Chapter 19
— ✶ —
Twilight, Luna and their inviolable bubble of personal space which nopony would enter arrived early to the Ponyville train station, though Twilight in particular was feeling antsy even so.
“Be calm, Twilight,” Luna said, running a wing down Twilight’s mane and back. “You granted them immortality and something close to godhood, you can trust them to be on time for a train.”
Twilight sighed, leaning into Luna’s side. “I know, but I haven’t talked to Applejack since I gave her the invitation and her response at the time was… lacklustre at best. I’d just feel so much better if I could go over there and drag her back myself.”
“I hardly think that will be necessary, Twilight,” Luna observed. “If only because you have two other friends who are likely even more invested in this event than you are.”
“Rarity, sure,” Twilight said, recalling all the extra time she’d spent on both sides of things getting ready for this. “Pinkie Pie too, I suppose, at least in theory. It’s not like I’ve been able to actually pin her down and talk to her even once since I gave her capricorn.”
Fortunately for Twilight’s nerves, Applejack was a morning pony and arrived not too long after Twilight and Luna. Fluttershy was there, too, at that point, though nopony present could say when exactly she’d arrived. Rainbow Dash, for her part, at least wasn’t the last pony to arrive, and then finally there came Rarity accompanied by her pink dragon assistant, Cinders, carrying a pile of suitcases in a familiar manner, with Pinkie Pie pronking backwards alongside the two.
Rarity waved Cinders along to deal with the luggage as she greeted everypony present, though she focused on one pony in particular. “Rainbow Dash! It is good to see you again. I heard about what happened with the Wonderbolts.” She tsked. “You look like you’re taking it decently well, though, which is good.”
Twilight devoted a considerable amount of effort into pretending that Rarity was the lifelike doll she presented herself as, not the airy summer frock the doll was wearing.
As for Rainbow Dash, she just floated there, flapping her wings and blinking at being called out. “Uhh, yeah,” she said. “I’m okay, I guess. All the stuff that’s happened has taken my mind off it?” She hesitated a moment, but she had to ask. “Uh, no offense, but why are you talking to me?”
Twilight facehoofed.
Rarity was soon sharing Rainbow Dash’s confused look. “Ah… Pardon?”
Rainbow Dash was quick to backtrack. “Not like that!” she said, waving her hooves in front of her. “I just mean, it seemed like you just ignored everyone else and came straight to me.”
Understanding finally lit Rarity’s features. “Ah, I see,” she mused. “Well, you are the only one that I haven’t talked to in a while.”
This clearly surprised Rainbow Dash. “Really?”
“Indeed,” Rarity confirmed. “I have been working with Applejack on rebranding Sweet Apple Acres and with Pinkie Pie on this coronation. Fluttershy, of course, is around in some form quite often and we still manage to fit our spa days in somewhere, and even Twilight is in and out of the tower on occasion in spite of her recusing herself. Spike is quite helpful as well on the days he attends Princess Luna.”
“…Huh,” Rainbow Dash said, a little flabbergasted. “Weird, I thought it was you that was just never around.”
Rarity accepted this explanation graciously, though she was distracted by something she seemed to be looking for. “Ah, speaking of Spike, I don’t see him. Is he coming?”
“He should be,” Twilight said, checking the time. “Though to be honest, I’m not surprised he’s running late since he isn’t coming alone.”
Rarity’s eyes widened and began to sparkle. Twilight was decently sure there was magic involved. “Oh my. Little Spikey-wikey has a date, does he?”
There were several snickers amongst the group of friends, but Twilight decided to give Rarity a break after how busy she’d been. “Ah, well. Actually he’s not so little any more.”
“Really, now?” Rarity said, only more interested. “Has he had his molt, then?”
“Something like that,” Twilight said, not sure how far into it to get here on the train platform. Regardless, the matter was taken out of her hooves when Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “Here they come now!”
It was quite a sight, watching the six colorful dragons swoop in to land just a short distance away. They weren’t all that graceful, but being able to land on all fours and then rise up into a bipedal gait went a long way to making a good first impression.
Applejack whistled in appreciation. “Well, now. Ain’t they a tall buncha scarecrows.”
Rarity was caught a little more off-guard. “Ah… Spike?”
