Ripples

by BaeroRemedy

Legacy Issues

Sixteen days until the Summer Sun Celebration

Twilight Satin hated hospitals. The white everything and muted ‘sanitary’ colors were just awful for anyone feeling ill. How could Satin feel better about anything, let alone her condition, when everything around her was an eyesore?

Absolutely disgusting.

Worst of all was her family always coming around and crying over her. How ridiculous of them. Ninety Seven years she had been on this planet, Ninety Seven years she had done her best to help her family and advance the legacy she would leave behind. She had been in the House of Nobles since she married, she had made her family’s lineage a household name alone.

She had lived a good long life, they had no reason to cry. If she was some no-name who had worked every day of their miserable life they could cry. Or if she was some mudpony or featherbrain, sure. But she was a unicorn who had served the crown to the best of her ability! There was pride in her life! They should be reveling in everything she had left them.

Ungrateful, like always.

“Mother, how are you feeling? Are you comfortable?” Her daughter, Twilight Velvet, asked. Her voice was quavering, eyes bloodshot and puffy bags had formed beneath them. Such a bad look for a mare of her stature.

“Quit your crying, I’m fine!” To punctuate her point, a vicious cough wracked her body, causing her to shake and take deep, labored breaths. “I am dying, I am not dying painfully. Now wipe your eyes and splash some cold water on your face, Velvet. You look awful.”

Like the pushover she was, Velvet obeyed and scurried over to the sink in the room. She turned the faucet on and did as she was told.

Satin scoffed.

“Just try to relax, Satin.” The spineless welp that Velvet called her husband chimed in. He was a stallion who favored jokes and avoiding conflict over actual manners, tact, and standing up for himself or his family. “Just try to relax and think that you’ll be with Red Tape soon.”

“Ha!” Satin rasped out as loudly as she could. “Why should that relax me? So he can moan and complain at me for all of eternity about being to ambitious? Oh yes, I cannot wait Night Light.” Her late husband, who had died of a heart attack in his sleep when Velvet was three years old was not one of her favorite ponies. They had been married out of an arrangement between families.

Now Satin’s father, that was a stallion. Bold, ambitious, working towards his greater goals. When he had died, Satin had weeped for weeks because the world lost a true force of nature. He had been someone that a young Satin had looked up to and continued to revere. He knew the meaning of legacy, he knew what a family name meant. Not like her own husband or Velvet’s, who were to preoccupied with being likable over actually accomplishing things.

“Well I give up, dear.” Figures, he couldn’t even deliver her any kind of resistance. Weak. “At least we can be certain that this is indeed your mother.” Night Light rubbed his wife’s back and hugged her like a mother would her newborn foal, softly and with no conviction for fear of breaking something.

“It’s okay, Night. You can go out and join the others.” The sorry excuse for a stallion meekly nodded and left the room, leaving the mother and daughter alone.

Satin meant to be hard on her daughter, it was the only way to push her. Velvet knew that Satin still loved her, with every ounce of her being. Velvet was the culmination of everything she had fought and clawed so hard for. Velvet was the continuation, the next step.

Considering how that traitor Galea had ruined everything that the elder mare had worked so hard for, Velvet was going to need to step up and build something new. All the tools were there, all the money, all of the connections, Velvet just had to use them.

“Are your children here?” Satin asked, curious. “I would like to see my grandfoals at least one more time, even the boy.” Things needed to be said, and given to the both of them. Very important things, things that could and would affect their lives. “And send the boy in with a pen and paper, I don’t want his head problems to interfere.”

The fool, Shining Armor, had gone and messed everything up some number of years ago. First he went and broke up with that ditz of a Princess over some magic or some such nonsense. She had spent all that time and all of those favors getting them into the same school, into the same classes! Did that ungrateful whelp even know what she had to go through with her marriage? She didn’t even have a choice like he did, and he went and threw it away.

Disappointing.

Despite the disappointment in both him being a male, and thus unworthy to carry the name Twilight, and ruining their one chance at ascending their family into being royalty, Satin still had something to give him.

“Y-yes Mother, of course.” Velvet scurried off with that, off to retrieve her foals from the waiting room. This left Satin with time to reflect.

Had she been harsh in life? Of course. Did she regret a single moment? No, she could not afford to.This world was filled to the brim with more ponies liable to stick a knife in your back than stick up for you. She had learned that lesson early on.

When she was five, Nomme De Plume, an heiress and descendant of the great Princess Platinum, had held a party for all of the filly socialites. Satin, being a filly of money, but no substantive claims to the family name other than ‘also a descendant of Princess Platinum’ had been invited.

