Celestia XVII: The Broken Princess

by brokenimage321

7: "Pride and Prejudice"

“Angry people are not always wise.”

“Absolutely not,” said Luna.

“Luna, for once in your life,” I hissed, “shut your foundering mouth.”

I strode down the hall, Luna struggling to keep up. It would have been easier for her, had it not been for the hysterical mob nipping frantically at our heels.

“Your Highness!” cried one. “You have to see this—!”

“All the rabbits—all at once!”

“Magic vines out of the Everfree! If we don’t act now—!”

“Everywhere! Storms and lightning and—!”

“Your Highness!”

“Your Highness!!”

Up ahead, I saw it: the door to my office. It took everything in my power to walk, not run, the rest of the way. When I reached it, I opened the door a crack, then turned back to the crowd and spread my wings.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, please,” I called over the roar. “I know you have concerns, but my friends and I must confer for a few moments.” I nodded my head over my shoulder, and one by one, Twilight and her friends began to push through the crowd, then squeezed past me into the office. “I will give each and every one of you the help that you need—but there must be order, please,” I continued. I scanned the crowd. “Raven?” I called.

Raven, my secretary, popped her head up over the pony in front of her. “Here, your highness!” she said, waving.

I nodded at her. “If each of you could kindly check in with her, she’ll write down your names and your complaints, and I’ll get to you as soon as I can. Now, if you please…?”

I gestured, and Raven got the hint.

“Right this way, everypony!” she cried waving a pad of paper over her head. “Right this way, form a line, please—no pushing—!”

As the crowd dispersed, Luna finally stepped forward. She gave me a curt nod, then pushed past me into the office with a little more force than necessary. Blueblood, just behind her, gave me a frightened look, then followed her.

I sighed heavily, and was just about to close the door, when a blue-and-orange blur landed in front of me. I looked down in surprise, and found Spitfire, in her Wonderbolts athletics suit, standing at my hooves, chest heaving.

“Wonderbolts reporting in, Ma’am,” she gasped, throwing me a sloppy salute. A few feet behind her, Soarin’ landed lightly on the carpet, still struggling to get the hood of his uniform on. “We’re here to help however we can.”

“And to keep you safe,” Soarin’ added. Both Spitfire and I shot him incredulous looks.

I turned back to Spitfire. “Check in with Captain Armor,” I said. “He’ll have a better idea of what’s going on.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Spitfire said, saluting again. In a split-second, she took off, flying down the hallway over the heads of the panicking bureaucrats.

I turned and walked into my office. As I turned around to close the door behind me, however, I saw Soarin’ still standing there, hesitating. He looked up at me with an uncertain, pleading look in his eyes.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” I snapped.

It gave me no small satisfaction to see Soarin’s look of hurt and surprise as I slammed the door in his face.

“Alright,” I called, turning to the ponies assembled in my office, “anyone care to explain to me why, exactly, all of Equestria seems to have caught fire at the same time?”

Luna looked up, her glasses crooked. “It’s him,” she hissed. “Discord. He must be responsible for all this. He must be trying to draw you out, to throw you off balance. But you cannot—”

“I can’t?” I spat back. “What I can’t do is let this continue! If he’s doing this, we have to stop him!”

“Celestia,” she pleaded, “You must not go after him—”

“Augh!” I scoffed, turning away. “Your Highness, this is not a time for argument! That—that Discord has the Sun Stone! And if we don’t get it back before tomorrow morning, then all of Equestria’s going to freeze!”

“We can use the Moon Stone,” she interjected. “After all, your foremothers had only the Sun Stone, and they—”

“No no no,” I shot back. “We could only move the moon some of the time, when it happened to cross paths with the sun. We can’t just sit back and hope!”

I glanced briefly around the room. All the others were watching the two of us trade barbs back and forth, like they were at a tennis match. Blueblood, seeing my gaze, cleared his throat.

“Ah, Cece,” he began, “couldn’t we—”

“Not now,” I snapped, shooting him a cold glare. I turned back to Luna, and saw her looking at me over her glasses, her eyes wide and trembling. “I trust your judgment, Your Highness,” I began again, fighting to keep my voice calm. “I really do. But you can’t tell me to stay at home like I’m a little filly anymore.”

