged, putting a diplomatic hoof on her shoulder. "It's only a matter of time before you create something chaotic, or uncontrollable, or evil... I would give you every comfort if only you would stop conjuring ponies and their histories out of thin air. Something will go wrong, at some point. I know it." she said.
Lauren took her massive, gold-shoe'd hoof in both her tender little hands. "It's the nature of the beast, Princess. I can't stop. The best you can hope to do is keep me safe," she patted the hoof twice. "And I'll keep things... well, to a justifiable minimum."
Celestia let the hoof fall, standing slowly and gathering her tea set. "I'll see you again soon, Prophet." she said softly. Lauren sighed, for she knew Celestia refused to use her name as a way of distancing herself.
"Good Night, Princess," Lauren said, standing and watching her go.
"Prophet?" Celestia stopped in the doorway, turning to look at her meaningfully. "Why can only a few tell when you've changed something?"
The monster smiled a little impishly. "Only someone standing next to an artist can see what they're doing on the drawing board," it said cryptically. "The more important question, I think, is: What color is alicorn blood?" she offered a kind, nonthreatening sort of smile.
Celestia sighed at her riddling words, then left with a click of the door. The white alicorn didn't know what upset her more: Losing her favorite general, the monster in the.... Prophet, in the dungeon... or the thought that she didn't know what color alicorn blood was. She would fret over it well into the night.
End of Part 4
5722952 I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment, it is well thought out and courteous. Bravo, sir.
Was thinking this very exact thing as I read the first part.
I was wrong about it being subconcious, she just can't stop creating, can't stop telling her story, unfortunatly a story which doesn't involve herself.
Foreshadowing!
I love this story!
Well, isn't your prophet cryptic... how typical... but still effective...
What determines protection from the creation effect? Agh... ninja-d by the story...
Many hints to us... 'foals'... mmm... why would we bother to pay attention to that? And that's a very good use of audience expectations!
"I've been her almost six years" ... I'm sure you mean 'here'? Unless your prophet switches bodies every once in a while?
I totally get the difficulties of working strictly with Notepad as I use it myself... Keeps you on your toes though, doesn't it?
5723157 Loosely? Proximity.
And oops, spelling error. I'll fix it.
I don't know whether to feel sorry for, or scared of (in a 'kill it with fire' way) of the whole Prophet thing.
I don't know if it's the way you're taking this fic, but right now I'm getting a horror/fighting against fate/knowing the truth just makes things that much worse, kind of vibe off this story, and I'm really enjoying it.
I love how much this chapter reveals about the prophet.
the question remains though, how much did she create, and how much, if any, was already there?
Getting good. A mistake though:
I feel like I may have inspired this, but that may just be me preening.
Anyway, I wonder why Celestia thinks everything Lauren says is cryptic. While not entirely clear, it's also not entirely confusing.
Is it really so hard to defer from this that those close to her, both physically and in the fact that they know of her and her abilities, are the ones who don't end up getting their memories rewritten? If anything, Celestia should at least have enough examples to draw a conclusion.
Hope you update soon... Also, did Lauren create Discord in real life, or was he a product of someone else?
Equis → Equus. (You are basing the name of the planet on their species, right?)
Alright, I don't know if you do it on purpose, but your stories are kind of dark. What Night Light went through must have been awful. Even after wiping his own memory, will he remember anything about his "son"?
also...
So, Blueblood was made to annoy Celestia?
Always turn word wrap off on notepad before you copy/paste out of it, it sometimes changes it into hard linebreaks for no apparent reason.
5723240 The mind wipe was to keep Lauren a secret, so everything will be "normal" from his point of view. :|
5723307
That answer is kind of confusing. To clarify: Night didn't know Shining before the mind wipe, so now that he doesn't remember Lauren, will her power take hold and fabricate memories of Shining for him? Will he remember his son's birth, the hoof ball game, ect?
Anyway, my question is, how much of Lauren's predictions and spooky knowledge is actually happening? Like, when she knew Celestia left that concert early to see her in chapter one, did Celestia actually leave a concert, or did she simply get up from her throne and walked down to the dungeons, where she had the memory of leaving the concert inserted into her mind when Lauren said it?
5723240
You genius. You've figured out what most likely the next chapter is going to consist of. I could hug you! And the author for nicely putting in clever hints for what's going to happen in the future. The only question is: will you tell us how the hell Blueblood is Celestia's nephew? She only has one sister I know of and she is as far from white as you can get.
I wana beat the living **** outa celestia for messing with the fait of pony kind
She's the creator of this world... question is... does she forsee what shall to come... does she alter the world so that what she forsees does come to pass... or do events alter themselves in order to match what she forsees?
Since ponies control the weather, would ponies even have storms big enough to have an eye?
After reading the chapter title I was certain this was going to be about the canterlot wedding and it. was. glorious. But this was also great.
I think alicorn blood is pudding. Great chapter! I loved how you portrayed Night Light's growing unease! Great job on the story!
Why don't you use google docs to write these? Many of the other authors I follow use it. Seems to work well. I am a big fan of notepad but for any long bits of writing I use google docs. The reason being is syncing across platforms. I can start writing on my phone then switch to my laptop then switch back to my tablet.
