• Published 15th Sep 2018
  • 4,037 Views, 147 Comments

Harmony Unfurled - Saturni_Rose



The continued AU wherein Luna became the protagonist instead of Twilight. Now she faces a bigger challenge than fighting her demons; drawing up the courage to reconnect with her sister.

  • ...
7
 147
 4,037

Part 9: The bright side.

The sun rose on a new week. Light filtered over the tops of the white stone walls of Canterlot, bursting into rays in the dewy mist. The bronze onion domes atop the castle turrets at the city’s highest point caught the first gleams of morn. A long shadow which foretold the week to come stretched nigh endlessly across the courtyard. To get out of the suffocating grasp of dark, a pink pegasus ambled with great lethargy in through a set of double doors. And a blue one followed along behind, too busy yawning to notice her compatriot having come to a stop.

“Hey, watch it.” Petra told Nimbus with disdain. Huffing, she swiveled her head back round and marched onto the lockers that stretched out before them.

“Sorry.” whined Nimbus. “I’m just so tired. Couldn’t we have called in today?”

Petra’s quartz light eyes rolled around in her skull. When they got to where they were going, she sat Nimbus down on the bench, and peered about. Most of the other guards were going about their business. So she told her simply: “We can’t let the others catch onto the fact that we were doing anything else on our vacation.”

Nimbus’s soft sherbet orange eyes snapped out of their quick doze when Petra tossed a padded undercoat her way. She pouted, slipping it on over wing and hoof alike, rambling out loud that: “It’s especially disappointing, since we came away with nothing.”

“You came away with nothing. I came away with a theory.” As Petra donned her own flax-padded gambeson, she held her head up high, desperate to maintain her pride.

“You can’t prove it was Fluttershy, c’mon.” Frowning, Nimbus finally made her way over to her own locker herself.

“It’s always the quiet ones.” Petra did the last fastens and then prodded Nimbus’s shoulder. “Trust me on this.”

Unflinching, Nimbus presented her with a rattling collection of metal plates and leather straps. “Just help me get my armor on.”

Petra reluctantly started fastening her partner’s barding for her. “If only we had more time, I bet we would’ve found some messed up stuff out by Fluttershy’s cottage.”

“I don’t know, Petra.” Nimbus took the helmet off the top rack in the wide locker that accommodated the storage of armor and personal affects. She turned it in her hooves as the last few buckles and fastens clicked in place around her torso. The metal was a burnished, silvery hue, with gilded etchings, as denoted a member of the queensguard. “Maybe Celestia was right. We should’ve just dropped it.”

“Just drop a mysterious, vaguely threatening message meant for the queen?” asked Petra incredulously as she pushed her own armor in a verbal plea for help.

Nimbus set her helmet down on the bench and set to armoring her partner in kind. “Has anything come of that note, though?”

“Besides the queen moping too much to even send her sister a letter, no. Technically there has not been an attempt on her life, as of yet.” Petra huffed. She didn’t like admitting that her gut might have led her astray.

“Exactly.” Nimbus yanked a strap good and tight, but let go when Petra began to wheeze. “Oh, sorry.”

While catching her breath, Petra glanced around to make doubly sure no-one else was listening in on them. “Nimbus, don’t you want to know who would torment her like this? And surely it couldn’t have been a coincidence it appeared right after she had another spat with Luna.”

“I…” Nimbus bit her lip, clicking the last of the armor in place. When Petra turned to face her, a frown tugged on her lips. “I guess, yeah.”

“Exactly.” said Petra proudly.

“But--”

“But? What do you mean, ‘but?’”

“It’s just that Celestia expressly commanded us not to look into this, and I feel bad about it.” Her dejected head drooped. Or was it because she was dozing again?

Petra reached out to her. She cupped her cheek, lifting that sad face up. Peering into her eyes she told her: “As queensguard, it is our duty to protect the queen. Even if that means protecting her from herself sometimes.”

“That does make sense.” agreed Nimbus. “But won’t she be mad if she finds out? What if she fires us?”

“Hey, look at me.” They were close already, but she drew her closer still, until each other’s eyes filled the entirety of their respective views. “She won’t find out. Okay?”

