Spike Quits His Job and Goes on Numerous Quests

by B_25

77 – "Then Please Allow Me to Say Something to Ease Your Stress."

~77~

"Then Please Allow Me to Say Something to Ease Your Stress."

Princess Luna's face became a mixture of emotions, each spilling past the cracks of her metaphorical mask, though she couldn't care any less about that fact.

The sight before her was mesmerizing. Her subjects filled the platform, each and everyone coming to rise onto their hind legs, and in a simultaneous and fluid movement, struck their forehoofs in the direction of the sky. She knew this to be a united testament of her ponies, not to the gray that enshrouded the air, but to the golden sky that lay hidden behind it.

The ponies held the pose. They stood for as long as they could. They summoned the last of their will to keep standing, but the tremble making their legs hollow and the shaking the was beating against their chest was too much for some to bear, as ponies began to fall over to the ground.

Those who were still standing, kept pointing up despite the pain; those who fell to the ground, did so with a smile. These ponies were too weak to do anything about their promise, but lying would not become them, for they all still had faith in their Princesses. This was the sole reason they bore for the pain, why they collapsed into a traumatizing slumber with smiles gracing their lips.

Luna was right to look away from the scene, quickly wiping a hoof over her eyes, before anyone could see her cry. Her mask made fragile, yet robust enough to conceal her welling tears. She gave the scene one last cursory glance, before looking to another that ignited her eyes with the same burning sensation.

It was of her dear sister. Her head was bowed, her hooves holding six mares close to her chest and against her beating heart, slowly beginning to pull away from them. The six mares looked equally saddened by the prospect of leaving the warm embrace, but knew that the public eye would soon be upon them, and their battle was long from over.

They shared quick parting words, before the Element Bearers turned away, and began to trot to the others. Some gave a final glance backward, being met with the smiling face of their Princess, before all were forced to carry on with their duties.

Luna approached her sister, coming to a stop just before her. "Enjoying yourself, dear sister?"

Celestia did not notice her sister at first, too lost in the sight of the six mares finally disappearing into the crowd, until she was finally pulled away from the heart-wrenching sight. She gave a soft sigh, turned her head left, and looked down her long alabaster muzzle at her her sister. "Luna? I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

Luna kept silent, a knowing smile present on her lips, and her head slightly bent.

Celestia saw the signs and knew she had been caught, closing her eyes for but a moment, and giving a heavenly giggle. "Yes, dear sister, I am." Her eyes slowly opened, not filled with the happiness Luna was expecting, but the sadness that she was dreading. "But I know that I shouldn't. We've had too many loses today, and to have such a victory right after is disrespectful..."

Luna noticed her sister's lapsed into silence, knowing extacly what was occurring inside her sister's mind, and the thought itself made her smile even more. "But you can't bring yourself to regret embracing them, can you?"

Celestia broke out of the trance placed on her vision, shaking her head to discard the shattered pieces, before looking back to her sister. "No, I cannot."

Luna tilted her head, looking up at her sister with perked ears. "Then please allow me to say something to ease your stress."

This piqued the older sister's interest, enough to whisk her from the sounds and images still lingering inside her mind, and have her full attention to whatever was to come next.

"You should be glad to know, dear sister, that none of our subjects have perished completely in battle." Celestia felt whatever was left of her mask shatter, as pure surprise swept entirety across her face. "According to our unicorns, all of our subjects are accounted for. Those who fell over the railings were rescued by stray pegasi during their escort of the elements, and few were caught in the magic of unicorns. It is true, however, that some remain unconscious, and no dreamscape remains behind their sealed eyes. But they all breathe, and for the moment, that should be enough for us."

A massive weight had formed in her chest when she spoke, but as the hopeful words left her, she felt parts of that weight leave her as well. "This battle stands as the very few where nothing of vital importance was lost, besides the burnt ground and the destroyed homes – but nothing lost here today can not be rebuilt tomorrow."

A breeze swept across the platform, wiping the sweat on some of the guard's brows, and cooling the manes of all those aware to bask in its bliss. Luna did just that, as she felt her ethereal mane shoot up into the air. "Such occurrences never happen, especially after our incompetence as of late, but can't we be glad that were saved by chance just this once?"

Celestia did not reply, frozen in place for a moment, before she quickly put her hoof over her sister, and brought her close to her fur. Luna's face grew confused at the sudden contact, but the moment she felt the wall of fur caressing her's, she quickly gave herself to the embrace. She better understood why the six were so sad to leave, because if she wanted to, Celestia could be made in the world's most comfortable bed.

But Celestia was unaware of this fact; she had brought her sister close out of an impulse – one made in her mind by her sister's statement. Something indeed was lost again – something that maybe could never be found tomorrow. Celestia held her sister close as these string of thoughts assaulted her faster – she desperately needed someone else's embrace to survive it.

Luna felt the fear coursing through her sister, trailing her eyes up the chest of white fur to lock with the magenta eyes. "Dear sister, is there something wrong."

It took a moment, one that worried Luna immensely, but Celestia came to nod her head. "Indeed there is, sister. We have lost something, not today, but something of vital importance – and I will do everything in my power after this to get it back."

Luna tilted her head. "What do you mean, Celestia? What did we lose?"

Celestia did not look at her sister. Instead, she stared at a certain lavender mare in the distance.

"Spike the Dragon. But I will get him back."

Author's Note:

I had a leftover chapter I forgot to publish.

I will post a blog soon explaining the current affair of things.

Comments

[OmniFox]

But to Celestia, what's Spike means to her?

[Deadman123]

...you can't run for the sun spike...