“And harem!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
The turquoise one frowned and said, “No, my name is ‘Tinder,’” while several of the others looked amused and, in the case of the red one, a little predatory.
Spike was quick to interrupt that train of thought, though, and stumbled forward to introduce everyone. “Girls,” he said, addressing the dragonesses. “These are Princess Archlibrarian Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna,” he said, beginning with the highest rank, then proceeding with the others by some combination of age and relative standing. “And their demigoddesses, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.” Each of them bowed in turn as they were introduced, then Spike moved on to introduce the dragonesses. “Princesses and demigoddesses, these are Tinder, Slag, Kindle, Drift and Carmine.”
Twilight noted that Spike had put Tinder first and wondered if that meant that she was the oldest, or if she actually had a position that put her above the others. If she was remembering correctly, that was the dragoness that Spike had known beforehoof. The one who had a book on the old dragon empires. Twilight was eager to get a moment with her to talk about that, but the group was moving on, and there were other things for Twilight to concern herself with right now, like watching Rarity try not to react to the name ‘Slag.’
Damn. Twilight wished she had a camera, or at least some popcorn.
— ✶ —
Everything past the initial introductions of the two groups was cut short by the need to actually get all seven ponies and six dragons onto the train, which wasn’t entirely a matter to be taken for granted. In fact, while the word of two princesses was more than enough to soothe any fears of allowing the dragons onto the train, it was fortunate that they were able to get the dragons on the train at all. As far as dragons went, they were all positively petite, but crammed into a train made for ponies, they were about as tall as they could be without it being insultingly awkward to get around.
In other words, they were pretty much Discord-sized, though Twilight of all ponies wasn’t going to actually say that. They didn’t actually resemble the so-called spirit of chaos all that much anyway, she told herself. They were tall and thin, yes, but they actually had physiques, unlike the noodly anatomy of chaos incarnate.
After making it clear to the conductors that the two groups were not only together but wanted to remain that way, they were led by one of the conductors down the train to one of the more normal passenger cars so that they could spread out to their heart’s content without being cut off by separate rooms or privacy barriers.
To Twilight’s disappointment, Tinder didn’t seem to be too sociable and she wasn’t able to find an opportunity to talk to her about the book that Spike had mentioned. All of the dragons seemed a little stiff around Twilight and her friends at first, but Tinder in particular seemed extra wary and had her own little group in Carnelia and Slag, with the former doing most of the talking for her. Rarity was trying to engage her regardless and had dragged Applejack and Cinders along for the support, but in the end, Rarity and Carnelia turned out to be the ones doing most of the talking.
Spike… had an odd reaction to that. He seemed annoyed for some reason and was apparently doing his best to pretend they didn’t exist.
Twilight remained at Luna’s side, of course, as she tended to do these days, and the two of them took the opportunity to finally get caught up with Pinkie Pie and everything she was doing.
Which was pretty much ‘everything.’ The pink party pony had apparently been taking Twilight’s directive to ‘go forth and pink,’ quite seriously and been all across the continent arranging parties, including much of the reception for the very coronation they were about to attend.
Twilight hadn’t expected any less, and was glad that she was at least happy.
Eventually, though, Luna dragged Twilight and Pinkie Pie over to the remaining group of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy talking to Kindle and Drift and Spike, which had actually turned out better than expected. Between them, Kindle and Drift had a wide range of experiences and stories to share that was enough to make Twilight forget about Tinder and her book for the time being.
“You’ve really been to austailia?” Fluttershy asked Drift at one point. “I’ve heard there are so many different kinds of animals there that aren’t found anywhere else.”
“Ah, well, it definitely has that going for it, yeah,” Drift said, though she didn’t seem too enthused about the subject. “Though with the ’roos died out in ancient history, it’s mostly asses now, and donkeys just don’t have the same way with the animals or the weather, so it’s pretty inhospitable on both fronts. I swear it’s the only place I’ve been to where even the handful of ponies that live there are completely on board with a barbeque.”
It was, ironically, Spike who didn’t quite understand. “What’s wrong with a barbeque?”
Luna cleared her throat. “A traditional barbeque is centered on the preparation of meat, Spike. What we consider a typical Equestrian barbeque would hardly be worth the name in many parts of the world.”