“Okay.” meekly droned Nimbus.

“Oh!” rang out a surprised voice, deeper in. It sounded near the door which poured out into the corridor leading further into the castle, and following it was a noise of clattering armor as the voice’s owner dropped to their knees. “Good morning, your grace.”

Petra and Nimbus both turned from where their wandering eyes traced the clamor beyond, back to facing one another. Nimbus’s brows quavered and her lip quivered. She told Petra: “She knows.”

Petra’s own brows weighed heavy upon stern eyes. “She doesn’t. Don’t panic, and we’ll be fine.”

Nearer by this time, another guard sounded off. “Why, your grace, to what do we owe the honor?”

Celestia spoke with a warm bubbliness, which all the castle had been missing in her. Relief washed over them to hear it again. “Oh, I figured I’d pay the castle guard a little visit, and personally collect my two personal favorite guards to welcome them back.” A moment passed by, which felt entirely too long, before she peered around this row of lockers, setting her sights upon them. “Ah, there they are.”

Petra nearly fumbled her helmet when she saw the sly, confident grin widening across Celestia’s maw. Her heart jumped into her threat, and she had to gulp it back down. Oh no, rang her thoughts, loud and clear, she knows.

“Petra, Nimbus, it’s so good to see you two again. I’ve missed my favorite guards.” She greeted them warmly, approaching with a smile.

From Petra’s perspective, the alabaster titan loomed over her, and each word hissed facetiously through teeth which would surely turn to fangs at any moment. Hesitation took hold; should she stand at attention, or wipe the nervous sweat off her brow before it became apparent. “My queen?”

Celestia tilted her head like a curious kitten, or perhaps like a hungry lion. Her aural hair of tealish blue, seafoam green, and lavender drifted along in a steady flow, warm in its glow. It seemingly blocked the view past her shoulder, isolating the three of them. With a snicker, she asked: “Is she okay? She looks like she could use a vacation from your vacation, heheh.”

When Petra turned, she saw Nimbus asleep on her feet. That dozing blue head slumped onto her shoulder. Cute as it was, it wasn’t helpful. “Nimbus. Wake up and greet your queen.”

When the shoulder refused to be a pillow, Nimbus yanked her head away from falling over with a gasp. She blinked away the sleep with another yawn, and about halfway through, she noticed Celestia’s bemused expression. She covered her mouth and mewled: “I am so sorry, your grace.”

“You know, normally ponies do their resting while on the vacation.” jeered Celestia, rather proud of herself. “Not after they come back from it.”

“Heh,” nervously said Petra, “good one, your grace. It’s just, uh, we had to take a late train home, so we’re pretty tired.”

“I understand.” Celestia began to turn, beckoning them to join her. Though, coming from her, it likely felt more like a command, rather than a request. “Chances are, it shall be a tad droll today.” When she peered back at them, a crooked grin smeared across her face. “Which is lucky, because I’d like to have a chat.”

Just as all doubt flew from Petra’s mind that Celestia might not know, Nimbus spoke up. “Can I get a coffee first? I need something to perk me up.”

The awkward trio found themselves in the corner of the barracks, waiting for a pot to brew. One was normally ready by now, only whoever’s turn it was to put the coffee on, they forgot. Petra leaned up against the wall, her hooves crossed. Nimbus, in a complete daze, gawked at the dripping ichor as it filled into a dark brew. Celestia, meanwhile, grew bored of smiling and waving at the passing guards surprised to see her here.

“I notice you two let your hair grow out a little while you were gone.” she pointed out, musing a little stiffly.

“That’s definitely not what you wanted to talk about.” shot back Petra bluntly.

Celestia took a deep breath. “Humor me with a little small talk, will you? I don’t want to discuss the other matters here.”

Petra ran her hoof around the curve of her own head, feeling the forming mohawk finally starting to loosen up. Left unchecked, this would become a fray of wild white locks. “You’re right, I need to shave this off.”

Nimbus prepped a paper cup, and reached for the pot to pour, precautious as it was piping hot. Reflexively upon hearing this talk about manes, she wiggled her own loose mohawk of navy blue. “Should I shave mine again too?”

