• Published 11th Jan 2018
  • 6,211 Views, 4,647 Comments

House of the Rising Sunflower - kudzuhaiku



Hard work is its own reward, and competence can be one's ultimate undoing.

  • ...
28
 4,647
 6,211

PreviousChapters Next
There is no worse rivalry than those between siblings

If Princess Celestia could create a nation from scratch, then Sundance knew that he could do no less. She was far more animated now, happier perhaps, and was discussing the orchard with Commander Humblewood. Sundance, unsettled, wasn’t sure how to feel, but at the moment, he didn’t feel bad. If anything, he felt inspired in some vague, unknown way, though he wasn’t sure how he was inspired.

Things didn’t feel quite so impossible.

Or hopeless.

The princesses were truly inspiring ponies, the both of them. He’d just learned that Princess Celestia had done so much with so little, and that Princess Luna, well, she was a far better pony than he gave her credit for. His reverence had always been for Princess Celestia, and now, for the first time, he understood that he’d made a mistake. Rather than mope about it though, he made plans to do better. To be better.

“She likes you, you know.”

Turning about, Sundance faced Moon Rose once more.

“When Celestia truly likes you, she becomes your teacher. You seemed to be having a moment there just a bit ago. That’s when she strikes. I think that’s how she combats negativity and despair—she teaches. When a student is having a bad day, sometimes, if Celestia is around, she whisks them away for private lessons. She’s done it with me… and there were many days when Paradox was Celestia’s focus. Poor Paradox would start crying in class and poof! Celestia would appear, just like magic. The approach seems so successful that other teachers in Celestia’s school do the same.”

“Do you know Paradox very well?” he asked.

“I know that she is brilliant,” Moon Rose replied. “She is the literal tortured genius. The potential for great good is there… but also great evil. Celestia has nurtured her into goodness. Hurt changes a pony.”

Sundance’s eyes darted to and fro; he glanced at Luna for a moment, then Paradox, and then at the ponies all around him. He thought of his mother for some reason and wondered how her job might have hurt her. Thoughtful, he recalled his time in school… that had hurt him. What changes took place within him because of his own hurts? Did he have a capacity for evil?

Probably not, he decided; he drank his tea, afterall.

His mood was all over the place today and he probably needed a good flight to sort everything out. His realisation about Princess Luna troubled him a bit, but he was recovering himself from his painful new awareness. Learning came at a cost; this was something he already knew, but this drove home the point. A sense of inadequacy lurked, that he wasn’t worthy of all of this, but he kept that at bay. Moon Rose, a bookish sort, was rather attractive and he had her attention, so life wasn’t all bad. Not everything was doom and gloom.

“Steadfast…”

Sundance’s head whipped around with remarkable speed at the sound of Princess Luna’s voice. Steadfast was holding his head up. More than that, he was looking around, blinking his bleary eyes, and squinting in the sunlight. Hailstone appeared to be quite overjoyed, and she held out one foreleg, ready to catch her brother’s head if it dropped suddenly.

Princess Luna pushed Paradox out of the way in her sudden rush to go to Steadfast’s side. Paradox, shoved out of the way, didn’t seem to mind, not in the slightest, and like everypony else, her attention was on Steadfast, who yawned. His orange tongue dangled, it hung from his bottom lip for a brief moment, and then vanished with a wet slurp.

“You’re holding your head up, Steadfast. It’s been awhile.”

“I feel better,” the colt said to his mother, wheezing out each word.

“How… curious.” Princess Luna was a different pony now as she hovered over her son, clearly resisting the urge to snatch him up from where he lay.

Steadfast’s thin, pinched face contorted, Sundance thought the colt was in pain, but it was just a sneeze, a rather weak, feeble sneeze that left his muzzle snotty. Princess Luna conjured up a dark blue hanky, wiped her son’s nose, and then vanished the snotty hanky from sight. She acted a bit too soon though, as Steadfast sneezed for a second time.

The poor colt looked woozy from sneezing, but somehow kept his head held high.

Again, his mother conjured up a hanky—a clean one—and when she was done, this one too was vanished from view. Aurora snorted, rolled over a bit, but did not wake up. Hailstone pulled the blanket over her sister, patted her snoozing sibling once, and then returned her full attention to her brother.

