Chapter 19
Sweet Sauce wasn't sure how long he waited in that little prison room. It would have been easier if he thought the weight of punishment was coming to crash down on his shoulders for his crime—at least an execution would mean an end to this.
But what was a pony supposed to do when he didn't have an identity anymore? He had come clean to every creature willing to listen to him, and still they rejected him.
There was even a part—albeit a small one—that was forced to confront a terrifying possibility; what if everypony was telling the truth? Maybe he was genuinely insane, and all his memories of banishment were lies.
That would not explain numerous other factors in his life, the least of which was his talent for magic. Something was certainly different about his origin compared to other ponies.
But if every pony he ever met, from the Princess of the Sun right on down to his adoptive parents, all told him his origin was a lie, shouldn't he consider it?
It was not a possibility Sweet Sauce would ever have believed, before now.
"I didn't want you to be here," he repeated several times, to his terrified friends. "You've done nothing wrong, and I'll make sure they know it. I'll take all the blame."
Dinky looked up from her moping near the wall. Her horn glowed faintly, angled slightly towards him. He felt no spell, just raw anger.
"You think that's what we're worried about? That we're scared of being punished?"
"I am," Pipsqueak said, earning himself his own angry stare. "At least a little! You have to admit, it's scary. Celestia was mad at us!"
Mad at me. She pretended not to be, pretended not to know who he was. But when he first introduced himself, he had seen her face.
"That is scary, but that's not why we're worried. Sweet, we're here because of you. We're your friends. Whatever you're going through—you need to talk about it. You'll feel a lot better if you tell the truth. Don't you think it's time?"
He couldn't meet her eyes. "I never tried to lie to you. When I taught you about magic, didn't it help? The spells you made for me, they work, because they're real. It's all real." He stood up, pacing in front of the locked door. The guards outside either didn't hear, or didn't care.
He could scribble something that could blast a door down. But in the princess's castle, that would accomplish nothing. Whatever else might be true, he didn't need an express ticket to the dungeon. Though it would at least bring an end to the mystery about his future...
"You say you're some... big, ancient pony," Pipsqueak muttered. "You were really important and powerful. Everyone listened to you. You lived in the palace. You were a better cook than the princess. You're thousands of years old. What other things..."
"I helped save Equestria from a dragon invasion, negotiated peace with the king of the griffons, invented several interesting spells, and was slightly wrong about a few things. The kind of wrong where ponies got hurt, and it was my fault."
Even now, speaking the truth as plainly as he could, he kept from giving the full details. Sympathetic or not, this was still a little filly and colt, ignorant to magical subjects and innocent to the true darkness of the world. He would not hurt them anymore than he already had.
"You sound so confident," Dinky said. "Like you've even convinced yourself. You think maybe... that's what happened? If you repeat a story enough times, sometimes you can start thinking it's true, even if you know it isn't."
He would've dismissed her without listening two days ago. Now—some part of him wondered. it would be a simpler solution.
"I wish it wasn't true," he whispered. "I wish I just had a magical talent from nothing. I wish I was nopony, without a history. After the things I did—it would be easier not to. I want everypony to be right! I want to just... pretend. Grow up, start my own little magic school off in the wilderness somewhere. I've always wanted a wizard's tower. A real one too, not that pale imitation Starswirl built. We're talking deep dungeons, real stone blocks, a pointed tile roof, maybe a huge telescope on top. No expense spared."
He didn't even see the way the little ponies responded, because someone else spoke. At first he couldn't even tell where they were coming from. "I wondered if it could be you, brother Tellus. When I heard Princess Twilight mention someone claimed your ancient nickname, part of me dared to hope. A feeble part, with many reasons to doubt and distress. Yet strong enough."
As he watched, the corner of the room seemed to darken, shadows condensing into the outline of a pony. From his size she seemed towering and powerful, with a flowing mane of stars.
She wasn't wearing a costume, or using illusions that made her resemble the alicorn who had apparently tried to conquer Equestria. She looked just as he remembered.
"I cannot imagine any other could have heard that particular fancy of yours." Her little stealth-spell faded completely, and she came into clear view. There was the familiar moon cutie mark, stained black on her coat. "Yet it leaves me with so many questions. How could you still be alive after so many years? How could you have returned from a lifeless wasteland-realm, without magic? And of all bodies, I can't imagine you would choose an earth pony."
His companions were frozen with surprise, staring at her. Then they bowed, albeit awkwardly. And with less respect than he would've expected from Pipsqueak.
"Best princess! You're not off celebrating Nightmare Night somewhere else?"
You've met? Sweet's eyebrows went up at the thought of the dull and practical earth pony aspiring to something beyond himself.
Luna laughed quietly. "Yes, sweetheart. I was in Fillydelphia until a few minutes ago. I will return to conclude the festivities, as soon as I hear the answers this little pony has to give."
