Sunrise

by Winston

XX - Are We Good Ponies? (Part 2)

Sunrise
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Chapter XX - Are We Good Ponies? (Part 2)

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Trumpeting fanfare resounded through the stone halls of the new Castle of the Sisters, even echoing out into the scenic woods surrounding it. Sunlight streamed in through stained glass panels, setting the great courtroom alight in rainbow hues cast over the multitudinous crowd of ponies gathered there. Celestia and Luna sat on the dual thrones atop the dais, side by side, and in front of them, Commander Hurricane stood facing the crowd at a small, unassuming wooden table whose simplicity contrasted sharply with the stunning pair of tiaras resting on it: one in pure gold set with gleaming purple gems, the other in a jet-black metal with white gems shining like stars.

“Greetings and thanks to all of you who have gathered here to witness this historic event,” Hurricane addressed the crowd. “As the commander of the Cloud Empire’s expeditionary force, it has been my honor to lead my pegasi in safeguarding the settlement efforts of our earth pony friends. In doing so, I have in some ways taken on a role as part of the de facto governance of the region. However, to gain power here was not my intention, nor was this arrangement ever meant to be permanent. With the completion of this castle we now stand in to serve as a permanent seat of power, it’s only right that we enter a new phase in the leadership of this new land. It gives me great pleasure to preside over the relinquishing of military directorship and the establishment of a permanent civilian government. Therefore: by right of strength, by right of conquest, by right of discovery, and most importantly by right deriving from the consent of you, the governed, I present to you the new diarchs of your land: Princesses Celestia and Luna.”

The crowd applauded and cheered, stomping their hooves on the stone floor of the court hall. Rumbling filled the air so loud it shook deep into the chests of everypony there.

Hurricane took the tiaras from the little table and ascended the dais, approaching the thrones. The applause died down, replaced with the reverent silence of everypony suddenly holding their breath in anticipation.

Celestia and Luna both lowered their heads.

“On behalf of your people, I coronate you: Princess Celestia of Equestria,” Hurricane declared, placing the gold tiara upon Celestia. “And on behalf of your people, I coronate you: Princess Luna of Equestria.” She placed the black tiara atop Luna’s head.

The princesses simultaneously raised their heads and stood from their thrones, crowns glittering in the light. Hurricane kneeled and bowed. The audience followed suit, bowing down before their new rulers.

The sisters stepped forward.

“Rise, our subjects,” they declared, their two voices in a carefully practiced unison. “Rise and celebrate the dawning of a new day as we create a better world for all of ponykind!”

Celestia and Luna smiled, raising their wings and holding their heads high to present themselves to the crowd with dignified poise while deafening cheers and applause shook the very stones of the castle.
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☙ ☀ ❧

 
 
After their coronation, the sisters left their thrones and descended the dais to join the crowd in celebration. The ponies around them felt excessively polite at first, keeping their distance and looking nervous about being in the presence of the rulers of the land. Eventually, they were able to begin breaking down the barriers and rubbing shoulders more casually with their subjects when Chancellor Puddinghead hit upon the idea of having them personally hoof out cups of cider. If nothing else, she certainly knew a thing or two about breaking the ice at a party, Celestia had to admit.

After a short while, with the crowd finally warming up and growing more at-ease, a unicorn approached them. “Congratulations, your highnesses!”

“Thank you.” Celestia turned to face her well-wisher and smiled. The face was familiar, and Celestia tried to place the pony in her mind. She’d seen her before, some sort of diplomatic function. After a few moments, finally it came back to her. “…Topaz Bolt, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Correct.” She bowed.

“And you came here as a delegate from the Unicorn Kingdom to witness our coronation?”

“Yes, I did.” She nodded. “It was a beautiful ceremony. Everything seems to be going well for you.”

“So far, yes, quite well, thank you,” Luna said. “Miss Bolt, please forgive me, but I’ve just realized I’m not entirely clear on one thing: who exactly in the Unicorn Kingdom is it that you represent? News about the process of succession to the throne in Quartz City has been rather sporadic in reaching us here.”

“News is scarce because the official proclamations haven’t been made yet,” Topaz said. “But to clarify, I’m here representing House Umbra. Between you and me, their candidate is as good as enthroned and is expected to ascend shortly. I think I can safely tell you because I have been asked to deliver this letter to you.”

Topaz’s horn glowed and she magiced out an envelope from her dress. Celestia briefly examined the ornate wax seal it bore while she took the letter.

