The Tarnished Crown
A Bluebird’s Song
~~~
When I meet god
I’m going to ask her
What makes her cry?
~~~
The Tarnished Crown
Six days before the Record Attempt.
*
The dew-soaked grass was shaking, the air filled with a high-pitched resonant whine. In the sky, a shining cyan speck shot as straight as an arrow, the fading corona from a sonic Rainboom torn apart behind her by her wake, as she accelerated, pushing through the sound barrier with ease.
On the ground, Twilight and Fluttershy watched in awe, the latter having decided to come over to spectate, eager to see another Rainboom up close. Twilight’s brow was furrowed in concentration, her eyes flicking between the die-straight progress of the pegasus above, and the readouts that suddenly began rapidly printing onto the paper churned frantically out by the device in front of her, magically programmed to track Dash and record her average speed over the mile of sky directly above them, just as it would be recorded on the day.
As she arced overhead, still trailing residual flares of prismatic light from the Rainboom, the two ponies on the ground craned their necks to look. “Yay…” Fluttershy whispered, more out of awe than any realistic attempt to encourage her friend.
As Dash soared out from the far end of the measured mile, the magical speedometer in front of Twilight ground to a halt, the flow of paper sputtering to a standstill. Up above, Dash willed herself gradually to a halt. She was forcing herself not to flare her wings out behind her as she usually would when she slowed down. At the speeds she was travelling, the air pressure from doing so would in all likelihood break both of her wings. Once she had her speed under control, Twilight and Fluttershy watched as she looped lazily around towards them, swooping downwards and alighting gently in front of them on the un-mown grass, grinning with exhilaration as she pulled off her leather flying goggles and dropped them onto the ground.
“So,” she panted, “how’d I do?”
Twilight studied the readout for a few moments, suppressing her smile, and hoisted an expression of faux disappointment onto her face. “Aww, that’s a shame,” she said, sympathetically.
“What?” Dash asked, sounding a little worried. Twilight paused for suspense.
“Twelve hundred and twenty!” The unicorn broke into a wide grin, and Fluttershy let out a squeak of excitement.
“You tease!” Dash exclaimed, then looked delighted, running forwards to hug Twilight, then Fluttershy.
“Me?” Twilight did her best to look innocent. “I’d never dream of teasing the fastest pegasus in the world.”
Dash turned to her, still smiling broadly. “All we need to do now is make it official on the day!”
Suddenly, Twilight looked serious. “Do you still want to go twice the speed of sound for the attempt?”
“Yeah,” Dash nodded. “I gotta admit it’s getting pretty rough up there, though. The wind’s crazy at those speeds, it’s like flying through cake mix… It’s gonna be fun trying to keep in a straight line when I’m goin’ any faster.”
“‘Fun’ isn’t the word I’d use, I must admit,” Twilight remarked, trying to keep her voice steady, but feeling a cold stab of concern in her chest. Fluttershy nodded nervously, evidently in agreement with Twilight.
“I know what you mean,” the canary pegasus said, nervously. “You be careful, Rainbow. Don’t get overconfident.”
Dash nodded, apparently sensible enough to take this seriously. “Don’t worry, I’ll know my limits on the day. If the wind gets too bad, I’ll just go for the record. No showing off.”
Fluttershy smiled, hiding a little behind her mane. “You know,” she noted, “some ponies might say that it’s difficult to break a speed record without showing off…”
“Fair point,” conceded Dash. “But I won’t try and do it upside down or anything. Promise.”
Twilight almost passed a somewhat risqué comment at this point, but refrained from doing so for fear that Fluttershy’s head might actually fall off with embarrassment.
“Hey!” An upbeat-sounding stallion’s voice rang out from behind them, and Twilight and Dash both jumped, whipping around in surprise. Fluttershy simply collapsed with a squeak.
The speaker was a light orange unicorn stallion, too young for the pair of anachronistic horn-rimmed glasses that perched on the end of his nose. His cutie mark was a quill and a question mark, crossed over one another like swords on a crest. He looked a little guilty, and he dropped his voice. “Uh, sorry about that, guys. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that.” He took a few steps closer, evidently addressing Dash more than the others. “I’m Inkpot Quibble, reporter for the Cloudsdale Journal. After that fantastic display, I would presume that you’re Miss Rainbow Dash?”
Dash nodded, warily. Fluttershy was getting to her feet, and Twilight was eyeing the newcomer with some suspicion, not least for the fact that he was a unicorn.