“Though that might be changing, if the number of places serving meat in Ponyville is any sign,” Twilight said, not mentioning that she’d watched Spike and the others visit one such establishment the night before. She’d already told him that if he had ever wanted to eat meat, he’d just had to say so, so it was good to see him exercising his dietary freedom.
Kindle seemed to find the idea amusing. “Would you let that happen, Princess? It’s hard to imagine Equestria ever losing its dietary superiority complex. The rest of the world would cry ‘changelings!’ and suggest that you’ve all been replaced.”
Twilight rolled her eyes at the mention of changelings. “That’s ridiculous,” she said with a scoff. “It would make much more sense to suggest lizard people. It’s even true to some extent.”
Luna nodded at this. “Indeed. I have always considered dragons to be both lizards and people, though the only replacement taking place is in percentage points on the census.”
“That too,” Twilight allowed. “But I was referring to the fact that two thirds of our nation’s ruling triarchy has been actually replaced by lizard ponies.”
“There is that,” Luna agreed. “Though should it not be half that has been replaced?”
Twilight rocked her hoof in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “If you only consider Celestia and you, yes.”
“Are you suggesting that one of the Celestias is a lizard person who has replaced you, then?”
“It’s only logical,” Twilight said. “Admittedly, she’s not doing a very good job of it. It’s been nearly two weeks now and there hasn’t been a single public announcement telling the public to buck off.”
“Fair,” Luna assented. “Though consider: she manages the same thing just fine merely by existing.”
Drift leaned in closer to Spike to half whisper, “Do they do this all the time?”
Spike’s answer was to sigh and say, “You have no idea,” before the conversation moved on to giraffes in zebrabwe.
All in all, it was a pleasant train ride. It wasn’t quite the reunion of all her friends that she had been looking forward to, but plans change, and getting to know these dragons was as good a reason as any.
— ✶ —
Canterlot was not quite the city that Twilight remembered. Though it was common knowledge that many of of the larger dragons had taken up residence in and on Mount Canterlot to enjoy the crystal caverns and be close to the Celestias that had drawn them to Equestria, it was much stranger to see so many of those large dragons traveling the streets on their way to the coronation. Compared to Ponyville’s younger crowd, far more of which were living in the city itself, there was a much darker atmosphere in Canterlot, more like a city under siege… at least from the ponies’ perspective.
Whether picking up on this unease or simply returning to their own comfortable status quo, the ponies and dragons from Ponyville all fell back into their own groups as they disembarked the train.
Interestingly, Twilight noticed that the aloof Tinder actually gravitated to Spike over anyone else and filed that information away for later.
“I now wish that I had come in person to check on things here sooner,” Luna confessed. “If only to know how much of this is simply because of the coronation and how much is representative of the ongoing problems.”
“I’m surprised that they’ve let it get this bad, even on a day like today when it was inevitable that the dragons would all come out of the woodwork,” Twilight said scanning the buildings for the sight of ponies. “But at the same time, I’m also… kind of not?”
“Oh?” Luna asked, hanging back with Twilight as Rarity took charge and engaged one of the royal guards to lead the group of ponies and dragons to Castle Canterlot where the coronation would be taking place.
“Not that I’m saying that I would do better, since I absolutely wouldn’t,” Twilight hurried to clarify. “But in hindsight, it seems like these dragons need a firmer hoof. There’s no reason for them to be down here in the streets except to scare ponies, but I can’t see the Celestias—” Twilight had to stop and reconsider what she was saying. “Okay, admittedly, we’ve already been over the fact that Equestria doesn’t have guards capable of enforcing traffic control on dragons the size of houses, so I guess the Celestias need to start hiring dragons or making more ponies into demigods.”
“That… might be difficult,” Luna said, looking up to the two celestial objects of the daytime sky. “I rather doubt a pony would last very long if you did manage to put some of it inside of them.”
“Hiring dragons was the real suggestion,” Twilight said. “…Though, again, it doesn’t help to hire them if you have nopony who can enforce discipline. I really don’t want to be Equestria’s source of super-soldiers, though.”
“I must admit that I am less than comfortable with the idea of parting with any of myself,” Luna said, looking guilty for desiring to dodge the responsibility. “You are uniquely suited… in more ways than one, now that I think of it.”