“Of course, I don’t expect you to open it right now, in the midst of your celebrations,” Topaz said. “But the gist, I’ve been told, is that it’s a letter of intent from House Umbra requesting to begin diplomatic relations with Equestria.”

“I see.” Celestia nodded. “Are there any specific diplomatic concerns prompting this?”

“I believe the concern is for fostering goodwill with the unicorns residing in this new land of Equestria,” Topaz replied. “They did, after all, mostly originate from the Unicorn Kingdom. The Kingdom doesn’t want to abandon its citizens, nor fail to do what it can to assure their good treatment in their new home.”

“We appreciate that you care, and I assure you, Equestria is a land equitable to all,” Celestia said. “In fact, it was created with that singular thought foremost in mind. We invite you to check and see that the unicorns we have welcomed here are satisfied in that regard. You can ask them yourself, if you like: some of them have already begun constructing a town on what we’ve come to call Canterlot Mountain. You can’t miss it, it’s the towering peak that overlooks the fair forest this very castle lies within.”

“Perhaps I will.” Topaz nodded. “Congratulations again. I shouldn’t monopolize your time, however. I’ll let your other guests mingle with you.” She bowed again and turned to leave the princesses.

“Oh, and Miss Bolt,” Luna called after her, “If you go to speak to the unicorns of Canterlot, please, do not neglect to also inquire about the concerns of the pegasi and earth ponies some of them have mated with and taken as partners. I understand the first waves of foals with mixed parent types are expected soon. New families, starting here in Equestria! Exciting, isn’t it?”

With her back still turned, Topaz bristled slightly, briefly, but composed herself and continued to walk away without breaking her stride. Celestia suppressed a silent giggle, while Luna just smiled and watched Topaz disappear into the celebrating crowd of mostly earth ponies.
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☙ ☀ ❧

 
 
“It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it?” Clover asked Hurricane as the two of them entered the castle’s council chamber after the coronation celebrations had ended and the castle was quiet once again. “And it looks like it’s not over ye—”

She stopped and her words died. Celestia and Luna sat silently at the head of the long table, waiting, staring somberly in the semi-darkness. Two other ponies sat to the side near them. One was the now-purple former-princess Platinum. The other was a dark grey pony, nearly black, with wings and a horn.

“Hello, Cardinal Clover. Commander Hurricane.” Luna greeted the new arrivals. A coldness in her voice took Clover by surprise.

“Hello, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia.” Clover bowed to the newly minted princesses, still wearing their coronation tiaras. She looked at the grey pony. “One of your guests I already know. May I have the pleasure of being introduced to the other one?”

“Oh, I’m confident you’ve already met Storm Grey.” Celestia stood up and motioned toward the pony. “Haven’t you?”

“You… invited her to your coronation?” Clover asked hesitantly.

“How could we not?” Luna replied. “My sister and I are what we are because of her. We all owe her much.”

“I don’t put it that way myself.” Storm Grey shifted, looking vaguely annoyed.

“At any rate, you’ve summoned myself and the Commander to a council,” Clover said, brushing past any further awkward formalities. “Your first as princesses, I believe. I presume there must be some very important business you wish to kick off your reign with, so perhaps we should get started?”

“Indeed!” Celestia exclaimed. She clapped one front hoof on the table, in apparent enthusiasm. “What business could be more important than finally bringing the truth to light? So yes, let’s get started on that.”

“To wit,” Luna continued, fluidly picking up and continuing her sister’s thread, “we’ve made our decision regarding the former Princess Platinum. First things first: have you decided on a new name yet?”

“I have,” Platinum answered. “While waiting for your decision, I’ve been going by True Heart. I think that will work just fine for me.”

“Very well.” Celestia nodded. “Then that is what you shall be known by henceforth. And we’ve decided to offer you a deal, True Heart. You may stay here in Equestria, in exchange for the use of your unique talent.”

“I’ll gladly agree to that,” True Heart replied. “I—”

“You might not be so glad when we state the condition that comes with this offer,” Luna interrupted. “We will need you to accept a geas binding you to tell us truthfully when we ask if somepony is lying.”

“A… a geas?” True Heart suddenly looked weak in the legs. “You know that kind of magic? Such a dark spell?”

“I don’t believe there’s such a thing as ‘dark’ magic, only magic used darkly. We’ve recently been taught this particular spell, thanks to our guest.” Celestia looked at Storm Grey. “She knows many fascinating things. But the question at hoof is, will you accept our offer?”

“I… I just… well…” True Heart stammered.