“Great,” Quibble grinned, enthusiastically. “I take it you saw the announcement for your record in the Journal?”
“Yeah,” Dash said, still a little hesitant. The previous evening she had recovered the somewhat-waterlogged latest copy from her house, and had discovered a short, functional piece within, more an advertisement than a report, giving the date and nature of the event at the Cloudiseum that coming weekend. It alone had sparked quite a public reaction, as Dash had discovered the previous day.
“Well, it looks like you’re all set to put on quite a show.” The journalist seemed professionally unperturbed by his less-than-warm reception. “Have you got a few minutes? We’re running a proper piece on you tomorrow, and it’s be great to get a few words from the flyer herself.”
Fluttershy was watching proceedings from a safe distance. Twilight and Dash looked at each other, undecidedly. “One second,” Dash said to Quibble, turning away and walking a little distance away to speak privately with Twilight. “Look," she began, a little resignedly. "You saw what happened when they first announced it. Fan-mail, autographs, the works. I don’t mind that stuff, but if they run this article you’re bound to get dragged into it too, an’ I know you don’t like that kinda thing.” She sighed. “Do you think I should talk to him? After all, it’s your library ponies are gonna be bothering.”
Twilight smiled. “They’re going to run the article anyway,” she replied, quietly. “I don’t want to hold you back. Interest will die down after the record, just like it did last time. A couple of weeks in the spotlight might not be my idea of heaven,” she blushed a little, “but you’re worth it.”
Dash winked at her, unable to stop her cheeks from colouring a little too. “You bet I am! Thanks, Twi’.” She turned, walking back towards the journalist. “Okay, I’ve got a few minutes.” She grinned, excitedly. “Go for it!”
“Okay,” Quibble looked pleased at the probable scoop, magically hovering a quill and ringbound notepad up in front of him, and clearing his throat. “Is there any reason that you chose to attempt the record so soon after Lightning Flare broke it himself?”
Dash paused before replying. In truth, she knew that it had been Flare’s record that had catalyzed all of the recent events, by forcing her to see herself in a different light. It had been hard enough talking to Twilight about it, and she was certainly not going to share her story with the tabloid media. She shook her head. “Not really,” she hedged, “I saw it in the paper and it made me think about taking another shot, that’s all.”
“But is there any truth in the rumours of a personal grudge between yourself and Lightning Flare?” pressed Quibble. “After all, it was your record that he broke. I can see how that could create some bad feeling between you.”
“What?” Dash was taken aback by this rumour. “No!” She hastened to qualify her denial. “I mean, I’ve got nothin’ against the guy. He seemed a bit big-headed, but hey,” she grinned, jokingly, “I don’t really have a right to talk about that.”
The reporter smiled, scribbling rapidly on his notepad, but seemed a little disappointed that there was not more of a story to be had. “So, how did you react to the news that Lightning Flare will be spectating at the event? Bought a box right next to the ground crew’s podium, no less. The best view of the action.”
This was news to Dash. “He will?” She shrugged. “Fair enough, I guess. I’d want to if it was me.” She suddenly looked thoughtful. “What does he make of this whole thing? Is he annoyed about it?”
Quibble looked a little irritated. “You’re meant to tell me, really. Haven’t you been keeping up with the media at all this week?”
Dash realized that, in all honesty, the answer was no. “It’s been… a kinda weird couple of weeks. Besides, I don’t know anythin’ about Lightning Flare, I’ve never even spoken to him.”
“Okay then,” Quibble seemed to be casting around for questions, as his tactic of playing up rivalries had somewhat fallen flat. “Clearly, you’re an exceptional flyer. What’s your secret? I’m sure lots of aspiring flyers out there would like to know.”
It’s Twilight’s research, so it’s hers to make public, Dash reminded herself. Don't go blabbing about it yet. “To be honest,” she began, “Flying’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve flown my whole life, I guess it’s a part of me. Besides, these last few weeks I’ve taken tips from the best,” she looked over her shoulder and smiled wryly at Twilight. “That unicorn’s amazing, I owe her a lot.” She smiled as she saw Twilight’s face go a little red at the compliment.
Quibble’s ears seemed to pick up at this interesting piece of news. “So, it’s true? Your trainer’s a unicorn?”
Dash nodded. “Yeah, she’s shown me a lot of new stuff. She’s not all bookworm!”
“I see. The Element of Magic, no less?”