“Sure, it’s the perfect story,” Twilight said. “Give it five years and I’d be known as the apolitical one who has recused herself from the running of the nation so that she might protect it from a position of perfect neutrality, not to be swayed by kith, kin or coffer.”
“As opposed to the one who has recused herself from the running of the nation in order to be lazy and run a library?” Luna suggested with mild sarcasm.
“Exactly!” Twilight proclaimed. “I should get at least one mortal lifetime of that before I have to be responsible!”
“Correct me if I am wrong,” Luna said. “But you were already planning on curating a cabal of ponies to be placed under heavy restrictions and answer only to you, correct?”
Twilight fidgeted. “Well, yes, but—”
Luna cleared her throat and continued. “Ponies who would be charged with rooting out objective truth, to the point that you had envisioned them one day taking part in the equestrian judicial system?”
“Librarians and historians!” Twilight insisted, slightly peeved.
“So make them librarians and historians,” Luna said with a shrug.
Twilight gave a huff. “There’s a big difference between vetting a selection of ponies to catalogue my stars and using them as some sort of library-themed police enforcer demigods.”
Luna considered this for a moment before admitting, “Alright, you have a point.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said with a sigh of relief. That really wasn’t a road she wanted to go down.
“Perhaps we can get Rainbow Dash to command a cadre of dragons,” Luna mused. “She ought to be able to keep them in check.”
“…I guess?” Twilight said, thinking about it. “She is the one who wanted to join an elite air force wing… though I’d wanted her to get some notoriety so that she could fly with them, not give her a bunch of dragons so that she could make them look like a bunch of chumps.”
The voice that answered wasn’t Luna’s. “Why not both?” Rainbow Dash asked from over Twilight’s shoulder.
Twilight blinked, realizing just how close Rainbow Dash was. Two seconds later, she realized that Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one whose attention she had. “Err, how long have you all been listening?” she asked, just then realizing that they had entered the castle at some point.
“Well…” Candesca said, coming up from behind Twilight.
Corona came up on Twilight’s other side. “We will take it under advisement that we bring a stronger hoof to bear with the dragons, but as you say, it is not so simple a thing to arrange.”
That… entirely failed to process. That was the entire conversation, but Twilight refused to believe that the Celestias had been with them ever since the train platform, even if the sight of massive dragons squeezing their way through her hometown had been rather distracting. “…How?” she asked, getting a tittering laugh from Corona.
“Just because we are not always watching doesn’t mean that we never are, Twilight,” Candesca admitted with a warm smile and a wink. “Now, I believe some introductions are in order?”
Twilight stepped aside and watched as Spike did the introductions again. Most of the stiffness that the dragons had displayed upon meeting Twilight and her friends had mellowed out, but there was a different kind of tension with the Celestias—not that this surprised anyone.
“It is good to meet you all,” Corona said with the same perfect diplomatic mien that Twilight had gotten to know while growing up under Celestia’s wing. “I realize that for some of you, this is all very sudden, so we shall try to be accomodating. Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the location of the event.”
That was… odd. Twilight shared a quick look with Luna to see if she had any idea why the Celestias would be doing this personally when they had a coronation to be preparing for, but she seemed just as much in the dark.
A short walk later, Candesca spoke up,seeming to project slightly less than Corona and with a slightly warmer expression, but Twilight doubted that anypony else would notice, except, perhaps, Luna. “The west castle courtyard overlooks one of Canterlot’s larger boulevards,” the alicorn with the fiery mane explained as they led the ponies and dragons in the direction of said courtyard. “We were hoping that the extra space would allow more of our ponies to witness the event. As you’re about to see, however, we were… optimistic.”
Corona and Candesca both lit their horns to open the doors to the courtyard. Doing so, they revealed… dragons. Just… solid dragons from wall to wall and beyond. Twilight had to take wing to see over the mass, but all that did was reveal more dragons perched on the rooftops like a multicolored flock of crows, too numerous to count. What ponies could be seen were all gathered in rooms and walkways on the second and third floor of the castle, dressed in finery and not terribly amused.
Twilight flew higher and higher looking for an end to the crowd, but it seemed as if every dragon who had taken up residence in Mount Canterlot had decided to come see the event, and when many of those dragons were the size of carts and houses, spaces tended to fill up alarmingly quickly.