“The spell is quite harmless,” Luna said. “It won’t hurt you, only constrain you to the terms set when it is being cast. We wouldn’t use it for cruel purposes, of course.”

“Fine.” True Heart stiffened and held her head up. “Doesn’t seem I have a lot of choice. I’ll do it, if that’s the price.”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other briefly. “I’ll do the honors,” Celestia said, and Luna nodded.

Celestia turned toward True Heart. Her horn started glowing, filling the council room with hazy white-gold light. Tendrils of purple and green magic wove through the air, surrounding True Heart while she watched nervously.

“True Heart, repeat after me!” Celestia commanded, her voice suddenly growing distant and echoing. The irises of her eyes started glowing faintly. “I will serve Equestria by the use of my special talent when called upon.”

“I will serve Equestria by the use of my special talent when called upon,” True Heart repeated nervously.

“I will answer honestly and fully when asked if another pony is being truthful,” Celestia continued.

“I will answer honestly and fully when asked if another pony is being truthful,” True Heart repeated again.

“I will inform the princesses of Equestria of any lies I detect, whether bidden to or not, if harm would result from those lies not being reported.”

“I will inform the princesses of Equestria of any lies I detect, whether bidden to or not, if harm would result from those lies not being reported,” True Heart echoed back.

“So be it!” Celestia proclaimed. “Having been voluntarily accepted and recited, my sister and I impose this geas until such time as we declare it should be undone.”

The swirling purple and green magic closed in around True Heart, tentacles of glowing gossamer wrapping themselves around her tightly. They sank down into her coat, seeming to melt away through her skin. She shuddered and shrank away as if being wrapped in a cold, wet blanket she didn’t want touching her, until the tendrils vanished and the glow of Celestia’s horn faded.

“Now, with that out of the way, we will continue,” she declared. “True Heart, your first act of service will be to assist by informing us of any falsehoods told here.”

“This is why you called us here, first thing as princesses? Interrogation with a lie detector? Gonna be honest, I feel a little tricked here,” Hurricane grumbled reproachfully.

“You feel tricked?” Celestia asked incredulously. Brief anger flashed in her eyes. “You feel tricked?!”

“Are you accusing us of something?” Clover interposed, calmly stepping forward.

“Accusing? No.” Luna shook her head. “We would simply like the truth – the whole truth – laid out. It’s understandable that certain things had to remain secret, until now. But my sister and I feel that, at this point, we’re both entitled to the full story. And there is quite a story to tell, isn’t there?”

“Such as how I already know Storm Grey?” Clover guessed.

“Yes, such as exactly that.” Celestia nodded. “Although perhaps we should start with what my sister and I already know. What you two really are, for instance.” She pointed at Clover and Hurricane.

“And what are we, really?” Clover asked.

“Just as Storm Grey is two pony types, a pegasus and a unicorn – a pegacorn – so are you. You, Cardinal, are an earth-unicorn. And you, Commander, are an earth-pegasus. Storm Grey wasn’t able to hide having wings and a horn, but being an earth pony in addition to another type isn’t as obvious, is it?”

Silence. A few seconds dragged by.

“Guess we’re busted, huh?” Hurricane finally admitted, turning to Clover with a sardonic grin. “How?”

“It was the snow,” Celestia said. “The first time we went out to meet our transportation to the Cloud Empire, I noticed the way Cardinal Clover walked through the snow so easily, like there was an extra strength in her legs I couldn’t account for. Of course there was, but I didn’t know the explanation at the time – not until I became an alicorn and began to understand just what kind of magic it was, because I had earth pony magic of my own to compare to. Once I did, it was unmistakable. I could feel that same magic in Cardinal Clover, and then in you, Commander.”

“Yes, fine, I’m an earth-unicorn,” Clover said flatly. “My dirty little secret. If anypony had known, I would have been thrown out of Thaumosciences, and maybe banished to work a farm like other earth ponies. Star Fire would have loved it.”

“Don’t be too hard on Star Fire,” True Heart said. “She died to help make this happen, after all.”

“She died because you used me to kill her!” Celestia suddenly shouted, rounding on True Heart with a look of fury. “Didn’t you?”

True Heart gave Celestia a hard stare in return. “There was a plan. Setting an example was a necessary part of it. The needed concessions for your new Equestria to exist without a very bloody war would not have been made without such a vivid warning right before the eyes of the court nobles. They needed to be… convinced.”

“You have the mentality of an utter tyrant.” Luna shook her head in disbelief.