He felt tears—his eyes watered, and the world blurred around the edges. I'm not crazy. She remembers.
It was a fight not to break down himself, descending into helpless tears and garbled mutters. This young body wasn't built to stay up so late, let alone suffer so much stress. He'd nearly been blasted with magic from the Sun Princess herself!
"I wanted to ask... y-you a few questions myself," he whispered. Years rehearsing and pretending and imagining how this moment would go, all fled beyond his reach. "I've heard what they say about Nightmare Moon. But it doesn't make any sense. Did Celestia really banish you too?"
He could see horror on his friends' faces—who could've expected him to speak so casually with the princess? But he wasn't going to give up now. If Luna could acknowledge him, then Celestia could too.
Luna sighed, settling weakly down onto her haunches. There was no denying the strangeness of that sight; even in the palace, the furniture of this little tea-room looked small compared to an Alicorn.
He had all these months to grow content with his station, only to be thrust right back into it. That should be me too. I'm trapped in a dirt-pony prison. A few minor miscalculations crossing through a Worldgate, and he was an earth pony colt who could barely grow wheat. Or whatever it was earth ponies did—he had to assume the wheat thing.
"You may be right to ask. But you were banished first, little brother. You tell me how you were able to cross an insurmountable divide. None of the other monsters we sent—" She stopped abruptly, noticing his face.
"Nothing else returned," she finished lamely. "That was why we chose that realm. It was impermeable to magical powers."
He grinned proudly back at her. "Almost impermeable. Sufficient effort over an extended timeline was able to gather a trickle of power from the local environment. There is magic there. I assume some friendship must exist, enough to enkindle..."
He shook his head sharply. "It's an awful place, one I justly deserved for all I had done. But I refused to stay banished forever, sister. It would be better for me to die in Equestria than live as an outcast for another century."
"You shouldn't say things like that!" Pipsqueak hissed under his breath. "That's a princess you're talking to, don't you even know?"
Dinky wasn't even brave enough for that. She just cowered behind him now, looking completely out of her depth.
"He knows," Luna said. "Have no fear, little ponies. I am not here to punish you for his actions. Tellus here has suffered enough punishment. Nopony is better qualified to judge the true weight of prolonged banishment than I. I suffered your fate and more. I deserved your fate and more. Yet Celestia elected to forgive me, and give me a chance at redemption. One wonders why she did not extend you the same, after all these years..."
He shifted uncomfortably on his hooves, in the strange pressure between his two lives. Here was the person he never expected to see again—the smaller of his two sisters. He couldn't waste this opportunity, or else Celestia might steal away what little compassion he had earned from Luna.
"I know the cost I inflicted on you, what I took from all Equestria. I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But if I can't have it, then I'm prepared to accept your judgment."
The princess's face became unreadable. She opened her mouth to speak, then the door banged open.
A figure stood in the open doorway, dressed in a shredded costume and looking haggard. It was Vinyl, her true confusion and pain visible on her face. One of the lenses was missing from her glasses.
"Princess, wait! I'm here to accept responsibility! It's my fault, I should've known he would wander into the palace. He's expressed fantasies about meeting with you since we first adopted him. I should have—"
Luna lifted a wing, silencing her. The guards rushed in behind her, though they didn't actually hold her. They just watched Luna, waiting to see her reaction.
The moon princess lowered her wing, very slowly. "You're a performer. I believe I have... yes, I recognize you. DJ Pon-3, if I recall. You've performed at several royal venues. Your music is catching pigeons, as the fillies and colts say."
Vinyl just stared, bewildered.
"I've never said that," Dinky whispered, the first to break the silence. "What does it mean?"
"I'm confused as to your relationship with my brother. Why did you feel the need to take responsibility?"
"Because Octavia and I adopted him, we're—" She stopped again, levitating the half-broken lenses away from her face. "Brother?"
Someone finally heard what she was saying.
Sweet allowed himself the tiniest smile. He hadn't quite told that much of the truth to Vinyl and Octavia, even when he thought they were listening. From the shock on her face, she hadn't imagined anything like it. "I... h-had no idea."
"Nor did I, until moments ago," Luna said. "All of you—I believe you've been caught up in ancient matters, complex and strange. Miss Pon-3, do you know these other children as well?"
She nodded weakly. "They came with Sweet, Princess. They were here to enjoy the party, by my invitation."
"Take them with you, see them returned to their families."
"What about him?" Dinky asked, taking one of Sweet's hooves. She held it, squeezing tight. "You're not gonna be too hard on him, are you? I know he's a little strange, and he doesn't always realize how what he does will affect others. But he means well—he taught me how to levitate! I didn't know earth ponies could ever know that!"