“So, you see, Twilight,” Corona said as Twilight came back down. “I’m afraid that the current situation is beyond even what order a firm hoof can enforce. “Candesca and I could, of course, go out there, start yelling and blasting dragons who refuse to listen, but I venture that there wouldn’t be a Canterlot to hold the event in—or for—afterwards. At this point, we are just glad that the ponies are staying inside and the structural enhancements protecting them and the city are holding.”
“At this point,” Candesca said, looking out at the hoard. “I am of a mind to suggest that we simply cancel the whole thing. The entire point of this was to reassure the ponies, and in that, we have already failed.”
— ✒ —
Having heard enough, Spike and the rest of the dragons ducked back inside the castle and through a side door to a room that didn’t appear to be in use while Twilight and the rest of the ponies discussed the situation.
“Is it bad that I kinda wanna see the yelling and blasting thing?” Kindle asked, injecting a little levity into things.
“I’m pretty sure that’s just being a dragon,” Drift answered and the rest of the girls nodded.
“Okay, yeah,” Spike agreed a little less wholeheartedly. “But—and I’m not trying to beat a dead bush about it—you did see the perfectly round lake out in the valley, right? A few weeks ago, that was a forest.”
“You say that as if you think it will discourage us,” Carnelia observed, amused.
“You keep telling us that they are powerful and dangerous,” Slag commented in a rare moment of verbosity, looking out at the group of ponies. “But there are some things a dragon just has to see for themselves. Even the ones whose power we can feel just seem… I don’t know. It’s not the same as Lord Torch, that’s for sure. What happens when he uses the scepter?”
“Scepter?” Spike asked, this being the first he’d heard of any scepter. “What scepter?”
“Oh, uhh…” Slag looked to Ember, who had been remarkably quiet so far.
“Ember,” Spike said seriously. “What scepter is she talking about?”
Ember crossed her arms with a huff and looked away, yet she didn’t mince words when she spoke. “The bloodstone scepter that has the power to command dragons.”
Spike simply said, “I… see,” and proceeded to take a few measured breaths.
“It is not the nicest thing,” Carnelia admitted in perhaps the most normal thing she’d said since Spike had met her. “But it also is not as if he is a horrible tyrant—just one who likes to be listened to.”
Spike continued to focus on breathing regularly and fully coming to terms with how upset he was about this.
“This is why I didn’t tell you,” Ember said, her cross-armed posture shifting from petulant to patronizing. “It’s not a good feeling having that hanging over your head. I figured you’d react badly.”
“React badly?” Spike clenched his teeth and stomped up to Ember, really appreciating that he was now able to face her eye-to-eye. “You think it’s my head that I’m worried about?” he asked, fuming.
“Shouldn’t you be?” Ember asked, answering Spike’s sudden aggressiveness with some of her own. “Don’t tell me the ponies have ground out all of your self-preservation, too?”
Spike facepalmed and had to take a moment to appreciate that statement. “Ember, believe me. Self-preservation is exactly where I’m coming from when I say that I am far more worried about what would happen if someone were able to control them,” Spike growled, gesturing at the two literal goddesses outside who were now part dragon.
“Oh,” Ember said, having not thought about that. “That would be bad, yeah?”
“Yes, that would be bad,” Spike confirmed. Turning around, he said, “I’ve gotta tell them.”
“I’m not going to stop you,” Ember said. “But is this really the time for that?”
Spike turned back around to ask, “What could possibly be more urgent than the possibility that there’s a dragon tyrant out there who might be able to control the princesses?”
“I dunno,” Ember said. “Maybe the dragons that are actually out there?”
Spike had to shift mental gears to understand, though it was actually quite obvious when he did.
“I can solve this whole thing right now with a snap of my fingers,” Ember explained, confirming his suspicions.
“Sure, and announce to everyone that you have the Ring of Ashmund!” Spike countered.
This time, though, that argument didn’t seem as persuasive as it had before.
“Would that be so bad?” Ember asked.
Carnelia backed her up. “It sounds as if they would be grateful.”
Spike struggled to come up with a response. “Yeah, but…”
“We didn’t take the Ring of Ashmund just to use it once and never again,” Ember said, frowning at Spike. “Or at least, I didn’t.”
