3. Quarrels and Quibbles
Cheerilee took a moment to look up and make sure that the sun hadn’t been replaced by a blood red moon, or other impossible heavenly event, for what she was seeing shouldn’t be happening.
Corona, the Tyrant Sun, bowing to a collection of ponies. ...Corona bowing at all, for that matter.
She had thrown back every offer of working together that Luna had ever brought forth. She ranted and raved about how she was the sun and the rightful ruler of Equestria. She threatened to burn Canterlot away when she first escaped! She had taken young ponies hostage to try and enforce her demands! The Tyrant Sun did not bow! Yet, there she was, on her knees, head bowed to the surrounding ponies.
As confused as she was by Corona’s actions, the Crystal Guard were just as confused. They just stared at Corona for what seemed like a very long time, before one of them finally worked up the nerve to approach and address the alicorn.
“Princess...what do you mean?”
Corona rose and looked to Yangin before nodding. Yangin responded with a smile, idly waving a hoof through the air. Cheerilee could feel the flow of magic in the area idly rippling through her fur as a collection of gold bars were summoned from mid air, clattering to the ground at Yangin’s hooves. The jinn then began to pace back and forth before the guard, launching into a speech.
“Princess Celestia has had a great deal of time to dwell on the events that transpired here all those centuries ago. While she still believes that Sombra needed to be dealt with, she does regret the damage done to yours and your home in the process.”
She passed Cheerilee, pausing for just a moment, to fix her with an icy stare. Then she was moving on and continuing her speech. “While this gift of gold can in no way make up for the damage that was caused at the time, we hope that it can be the start of a necessary healing process.”
Healing process. Corona and Yangin were talking about a healing process.
The Crystal Guard were just as bamboozled by the Yangin’s and Corona’s behavior and had fallen into a spat of muttering amongst themselves. Corona and Yangin waited patiently, continuing to maintain their unnervingly out of character behavior. Eventually though, the Crystal Guard broke back apart and one of them approached the pair again.
“If you are serious about these...reparations, the Crystal Council will want to speak with you.”
“Of course,” Corona answered. “I would expect nothing less.”
A few members of the Crystal Guard moved to collect the gold bars and Cheerilee finally snapped out of her reverie.
“Wait a minute! You can’t really be taking her seriously, can you?”
Corona’s head snapped her direction and for a moment, Cheerilee could see the old Corona in those eyes as they flashed with an angry power. But as quickly as it had come, it passed again and Corona approached her with a soft smile.
“Ah, Miss Cheerilee. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that one of the Element Bearers would be present when trouble was rising its head. Your concern is understood, however. We haven’t had the most pleasant relationship in the past.”
“That’s a polite way to frame your attempt to take over Equestria.”
Corona bowed her head slightly. “I do not enjoy the conflict with my sister anymore than you do. But until we can see eye to eye, it will regrettably continue.” She paused for a moment, her smile growing all the more sweet and kind. “As far as our conflict is concerned, however…”
Before Cheerilee realized what was happening, she had been scooped up in Corona’s legs and pulled into a tight embrace. Her body went rigid and her mind locked up as forelegs strong enough to bend steel hugged her like she was a foal that had skinned her knee. The only thought that managed to puncture that dazed confusion was the realization that Corona’s coat was unbelievably soft.
And then came the follow up blowe.
“I forgive you,” Corona said softly, before gently placing her back on the ground.
Cheerilee could only sit in stunned shock as Corona and Yangin trotted off with the crystal guard.
- - - -
If had been quite a while since Celestia found herself in a mood as good as she was in right now. There was a lightness in her step as she followed a few members of the Crystal Guard through the corridors of the palace.
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Yangin whispered.
Celestia allowed herself a smile. Regardless how the rest of the plan played out, she would savor the puzzled expression on Cheerilee’s face till the end of time itself. Considering the times the teacher had managed to reduce her, Equestria’s true monarch, to sputtering shock with lewd comments… Well, it already made Yangin’s plan worthwhile in her mind. A bit of delicious, welcome payback upon Dame Cheerilee.
“How does the expression go? Turnabout is fair play?” Celestia whispered back. “She had earned a little confusion.”
“I think she deserves more than that.”
Exactly what the jinn meant by that had to wait as the Crystal Guard had taken them to one of many offices in the Crystal Palace. Before leaving on this little endeavor, Kindle had pulled together a briefing on the current state of the Empire as it had been a thousand years since her last visit here. While the Empire was run by a council of influential ponies, not unlike Equestria’s own Night Court, it did have a speaker whose job it was to set the agenda and act as the public face of the nation.
