Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

64. Just the Way It Is

Tired.

That’s what Rarity was; just absolutely dead tired.

She sat on a rock half-buried in the desert sand as she watched Celestia round up the last of the puckwudgies. She wondered if perhaps she was getting a bit lax, allowing Celestia to do all the actual work for this mission, but the more she pondered it the more she realized she was simply too tired to care.

It had been Rarity’s idea to confront the puckwudgies that evening, instead of dealing with them in the morning as Celestia suggested, because of course Celestia would want to do everything in the morning! She probably managed to get out of bed every day just fine!

Ahem.

But Rarity wanted this mission to be over with as soon as possible. She suddenly had more important matters on her mind than puckwudgies, and she wished to give them her focus sooner rather than later.

“Where did they come from?” Rarity asked as Celestia rounded up the last puckwudgie and put it in the makeshift caravan Celestia had made, which Celestia would later teleport away and release the beasts inside once she’d found a safe habitat for them where they wouldn’t be a threat to ponies.

“Up north, I presume,” Celestia said. “With the winters getting longer, and harsher, many creatures have been wandering further south in search of new places to find food and comfort.”

“I see,” Rarity said. She had said something before, about the winters getting longer… what was all that about?

Ugh, another time, Rarity. It’s not important right now.

“What’s on your mind, Rarity?” Celestia asked, Rarity scooching over on her rock to make room for the Queen to sit beside her. “I get the impression that it’s not a cute librarian this time.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rarity said coyly, looking suspiciously away from Celestia.

“Come now, Rarity,” Celestia gave Rarity a little teasing push, “when we arrived at the Las Pegasus station, you were all kinds of gung-ho about securing these little puckwudgie guys, now you’re so morose I’m worried you’ll melt into a sad little puddle!”

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t have to worry about me melting,” Rarity rubbed her forearms, hoping to dispel some of the cold, but to no avail.

“Rarity.”

Well, that was the voice. The ‘I’m not going to ask you again’ voice that meant that Rarity’s coy dodging of the conversation at hand needed to end, and it needed to end now with no more games.

Rarity had known Celestia most of her life, and one of the constants of their relationship was that Rarity did not keep secrets from her Queen, or rather, she couldn’t keep them. Celestia always knew when something was amiss, and when it needed to be talked over and confronted.

“I’m just concerned,” Rarity said, bringing her legs up onto the rock and pulling them close to her, “after talking with my parents.”

“About what?” Celestia asked softly, wrapping a warm, gentle wing around Rarity’s back.

“About my life,” Rarity said, “and how to balance my own dreams, aspirations and-” Rarity swallowed the anxiety that threatened to silence her “-and relationships, with my life as a Slayer and my duty to protect Equestria. It all seems to be so much.”

Celestia laughed, and Rarity would be lying if she said that was the reaction she was expecting or hoping for.

“Excuse me?” Rarity balked.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said sheepishly, softly rubbing Rarity’s shoulder, “I promise I’m not trying to make fun. It’s just, you had me worried for a moment, and it turns out you’re just going through something that all Slayers go through.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard,” Rarity sighed and buried her head in her arms. “I don’t suppose you have any sage-like wisdom to help me with this?”

“Nope!” Celestia said with a bright smile and far too much glee, considering the rather somber situation. “I’ve been struggling with the same conundrum for over a thousand years, so if you find an answer, you be sure to let me know, okay?”

Celestia laughed, like it was no big deal. Like it didn’t even bother her that everypony who worked for her, and even herself as it turned out, were so consumed by the Hunt that it was destroying their lives, and whatever opportunities they had for happiness.

“Who do you think came up with the phrase ‘there’s no life outside the Hunt’?” Celestia beamed, like she was proud of herself. “It wasn’t Luna, I can tell you that!”

“How can you act so pleased with yourself?” Rarity stood up and shouted, a little nagging feeling in the back of her mind reminding her that she was raising her voice to the Queen of Equestria, but she reminded that voice of how little she cared by shouting again. “Does it not bother you?! That everypony is so miserable?!”

“Of course it bothers me,” Celestia said completely flatly, and Rarity felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck warning her not to push her Queen. “But some things in life are hard, and you can either wallow in the misery they bring, or just let them be.

“I’ve had a thousand years to come to peace with this fact of life, and I have no doubt that you’ll come to peace with it as well, in time.”

“So that’s just the way it is, then,” Rarity said bitterly.

“That’s just the way that it is, yes,” Celestia replied firmly.

Well that wasn’t going to be how it was for Rarity. She wouldn’t end up like her parents, or like old Granny Smith. She would find a way to live a happy life, and she would find it not merely for herself, but for her friends and family too.

She would find a way to break the chains that smothered the Slayers; for her sake, for Rainbow Dash’s, for Applejack’s, for her parents and sister, and for Celestia herself.

Because everyone deserves to live their best life, and to be happy.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[True Edge]

“So that’s just the way it is, then,” Rarity said bitterly.

“That’s just the way that it is, yes,” Celestia replied firmly.

All it takes for evil to triumph, is for the good to do nothing. The world is what it is because we make it that way. And so everyone who slumps over and gives up and says “That’s just the way it is” is dooming the world to never change. If you want the world to change, then you must stand up and make it change. Because the world is not some great entity or invisible being the sky that makes a bunch of rules and says “This is the way things are!”. The world is you and I, and all that surrounds us, and it is our actions that define it.

Keep up the good work, Leaf Blade! Looking forward to more!