Spike internally winced at that, because that had been essentially what he would have preferred to do, and yet it was times like these when she actually wanted to do things for the good of dragons and ponies that he actually saw her as a tolerable person.
“It’s not that I don’t think we should help,” Spike said and it sounded weak and spineless even to his ears. “But are you sure that this is the right time?”
“How should I know?” Ember all but shouted in frustration. “That’s why I’m asking you! I’ve been trusting you to tell me how to deal with these ponies, but if all you’re going to say is ‘keep it secret, keep it safe’ until the end of time, then you’re not really helping! So tell me, Spike, is this the right time? Because I think it is.”
Spike hesitated, but Ember had a point. She had a lot of good points, actually. She was right, he admitted. There really wouldn’t be a better time than this, he was just holding back out of shame for what he’d done.
“Yeah. Yes. You’re right,” he finally admitted, then added, “Considering the interest they showed in you yesterday, the timing is actually perfect.”
It was precisely that moment when an absolutely immense crash shook the palace.
— ✶ —
“Before you cancel everything, we do have options,” Twilight said, not yet sure what those options were, but certain that they existed. “We could change the venue, for one.”
“We have considered that,” Corona said. “But there is no place in Canterlot that we would not have the same problem, many of them without any dragons even needing to move.”
“Well, what about outside of Canterlot, in the valley?” Twilight suggested. “Or even out in the air? It wouldn’t be too difficult to project an illusion of the proceedings where everyone in Canterlot can see it.”
“We… could do that,” Candesca admitted. “Both Corona and Luna have the necessary aptitude for illusions, but what message would it send? That we are treating this situation as normal?”
“Well, that’s… up to you, I guess?” Twilight said. “Ignoring the implementation details, you can either ignore it, cancel the coronation, use force to get your way, or, my particular specialty: go out there and yell at them. You don’t need us to tell you that.”
“Yes, well…” Candesca said with an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty.
“We disagree,” Corona explained, to the shock of everyone. “It started as a small difference of opinion. We both believe that this has gone too far and that a message needs to be sent. Candesca, as you have heard, is leaning towards cancelling in protest, while I believe that this needs to be said more directly.”
“And before you say anything,” Candesca chimed in. “We have, of course, considered giving them a stern talking to and cancelling the event.”
“The real problem is that there is a chance that any direct confrontation with them could quickly grow out of control,” Corona admitted. “…Though the same might be said for pulling the rug out from under them and then leaving them to their devices.”
Corona sighed and sat down, weary. “We were used to making hard decisions as Celestia, but at least when we made them, they were made. The step of deciding was done with and we could focus on the next step. Now that there are two of us…” She shook her head sadly. “In truth, even without any disagreements, we realize now that we have gotten exceptionally little of note done in the past two weeks, precisely when we should have been organising a response to this ostensibly friendly invasion.”
Luna briefly looked like she had tasted something sour. “I have been doing so, though most of my effort has gone towards assimilating the younger, smaller dragons, as represents the situation in Ponyville. I—”
“You need not apologize, sister,” Corona said. “It’s true that you have taken over the bulk of our duties, but as you say, this is a problem unique to Canterlot. Candesca and I should certainly be able to handle the affairs of a single city on our own.”
“But you are not alone,” Luna stated. “Which is your problem.”
“Yes. Thank you, Luna, for repeating it. It might not have been clear enough without your excessive bluntness,” Candesca said, her frustration showing through.
“Okay…” Twilight said, stepping in before things got derailed. “Let’s see if we can come up with any other solutions. For example… going out there and kicking dragon ass for ruining your special day is only a problem if it threatens the safety of the ponies sheltering in their homes. Maybe we can work with that. Somehow.”
“Uhh, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said, sounding a little worried.
“We’re all friends here, Rainbow,” Twilight said, turning around. “If you have any suggestions, we’re all ears—and that goes for all of… you?” To Twilight’s surprise, the space behind her was remarkably less crowded than it had been not too long ago.
“Yeah, uhh, that’s the thing,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Cinders came and got Rarity for something, and that’s when I noticed Spike and the other dragons were missing, but then I found them and they’ve just talking right inside, so that’s no big deal…”
“Get to the point, please, Rainbow,” Twilight said.