Twilight trotted over, interested. “You’ve heard of the Elements?”
The reporter nodded. “Obviously I have, you’ve saved Equestria at least twice.”
“Hang on, stop the interview a second,” Dash raised a hoof, having spotted something strange about the current situation. “As ya say, we’ve saved Equestria twice. Last time they had a pretty big party for us, but we never saw any reporters around town or anything. Now I decide to do something way less impressive than that, I’m getting mentioned in the papers. What’s up with that?”
Quibble coughed, a little awkwardly. “Well, if you must know, the Princess quietly implied that she’d rather the media left you six alone. She seemed to think you’d been through enough after that whole Discord fiasco. Same thing when Luna came back. Anyway, you know how it is. Quiet recognition with the ponies that matter, but no media interest, so public attention dies down quickly, and nopony bothers you in the street. Simple, really.”
Twilight felt a rush of gratitude towards her mentor. It would have been thoroughly unpleasant to be thrust into the spotlight for months, and she was glad that the Princess had put her hoof down and allowed the six of them to continue with their lives as normal.
Dash nodded, comprehension dawning on her face. “I get it. But now I’m doing something else that’s interesting…”
“You’re fair game, yes,” Quibble said, jokingly. He seemed a little more easy-going in conversation now that he had lowered his overbearing blind-you-with-teeth interviewer persona. He raised his notebook again. “Just a couple of final things to tie this up? Then I’ll be out of your manes.”
“Sure thing,” Dash replied.
“Okay,” Quibble cleared his throat. “Clearly you intend to break the speed record this weekend, but do you have any particular speed targets that you’re aiming for?”
“Yeah,” the pegasus nodded, “I’m gonna try and go twice the speed of sound. That’s… Uhh.” She paused, looking sideways at Twilight, who filled in.
“One thousand, five hundred and twenty-two miles an hour,” she recited, without so much as a pause.
“…What she said.” Dash gestured towards the unicorn.
Quibble looked impressed. “I’m no expert in pegasus flight, but won’t the wind at those speeds be rather dangerous?”
“I guess,” Dash shrugged. “I didn’t choose to do this ‘cause it was easy.”
“Then why did you choose to do this?”
Dash smiled, remembering something Fluttershy had said to her, seemingly a lifetime ago. “What’s the point in having horizons if you’re not gonna chase ‘em?”
The journalist scribbled a few lines in his notebook, looking pleased. “Nice quote, that’s definitely going in the article.” He looked up from his writing, lowering the ringbound pad slightly. “One last thing, have you got anything to say to the many young, aspiring flyers out there?”
There was a pause, as Dash pondered over what to say. She did not want to come out with some meaningless, florid line, but at the same time she could not reveal the real secret behind her flying. Then, inspiration struck, and she looked sideways to grin conspiratorially at Twilight. “Tell ‘em it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got the strongest wings, an’ it doesn’t matter what other ponies think you can or can’t do. You’re as good a flyer as you set your mind to being.” She looked at the unicorn beside her, and saw that she was smiling a small, secretive smile at the truth of Dash’s words.
Quibble jotted down the last few words, his tongue between his teeth, then flipped the notebook closed. “Okay then,” he said, apparently pleased with the material he had gathered. “Thanks for that, sorry to bother you guys.”
“No worries,” Dash grinned, holding out a hoof for him to shake. “Nice to meet ya, Quibble.”
The reporter winced, slightly. “Nice to meet you too, I must admit I prefer Inkpot.”
“Oh right, fair enough,” Dash smirked.
“Some parents haven’t a clue, have they?”
Twilight giggled. “You think you’ve got it bad? We know somepony called Golden Harvest.”
Quibble rolled his eyes. “I’m not even gonna touch that one.” He began walking away across the field, calling back to the three of them over his shoulder. “Be sure to check the paper tomorrow!”
Twilight and Dash waited for him to fade to a silhouette in the distance, then both let out simultaneous sighs of relief. “That went pretty well, actually,” Dash remarked.
“Yeah, it did.” Twilight leaned in to kiss Dash warmly on the cheek. “Thanks for saying that about me.”
“You know I mean it, Twi’,” Dash replied, her voice low and close to Twilight’s ear, making the fur on the back of her neck stand on end.
Suddenly remembering the third pony amongst them, Twilight looked around for Fluttershy, seeing her head protruding halfway from the grass. “Are you okay?”
