Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

55. The Puckwudgie Mission

Rarity had decided to take the long route and merely walk to the Sun District, rather than taking a train there, figuring the slower pace and lonelier walk would be better for managing all of her sordid thoughts regarding Ms. Twilight Sparkle.

‘Sordid’ might not be the right word. It’s not as though Rarity were harboring any indecent thoughts about the librarian, of course. Sure, Twilight was very pretty and cute, and Rarity had certainly imagined the feeling of her lithe, slender body pressed up against Rarity’s—or underneath Rarity’s— and sure, did the idea of locking lips with the sweet mare warm Rarity’s cheeks and send a jolt of fire shooting through her body? Yes, but that was hardly indecent.

Rarity’s fantasizing—er, rather, her thoughts, about Twilight were interrupted once she reached the marvelous Sun District train station. While the Moon District’s station was a barely covered stone platform shielded from the elements by a meager stone canopy, the Sun District was much larger and grander, with a marble dome covering the entire station, and crisp and clean polished floors that were pleasant to the touch.

The most striking thing to Rarity as she walked into the station however, was the crowd of people all congregating on a single spot; a bench near the tracks. Was somepony important waiting for a train? Or had someone perhaps gotten injured? Or was a fight breaking out?

The more ideas and possibilities Rarity’s mind conjured, the more her curiosity grew, and she found herself walking toward the crowd, eager to see what all the fuss was about.

The noise of the crowd became obnoxiously loud as Rarity approached, and she could tell by the excited chatter that an unfortunate injury was not the cause. While she couldn’t make out what anypony was saying exactly, the energy and enthusiasm with which they were speaking made Rarity double down on her theory that somepony famous was present.

And then, like the morning sun, it dawned on her. Rarity thought for half a second that she couldn’t be right about her guess, but the more she considered it, the less any other option made sense.

Sure enough, once Rarity was able to push her way into the crowd, she saw the source of the commotion; a beautiful white alicorn with an aurora mane sat on a bench, offering stories and conversations to the station’s patrons.

Rarity almost laughed at the absurdity of Equestria’s Hunter Queen travelling via the train like a common peasant, and yet that seemed like exactly the sort of bizarre stunt Celestia would be fond of.

“Well, well,” Rarity said with her most dazzling smile as she approached her mentor, “fancy meeting you here, darling.”

“Rarity!” Celestia flashed a bright smile. She cleared her throat and stood to her hooves, spreading out her wings. “Excuse me, citizens of Canterlot! While I have had a lovely time entertaining you all today, I’m afraid I must speak with my student, alone.”

Not a single pony dared question the Queen. Once she made it known that their time with her was over, the crowd dispersed immediately, some grumbling in disappointment, others fawning over the majestic alicorn even as they walked away, until not a single pony stood around Rarity or Celestia for several feet.

“Wow,” Rarity said, fanning herself, “you certainly have a way with ponies.”

“I am the Queen, you know,” Celestia said proudly and sat back down on the bench, gesturing for Rarity to sit next to her.

“So what are you doing here?” Rarity asked as she sat down next to Celestia, the warmth radiating from the Queen of the Sun drawing a contented purr from Rarity’s lips.

“I was waiting for you,” Celestia said casually.

“Me?” Rarity balked. “Why me?”

“You’re setting off on a mission, correct?” Celestia asked, and though Rarity nodded, she knew Celestia already had the answer. “Puckwudgies, I believe. It’s a basic, D-Class mission. Nothing to be terribly concerned with.”

“That is correct, my Queen,” Rarity said, not entirely certain where Celestia was leading with this.

“I’m going with you.”

Rarity nearly fainted from shock at those words, but she managed to keep her cool and only faintly clutch her heart.

“I—I’m sorry?” Rarity stammered. “You’re what?”

