That's it?!
It had been a few years since Sir Talon had learned of Cecily's... passing. Since then, he had spent much less time visiting home; at times, he even tried to forget the place entirely, throwing himself into his role as a knight in Equestria. He made a bit of a name for himself among Canterlot's nobles, much to his chagrin, and found himself required to attend far too many of their insipid garden parties. He always kept a cool distance between himself and ponies – polite, charming, but never a real friend, except perhaps to the princess. Perhaps because of that, and events at home, he slowly grew tired – even careless.
It was just such a moment of carelessness, at just such a garden party, with just such a nice glass of rose-petal wine, that he found himself putting up with one Sterling Platinum, a stallion of high station, and one prone to reminding others of that fact.
"So, Talon! I've spoken enough about myself; tell me, what music does a warrior and rogue such as yourself listen to, when not protecting monsters, terrorizing townsfolk, or vice-versa?"
Sir Talon smirked.
"Oh, come now, Sterling. That was one time."
"Now, now, Talon. Don't evade my question; what music interests you? Come now, don't always be so secretive; we're all dying to know something more personal about the pony behind the exploits."
Sir Talon frowned. A few ponies were looking on in interest; it was clear Sterling was being serious, playful jabs aside. He took another swig of the wine, and let it breathe for a few moments as he considered his answer. He knew the names of dozens of classical composers; he could easily make a solid argument for why he preferred a given style of classical music, which would impress all present with his unusual knowledge of the subject.
But every time he tried to craft that persona, to launch into some kind of impassioned diatribe against half of the musical world on behalf of some favored composer, the words died in his throat. He just couldn't bring himself to speak on the subject. The truth was... he was familiar with composition mostly through the excited ramblings of his niece, and he had tried listening to so many composers in Equestria since then, but none of them really reminded him of her.
"Sorry, what was that, Talon? 'Cecily'?"
Sterling looked around at the other ponies gathered, confused. They shrugged helplessly, and he looked back at Sir Talon with a quizzical expression. Sir Talon shrugged; he had only half-intended to say her name aloud, but somehow, he was past the point of caring.
"Cecily Cambirvir, yes. A bit avant-garde, I suppose, but not for its own sake – and besides, if the Conservatory had its way, music wouldn't ever change, would it? I heard her name bandied about at the Manehattan Institute for Fine Arts' gala last year, so I made an effort to listen to her music."
The gathered nobles all gave appreciative nods, chattering excitedly about the unusual answer. Sterling, for his part, gave a sturgeon expression, and then smirked.
"Just what we'd expect from such a worldly, traveled pony as yourself, Talon! I know what you mean about the Conservatory, though I often find attempts to be innovative in music to be... ill-founded. I'll have to request a recital of this 'Cecily''s music."
Sir Talon froze. Obviously, the Canterlot Conservatory wouldn't have copies of Cecily's music...
... or would they? He put on a suave grin.
"You do that, Sterling. I'm sure you will be impressed."
It would only be a mere two days later that Sterling would make his request of the Conservatory, who would inform him that no such composer existed – only to find that they did, in fact, have records of her manuscripts in their archive. Sneaking manuscripts into a musical archive had been foal's play compared to sneaking letters to Princess Celestia!
What? Oh, drop the title? Well, 'Celestia' it is, then, m'lady.
In any case, Sir Talon had been quite determined to be present at that recital, but duty called; on his way to Canterlot, he had spotted a group of ponies desperately trying to reinforce a failing dam, and had stopped to help. Regardless, word spread throughout the city, and soon a full-scale concert was organized to appease the curiosity of the noble class. When Sir Talon arrived at the Conservatory, he was shocked to see it filled with ponies, including Princ—Celestia, and Sterling. In the back of his mind, he worried that someone would draw the connection between Cecily and himself, but those concerns were overshadowed by a more compelling thought:
It had taken years, and certainly not everything was ideal, but he was finally going to hear that concert. A ghost of a past life, perhaps, but it meant the world to him at the time; Cecily had wanted nothing more than to become famous in Equestria for her musical abilities, and while it was only her composition skills that would be on display here, it had still happened. The dreams of a little girl being fulfilled... somehow, it meant far more to Talon than any heroism he had achieved.
He tried to slip into the crowd, but Celestia spotted him straight away. To his surprise, she outright grabbed him telekinetically and pulled him over – certainly unusual for the princess! Still, he dealt with it in the most dignified way he could, assuming a pose as though he were lying across a bed, and grinning at her with every bit of smugness he could muster as he sailed over the heads of the crowd-goers. When he got close, he gestured at himself with the hoof not propping up his head.