“I actually rather like them. You two look quite nice with manes.” Celestia eased up where she sat, regarding them with a fond little smile. “Why not try keeping them a little longer for a while, and see how you like it?”

“It’s not very conducive to comfortable helmet wearing. Especially during the summer.” Though she spoke flatly, Petra regretted it immediately. She braced herself for her commander to grill her with justified ire.

“I see.” said Celestia, sounding surprisingly defeated. She sighed, catching their eyes on her. “Helmets, like a crown, are not always comfortable. They can weigh heavily upon your head for so long.”

Nimbus put her cup back down before even having her first sip. She started to speak up. “Celestia--”

“Hello there, nice to see you!” interrupted Celestia with a gleeful sham as another guard became excited to meet his queen.

“Your grace,” he said in awe, dropping to one knee, “it is such an honor to have you in our barracks this morning.”

It took another few minutes for them to break away from the other guards, ranging from giddy to pleasantly surprised to see the queen. After turning down a couple corridors, it seemed they were finally alone. Nimbus blew the steam off her fresh coffee and took a good few sips. She spoke up first. “The freshly ground stuff we had on vacation was way better, but wow, this hits the spot.”

Petra stuck her tongue out. “I can’t go back to slow-drip brew, it comes out so bitter. Remember that cafe we went to, with that cute couple that ran it?”

“Oh my gosh, they were so cute together, right?” Nimbus giggled.

“The hot one made the beeeeeeest coffee, it was so good.” She was like to start drooling.

Nimbus choked on another sip. She nudged Petra with her wing. “Pff, Petra!”

Petra fumbled with words as she spat out one light blue feather from where Nimbus’s wing brushed against her face. “Oh come on, you know I’m right! You were thinking it too.”

“Might I hazard a guess as to where this cafe is?” asked Celestia as they came before a set of doors. She opened them up, and morning light flooded in on them. Peering back with brimming assurance, as before them lay the royal garden, she told them: “Because I think I know what city it’s in.”

Alone as they were going to get, they all seated themselves round a patio table, complete with umbrella for shade. Nimbus was finishing her coffee, so Petra spoke up first. She set her helmet onto the table and told her queen flatly: “Okay, let us have it.”

Celestia gave her snarky guard a very shrewd look. She leaned onto the table, propping herself into a hunch on her elbows, one hoof cupping her cheek, the other idly tapping. “I didn’t give it a second thought at first when you two got cleared for two weeks’ vacation time. But after you’d gone, I realized I didn’t recall any excited chatter about where you were going. Normally, you two love talking about the sites and events you plan on seeing.” The venom crept into her tone. “We’re friends, after all. You’ve always talked to me.”

Petra remained cool, her hooves crossed once more. She sneered at her queen from over the bridge of her nose, refusing to budge on this until she heard the accusation in full.

Nimbus, however, caved immediately.

“We’re so sorry!” she blubbered. With trembling hooves and a treble in her voice, Nimbus set down her nearly empty cup, freeing her hooves to hide her ashamed face into. Sniffling, she muffled out that: “We didn’t mean to hurt you, your grace, honest. Please don’t banish us.”

Lip pouting somewhat, Celestia’s teeth remained closed, like gates waiting for the words to queue up before opening up. Her violet eyes washed over her several times. “I’m not going to banish anyone, though I am upset. I told you two quite explicitly to let go of that note, and then you went behind my back to spy on my sister’s new home. How am I not supposed to be hurt by this?”

“I’m so ashamed.” hiccupped Nimbus. She took her helmet off and set it aside to get at her eyes. The tears ran dark blue streaks down those light blue cheeks.

Celestia was trying to maintain composure, but another choke from Nimbus made that harder. She’d seen enough blue ponies crying for one lifetime, and the corners of her mouth widened into an uncomfortable grimace. “Nimbus, I--”

“I’m such a bad friend.” she howled, cutting off her queen. Her folding armored legs became a hideaway for her anguished face. Muffled, she said: “I betrayed your trust, and you’re gonna hate me forever.”

“I’m--” hesitated Celestia, letting her propping hoof fall as she reeled back a bit. Turning to the still unimpressed Petra, she asked: “Is she going to be okay?”