“It’s the land,” Paradox said, her voice wavering with a bit of uncertainty. “I plan to study it. The land seems to have an affinity for earth ponies, or maybe it’s just because there’s so many earth ponies here, so my conclusions might be erroneous. I’m pretty sure that it’s affecting Steadfast.”

“But how?” Princess Luna asked as her sister approached.

“I’ve never fully understood the magic of this place,” Princess Celestia said as she stood gazing down at Steadfast, who was having a good look around. “It gave us life in spite of the ground being tainted and cursed. The cursed earth hit the earth ponies the hardest. Made them sick. It did something to their magic that I couldn’t comprehend. But here, in this place, they found strength. They recovered. Alas, I never had a chance to study it, as there were far too many other things that demanded my attention.”

Princess Luna bit her bottom lip and then stood in silence.

Now, Prince Gosling was coming over, with Beans and Toast just behind him. His face was solemn, but there was something about his eyes that suggested joy, a silent, reserved joy. Sundance got out of the prince’s way, fearing that he might be shoved aside just as Paradox had been. Others too, began to gather, and craned their necks to see what was going on.

When Prince Gosling spoke, it was a command: “Beans, Toast, I want soil samples.”

“Right. Right away.” The twins, who spoke in unison, cast a final glance at Steadfast, and then they departed together, vanishing in a flash.

“He’s held his head up before,” Prince Gosling said to Princess Luna.

“Yes, but not often,” was her reply. “Look at him. Do not deny this is different.”

“I’m not denying anything, but a mother’s hopes can change her perceptions.”

“Something is different though,” Princess Celestia said. “I can feel it.”

“I am too emotional to know what I feel.” Princess Luna lowered her head down, until her muzzle was mere inches away from her son.

When she pressed her snoot against her son’s ear, a wheezy giggle could be heard.

In a most unprincessly manner, Princess Luna flopped down onto the grass, crawled on her belly to get closer, and then went still while looking into her son’s eyes. Steadfast wobbled a bit, held out one trembling stick-thin foreleg, and he was pulled closer to his mother. He settled between her forelegs and sniffled a bit while his mother wrapped his blanket around his body. Somehow, through all of this, he kept his head held high.

“Hello, Sleepyhead.”

Somehow, this moment felt far too private, and Sundance wanted to turn away, but found that he could not. Princess Luna kissed her son and he thought of his own mother. She was a hard mare, but she had her moments. When he was sick, she would sing to him, and would sometimes bring him grilled cheese sandwiches in bed. Remembering this, he found that he missed her fiercely. Those tender moments mattered more, because they were special, because they were rare and didn’t happen often. His mother was a busy mare—just like Princess Luna no doubt was.

“You could stay here, you know,” Sundance offered. “If you wanted to.”

“These are my sister’s ancestral lands,” was Princess Luna’s deadpan reply.

“Why does that matter?” Sundance asked, baffled by her response.

She offered no return, but cuddled her son. He felt the light touch of feathers on his neck, and when he turned his head, Princess Celestia was right there. He looked at her, all too aware of her piercing gaze, and he couldn’t help but feel that she was staring right into his naked, vulnerable soul.

“That’s the sort of thing that family would say,” she whispered, and her hot, cinnamon-scented breath tickled Sundance’s nose.

“You’ve done so much,” he replied, “and I feel as though I’ve done so little in return. I just want to do something to help.” It was a struggle not to sneeze, but he didn’t dare. He would not sneeze on a princess, no matter how tickly and cinnamon-scented her breath was.

“It is a matter of time, I fear,” the white alicorn said. “So much is expected of my sister these days. But, we shall take you up on your offer, and time will be made. We’ll discuss this later, to be sure.”

Taking a step back, Sundance did nothing to press the issue further.


Princess Celestia smacking her lips was a thundercrack. She sat with one son on each side of her, as if she was a mighty barrier that preserved peace between the brothers. Food was being served now, with trays and pans being brought to each and every table. When an enormous pan of macaroni and cheese was put down, the princess leaned over the table and sniffed.