“Of course I do, I was a princess,” True Heart shot back. “We all have the roles that fate calls on us to play. So I played my part.”

“Was directing Star Fire to pursue an artificial version of earth pony magic part of the script?” Celestia asked.

“Things had to be coming to a disastrous head in order to spur the change that was truly needed,” True Heart argued defensively. “The idea wasn’t new, you realize. It would have happened with or without my involvement. The only control I really had over it was the decision over whether or not to use it to trigger the breaking point that would end unicorn oppression of the earth ponies.”

“You know the ironic thing about that?” Celestia asked bitterly. “Having an earth pony as your Cardinal Mage. Clover could have delivered the secrets of earth pony magic at any time. Couldn’t you?” She turned to look at Clover. “With your own earth pony magic to work with and test on, a mage of your caliber must have easily understood exactly how it works. You were just sitting idle the whole time on what Star Fire wanted so badly she was ready to kill and die for. And you let her.”

“Again, there was a plan,” Clover said softly.

“And putting me with Star Fire so I would find out what was going on – what you planned to let go on,” Celestia said venomously. “So my sister and I would be pulled in. So that we’d end up playing OUR part, too. That was also part of your plan.”

“Yes,” Clover acknowledged.

“And of course, with everything else planned out, you didn’t leave the most centrally important but absurdly difficult part to chance,” Luna added. “You already knew how to move the sun and the moon before we even started working on it, didn’t you? The help you were suddenly able to give us – the timing was just too perfect. You didn’t just happen to stumble across an ancient sun-mover’s notes in some spiderwebs, did you?”

“I knew, sort of, yes,” Clover sighed. “But not how to do it without frying the magic of almost anypony else and probably leaving them a lifeless husk.”

“And that’s why you needed us,” Luna concluded.

“No,” Storm Grey suddenly said, breaking her long brooding silence. “We needed you because of who you are, not because of what you can do. What you can do was an indicator that you were the right ponies, but not a reason. There’s a difference, silly girl.”

“What?” Celestia looked momentarily perplexed. “What does that mean?”

“Power!” Storm Grey exclaimed. “You were ponies who didn’t seek power, and it makes you the only ponies who could be trusted with it! The only ponies who could have it and not be destroyed, or destroy us all, with it! And what greater power is there than the endless wells of magic from the very sun and moon?”

“Don’t you see?” Clover asked softly. “None of us would dare take rule over the others.” She indicated herself, Hurricane, and Storm Grey. “We are… were… meant to be the harbingers, not the wielders. And anyway, we don’t fit: there’s three of us, but we’re only two types each.”

“So you made us alicorns,” Luna said. “Two of us, and both of us are all three types to be able to bring together all three kinds of ponies. I suppose I see the sense. Still, you must have had a plan for how to keep us leashed.”

“Leash such things as alicorns? How? No, I made the mistake, once, long, long ago, of thinking that I could control the monsters I create,” Storm Grey stated. “I was clever, but made utterly a fool by the idea that I should have power because I was two kinds instead of just one. And for my mistake, I had to wait five hundred years for others like me, more than one type of pony at a time, to appear so that the disaster I caused could finally start to heal. And now I know what I lacked back then: the wisdom to realize that if one cannot control their monsters, they must instead create the right type of monster.”

“Are we really those monsters?” Luna asked, her eyes narrowing with a sudden chill sweeping through the room.

“I believe so, but I know that ultimately I can only let go of trying to control anything,” Storm Grey answered her. “I can only hope and pray that you, silly little naïve girls, are the right type of naïve, the kind that leaves its virtues behind when naïveté fades into experience, and makes you into good monsters. Otherwise, this is all for nothing, and we are all lost.”

“Is that why you showed us the vision in your viewing-basin?” Celestia asked. “So that we would choose to be… ‘good monsters’?”

“It was not meant to give you a choice,” Storm Grey said. “It was meant to break your indecision. You were enabled to act by giving you understanding of what your choices meant.”

“And by doing that, you took our choices away!” Storm Grey's words touched something volatile in Celestia, and her response was filled with smoldering bile.

“That can be the price of knowing where they lead, can’t it?” Storm Grey asked, shrugging. “But just as True Heart couldn’t leave the appropriation of earth pony magic to chance, and Clover couldn’t leave your discovery of sun and moon moving to chance, I couldn’t leave the most important thing of all to chance.”

“…Whether or not we would actually do anything with all of this alicorn power,” Celestia said.