Eyes locked with Celestia’s, Petra’s face was stone, even as she leaned over her partner. Her wing unfolded for a couple fluttering pats before rubbing her back up and down slowly, softly. “She gets very sensitive when she’s tired. So she’ll be alright in a little while, when the caffeine kicks in.”

Nimbus lifted her head back up, drawing Petra’s eyes to hers with a pleading look. “Petra? Have I ever hurt you like I have Celestia? Please, I don’t want to lose you too.”

Petra’s rocky exterior finally cracked, as her brows softened. She leaned down and kissed Nimbus right on her nose. “Never. You’re fine, dove.”

“You’re too nice to me.” complained Nimbus as she embraced her, throwing her head over Petra’s shoulder. “I went against our queen’s orders; I’m bad.”

“Girl.” she said, bemused and incredulous. “That was literally my idea. I’m the bad influence here.”

“Do I need to give you two a moment?” asked Celestia, perhaps more bluntly than she intended. Upon seeing her quirked, rakish brow, the two immediately split apart and pulled themselves together. She felt a little bad, and tried to be a little softer. “It’s quite alright if I do. Honest.”

“Ahem,” spoke up Petra, smoothing down her cloak, face flushed, “no, no, we’re good.”

Nimbus started drying her face off on her own cloak. “Yeah, I’ll be alright.”

“Okay.” sighed Celestia. She tried to breathe easy. “Because I--”

“You just don’t want to admit that you’re worried about the note too.” blurted Petra, unshaken by Celestia’s widening eyes, or Nimbus’s dropped jaw.

“Excuse me?” she asked her guard, terse and bristleing.

“Have you written one letter to Luna? Have you reached out to her literally at all?” The wrinkle between Petra’s brows formed a crease so mighty, it bent the will of even a demigoddess.

“Well, no,” Celestia stammered, growing defensive, “but, well, I--”

“Exactly. It’s because you know as well as I do one of her friends sent that note, maybe even at her request. You haven’t tried to talk to her because you don’t think she wants to talk.” Huffing, Petra found herself raised up on her bench, immediately feeling like a stark raving mess. She sat back down. “And, well… anyway, I just wanted to help. That’s all.”

Click, click, click. Celestia’s antsy hoof was rap-tap-tapping the edge of the stone patio table. Suddenly, she decided she’d had enough of the shade. She stood up from the table, and stepped out into the sun--out into her element. “Okay. You think I’m incapable? That I’m being immature for my age? Eh?”

Petra glanced at Nimbus’s concerned face, feeling her own heart starting to pick up the pace. She had no idea what she had just wrought, when she scolded a nigh immortal wizard who’d lived more than a hundred of her lifetimes. Heavy was the helmet she wore for her. “Now, Celestia? I’m s--”

K-zap! Celestia’s eyes filled in with solar magic in an instant, so full of potent power, they were like to bubble over. And she was gone. The air smoked where she’d been standing, and the smoke dissipated on a stiff and uncomfortable breeze.


A yellow pop of light appeared from on high, and Celestia followed thereafter. With a lashing from her mighty span of angelic wings, she soared back and dove for a cloud to claim as her perch. With heavy hooves, she slammed upon it, cloud fluff dispersing, but overall holding firm. And with chin held high, she ran her eyes over the town square below, all those hundreds of yards below. She just had to spot the giant tree.

Meanwhile, the weather pony who’d been forming this cloud had his entire day thrown for such a loop. He gawked up as his suddenly appearing queen peered over the ledge of his cloud. “Um. H-hello, your grace.”

Celestia’s ear flicked, and she finally noticed him. “Oh. Hello there. Sorry to take your cloud here.”

“Wh--no! No, no, it’s more than okay. It’s an honor.” The sunrise-sky-purple pegasus stammered, pushing his frayed, wind-tossed mane of stormcloud gray aside.

She shook her head and pulled him onto the cloud with her to speak more evenly with him. “It doesn’t make it okay, simply because I’m queen. I’ll be out of your hair very briefly, now. I’m just trying to find the library.”

“Ooh, wanting to pay a visit to our town hero, eh? Bet I can imagine why.” He gave her a wink, then immediately felt very strange about it. He’d just winked at his own queen, after all. A portion of his taxes kept her fed and protected. This was all very weird. “Um… it’s over that way.”