Fluttershy stood up, walking back over to them, an expression of relief on her face. “I’m fine,” she said, quietly, “it’s just… Ever since that mess with Photo Finish, I’ve never been exactly happy around journalists.”
Twilight nodded, understandingly. “I can see why.” She turned, magically packing away the large wood-and-metal speedometer, which seemed to fold in a dozen places, packing itself into a small, easily-portable case that seemed entirely too small for it. Levitating it into the air to hover beside them, they began to walk back across the field.
Fluttershy evidently decided to tag along, following after them. “Is it alright if I come with you?” she asked, nervously. “I don’t want to intrude, it’s just I’d like to borrow a book from the library, and we’re all going to the same place.”
Twilight and Dash both assured her that they did not mind, and the next ten minutes were spent in a companionable silence, until they reached the outskirts of Ponyville, the midday sun beating down above them. The streets were full of ponies enjoying the warm weather, the shop-fronts open and inviting as they passed.
*
“Why do you think Lightning Flare’s coming to watch?” Twilight suddenly asked, a few minutes later, her voice pensive.
Dash shrugged. “Might be a pride thing. Maybe he wants to try and talk to me?”
“Could be,” Twilight looked a little concerned. “I didn’t think this was worth mentioning at the time, but I did a little research into him the other day, I looked through the newspaper archives to see if he’d been involved in anything newsworthy before.” She sighed. “It’s probably nothing, but I found his name on a list of those arrested three years ago at a pro-pegasus student rally that turned violent. They released him over lack of evidence, but apparently he has quite a history of being a vocal activist for anti-unicorn movements, and they suspected that he was the one who started the hostilities at this particular rally.”
“Seriously?” Dash raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me that pegasi have got their own equivalent of Sunset?”
Twilight shook her head. “They’ve not got anyone nearly so dangerous, just the usual collection of rabble-rousers and troublemakers. I just thought that it might be relevant that he’s anti-unicorn, given the trouble we’ve had with unicorn-centric groups.”
“It’s probably not got anything to do with it,” Fluttershy remarked, nervously. “In my opinion, that is. He’s a flyer, so surely he’s there for the flying?”
“That’d make sense,” conceded Twilight. “Then again, I’d say we have every right to be paranoid right now.”
They had arrived at the library, and Twilight noticed a note tacked to the door.
Dear Twilight,
Out of decent quills again,
gone to get some more.
If not, may be back with a sofa.
See you soon,
Spike.
“I thought that place closed down,” muttered Twilight as she read the note. She folded the piece of paper, and stowed it safely in her saddlebag, turning to Dash. “Did you bring a key with you? I didn’t bring mine, I thought Spike would be in when we got back.”
Dash was not wearing saddlebags, or any means of storage, so the likelihood seemed slim. “Nope,” she admitted, after a brief and fruitless inspection. “I guess we’ll have to wait for him.”
Experimentally, Twilight tried the handle of the door, in case Spike had been lazy and left it unlocked. To her surprise, and mild annoyance at the dragon, the door swung ajar. “It’s open,” she said in some relief.
As she looked through the doorway into the room, she saw that something was different. The bookshelves were dappled in a strange, glowing light that appeared to be radiating from somewhere just out of sight around the doorframe. Intrigued, Twilight walked inside, looking around for the source of the faint light. She gasped in amazement at the sight that met her eyes.
Princess Celestia was lying on the rug, staring into the burned-out fireplace. She did not appear to notice them, and as she stepped closer, Twilight realized that Celestia was crying, silently. She was immobile, but tears were pooled in her eyes, and watery trails daubed her cheeks where her eyes had overflowed. Her face was a glazed mask as she gazed into the ashes in the hearth.
Behind her, Twilight heard Dash and Fluttershy gasp in synchronicity, and she took another hesitant step towards the Princess.
“Princess?” Twilight whispered, half in horror and half in sympathy at seeing her mentor in such a state.
Celestia’s head turned and saw the three ponies looking at her. For a moment, she was silent. “I am sorry to invade your home in this way, Twilight,” she said at last. Her voice was steady and carefully controlled, but her eyes were still full. The golden glow that she normally radiated was dulled to the mottled flicker that sputtered against the walls and bookshelves, and her mane no longer flowed as if caught in a gentle breeze, instead falling translucently down around her head and neck, covering her like a cloak.
“I don’t mind, Princess,” Twilight exclaimed. “You’re always welcome here, but… what’s wrong?”