“Yes, girl, exactly.” Storm Grey nodded slowly. “You had to make the right decisions. You had to walk the path to fix what I could not. Hurricane saw that you felt lost, so she sent you to me and I saw to it that you would be guided.”

“Guided? Showing us the future we saw cursed us to live it, and not even by using magic on us directly,” Luna lamented. “You stole so much from us both without even trying. You really are a witch of terrible, terrible power.”

“Witch… yes. It’s what I do,” Storm Grey said sadly. “That’s the name and the fate I can never escape.”

“I think what Storm’s trying to say by all this—” Clover cleared her throat “—is that we three may be clever, but mere cleverness alone is ultimately tragic. But we want something more. Ponykind needs something more. We did what we did because you two can be better. You can be the thing they don’t call me. You can be… wise.”

“Indeed?” Celestia asked bitterly. “Well, I hope we can at least be wiser than to manipulate ponies into—”

“We all had our motivations for what we've done, Celestia,” Hurricane broke in, her voice stern but also surprisingly soft at the same time. “None of us are free from them. None of us. Someday, you’ll understand.”

Something about the way she said it reached deep into Celestia’s heart, tugging on the strings of a source of sadness she hadn’t even been fully aware of. She felt it evoked in her mind, sudden unbidden flashes of what felt like distant memories: something lost before its time, the empty hollow silence of an absence that would never be filled. It was the image of a statue posed heroically but still nothing but a shadow of the real thing, all that remained now of somepony she missed with a pain that ached and never faded.

As Celestia and Hurricane locked eyes across the table, Celestia felt the feeling of longing and loss pass between the two of them, communicated in some sort of inexplicable wordless raw flow of emotion washing into her mind. Her anger transmuted into a sorrowful empathy, because she knew suddenly that Hurricane had already faced what she would herself someday.

Their pain and sadness, she realized, was destined to be of the same substance, separated only by their respective places in time.

Celestia found herself momentarily at a loss for words.

“At least you were right in your self-reflection. Your methods make you unsuitable rulers,” Luna said, scowling. “All the wheels-within-wheels scheming and the unbelievable mendacity you’ve shown in contriving all of this to happen according to your designs at OUR expense only proves it.”

Hurricane looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “You didn’t think we could change the whole world all at once, did you?”

“No, I suppose the hardest thing to change is yourself,” Luna mused.

“Exactly.” Hurricane nodded back.

“But what you can do is keep helping us to change things for the better,” Celestia finally said, collecting and composing herself to focus on the present. “However angry my sister and I might be with all of you at this moment, it’s still true that we’re young and inexperienced, and we can’t do this all on our own. In any case, I don’t want to hold on to anger, either. It does nopony any good, so I think I’ll start by taking the Commander’s advice to heart and work on finding my forgiveness through an understanding of your motives.”

“No doubt only the first of many good pieces of advice we’ll get from you all,” Luna agreed.

“And maybe, then, it’s time we made the first of our many needed appointments as well,” Celestia said, turning to Luna. “What do you say? Our first council would be the time to appoint our first councillors.”

Luna just nodded, then turned to the other ponies.

“True Heart, you’ve already begun your service, but we would value your help in other ways, as well.” she said. “However, in a fair system, this shouldn’t be forced. As a gesture of wanting to deal in good faith, I release you from your geas.”

She looked at Celestia, who nodded her concurrence. A burst of faint green and purple magic dissipated forth from True Heart, dissolving apart into strings of vanishing gossamer as it faded to nothing. True Heart looked surprised, but relieved.

“We’ll need help running our court, and I can think of nopony more qualified than one who has already been on the throne herself,” Luna continued. “We would like to appoint you as our counsellor general and court advisor. Will you accept?”

“I will.” True Heart nodded.

“Excellent. Now, going beyond the royal court, this new land will also need its magical affairs overseen by an expert,” Celestia said. “To that end: Clover the Clever, we would like you to be the first arch-mage of Equestria.”

“Well.” Clover rubbed her chin in thought. “I suppose the new ruler of the Unicorn Kingdom might not want to keep me on as their Royal Cardinal Mage, after what I did to the last ruler. I should probably consider whatever job offers I can get, shouldn’t I?”

“We’ll take that as a yes.” Luna smiled. “Thank you.”

“And as for you, Storm Grey.” Celestia turned to the dark pegacorn. “My sister and I may be powerful in raw magic terms, but your sheer talent, experience, and skill are more astounding than I’ve ever seen from any other mage. I’m forced to humble myself and admit just how much we have left to learn. Your task will be to teach us all you know.”