She followed his pointing hoof and unfolded her wings. “You have my thanks.”

“Before you go, ah, could I actually get you to sign my weather team shirt?” He shyly tapped his hooves together.

Her eyes bounced between him and the giant tree far below, her mouth tight for a moment. “Have you got a pen on hoof?”

His smile faded as he felt over his button up uniform shirt, realizing he hadn’t one. “I could go get one?”

“I’m actually in a little bit of a hurry, so…” She knelt, poised to take off once more. “Maybe next time.”

And like that, she took off, gone. A high-rising wind ruffled his mane again, and he brushed it back over with a sigh, before eventually getting back to reshaping the cloud. They’d ordered altostratus, and gotten cirrostratus instead. Such is life.

By now, it was early enough that no-one was heading out to lunch yet, but just late enough in the morning the streets were also predominantly empty of ponies heading to work; because mostly, they were already there. So largely, the queen of their entire nation setting down in front of the local library, went unnoticed. Celestia was left to approach the front door. At which point…

What are you doing? she asked herself. What are you waiting on?

At which point, she…

Prove Petra wrong. Go in there and say ‘Hello, sister. I’ve missed you!’

At which point, she paused.

Hardly did Celestia want to admit to herself she was hesitating. Or that Petra was right. But she began to question herself, as she froze in place. Her sun felt warm, but she herself felt so cold inside.

“Um, hi.” came a voice.

Startled, Celestia bounced around to find herself blocking the way for a pink earth pony. Except, wait, this was no random earth pony; she matched the description for one of the new element bearers Twilight told her about. “Oh,” she mused slowly, mulling the words at each syllable, “you must be Pinkie Pie.”

“And you must be Celestia.” Pinkie’s hooves fidgeted, nerves racking her mind. “I’d kneel, but I really don’t want to drop my tray. Any chance I can kneel twice for you another time?”

Curious, Celestia looked over the tray she had balanced on her haunches. Through the clear plastic cover, she could discern a generous, full platter. To one side were four slices of toast, cut diagonally, pre-buttered. The other side held four halves of grapefruit. And the center held several stacks of crepes, with blueberries, cut strawberries, and banana slices stuffed into their folds, and the generous dusting of powdered sugar.

“W-wow. That looks great.” At long last, the queen caught sight of that famous smile she’d heard so much about.

“Thanks,” cheerily began Pinkie, “I specifically learned how to make crepes especially for my girlf--” She nearly popped herself in the mouth to shut herself up, and almost stumbled back when she did.

“Oh, that’s so sweet.” Said Celestia, idly, the gears turning slowly as she smiled like a fool. “Who’s your g--” And finally the latch caught the gear. Agape, she peeked at the door, piecing it together. “Oh! I see! Okay!”

Pinkie Pie squinted. “I’m actually a grown mare, you know, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She snidely turned her nose up at her. “I could drink, I mean, if I wanted. It’s just that drinks taste yucky.”

“Oh,” chuckled Celestia, shin under her chin, “you just need to find the right drink, my dear.” For supposedly being the bearer of laughter, she could put on a surprisingly mean face. Celestia coughed and said: “Right, okay, not the point.”

“Celestia? What are you doing here?” She was normally so perky and energetic. But right now, Pinkie just sounded exasperated.

“I happened to be thinking about it this morning,” she lied, “completely of my own accord. And I thought maybe I ought to pay my sister a visit. Yes. That’s it.”

Mouth tight, Pinkie refused to buy what she was selling, not for a single bit. “Is that why you stood out here staring at her door for a whole minute?”

So tall and mighty she was, yet instantly, Celestia was reduced to a timid little filly. She sat on the cobbles, her wings fidgeting, and tepidly tapped the tips of her hooves together. “You’re close with her. How has she been?”

“Me and all her other friends have been doing a lot to show her how to be happy again.” sighed Pinkie Pie, choosing her next words very carefully. “You know, she was pretty devastated after the last time she saw you. When you thought she was dead.”