It would be to that speaker that Celestia would be making her pitch, to use the vernacular of the era. Though, if she had to make a guess on how things would play out, it was likely that the Crystal Empire would take the gold and not make any actual agreements or concessions regarding the “healing process”. But ultimately it didn’t matter what stance they actually took. All she had to do was to appear the reasonable one. Yangin and Kindle would handle the rest.
As the door to the office swung open, Celestia prepared for the dance to come.
- - - -
“I think she broke her,” Spike declared.
He waved a claw in front of Cheerilee’s eyes again. Schwartzkopf stroked his chin, peering down at the mare with a slightly bemused expression.
“Considering Corona’s reputation, I can’t say that it’s an unwarranted response to being hugged by her.”
“...She hugged me,” Cheerilee muttered.
“Ahh, there she is.”
“She hugged me.”
Spike sighed, scratching at the side of his head. “Okay, maybe not.”
“She. Hugged. Me.”
Rolling his eyes, Spike snapped his claws right in front of Cheerilee’s eyes. “Snap out of it!”
That managed to drag Cheerilee back to reality as she shook her head and focused on Spike. “Oh, sorry Spike. My mind was just...wandering for a minute there.”
“That was an understatement,” Spike deadpanned. “...Though it was strange to see Corona hugging anyone.”
“It’s way more than strange! She has to be up to something!”
“I would assume that she’s trying something, yes. But I would not put much stock in going anywhere,” Schwartzkopf mused. “An alicorn she may be, but Corona would have a better chance of talking a mountain into moving than getting Blue Agate to agree to anything.”
With the confusion over Corona’s actions still swirling about her mind, it took Cheerilee a moment to find herself and place the name.
“Oh! The Speaker?”
Schwartzkopf nodded. “Aye. Since Corona’s reappearance a year ago, she’s maintained a hardline neutrality stance. I don’t see negotiations going anywhere.”
“That being said…”
“You would like to send a message back to Equestria anyway?”
Cheerilee nodded.
“To a telegraph office it is then.”
Schwartzkopf led the way with Cheerilee falling into step behind him. Spike hung behind for a moment before shaking his head and following.
“This is going to lead to trouble…”
- - - -
Bocogu Yangin was bored.
Celestia’s “negotiations” with the Speaker were going well enough, she supposed. Purple Perrywinkle or whatever her name was remaining intragnizent. Oh sure, she was more than happy to take the gold, as Yangin had expected. No self respecting mortal would turn down a pile of hard currency dumped at her hooves. They were quite, quite predictable that way.
But her desire to watch Celestia ask for diplomatic overtures that would be turned down so that she could be the bigger mare was rapidly approaching zero. Especially while a certain mare was in the same city as her. Deep within the eternal flames that fueled her very existence, a bitterness crackled and snapped like fresh wood thrown into a roaring blaze. Yes, at least half of the Element Bearers had supported binding her for their mission to find the Army of Smoke and Fire. But the idea had mostly come from Cheerilee.
Taking advantage of a momentary break in the conversation she reached over and tapped Celestia on her side.
“If your majesty doesn’t need me at the moment, I would like to take a look around the city. It has been quite a while since I’ve been this far north.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Very well. If I require your assistance, I’ll let you know.”
One of the Crystal Guard that had been watching the proceedings moved to follow Yangin, but he might as well have not bothered. Letting her form fall apart into flames, she flowed out of the office via a nearby window. Quickly, she flickered away from the crystal palace and to a secluded alley where she could pull herself back together. Upon reforming, she opted to take the form of a rose coated pegasus mare. That would let her fly around town more...incognito. Flaming camels had a way of making themselves noticed.
Beating her wings to maintain the illusion of being a normal pegasus, she summoned her elemental magic for her next move. The winds fluttered and swirled around her answering the primal call that existed between jinn and the elements.
“Find me the mulberry mare,” she hissed to the breeze. It was a vague command to a mortal, but for a jinn like her, intent mattered as much as the exact wording.
Outwards the breezes raced, shooting over rooftops and between buildings to seek out Cheerilee. To the ponies on the streets it was just a random trick of the wind, but as it whipped through their manes and tousled their coats, impressions of who that pony was were sent back to Yangin.