"One Equestrian Knight, as ordered, m'lady!"
To his surprise, rather than rolling her eyes or chuckling, Celestia simply swept him into a big hug. Now, if I haven't made it clear, Sir Talon was generally ready for anything, but getting a big hug from the Princess of the Sun at complete random – and in public, no less! – was just a bit much for him at the time. He simply froze up, his mind torn between panic and confusion, until Celestia broke the hug - and he realized she had teared up slightly.
"I'm glad to see you here, Talon. Come, sit with us."
"Er... It would be my pleasure, m'lady."
To be honest, sitting next to her was about the opposite of what he wanted to do. He wanted to focus on the music, and on the reactions to it – not worry over his secrets being revealed! As they made their way into the box that Celestia had set aside, she shuffled him into a seat next to her, and he began to wonder if there was any chance he could realistically claim fear of heights to sit elsewhere.
"Talon... did I ever—ah, yes, I remember mentioning it. Do you remember that 'secret admirer', the schoolfilly, who used to send me letters?"
Talon racked his brain. What exactly was he supposed to know about that? Ah, well – remember, kids! When in doubts, claim forgetfulness!
"I'm afraid not, m'lady. My apologies."
"Certainly alright, Talon. I believe I only mentioned it in passing. Long ago, there was a filly – or, I assume so – who used to write me letters. They had dreams of coming to Equestria, of being a great musician."
Talon knew this was dangerous water to be wading into, but the same apathy that had gotten him into this situation had returned. Why bother dancing around, when Celestia clearly had some idea of whom he was, and was willing to talk about it so... civilly?
"Ah, yes. I think I remember you mentioning her, now."
Celestia nodded, sniffling slightly. It was a bit contagious; Talon could feel his face burning.
"She said her name was 'Cecily'. It's an unusual one... I remembered it. You can imagine my surprise to hear that there was a concert of her music being put on... I truly wished to meet her."
"... But she isn't here. No one even knows where the music came from."
Celestia nodded, her face becoming a crinkled mess between a frown and a smile. Have you ever felt that, kids? You probably will, someday – when you just need to smile, but you need to cry, and frown. It's like your face just can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
Sir Talon was feeling it, too. You can't know how badly he wanted to tell Celestia everything, right there; about how Cecily was gone, about how everything had gone wrong... about how everything was going to go wrong. But even a knight with two masters cannot betray either, under any circumstances. Thankfully, Celestia spared him most of the trouble.
"You're right. She isn't... and, given what she said in her letters, I know that she'd never have let that happen. Something, or someone, stopped her from coming here. Something happened to my little admirer."
"I suppose the letters stopped some time ago?"
"Yes. A few years."
Sir Talon frowned, considering. He stayed silent as the music started, and everyone became engrossed in it. As the first song began in earnest, he scooted himself closer to Celestia. That's how they passed the concert – hugging slightly, crying occasionally, all in silence. No need for words, for lies or half-truths. It was the first time, since he'd come to Equestria, that Talon felt free – felt like himself. He knew he would have to leave, soon; he had maybe another year or two before he would have to go home. A year or two before things fell apart.
Yet somehow, seeing that concert come to life, seeing a dream long-dead come true... he felt hope that, somehow, things would work out. No matter how bad things got, no matter how many years passed since... since the original dreamer was lost, as long as someone carried their hopes forward, maybe they would come true after all.
And when I look at all of you, I know that I was right – that Cecily was right. That old knight's quest... is finally over.
~FIN~
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7217981
I know, I read all off your fics already
7218645 D'aww. I've become discouraged in my authorship lately, as it seems my stories garner very little attention or feedback. It's good to know a few people are interested.
That left me a bit teary eyed... Kinda makes me want to read some more stories taking place after the conclusion of the main stories, to maybe see Cecily going back and doing stuff that she couldn't before.
7218740
You are a funny and creativ writer.
Don't dub your self.
I see I was correct about the audience.
In any case, a very touching story, even if it didn't have nearly enough action for most of the listeners. Thank you for it.
A crushing one.
That's because people are too busy clicking to the next chapter and next story to leave comments. Since there's a whole saga/meta-verse here to explore.
Or at least I am. I member one chapter you had ended with an author note to asking for readers to leave chapters. At the end of that particular chapter? I thought no way, I'm not stopping. I considered leaving an ironic comment about refusing to leave a comment . . . but that would've involved stopping.