Celestia awkwardly gripped her elbow. The door was right there, but now she felt like she could never open it. Maybe she never should either. That note she’d gotten, which made its way to her by auspicious strings of fate, so conveniently… it made so much sense now. Maybe it really was Luna, angrily scrawling out the letters in a frustrated mess, slumped over her desk in a dejected heap. With a sigh, she told Pinkie: “Maybe I should go.”

“Far be it for me to tell the queen what to do.” said Pinkie, forcing a pained chuckle out of herself.

Celestia pulled herself up onto her hooves and started to amble past her, wings listlessly unfolding to hopefully take off. “Thank you for that joke, Pinkie. I needed it; and a lot more, to be honest.” She paused. “Actually, may I ask something of you?”

Pinkie bit her lip, peering at the door, hoping no-one was coming out anytime soon. “S-sure.”

“Besides looking out for my little sister, would you…” Her mouth felt dry. This was surely a sorry, peculiar request. “You wouldn’t happen to have a pen, would you?”

Pinkie shook her head, because she was sure she didn’t. But then a felt tip permanent marker tumbled out from where it got caught in her mane. It must have been from some craft project, and found its way into her frizzy curls after she’d rested it behind her ear. “Huh. Forgot about that.”

“Oh, that is actually perfect.” she said, demeanor lightening the tiniest little bit. “May I please borrow this?”

“You know what,” she told the queen with a wry smile, “keep it.”

When she was gone, Pinkie’s grin surely faded. Little pin-pricks of uncertainty trembled all down her spine, and her frizzy, curly tail swished in place. To nobody, she said: “That was… the right thing to do.”

She looked around, perhaps hoping for any kind of validation from any source at all. None came. A warm summer breeze tussled her hair oh so gently. “Wasn’t it?”

Again, no answer came. “I mean, c’mon. She just makes Luna upset. And…” Her eyes darted around. “I love her, so I can’t let that happen.” She looked toward the door, taking a single step forward. “Right?”

“Pinkie?” called Luna, opening the door so suddenly, that Pinkie almost fell over in shock. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just happen to look up from our morning routine and see you coming down the way.”

For a moment, Pinkie followed after Celestia’s skyward path. Luna didn’t say anything about it, so neither did she. “Heh, yep, just me. Hope you haven’t had breakfast yet!”

Luna covered her swelling heart and smiled. “Oh, that’s so sweet.”

Deja vu. thought Pinkie.

“Come on in,” bade Luna, “I was just showing Hope-Heart the system Twilight taught me for organizing all our books.”

Pinkie hopped and skipped along, and within she noticed Hope sporting a new haircut; shorter in the back, longer toward the front. “Heya, HH. Digging the bob cut!”

“Thanks.” said Hope with a smile, gently swishing it for them to see how it bounced. “I heard Luna’s talk of paladins and got inspired. Plus, it’s nice and airy.”

“My goodness,” complained Luna, letting Pinkie along, “that is so much food. Though, it does look very nice.”

“HH can help us eat it, if she likes.” mused Pinkie, bouncing up just high enough to peck her nose against Luna’s. This got the cutest giggle out of her that put such a big smile on Pinkie’s face. Maybe everything was going to work out alright after all.

Meanwhile, high in the skies above Ponyville, a purple member of the weather team cheerily hummed along in his work. His button up had a new royal squiggle just under the collar, and he even had a new pen in his pocket. He smiled from ear to ear.


A few minutes prior to this.


It was now Petra who was yawning. She made her best attempt at lounging on this patio bench. Hazily, she slumped her head over to observe Nimbus. The coffee had certainly kicked in. “Do you really feel like doing that now of all times?”

Trance-like, Nimbus didn’t answer her at first. Her wings were unfolded into a gliding position for balance, as two corner hooves pinched in next to each other were all she was standing on. Her other hooves she slowly lifted into outstretched positions, focused on keeping her breathing long, low, and steady. At last, she answered her: “It relaxes me. So, yes.”

“Yeah, well, relaxing relaxes me. Ha.” Petra chuckled and rolled over to prop herself onto the other elbow when the first one started getting tired. That’s when a distinctive yellow flash popped in the air above the garden, and with a start, she accidentally rolled off the bench and onto the grass.

“Ahhhhh,” announced Nimbus with an elongated, easy-going sigh, “Celestia’s back.” She moved onto the next pose in her routine.