That backstabbing mare. All throughout Satin’s life, starting at that very moment, had done nothing but humiliate her. She openly criticized her gown at the function, calling it names and exposing its price tag to every other guest. It had been absolutely devastating. Everypony else there, her peers and rivals for life, had laughed at her. They had laughed her right out of the ballroom, right out of their circle.

That night, her father had told her the secret to everything. The secret to life and success and every goal you could dream of. ‘Fuck everyone else.’ Satin had taken that to heart. Every step of the way through her life, she had used any means necessary to advance.Even when courting her husband, the other debutante that had been vying for his hoof had an ‘unfortunate accident’ that had left most of her face burned. Even in the House of Nobles, she had used bribery and blackmail to get everything her way.

Nothing was off limits. Nothing was forbidden. Everything was fair game.

That was until Galea came into the equation. The absolute tart. The uppity no-name had come to her first, angling for a way into Knock Out’s good graces to become his assistant. Satin should’ve known from that moment the mare was trouble. Cold, heartless, seemingly devoid of passion. It was a mark of evil.

Naturally, Satin had accepted the mare’s request and directed Captain Knock Out towards the mare when promotions came around. In return, Galea had one of the noble houses angling for her seat investigated and humiliated for their foal-fiddling son-in-law.

That was their relationship. Satin would make Galea look good and in return Galea would help advance Satin’s own goals. Then they devised a plan, or at least Galea had. That should have been a red flag, the lowly assistant wanting to lock up most of the nobles in Canterlot using all of Satin’s knowledge on their finances and illegality.

Satin had been a fool.

The upstart, the twit, the fool had crossed her. Instead of consolidating power to a few choice houses, Galea had them all replaced with some voting nonsense. What did it mean to be a noble now? Nothing. It meant you were either a criminal, or you had been accused of it.

Galea had ruined everything, and she was going to pay one way or another.

“Grandma?” Oh good, the boy came first. If it wasn’t bad enough that he was the first visitor, he also had to call her that awful name. ‘Grandma’ was such plebeian speak. ‘Grandmother’ would be the most appropriate and articulate way to address her, but it was too late for that now. “You wanted to see me?”

The one thing that the boy had over little Sparkle was the coat color. Royal white like all good unicorns, just stunning. And with the mare he was with now, they would make good stock if her ever grew the stomach to propose to the poor mare. The color was the one thing that Satin could even be proud of him for, and he had nothing to do with it.

“Yes, yes. Come in. Did you bring a pen and paper like I said?” He held up a pad and pen in his feminine magical grasp, displaying it. “Good, take notes. I don’t want your head ruining this.” The boy visibly deflated at that. Perhaps the fact that she was on her deathbed had made him a bit more tolerable. No more back talking or fighting. It felt right.

“What am I taking notes on…?” He asked, stepping into the room. That infuriating hitch in his gait ruined any chance of him walking into any gala, but Satin supposed it could be covered if he actually tried.

“Everything I say!” She declared, pointing a shaky hoof at the boy as more coughs ravaged her frail body. “Seven Oh Three East Street, unit number eight one six, combination seven four oh, thirty six, fifty-eight. The lock has to be precise, so only a unicorn can open it.” The boy scribbled things down as she talked, like a good little colt. “What’s in there is everything I’ve ever collected on every pony I have ever needed to know about. There is enough information in that storage unit to topple most families in hours.” At that the boy hesitated, but then continued scribbling. “It is not for you, though. Sweetie Drops in Ponyville. Tell her it wasn’t an accident.”

“Wh-who is Sweetie Drops?” He questioned, not writing it down.

With all of her remaining strength, Satin grabbed a clump of fur in her magic and puled the boy so close he could practically smell the death on her. She narrowed her beady and cold eyes and told him one last thing, one thing she meant with all of her being, with the full weight of her life behind it.

“Do not fuck this up, Shining Armor.”

Author's Note:

Hey, this little anthology series is over now! Now I gotta get started on the real sequel! I've just been setting some things up, answering a few questions I had about events and getting back into the world I created.

I hope you all enjoyed it a little and I'll see you in ASOSA 2.

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

Well, I was hoping a that there was a little bit more impressive performance from Shining in this scene, with some cynicism at least from him? And I'm not entirely sure what he's doing right now.

But I see Satin has... weird priorities.

She has Galea pegged as evil correctly, although it seems like "doesn't support the nobles" is contained in that, and not the police state nonsense.

So, this says "between, bigger stories." Edit: wait, now I can't find that line. Regardless: Does that mean a future one is indeed planned?

[toasterpone]

"Real sequel"
Good sir.
You have made my day.

[Dusk Star Shine]

Sweet mini-Sequel, thought I can't wait for the Main Sequel to start up, how long until it comes out?