Let's say this. I've been thinking of the changeling caste system when I see bright collections of colors now, matching the colors to casts that I can remember. This puts it next to A Novel Tale and Conversations at a Canterlot Cafe as a changeling fic with immersive world building that makes it something special.
That said, I think my journey into this universe *might* highlight a problem other people have getting into it
The first fic I read in this series was "If Fear Divides, Courage Unites". I read it months ago. I thought it was decent and moved on to other stories. I think I saw the Iggleverse timeline list. That probably looked kind of intimidating, and I wasn't really interested in Cheersalis because it looked like a simple comedy story that didn't really have interesting world building or themes going for it. Actually, the "duplicate" plot sounds almost like a standard plot you'll find in western animation. I didn't actually read Cheersalis until, well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'd like to add that the initial set-up may also come off as odd; the stories are all about a cultural exchange, and but even the earliest story in the timeline takes place when the signing of a peace treaty is already happening. That jump from canon world to a world where Chrysalis is signing a peace treaty might also make people pass the story, since there's this interesting peace treaty development and rather than explain it the story seems to be focused on some wacky clone shenanigans happening on an unexplained pretense.
Anyways
Recently I read another one of your sidefics, and seeing there were others I started reading the sidefics, although feeling slightly left out.
And then I saw Fading Embers.
The emotions in the story, as well as the combined story of the other sidefics, I enjoyed so much that I started reading The Queen And I. And after leaving a confused comment on the first chapter of that story, I finally decided to read Cheersalis so that I could understand the whole universe.
I actually think this 'verse has a similar trouble to My Little Pony itself, in that single stories that can work standalone don't really do the 'verse justice, and the ones that do the 'verse justice are not standalone.
There's also the element that many of the side fics are about such different stories. Prime example being when I finish the Queen And I saga I look at the fics after it and I think "I don't care about these stories, I wanna know what happened with the characters/events I just read about". Which story connects to which can seem random judging by the titles. When they see a story line that interests them, like the changeling from Fading Embers, only a thorough review of *every* other sidefic in the series reveals all the stories relevant to the character's journey. Counter-intuitively, stories that share titles are only connected by themes. It's poetic, and original, but not really helpful to the reader when sometimes a title only makes sense to them after they've read it.
That said, once the stories actually ARE read, I think it's an enjoyable universe, and once the characters are known it's a treat to hear more about them.
I think this universe is a gem. And I very much look forward to the next installment.
7401613 Thank you for your detailed commentary. I've often wondered about how approachable the Iqqelverse is, and that's a big part of why I made that list with instructions on how to read through it. There's not much more I can do for it at the present, but it really invigorates me to hear that you read through all of the stories, and recognized how the titles are designed to make sense after you've read through them.
The Iqqelverse, from start to finish, was originally designed to be subtly reinterpreted in retrospect as you learn new things about it.
7401665 I would suggest putting together lists of fics that involve specific characters, for example featuring or linking to a list of fics that involve Krittith/Cooke in the descriptions or last chapter author notes for stories that involve one of those characters.
I re-read "If Fear Divides, Courage Unites" today and remembered why I didn't really remember it; a lot of it would've just not been very meaningful without the related stories. I think a list of specifically the stories that were part of Krittith's story in the story description would've been very helpful. Or if the Iqquelverse main list had notes next to story titles listing fics as being part of Astra/Stargazer's story or Krittith/Cooke's story (or in the case of Infusions 2, both)
I liked how over the course of the vignettes who is being told the story is gradually made clearer, and the speaker's nature similarly is hinted at over time before being rendered essentially clear. Seeing more about him than what's been done here and in TQ&I3 would be nice. It's also found the look at Celestia to be more interesting than most of what's been in the series (at any rate after "Fidanity"), since its focus is more on how she's interacting with someone (people, really, counting Cecily) who she both doesn't have preexisting relations with/history, and who isn't important to her role as princess of Equestria in the way that Chrysalis or the Bearers are.
Also, although I already knew it happened, I found Cecily's musical success to be more affecting in this story than "My Language is Music," since it's more immediate and observed via her brother rather than a curious admirer.
I'm a little bit confused on what happened here. Did Talon give Celestia the letters of Cecily? And what about the old knight's quest?
7401665 Seconding at least the first paragraph of what Crocoshark said; these stories have grabbed me like nothing else in the past few months. I can't really comment on the rest of what he said; that would take time away from reading the next one!