A moment later, a massive platter of hot fried pickles was presented for the monarch’s inspection.

“There’ll be coronal mass ejections tonight—”

“Nuance, hush.” Something that was almost a smirk lurked on Princess Celestia’s muzzle.

“Tremendous bubbles of superheated gas—”

“Radiance… really?” The princess turned to face her other son.

“Solar winds—”

“Gosling… shut up.”

Clapping her front hooves together, Hailstone shouted, “Farts!”

Before Princess Celestia could reprimand the clapping pegasus filly, Prince Gosling said, “Hey, she’s pretty clever. My little Hailstone cut through all these big words and said what we’re all thinking but are too polite to say.”

Groaning, Princess Celestia covered her face with her wing, and Sundance, unable to help himself, laughed. He did so alone at first, but Moon Rose was quick to join him, and Paradox, mortified, let out a forced chuckle that fell flat the second it left her lips. More food was piled upon the table, which sagged beneath the weight. It was guard chow, to be sure, which meant it was hot, filling, and there was plenty of it.

“One day, this will happen to you, Sundance,” Princess Celestia said as she pulled her wing away from her face. “You will be a mighty baron, but all of your majesty will be undone by your hooligan offspring—just as my majesty is thoroughly brought to ruin by my own insufferable little hooligans—”

“Hey!” both Radiance and Nuance said together at once.

“What’s the big idea?” Nuance demanded.

“Why I oughta…” Radiance, scowling, gave his mother a dark look.

“I’m the good one,” Corbie announced, and this earned her the silent, petulant ire of both of her brothers.

Arming herself with a serving spoon, Princess Celestia waved it around and menaced her offspring in a playful manner before she began digging into the food. As a mother, as a parent, Princess Celestia was quite different than his own mother, and Sundance watched as she heaped food on plates. Nuance got more fried pickles, while Radiance got an extra spoonful of macaroni and cheese. Corbie got smaller portions, but a huge, heaping pile of spring greens.

“Ugh, salad,” the filly sighed in dismay.

“I’ll take nothing but salad,” Skyla said. “Please.”

“You’ve been eating sweets all week—”

“I know, Corbie”—with her irresponsibility revealed, Skyla scowled—“and I’m worried about transforming into a winged hippopotamus. Have you seen the size of my sister’s royal as—”

“Skyla!” Princess Celestia snapped.

“—sets?”

“We’re not fooled, filly.” Prince Gosling shook his head from side to side, but there was a smirk on the side of his face that was away from Princess Celestia.

Sundance came from a small, poor family. It wasn’t often that they ate together, and when they did, it was a mostly quiet affair. Eating with his subjects proved similar, as they focused on eating, for the most part. Time spent talking was time spent not eating, unless of course they talked with their mouths full, which tended to happen.

But this… this was a meal with family. It was new and quite unlike anything that he’d ever experienced. The table was crowded. Not just family, either, but friends, because Commander Humblewood and Berry Briar were present. Something about the food and the togetherness made him feel closer to Paradox, who, it could be said, had a far more definable family connection.

This felt good, like nothing else.

More food was deposited upon the table, much to Sundance’s delight, but Princess Celestia seemed to only have eyes for macaroni and cheese, as well as the fried pickles. Princess Luna however, took immediate interest in the massive platter left behind by the serving staff.

“Mmm”—she licked her lips—“pasties. Royal Guard Pasties stuffed with mystery mince.”

Prince Gosling too, showed interest. “An Equestrian tradition for almost eight-hundred years. No two batches are ever quite the same. Made of the finest mystery ingredients.”

“It might just be the finest of the Royal Guard traditions,” Radiance quipped whilst eagerly eyeing the steaming pile of pasties.

“I’ve heard stories that they put meat in those.” Corbie cringed away from the pasties, dubious of their supposed goodness.

“As minced as it is, you’d never know it,” Prince Gosling said to his daughter.

“Yuck!” Corbie stuck out her tongue and shied away from the mystery-filled pasties.