“I may not have the time left for teaching all,” Storm said, suddenly looking tired at just the thought. “But I will give you what I can, if you must know it.”

“I think we must,” Celestia replied. “Thank you. We will see to making time for lessons.”

“Commander Hurricane,” Luna addressed the last pony left. “You have your own ponies to lead, and it would not be our place to ask for service from a fellow ruler. What we will ask for, however, is mutual cooperation in keeping relations strong and friendly between Equestria and the Cloud Empire.”

“Absolutely,” Hurricane said. “I’d look forward to a Cloud Empire with actual friends, for a change.”

“Good.” Luna nodded in satisfaction. “I think that covers everything my sister and I wanted to address for now. I apologize for the admittedly antagonistic tone we may have had coming into this meeting. We’ve been upset by the things we came to realize we weren’t told, I hope you can all understand. The sense of being a pawn doesn’t make one feel appreciated. I hope that going forward, we can all be more honest with each other. Is that not how it should be?”

She looked around the table. Four ponies, most of them not quite able to meet her eyes, nodded their heads in sheepish agreement.

“If there’s nothing from anypony else, this council is adjourned,” Celestia declared.

The four ponies stood up, one by one, and walked out of the room.
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☙ ☀ ❧

 
 
“Well, that went better than I was worried it might,” Luna finally ventured once the others had gone and shut the door behind them, leaving the sisters alone in the counsel chamber.

“And worse than I’d hoped for, at the same time,” Celestia responded.

“Yes.” Luna nodded, with sad, downcast eyes. “And worse.”

“I hoped so hard it wasn’t true,” Celestia continued, growing distraught. “That we were being paranoid and imagining things, and it was all just dumb luck after all. That it wasn’t all laid out, that we…” She choked on her words.

“…That our path didn’t have to be what it is.” Luna nuzzled Celestia’s neck, then drew her into a long hug.

“Winter Wheat gets to be a mother, but I never will,” Celestia lamented, blinking her watering eyes.

“I’m here for you,” Luna said, kissing Celestia gently on the side of her head, “if you need to let it out.”

“No.” Celestia shook her head slightly but defiantly. “I’ve cried my tears about it. More won’t do any good. More only leads to more, and they’ll only hold me here, dwelling on it forever. Better to just be done with it.”

“Alright.” Luna leaned against Celestia, rubbing her back with one wing. “But remember, you needn’t be a mare of iron, either. Please don’t become one.”

“There’s only one thing it’s important for us to be now,” Celestia said. “We’re princesses. It’s our responsibility now to make the best of our kingdom.”

Luna was quiet for a long time.

“But are we good ponies?” she finally asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Celestia whispered. “I want to be, but at this price? After what we’ve done to get here? I just don’t know anymore.”

Comments

[Captain Neckbeard]

I'm still following this story, and kudos to you, I've enjoyed every chapter so far. Nice to see things are finally taking shape, and the sisters can solidify their rule.
Also, as I read, I noticed a narrative inconsistency, that I should point out:

“It was the snow,” Celestia said. “The first time we went out to meet our transportation to the Cloud Empire, I noticed the way Cardinal Clover walked through the snow so easily, like there was an extra strength in her legs I couldn’t account for. Of course there was, but I didn’t know the explanation at the time – not until I became an alicorn and began to understand just what kind of magic it was, because I had earth pony magic of my own to compare to. Once I did, it was unmistakable. I could feel that same magic in Cardinal Clover, and then in you, Commander.”

But Celestia already knew Clover was half earth pony. Clover herself told the sisters when she first visited them in Chapter 3. You either overlooked this one, or Celestia is a silly pony, and forgot amongst all the political scheming she became an unwitting part of

[Winston]

10994486
I didn't overlook that - Clover said she had one earth pony parent, not that she was an earth pony (ie., had earth pony magic) herself.

[Captain Neckbeard]

10994501
Oh... You meant like that. Mea culpa then. Then it was me who overlooked it. Of course, the show never implied either that ponies with mixed ancestry necessarily had the racial powers of both parents.
Very well, but how did the sisters know Hurricane was also half earth pony? Did Storm Grey just told them, or what?

[Winston]

10994511
Easy to sense once they knew what they were looking for.

[Captain Neckbeard]

10994521
So a sort of alicorn sense then? Makes sense, but you could have made it a bit more explicit in the story itself.

[dystopia8]

“But to clarify, I’m here representing House Umbra. Between you and me, their candidate is as good as enthroned and is expected to ascend shortly.”

Welp, that's not going to go well for the north.