Chapter 1 - Jilted

Being a translator, what mattered was the content of the written work; it didn’t matter how messy the words were, whether there were editor’s marks all over the place, or if it was even backwards. What mattered was that the intended message, not what actually said. It is motive, and not the action themselves, that in the future can spell redemption or banishment. And this night, where that future was far enough out that it only warrants mentioning that there is an end in store; this summer night where the foals that played in that ever loving sun were brought inside and sheltered from what may be awaiting in the darkness.

Cobalt, a stallion born with a mundane peach colored fur and brown mane, had finished translating an old journal that did nothing but wax philosophical in what the translator could tell is nothing but nonsense. But along with these strange books and trinkets powerful wizards had coin, and that is what Cobalt needed. The unicorn’s slender frame and exceptionally long horn would normally have him slated to be a wizard as well, but his love was in the written word, and his access to magic was rather embarrassing if he were to sugar coat it.
He removed his spectacles and rubbed his dry and aching eyes before sighing. His horn glowed, taking the newly translated papers and setting them aside to be edited and make presentable for his customer. “Now,” the unicorn mumbled and levitated an ornate scroll along with his special quill in front of him, “I’ve made her wait far too long…”

Quill met paper, and Cobalt felt himself relax like he was speaking with his old friend face to face rather than at distance.

Dear Princess Luna

You must forgive me for waiting so long to write to you. I’ve since graduated from my apprenticeship and have settled down in The Crystal Empire; you would be quite surprised as to how many ponies have trouble with ancient equestrian here.
I feel like business will be very good, and I owe this much in part to your gracious friendship and referrals. Because of the density of orders I’m receiving I don’t believe I will have the capacity to come to the Summer Sun Celebration. I’m so sorry for this.
Even so, there are nights with little sleep, and a prescription for spectacles getting thicker and thicker, yet I am quite happy with the life you’ve given me. I hope to be able to take a break in some months, once I have some bits saved so I am not living from week to week. I pray you set aside a bottle of hard cider, and hopefully sooner that it seems we will be able to share it along with a slow night of staring at the stars.

Signed, Cobalt Stroke,
Your faithful student and lifelong friend.

Cobalt’s horn glowed, a tingle flowing like water spilled over his head down his skull and then his spine, a feeling the stallion relished whenever his magic touched paper. It was his destiny to work with paper and its myriad of symbols, his cutie mark being a long unrolled scroll with strange symbols scrawled across them.
Weariness began to overcome him as he deposited the letter in the box his post is collected from, in the hallway of the rather cheap apartment complex. He felt some shame, lying to the princess in that he had so many orders he couldn’t come; the truth was that there were very few specialty orders he was receiving. Just barely enough work to pay for food and utilities, but there was no possible way that Cobalt could travel to Canterlot and back as well as eat. “No more time for sad thoughts…it’s time for sleep.”
Cobalt could feel a lump in his throat, he missed his childhood friend very much, but as usual he was powerless to do anything about it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Canterlot Castle, the home of the two sisters. The craftsmanship of those ancient stone hallways and staterooms were a gift from master stonemasons at the time the two sisters rose to the throne. During the day, the smooth sandstone walls perfectly reflected the blazing light of the sun into softer yellows and pinks. At night, the pale moonlight cast shadows, but the sandstone beautifully blended the pale whites of the moon and dark reaches of the shadow into an array of blues and purples that more ponies should have appreciated them.
Princess Luna’s memories reached as far back as Celestia’s, with the slight different of their age being diminished as the millennia passed by them. And these were the memories that drifted in her ancient mind as she walked the hallways, the powerful magicks of her horn holding a letter addressed to her in the spidery scrawl of her friend Cobalt. She could feel her heart leaping in her throat from excitement and stealing her breath when she opened the letter to read of the translator’s latest experiences.

She stopped in front of the door to her room as she continued to read, a smile beaming forth as her eyes savored each letter he had written to her. It was when she reached the part about him not being able to make the Summer Sun Celebration that all of her excitement dissipated and left her with a hollow feeling in her gut. “Has he forsaken me?” She asked, not angry, not even sad, but disappointed that he had turned out like all of her other subjects that dreamt in blissful ignorance of the shining beauty that were her creations.

“No, not him…” Her eyes narrowed, “I will not allow him the pleasure of forgetting me.” She spoke in almost a growl. The air around her horn warped, and rippled as magic surged from her, the very light being sucked from the air as she enforced her will on the world around her. Saddlebags teleported on her back, and books, papers, and her royal regalia soared into them. Her reach was as close as the drawers from the room before her then all the way down to the locked dungeons. Her secret treasures hidden there in ancient libraries, and something she specifically needed Cobalt’s help with was what was now in her possession from those hallowed vaults.

The reason that she would not allow him to miss their meeting.

She turned to the guards rushing down the hallways, kneeling when a few feet from her. She winced and at the clank of their armor against the stone floor, assaulting her ears with its sharpness. “Princess Luna, is everything okay? What is happening?”

Snorting, the dark blue alicorn turned her gaze down the hallway towards the front of the castle, “There is no alarm, assemble a carriage.” She raised the envelope the letter had been sent in and narrowed her eyes at the return address, “We will be riding to Manehattan. There will be no delays. And we will be there by the time Sister’s light begins to shine.”

Luna felt a surge of pride swell in her chest when the guard ponies scrambled away from her to perform her bidding. The princess; however, would not deign to rush to the carriage, and to the guardsmen’s credit the carriage was ready and waiting when she arrived at the palace gates.

The princess slipped inside of the carriage and they immediately left at full gallop. “Now…to announce our presence properly to an old friend.” Luna curled up on the cushioned seat and closed her eyes, allowing the darkness to swallow her horn again as she began whispering a spell.

Here now, Time and Space;
Be still at my sacred song
When the stars, wrought by grace
Return to the one whom they belong
Guide my powers, touch my soul
Now make the chain unbroken
So mind and mind become whole
By my power, let only silence be unspoken.

Luna felt the familiar sensation of her consciousness release itself from her body, the rush of the wind and the beating of pegasi’s wings upon the air drew distant and soon disappeared altogether. Luna took care with this projection, as she had not walked among the dreams of her subjects in some time. Her subjects did not desire her presence, so they would not have her guidance.

Focusing her powers and forming an image of herself, for what form did consciousness truly take? It would be easier for Cobalt to know who was calling upon him, for the princess felt he still deserved no tricks or subterfuge.

The only sound that could be heard was the music of the cosmos, only audible in those places that existed not quite within the physical world, and that was indeed where Luna had brought herself. She listened to the sounds. It wasn't exactly voices, nor was it exactly harmony or melody; however if you listened close enough you could hear faint mockeries of those things. The area the princess was in manifested itself as a cloud strewn floor, and along either side small spheres, stars, of varying sizes and light intensities.

She knew exactly which one that she was going to choose, it was a short distance away from here and it was about the size of cherry, but gave off a bright blue light. “Here you are.” She raised a hoof, just underneath the twinkling star and set her focus on it, the magic drawing her in and out of the hallway that was her gift and responsibility.

293 views