“I was just getting there,” Rainbow Dash insisted. “Anyway, that’s when I realized there was an empty pink space in our lineup.”
Twilight leveled a flat look at Rainbow Dash. “An empty pink sp—” was as far as she got in her chiding when she had to swallow her words on account of there actually being an empty pink space next to Applejack. And it was blinking.
Twilight winced and covered her eyes with one hoof, regretting having looked. It was only as she was turning back around so she wouldn’t have to look at it again that it hit her.
“Pinkie Pie is missing,” Twilight stated.
“Yep,” Rainbow Dash agreed.
“In the middle of an ongoing mild to moderate crisis which is threatening to cancel one of her parties,” Twilight further extrapolated.
Rainbow Dash’s, “Uh-huh,” was, if anything, even less concerned.
“So, a fifty-fifty chance that she either makes everything worse or solves the whole thing by breaking into the royal cake reserve,” Twilight concluded.
“You got it,” was Rainbow Dash’s final confirmation.
“Wonderful,” Twilight groaned and asked, “Do you want to do the countdown or should I?”
“Go for it,” Rainbow Dash decided. “I’ll watch.”
Twilight hadn’t even started counting when there was a deep, bone-shaking whump from above and behind as a massive dragon came down on the palace overlooking the crowded courtyard and shouted, “Where—is—my—daughter?!”
“That isn’t Pinkie Pie.”
“I should hope not.”
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Well. I really hope that the Celestias can counter the power of the staff.
Error in the description: "Celestia and Celestia are a little lost too"
Well this is going to get ugly fast, though in regards to the staff I think it should only work a little on them. They are not full dragons, after all and they are also incredibly strong magically and mentally, so full on `DO AS I COMMAND` shouldn't happen just a battle of wills sort of deal that hopefully buys time for someone to smack a dragon for making a scene.
Another excellent four chapters; thank you for writing. And good luck!
10160726
Not an error. There are two of them now, and they don't decide on separate names until partway through the story.
10161062
...huh, alright. Well this series just got bumped to the front of the queue :)
Amazing
10161395
You made me heh out loud.
Shame on you
Oh snap! It's Torch!
Love the story, keep up the great work!
These chapters are treasures.
Not really worried about Torch and his scepter. Even like worst case and he gets full control over the Celestias, You got Twilight, Luna, and Rainbow immediately gunning straight for him then, along with Fluttershys new ability of possession that works on dragons as well.
Isn't this seven ponies and seven dragons? The mane six and Luna, then Spike and his five lady friends and Cinders, right?
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You have a point about Luna, so fixed. Thanks. I’m not including Cinders in the count, though, since she had already gone ahead with the luggage at that point and doesn’t end up with the group.
FUSTER CLUCK TIME!
CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TRAFFIC OFFICERS!.. yay?
And Torch has to go all grumpy dad scaring the daughter's new BF in the middle of the grand coronation ceremony preparations. FFS guy, couldn't you have just waited for her to bring him home and sat on a lava lounger polishing the Bloodstone Scepter like some kind of magical draconic shotgun doodad?
Now that some of the ponies are on board with calling it a "den" instead of continuing to think Spike has a harem, I can read this fic without hyperventilating again. I've caught up, & it's my favorite fic that's still being updated. I've just recommended it to a bunch of people. Thank you!
I think you changed Carnelia's name in this chapter. I'd recommend going back to the last one and updating to make sure it's consistent.
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If anyone knows the author IRL, any news one whats up, they havent been online in several months and i get worried when an author goes radio silent without warning.
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My apologies. I am, in fact, alive. Things have been kind of a mess, both in real life, and in regards to this story. I actually have three (…ish?) unposted chapters that I ran into problems with and the result is that I think that I'm just going to have to just completely redact the CMC chapters. The unposted chapters will probably go straight into my snips story.
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Hah! You whippersnapper. Back in the day it was a year between updates, uphill both ways, and we liked it! An update was an actual Christmas present and we cherished it! Looking back I can't help but notice the disproportionate number of times it was me bringing up the Christmas tradition in the comments, so, sorry if that pressured you Cast-Iron. In my defense I've been living on borrowed time and it took on a special significance for me. Darn kids, get off my lawn!
All should be capitalized.
Missing space.
Oh, hello there, Torch. I was wondering when you'd turn up.