The Princess looked past her for a moment at Dash and Fluttershy, who were still standing in the doorway, their faces showing little beyond blank surprise. “Would you mind if I were to speak to Twilight alone for a few minutes?” she asked them, and they nodded mutely, retreating. Fluttershy closed the door behind her with a soft click.
“Are you alright, Princess?” Twilight walked nearer to her mentor, their heads almost level due to Celestia’s lowered position.
“I have seen so much loss in my life,” Celestia whispered. “But I never thought I would live long enough to see myself stand by and accept it. I was too late to stop myself from falling.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight’s eyes were wide, full of worry and confusion at the Princess’s words.
“Sunset are at an end,” Celestia said. There was no triumph in her voice or eyes, she was stating a fact, not announcing a victory. “Their leaders are already in custody, and their subordinates are being rounded up. They’re finished, and you should have no further reason to fear for Rainbow Dash’s safety.”
“But Princess, that’s wonderful news,” Twilight said. She was flooded with relief, but her voice filled with uncertainty and fear for the troubled Princess.
Celestia laughed, bitterly. “Yes, it is, isn’t it? We have our ends achieved. But what about the means?”
“Means?”
“Sit down, Twilight,” Celestia looked at her, eyes once again filled with tears of regret. “Let me tell you how I have betrayed you.”
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DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN
*squee*
"lol, I tortured him, he cried like a BITCH! UmAd Twilight Sparkle?
I love it. Twi is about to knock some sense into Celly for getting all worked up over doing the right thing. Perfect. But if you make LF a bad guy, I'll be a little annoyed. It's more than a little cliche and entirely unnecessary.
...Waiting for the next one is gonna be HARD.
Small typo, you had the three walk back in a "companionable" silence. I assume you meant comfortable
197873 Trolololololol!
Actually, I can just imagine Celestia suddenly bursting into that song, halfway through an episode. That would be epic.
198146 Thanks for the feedback!
Regarding Lightning, I don't want to make it seem that anyone in the story is 100% good or 100% bad, because that doesn't happen in real life. With LF, I imagine him to be something of an impulsive hothead with a very strong conviction (hence the flying ability), and I thought that going through a militant phase as a student was in-keeping for that kind of character. He's not necessarily a bad guy as a result of that.
198528 Actually, companionable was intentional, it's a word that means affable or congenial. Comfortable would have worked too, but I thought companionable implies that they're comfortable because they're all good friends with recent, shared experiences. (It was mostly for Fluttershy's benefit, actually.) Thanks for pointing it out, though.
HOMAN. MFW Celestia.
This gets more and more interesting.
COME BACK HERE PLOT. I'm not finished with you....
God is not real, but if he were, he'd be a man.
Heehee Quills and Sofas "All you sell are Quills and sofas and you're out of one of those?" Also I forgot to mention it last chapter, so YAY Derpy!
199351 Celestia...singing? that would make us go nuts maybe Discord too?
You do it every time! There's this one mellow and or fluffy scene, leaving us all brimming with gladness and fuzzy feelings, and then you just come down so hard with these harsh and serious moods. I have to say, I enjoy it so much. In the beginning I was getting a little worried, you seemed to be just using fluff after fluff--which is okay, but it get's old after awhile. I'm glad to see variety, it really improves the story.
That said, Sunset is gone, it's six days until the record is attempted and there's still 24 chapters left...
What?
>>ajaysallthat What this guys said.
Ohh snap!! idk but this chapter just went from yay to ohh what did she do!
608980God is real.
2194423
Best to not start a religion war here of all places.
Words cannot express how I feel toward Celestia for what she is going to do. Love the story!
2194423 only Lord Jashin exists
608980
2194423
2949178
Keep your irrelevant religious arguments out of the public message boards, please.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Have a nice day.
2194423
And this is relevant why?
I don't think the fandom will ever let the writers/artists live that one down.
5071046 Hey, He likes quills, he likes sofas, He owns a shop, cut the guy some slack.
Seriously though, From what I can tell the writers and artists probably think it's as funny as we do, I mean have you SEEN some of the facial expressions and lines from the show? There is no way some of that stuff isn't on purpose. and that is part of why I love the shows AND the fandom so much. because we DO hang onto that stuff and it's like the worlds biggest inside joke.
7585302 i thinl part of what make the show popular is the writers have decided to at least acknowledge there unexpected fanbase
I'm not sure I get what you're getting at with Golden Harvest....