Petra rushed over with their helmets. “Here!” she shouted. But when Nimbus kept posing, she planted it on for her, then her own. Standing at attention, she barked: “Your grace!”

When Celestia landed softly on her weary hooves, she looked from one to the other. “You may be as at ease as she is, Petra. Come along, now.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” griped Petra. She waited until Celestia stopped in place and looked at her. “You can’t just move on and not tell us what happened.”

A soft clink came with Nimbus pushing in cheek-to-cheek with Petra, and their helmets clicked against one another. “Yeah, Celestia. You can talk to us, we’re friends after all, aren’t we?”

“Hmm,” she hummed, wearing a strange mixture of bemusement and vindictiveness, “that is rich coming from you two.”

“Heh,” said Petra, “guess that means it didn’t go well.”

Nimbus shoved her. “Petra!”

Celestia laughed, watching them idly push each other with their wings, bickering. But try as she might, she couldn’t keep the smile going. It faded like a setting sun always does. “No.” she said meekly. “I suppose it didn’t.”

The two guards of pink and blue looked up at her from where they were struggling to pin one another face-first into the grass. They immediately disentangled from each other and rushed over, embracing her from either side.

Surprised, Celestia stumbled into another sitting position, and her wings flexed in fidgety little motions. “Um, alright, hello there.”

“C’moooooon.” pleaded Petra.

“Yeah, please talk to us.” agreed Nimbus. “You can’t keep this bottled up.”

Blushing and stammering, Celestia told them: “Look, I simply wasn’t ready today. And she needed the time to heal from how I hurt her last, so… I’ll go back to her another day, when she wants me in her life again.”

They both looked up to her, their eyes incredibly sad for hardened sky-warriors who had just been wrestling. The two mewled out in unison: “Celestia…”

“I-it’s not something you can simply do--I mean, I couldn’t pop in out of the blue and say ‘Well, hello sister, how are you, nice weather, sorry about thinking you were dead and taunting me.’” She covered up her face. “Please, let me do this when I’m ready?”

Nimbus peered over at Petra, pouting. “She’s not gonna like it when you remind her that Luna her all her friends already gave us their rsvp’s to the gala in a couple weeks.”

Celestia lifted her widened eyes from her hooves. “Say what? I have to steel myself for meeting Luna at the gala in just two weeks?!” She took a shaking breath. “Sun and stars above, I don’t think I can do it, I-I--”

“Hey,” shushed Petra, “relax, your grace. It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.”

“Yeah,” cooed Nimbus, “we’re here for you, okay? We’ll help you through this.”

Her breathing calmed as they held her, and for a moment, she happily forgot the fact that this relationship she had with them was completely unprofessional. Her wide wings wrapped around the both of them as she held them closer to herself. It was warm, so warm it melted away years of loneliness. Given the chance, she might be able to doze off and nap there on the spot.

“Should we get going, your grace?” asked Petra.

“Just a little bit longer.” she pleaded of them. “I’m not entirely over you two sneaking off to Ponyville, but… thank you for being my friends.”

A long pleasant, quiet moment passed them by. And then Petra broke it, announcing to zero fanfare that: “I still say it was Fluttershy who sent that note.”

“Hush up with you.” touted Nimbus, unimpressed.

Celestia, not knowing what to say to that, simply smiled. “Hmm, haha… Hahaha!”

Author's Note:

Wow it's late and I'm tired and to be honest a little inebriated and I'm not sure how this happened myself but I've made an accidental liar of myself. I said there was gonna be one final chapter and well this is not it. This started as an opening scene I wanted for the final chapter where Celestia talks to Petra and Nimbus but then I just kept expanding upon it and expanding upon it, and it gave me more scene ideas and I ended up loving them so. Here they are. Now their own unexpected chapter. Dedicated to the two guard ponies I made up on the spot originally intended for a singular scene in Unbound, but then grew to kinda halfway like so I gave them a bigger role and now here we are.

NOW there's only one chapter left. I'm like, 90% sure on it this time. Also I'm gonna go back over this tomorrow to pick out the grammar mistakes I probably made. Thanks for bearing with me; it's been a long couple days...