One would think that the problem of alicorn blood color could be relatively easily solved by an alicorn. Or is that cheating?
ya docks woorks well i use it myself
THANK YOU!!!!
FINALLY SOME CONTEXT!!!
YESSSS!!!
So Lauren Faust knows about her powers. Phew. That was nerve-wrecking if she didn't.
Also, she's been captured for 6 years. Yay! She's not super insane or anything.
Me now very relaxed. Thank you nice author person.
If Lauren Faust is the prophet...
Is Aegis Shield our God? *dramatic dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn*
Did she just pull a 'you are breathing automatically' on Celestia?
5723367
Hug all you want.
as for the explaining on how Celestian and Blueblood are related... as it turns out, Celestia had a lover many many years ago. who was made on the spot. maybe he was the sketched stallion. Remember how the sketched stallion was introduced on the same chapter that Lauren said/thought "Celestia is treating me nicely because she is happy because her sister will return". what if She's giving Celestia some love to get something in return? what if the sketched stallion is an incoming character?
at least that's what I think.
5723620
Also abundantly clear Lauren has the good of Equestria in mind, and why wouldn't she? The ponies are her children, when she calls them MY little ponies she means it. She could escape any time she wanted, but like Celestia fears someone else might gain control of her power and ruin Equestria. She can't "not" make dangers and chaos, but she can balance them out by positioning, influencing and creating ponies to be there to fight, to struggle, and succeed. Shining doesn't just "get rid" of Night Light, stopping him from doing something terrible, but will leave his mark on Twilight, on Candace and help defend Equestria from threats. Of course creating Shining Armor may have inadvertently created Queen Crysalis and forced her to "upgrade" Cadance from Unicorn Princess to Alicorn Princess. In fact that would be interesting how would Celestia react to changes in Cadance, remembering her as one of many psuedo Princes and Princesses with distant ties to her blood line to a Alicorn who emerged independantaly and was adopted into the family
5723798
Wouldn't that make him a grandson (or similar line) not a nephew?
5723830
I'm sleepy, I forgot what a nephew was. "A son of one's brother or sister, or of one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law." according to the book.
yes, somepony has a lot of explaining to do...
maybe it turns out that Luna got some?
This story is beyond amazing. Keep it up or I will murder your family.
5723240
You are so clever. *giggles*
I Told You, M8s. I told you!
Right here! 5710739
EDIT: Also, Princess Cadance is next. You know it.
Oh! I forgot the nitpicks!
(no line break should be here)
it's
It is "Night Light" everywhere else; why the change?
The repetition doesn't sound natural to me.
Since the final sentence is not a complete sentence, the period after "of" should be a comma.
guess Celestia is a god/deity if she hasn't bled yet.. or is this a question of blood cells being exposed to air or not?
Now that was harsh, Lauren. Forcing a ma-- err, a stallion, to choose between either mind-wiping himself or forever living in fear both of and for his family... ouch. I see it that Night Light have studied the hell out of Shining's background, didn't find anything suspicious, and realized he will never stop waiting for something to manifest itself through his newfound son... so he chose to end his career and mind-wipe himself - just so he can live in peace and believe that the past that has been retroactively written into the world has really happened.
5723412 i believe some storms can get out of control if they are inexperienced and add to much to a storm. also a unicorn surge could mess with a storm or you can head to the ever forest at a bad time. just because they control the wether doesn't mean they don't fuck up from time to time
So, what color is Alicorn blood?
I love the idea of Lauren chess mastering everything and being a huge, protective badass
I also love the idea of Celestia being overworked with all the crap Lauren probably puts her through5724126
I think the sheer implausibility of it is what bothers Celestia. She has never been wounded because she's just that invulnerable... or because certain somebody hasn't willed such an event into reality yet?
5724179
Well it is blue of course
5724250
the blood is blue.
heheh.
Hmm, I suspect she'll leave when Luna returns, or after the tirek thing.
5723868
bluey is mortal, so no.
he was there before her return.
5722659 Exactly.
There are 67000+ stories shown to be on this site when you search with an empty search field.
There is simply no way at all that some (or a lot) of stories wouldn't use a similar or even the exact same setup. To make something completely and utterly new would require to read and catalogue all of these stories and then trying to come up with something entirely new.
Which probably can't be done.
I have a work in progress that I'd have to abandon now because I've stumbled across stories with similar concepts over the past month. Sometimes the exact same concepts. You can't plagiarise what you don't know or didn't know when you started to write. Plagiarism means copy-pasting and then rewording something and passing it off as your own.
You can't plagiarise an idea.
Did you mean 'maturity'?
I'm half-expecting her to create Lyra, with hand obsession, and for Discord to give her the Fausticorn body.
5724412
Age of majority here refers to the age she can legally sign contracts and is generally considered responsible for her own actions. The manipulative elite don't have a lot of use for a filly, but they would likely love to get on her good side as a mare.
Age of maturity is only indirectly related to the age of majority.
5724412 Age of Majority and Maturity are two different things. Age of majority is when you assume full legal rights as an adult.
5724485 Ah.
Honestly, I think that might be something I missed, because to me, as in where I am, they're both the same.