“Long ago, I told our most promising cooks to scrounge, scavenge, or steal whatever they could and grind it into hash to keep bellies filled.” Princess Celestia paused for a moment, her large steel serving spoon hung in mid-air, motionless, and she seemed lost in misty-eyed remembrance of the old days. “An enterprising Pie took that hash and put it into a pasty. That pasty was then deep fried in sunflower oil, which came from this very barony. I’d like to think that learning how to digest these pasties are what makes our guardsponies so hearty.”

A massive bowl of potato salad was dropped off and left on the corner of the table.

Sundance’s ears pricked as a plate was prepared and plopped down in front of him. On it, there was a little bit of everything. Fried pickle chips, macaroni and cheese, some salad, and a pasty stuck up like a tombstone from the potato salad. Then, just as he was about to dig in, Princess Luna stuck a second pasty on his plate, planting this one in the midst of the vividly yellow macaroni and cheese.

“Well, good job, Nuance.” Radiance leaned forwards over the table, to peer around his mother’s neck at his brother. "You've done something that mother can be proud of. Really proud. She no longer has to lie to make you feel better."

The tension was immediate and sudden.

Princess Celestia’s face darkened and it grew curiously warm; it was a lot like the oppressive, suffocating heat just before a thunderstorm. There was an awful sound as Corbie ground her teeth together, and it seemed as though the irate filly might just launch herself at her brother. A tired, weary sigh could be heard escaping from Princess Luna, while Gosling wrapped a wing around his daughter, Corbie, perhaps to keep her from acting upon her anger.

Before his mother could spit out her lecture, Nuance spoke: “Mother, it’s alright. I’ve grown a thicker skin since coming here. I’ve also learned the importance of keeping my end of the deal. Look at what I’ve accomplished. I made a deal and I followed it through to completion.” Then, facing his brother, with his lip curled back into a sneer worthy of Prince Blueblood, he asked, “How is progress on that railroad depot, brother?”

Radiance, quivering with rage, his face turned an unnatural shade of purple.

“That gatehouse”—Commander Humblewood spoke with the calm, steady assurance of a seasoned officer—“is a testament to Nuance’s work. He drew upon his studies of fortifications to lay out the initial plans. Nuance organised resource gathering and coordinated the various teams. Everything ran so smoothly that the gatehouse was constructed in mere days, which I find astounding. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Nuance did all of this with no mark. He had no natural talent guiding his way, just his own wit and cleverness, which speaks volumes for his future potential.”

“This is your day in the sun.” Princess Celestia, her fury cooled a little, lifted Nuance from where he sat, and, ignoring his protests, pulled him close. After smooching him once, she said, “I am so proud of you. Nuance, I need you to know, I’ve always been proud of you when you apply yourself, and I would never, ever lie about that. You, you’re smart enough to know when I am disappointed, and when I’m not. Also, it seems that Blueblood’s and Dim’s tutelage has rubbed off on you. That was incredibly diplomatic of you to say, because it goads Radiance into keeping his promise.” Again, she smooched her son, and this time, Nuance did not squirm away.

Radiance, his forelegs now folded over his barrel, sulked.

“Dim’s endless cruelty has made me a better pony,” the colt said to his mother.

Saying nothing, Quiet smirked while resting her forelegs against the edge of the table.

“He’s not really that cruel, you know.” Nuance spoke in a low whisper whilst he touched his mother’s cheek. “It just feels that way sometimes. He doesn’t accept my excuses and he holds me accountable for everything I do. Sometimes, it feels unfair, because Dim never relents, and he never cuts me any slack, but I’m really glad that he holds me over the fire. I was finally able to show up my brother, and it feels great.”

Princess Celestia’s expression turned deadpan.

“Mother, I have better motivations, I promise. I did this for the sake of doing good. Showing up my brother was just a pleasant reward, that’s all. Though I will admit, it is what I thought about when things got tough and I felt overwhelmed. Those times when everything felt impossible.”

A grudging half-smile appeared upon Princess Celestia’s face, like a sunbeam parting angry storm clouds. She pulled her son close, kissed him once more, and then put him back down where he had been seated. A little confused, but also happy, Nuance leaned up against his mother, and did so without embarrassment or shame.

Sundance was happy for him.

“No more squabbling,” Prince Gosling said. “Let’s eat.”

Author's Note:

:trollestia: - Trust me, this I know.

PreviousChapters Next