Luna’s eyes flashed. “Do not trust Discord, Celestia,” she said, her words hard and sharp. “You must not play his games—”

“Your Highness,” I said testily, “this is too important for you to try and pull rank on me.” I turned and stared at her. “What are you so scared of, anyways?”

“Leave her alone,” Twilight said, her voice hard.

I nodded. “You tell her, Twilight—-”

“I was talking to you,” she snapped.

I whipped my head around and stared. Twilight glared back at me, her eyes hard and sharp. Her friends, gathered around her, looked on in shock and horror. Twilight took a step forward, heedless of their gazes.

“If Granny says to leave him alone,” she said, “then we leave him alone. It’s not right to—”

“Have you gone nuts?” cried Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s eyes bulged, and she turned to look over her shoulder at her. “Discord has the Elements—not to mention the Sun Stone. What are we supposed to do, just sit on our flanks?”

“I know you care for your Grandmother, Dear,” Rarity said, “but we can’t let him get away with… with whatever he’s planning.”

“And someone has to help those animals,” Fluttershy said. “I-I think it’s him who’s doing all those things to them… and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t stop him…”

Twilight looked at each of her friends in turn, her glasses slipping down her nose as she did. For just a moment, she sagged her shoulders—but then, she stood tall again, a faint shine of hope and triumph in her eyes.

“We don’t even know what he meant,” she said, with a little sniff. She pushed her glasses back up her nose. “Whatever he said—where everything’s already lost, or whatever—if he wanted us to follow him, then he wouldn’t have been so cryptic about it…”

I was going to shoot back some snarky reply—but then, something clicked into place.

“The hedge maze,” I said.

Twilight turned to look at me, eyebrow raised.

“The Palace hedge maze,” I repeated. “He said we wouldn’t have to go far to find it, which has to mean it’s nearby. And it’s a maze—a place where everything is already lost.” I looked around. “It’s the only thing that makes sense!”

“That’s easy,” Rainbow scoffed. “You, me, and Flutters can fly! We’ll find ‘em in ten seconds flat!”

“Not to mention,” I added, “I know the maze like the back of my hoof. I can guide you all through it, even those who can’t fly.”

Rarity smirked. “Well. Seems like this Discord fellow doesn’t know the mares he’s messing with!” She tossed her mane, then looked over at Blueblood. “Keep the kettle on, we’ll be back before tea,” she said with a smile.

I walked to the door and threw it open. Outside, the Palace Guards, who had finally shown up, stepped aside from their positions blocking the door. One by one, Twilight’s friends filed out. I hesitated, then turned back. Twilight still stood, unmoving, beside Luna. She looked unsure of herself, and even vaguely frightened—but as soon as my gaze met hers, she scowled, drooped her head, and started plodding forward.

I was about to follow her out into the crowd when I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I turned to see Luna standing beside me, a mist of tears in her eyes.

“Celestia,” she pleaded, “please, do not do this.”

I hesitated, then bowed my head.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“Stay here,” she said immediately. “We shall figure out a plan of action, call in the Guard, and—”

I shook my head. “I can’t,” I said. “This—this Discord—he has the Sun Stone. And…” I swallowed. “I have to get it back, Auntie. I have to. As soon as I can. Otherwise, what sort of Princess am I?”

Luna stared at me, her eyes trembling behind those spectacles of hers, but she stayed silent. After a moment, I gave her a little bow, then stepped out into the chaos.

Comments

[Comickook]

REALLY good job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up were all well done in all the right places. I especially liked Celly's first person account on the correct course of action argument with Luna and Soarin'. Of course, we will eventually find out what's got Twilight so upset at Celly right now, but probably not for another few chapters.

Well, on to the next chapter.

[Midknight Defender]

I'm gonna level with ya. Whatever has Twilight in this lil hissy fit is past due to be aired, because now it's just getting annoying instead of suspenseful. What ever crawled up in her snoot and died is making her behave as poorly as a... a noble. And it's making me dislike her. And disliking Twilight is bad!