The sensation of the wind rippling out over the city did drag Yangin’s mind away from the thought of revenge. Beren glittered beneath her as the world’s most massive and perfect gem. Her summoned wind raced over every facet of every building, picking up the exquisite construction of the buildings and the lingering magic of the Crystal Heart. It was beautiful in its own way, a testament to what kind of amazing feats mortals could accomplish when they put their minds to it...and had a little bit of magical help. She supposed that was why she enjoyed living amongst them, rather than running off to live in isolated parts of the world like some of her other siblings.
But her musings were interrupted by the sensations of her spell having found the particular mortal she was looking for. Grinning to herself, she shot off over the city. She was going to have words with the mare that had imprisoned her.
- - - -
Cheerilee sighed as she left the telegraph office. The word had been sent back to Canterlot. Whatever happened next was up to Princess Luna. Though she supposed that Luna would be just as confused by her sisters actions as she was.
Can’t worry about that right now though. I came up here to help Spike.
She took a deep breath and turned towards Spike and Schwartzkopf with a smile. “Okay! Now that all that chaos is taken care of, maybe we can get back to our previous conversation?”
“We can try, but I got the feeling that Corona being here is going to make that hard,” Spike said.
“Why do you say that?”
“Duh! She’s a crazy alicorn! Crazy alicorns have a way of messing everything up!”
Cheerilee...couldn’t really argue with that. Corona did have a way of sending everything straight to the sun. But she wasn’t going to let Corona get in the way of letting her help Spike without a fight.
“Well, all the same, we were in the middle of a conversation when the crazy moth showed up. Shall we find another cafe and pick it up there?”
“...Can we get more crystal jam scones?”
“Of course!”
But they had barely taken a step when a voice rang out. “That sounds fun! Mind if I tag along?”
Cheerilee turned towards the voice, pausing at the sight of a red coated pegasus. The face wasn’t familiar but she was able to tell who it was almost immediately based on the platinum bangle she had hooked around her fetlock.
“Yangin?” Cheerilee blinked.
The jinn in pony’s clothes strode over to her, throwing a leg over her neck. “In the flesh...so to speak. How have you been doing? Everything been working out for you?” she leaned in close, hissing the next part directly into Cheerilee’s ear. “You know, since you enslaved me?”
Cheerilee bit her lip. “Yangin, I’m sorry. I was...scared and I made a mistake.”
“Oh, a mistake? Is that all? Then I’m sure that we can discuss it like reasonable mares over some of those scones I heard your little dragon friend talking about!”
“You leave him out of this!” Cheerilee snapped, her teacherly instincts rising to the surface in a moment. “Spike hasn’t done anything-”
“Relax. Unlike you, I don’t drag bystanders into my fights.”
Cheerilee was ready to argue again, to point out that she didn’t have much of a choice when Yangin was one of the only creatures that knew the location of the Army of Smoke and Fire. But getting into a fight with Yangin in front of Spike wouldn’t help her or the young dragon. So for now she flashed Yangin the most apologetic smile she could muster.
“Fine then. Let’s have some brunch.”
- - - -
With another cafe found the unlikely quartet ended up shoving two small tables together to form a larger one in one of its back corners. Spike had eagerly ordered some more crystal jelly scones. Schwartzkopf had settled for splitting a pot of tea with Cheerilee, while Yangin leaned back in her chair, content with nothing it seemed.
“I’m just not sure if I should really care about the rest of dragon kind right now,” Spike mused after another round of discussion. “I mean, I tried to make an actual nation and they were still more concerned about being the strongest.”
Yangin snorted. “Take a piece of advice kid. Don’t weep for the stupid, you’ll be crying all day.”
Cheerilee shot an icy glare across the table at the jinn. “Now, now Yangin. If we just wrote off everyone who made a mistake, where would we be?”
“I suppose that depends on how severe a mistake it is now isn’t it?”
“And I would argue that the intent of the po- dragon that made the mistake and how much they desired to make amends plays a factor.”
“And I’d argue that if the dragon actually meant that, they wouldn’t have made the mistake in the first place!”
Somewhere in that exchange both Cheerilee and Yangin had moved from sitting, to standing, with both their forehooves planted firmly on the table. Schwartzkopf and Spike looked at the pair then looked at each other.
“How do you two know each other again?” Schwartzkopf asked.
“We’ve worked together in the past,” Yangin answered.
“Uh huh…,” Spike muttered. “Seems a bit more than that…”
Yangin sighed. “Look, Spike. Take it from someone who has worked with more than a few jinn in her life. You can not take on personal responsibility for the whole of a race. Especially at your age. You’re a kid! Dragons are long lived enough that you’ll have centuries to go right some great wrong. Maybe it's time to be a little selfish? Ask yourself what you want.”
