Inverno in F Minor

by CrackedInkWell

4: Inspiration in A Minor

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“We have an idea,” Luna said. “How about we get thee out of this room and have some fresh air.”

Inverno looked up at her in confusion, sniffing, he asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means to step outside,” Cadence explained.

He blinked, “I still don’t understand.”

“Come then,” Celestia said as she opened the bedroom door. “Besides, it’s almost time to lower the sun.”

“What’s a sun?” Inverno asked, wiping his tears away. All three princesses snapped their attention to him.

“Come again?” Luna asked.

“Come what again?”

“Didst thou ask what the sun is?”

“That’s because I don’t know what a sun is,” the unicorn simply replied.

“I know you’ve spent your life inside,” Celestia said as the four of them started to walk down the hallway. “But didn’t your father ever tell you about the sun and moon?” At Inverno’s look of perplexity, she instead asked, “Perhaps the words ‘day’ and ‘night’ sound more familiar?”

“Papa never used those words ‘sun’ or ‘moon’ before. But he has mentioned day and night. He said it’s kind of a time that I’m awake or asleep. But what are the sun and moon?”

“Perhaps it might be best if we showed thee,” Luna suggested. They walked until they came across the balcony. The sun was out on the horizon, bathing the Empire in an orange glow. Inverno poked his head out the door, only to wince at the bright light before pulling his head back inside.

“Agh! What was that?!” Inverno said, rubbing his eyes.

“That was the sun,” Celestia responded.

“Why is it so bright?” the pale unicorn asked, “How could anypony not go blind from that thing?” Then he looked up in alarm, “Is something on fire!?”

Celestia giggled, “Oh no, nothing is on fire, and ponies tend not to look at it directly,” Celestia turned to the setting sun. “As of now, it’s time for me and Luna to do our duty.”

“Duty?”

“Come and see,” Cadence gestured Inverno over to where she was. Inverno did, although, he had his eyes shut tightly so he wouldn’t see the great ball of light that sat just above the mountains. “Open your eyes,” he heard Cadence say. It took a while for him to adjust to the light. He started with one eye, then the other but he looked at the floor. Slowly, he looked upward to the horizon.

“It’s… It looks like a golden plate that’s brighter than any fire,” Inverno said, “That it’s hung there in the biggest room that I’ve ever seen. Only, I don’t see any ropes to hold it up.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Celestia said, lighting up her horn. Almost immediately, Inverno saw the shadows all around him had begun to stretch and grow. He saw the sun sinking downwards, as gently as a mother putting her foal in a crib, being lowered down until it was out of view. As soon as it disappeared, the world was plunged into darkness. Celestia turned to her sister; the dark blue alicorn gave a nod and lit up her horn. Crawling out of the sky, Inverno saw a circular object, as white as his coat and covered in countless gray spots all over. It wasn’t as eye-scorching as the sun; instead, the light it gave was softer, and it drowned the land in a blue glow. Soon, he saw a small speck of light emerging out of the darkness, and then another. These specks of light multiplied, almost at random to Inverno.

When Luna was done, she turned to the young stallion, who was looking at her night for the very first time. She smiled, “So, Inverno, what dost thou thinkest of our night?”

“I never saw anything like it,” the unicorn said, “It has so much light, and yet it is still as dark as it is when somepony closes their eyes. These lights look like countless candles on very distant chandeliers.” Inverno went quiet for a moment, “I wish I could write out a song from what I’m seeing, and that I could play it to…” he paused.

“Inverno?” Cadence asked, beginning to get concerned.

“I think I know what to write,” the unicorn said to himself.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

Inverno nodded, ignoring the Sun Princess. “Yes. That’s what I’ll do. When I wake up tomorrow, I’ll start working a memorial for Papa. I think he would appreciate it if it was to be like this,” he pointed to the sky, “It will be solemn. Gentle yet majestic at the same time, and I will sing it in the way that he always liked it. Papa will receive a memorial so that he can be remembered as the great king he was.”

“Oh no,” Celestia sighed.

“What?”

“Inverno… This is difficult for me to tell you. Considering all that has happened, but… the Sombra that we knew…”

“What?”

Celestia shook her head, “I don’t know what your father told you about himself. But from personal experience, I must tell you that Sombra wasn’t as good as monarch that you think he was.”

Inverno blinked, “I don’t understand.”

“To put it simply,” Luna said. “Sombra has harmed many ponies in the Empire.”

“Harmed?” Inverno asked, “Like slapping them or something? So what? I’ve seen him do that to the slaves befor-”

“Inverno,” Cadence interrupted, “You need to stop calling them slaves. These ponies aren’t slaves anymore.”

“Then what do you want me to call them?”

“Ponies,” she answered plainly.

“Whatever. Anyway, I’ve seen him slap a few sl-... ponies before. So what? That’s just because they didn’t do what they were told. How does that make him a bad-”

“He has done much more than that,” Celestia interrupted.

“Like what?” the unicorn asked, getting annoyed. “What did he do that was so bad, huh?”

Cadence sighed, “Inverno, dear, I know that at this state that you want to see proof in what we’re saying is true-”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “It doesn’t sound anything like Papa that I knew.”

“But as of now,” she said, “It’s getting late. I’ll tell you what, tomorrow we’ll show you-”

“Now,” Inverno demanded, “I want to show me now. Unless you have something to back up what all of you are saying, I think that all of you are liars.”

Cadence paused before asking, “Are you sure?” Inverno nodded. “Very well.” Cadence looked over to her aunts. Both of them seemed to have looks torn between worry and alarm. Their eyes almost questioned her, asking if this was the right thing to do. “I’ll take him down to the dungeons. It’s better if he sees the truth for himself.”

Comments

[LegacyMine]

Interesting.

[RatingTitan2]

Ohhh :0