“I’m going with you,” Celestia repeated, as if it were the most basic and casual thing in the world, and not the Queen of Equestria accompanying a Slayer on a mission of such inconsequential non-importance that most Slayers wouldn’t have even bothered with it, much less—and this couldn’t be stressed enough—the Queen of all Equestria. “I hope that’s okay with you!”

“I mean, I’m obviously not going to say no to such stellar company,” Rarity said flatteringly, and frankly she was rather impressed with herself for keeping her cool in this situation. “But I’m more than a little bit shocked, if I’m being honest. Why would you—you—be interested in a mission to hunt puckwudgies?”

“Many reasons,” Celestia said. “Yes, I am the Queen of Equestria and leader of the Celestial Slayers. Most would expect I would spend my time only on the biggest and most dangerous missions, but if I show up to help on missions that most deem ‘unimportant’, it reminds the ponies under my protection that I care about them. Where many would say ‘oh, it’s just puckwudgies, that’s not worth my time’, I, the Queen, say ‘this is important, my people are important, no matter how big or small their problems are’.”

“Wow,” Rarity said in awe, and what else could she say? “I never thought about it like that before.”

“There are other reasons as well,” Celestia hummed, finger tracing her lips, “though that is the primary one. But even I get tired of fighting dragons and ghouls from time to time, and if I can take a more relaxing mission and show my little ponies that I care about them, why wouldn’t I do that?”

“That’s a good point,” Rarity nodded. “You are very wise, Celestia.”

“Oh, stop flattering me, you,” Celestia chuckled and gave Rarity a playful shove.

“But I’m so good at it,” Rarity flicked a hand through her mane.

“Just the best,” Celestia rolled her eyes, and Rarity laughed. “I also must admit, I wanted to spend the time with you, as well.”

“Oh?” Rarity chirped, batting her eyelashes at the Queen. “Have I wormed my way into the Queen’s heart? Can you no longer stand to be away from me?”

“Something like that,” Celestia said with an unexpected amount of serious. “It seems like just yesterday that you left my nest, and I find myself missing the days we would spend training together in Hunter’s Haven. Call it nostalgia, or just empty nest syndrome, I suppose.”

“Celestia,” Rarity said confusedly, “I graduated from your tutorship over a decade ago.”

“And to you, that must seem like a lifetime,” Celestia sighed, “to me, one who has lived over one hundred decades, it’s barely a blink of an eye.”

“I didn’t realize,” Rarity said distantly.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said awkwardly, rubbing the side of her neck, and it was surreal to Rarity to see her Queen and mentor affect a motion that was so… dorky, and casual. “I didn’t mean to concern you, I’ve just had my head in the clouds these last few weeks.”

“It’s no trouble,” Rarity smiled fondly. “It’s not as though I won’t enjoy the time with you. I do love you, after all.”

“And I love you too,” Celestia put her arm and wing around Rarity and drew her close, “my dearest student.”

Rarity sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the side of her mentor’s body. It was something she hadn’t really considered before, but it was true that Rarity had changed so much in the last decade of her life, and yet Celestia remained the same.

There was something comforting about that, to know that no matter what changes or tribulations Rarity struggled through in her life, she would always have one constant; her Queen and mentor, her ever-smiling protector, Celestia.

“And can you imagine the looks on our clients faces when they see the Queen has come to help them fight off puckwudgies?” Celestia said with almost manic glee. “It’ll be to die for!”

Rarity giggled, for she was very glad to see that Celestia really hadn’t changed at all.

Author's Note:

fun fact about puckwudgies that i did not know until after writing this chapter, apparently there is no "c" in puckwudgie. but i already wrote it this way, and "puckwudgie" is an officially recognized alternate spelling so whatever it's fine

also of note: I LOVE CELESTIA

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[fanreader999999]

Hrmmmmm

[ValNitak Choas]

i woner has the queen meet twilgiht before, for some reason i think they might have long ago and had a fight but then agian this is me just guessing

[Leaf Blade]

9907109
hmmmm