Spike sighed and mumbled something under his breath, slid out of his chair and made for the door. Cheerilee got up to follow, only to be blocked by a scaley black claw.
“Give him space. And sort out whatever... “Schwarzkopf said. He peered over Cheerilee at Yangin. “...issues you have with your friend there. Spike won’t be served by your bickering.”
Cheerilee glowered at Yangin. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. She-”
“Is tied to Corona?”
Cheerilee nodded.
Schwarzkopf snorted. “Yes, I figured as much. Her arrival was rather...convenient. Can you handle her?”
Yangin laughed. “Ha! Not a chance!”
The dragon’s expression turned positively sour. “Do I need to call the Crystal Guard?”
Cheerilee winced. The thought of Yangin and the Crystal Guard tearing through the streets of a neutral capital… “No...I don’t want to possibly start a fight in the middle of Beren. I’ll sort things out with Yangin and then catch up with you.”
“Meet us back at the University. I’m going to let Spike vent his feelings a bit more.”
He headed out the door, where Spike had been lingering. After a minute of conversation, they headed off together.Cheerilee turned her attention back to Yangin. She remained in her chair, the smuggest of smiles on her face. Forcing a hiss through her teeth, Cheerilee stalked back to the table.
“I tried to apologise. What do you want from me?”
Yangin leaned forward, crossing her forelegs on the table. “Funnily enough, I’m not interested in your apology. As far as what I want...I want you to realize exactly what you did. I want you to know that you are less than the alicorn you’re so afraid of. Because while you took my service, the big bad Corona offered me her hoof in friendship.”
“So...that’s it? You’re just going to hold my own mistake against me for the rest of my life?” Cheerilee said. “It was a moment of weakness! Are you going to claim that you’ve never had one of those in your life?”
“My youthful indiscretions didn’t involve slapping another creature in chains.”
“No, just punching alicorns in the eye, apparently.”
“Your princess swung first!”
Cheerilee sighed. “So, because I made a mistake you’re going to help Corona take over Equestria?”
Yangin sighed. “You’re a smart mare Cheerilee. You know as well as I, that we could sit here and argue the legal technicalities of which princess deserves to rule your country vs the other.” She stared off into the distance, her eyes focused on some point far beyond Cheerilee. “They honestly should be ruling it together, but Celestia’s mania undermines the effort...”
“Then you have to see how stupid it is to help her!”
Yangin snorted. “She’s going to make the attempt anyway! Besides it’s not like her little circle of minions has a working sane mind between them. Kindle is such a lickspittle that he’d go along with anything Celestia said. Smoke is so infatuated with him that she’s oblivious to the world around her. Terrorwing just wants somepony to fight. Zecora is a starry eyed mystic with no plan for the future and the dragon...” She shook her head, allowing an uneasy shudder to run down her back. “That dragon...I know he’s going to betray her. I can feel it in…,” she paused for a moment, frowning slightly. “Well, I don’t really have bones per-se, but I’m sure you catch my meaning.”
“That’s what you’re going to argue? That you’re somehow a limiting factor on her madness?”
“I’m better than the alternatives! Besides…,” she trailed off, shaking her head again. “You know what? No. I don’t owe you an explanation. I’m not going to be some kind of prop for you to feel better.”
Cheerilee pushed herself away from the table. “Fine. But just to prove that I’m not the monster you think I am? Solrath swallowed the Rainbow of Darkness.”
“What?” Yangin exclaimed.
But Cheerilee was already gone.
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now the cats out of the bagand Yangin knows she is deeper shit then she thought at first, we can only hope she decides to get out before the shit hits the fan.
I think that surrounding herself with an army of idiots and monsters might be having an effect on Sunbutt. At some point, she's going to realize WHY she's hated and feared...she's the idiotic monster who's the menace. Once that hits her, she's going to spend a millennium or two making up for it.
Celestia 'forgives' Cheerilee.
Well, that takes some cahones.
Corona might contest that it's actually Luna's habit to send things to the sun.
Hah!
Hopefully not ominous.
Well, that is what happened.
I feel like they're not talking about dragons anymore.
Which is probably going to be betrayed eventually, unless Celestia finally comes to her senses before there's a chance for Corona to screw up the relationship.
As much as I'm inclined to more or less agree that Yangin is in the right with her issues with Cheerilee, if this is how she's going to be in the conversation why did she bother to find her in the city anyway? To make Cheerilee a prop so that she's the one who can feel better?
Probably a good thing for members of Team Celestia to know.