Luna patted her gently on the back with one hoof. "Fear not, young filly. I will secure the best possible treatment for him. Justice and mercy in equal measure."
Dinky hugged him. Not for long—and no unicorn was ever going to channel the force to harm an earth pony with her grip. She made a good effort anyway. "Be good."
He giggled in spite of himself. "For you, I'll try. Just this once."
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Nicely done! Heh, i wonder now kinda about Pip's parents here
Okay so my theory of it being a different Equestria are out the window, now back to the basic of Celestia being terrible.
Luna good. Celestia bad.
How unexpected. /s
Perhaps Tia really doesn't remember? I mean having to banish both your siblings (and seemingly only one having a chance to return) might do things to her mind...
Luna is best sister.
Maybe something happen to Celestia so she does not remember much of the past. A few times in the show she she says no one know much of x, when x is something she should know.
Why is none of them seeing now that he has been telling the truth now that Luna says so?
Finally, validation! Great chapter.
Oh, whyyyy did he gloat so little
Ayy, best princess for the rescue! Finally some plot : )
Well, I had basically given up on this story. I'm back in in now.
It’s possible Celestia is still mad at him. I don’t think we learned exactly what he did. Or this is a dream or some shit.
11335851
He destroyed the recipe of the best cake , Abuela cake
11335851
He hasn't said specifically. What we know is that he liked to experiment with different magics, he dabbled in something he shouldn't have, and a lot of ponies got hurt.
That's still pretty vague, but it is something Tia could conceivably hold a grudge over.
FINALLY! YES! We have some form of closure! They do remember!
Ah, yes, so Celestia did deny in public so as not to make a scene. Let’s see what happens when the three siblings get to meet in private…
Though I will say, as someone else who enjoys writing Luna butchering modern idioms, I admittedly am clueless as to what 'catching pigeons' means…
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I think it is more the fact that she needed to get Sauce in a more private situation before she could be honest. It is clear that if Celestia were to suddenly shout, "This little colt who looks no more than ten is indeed my ancient brother back from another world whom I shall once again punish for his actions thousands upon thousands of years ago after letting him suffer in a magicless prison from which no other being has escaped"
See? That sounds like madness even in equestria
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This and this again.
I was skimming until this. Holy hell
Now I wonder what did he do to be banished and forgotten? Nightmare Moon almost f whole world, and Celestia was waiting for her return. But him? Nobody awaited his return and he is her brother... Damn bro, what did you do?
I was one chapter away from switching my thumbs up to a thumbs down, but this chapter vindicated SO MUCH.
The thumbs up stays.
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My guess? Trap music.
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Ha! I bet you're right!
I really hope this doesn't change the adoptive relationship between Sweet Sauce and Vinyl and Octavia. He did mention that his blood parents were negligent of him as they prioritised his sisters. So maybe, he can have supportive parents this time. Although it would be very awkward for the first few years.
Huzzah! The plot has been doubled!
I have the feeling Celestia is not going to be happy.
\o/ VINDICATION! \o/
So many people here were getting mad for no reason just because you didn't have Celestia react to Tellus/Sweet...have some patience and trust the writer. (Luna being the better princess as always)
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It wasn’t just because of last chapter. The whole story up to this point was dragging along in the hopes that somepony would eventually believe him. So when even Celestia refused to acknowledge him it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I take back some of what I said last chapter. At least NOW we can move on. But I still think it took a bit too long for someone to at least try to believe what he was saying.
Edit: just wanted to add I have been enjoying the story, its just been a bit slow the last few chapters.
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You say that as if it's relevant in a fictional world that has actual magic capable of messing with your head such as mind control. If that is possible, there is definitely a way to magically make memories go away. Sit down.
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you speak as if it is inappropriate in serious creativity. the fact that it is possible in theory does not mean that someone can do it. I 'll leave a place for you )
Hmm... So Celestia is upset, and Luna is happy that he's back. Interesting.
A twist!~
-Rub
Yooooooo LET'S BUCKING GO!!!
HAAAALLELUJAH!!!
LETS GOOOOOOOO
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I'd guess Necromancy or other similar dark, forbidden magic arts.
Given that it led to a millennium and change of banishment, I feel like that "slightly" is doing an incredible amount of heavy lifting.
She's trying to, if in a very roundabout manner. Though, again, public setting. She was probably steeling herself for this exact conversation before Luna beat her to the punch.
Now that she has, let's see how this family reunion resolves itself. It's sure to be one to remember.
Finally, finally we're getting somewhere... but unfortunately for me it's too little too late. Having to slog through 18 chapters just to get the ball rolling has left me drained of any anticipation for this story. Even with the revelation of Luna confronting sweet as her brother in this chapter, I still skipped through 80% of it just to get to the juicy part. Sad to say, but I had more entertainment reading the comments than the story itself. I most likely will not return, at least for a long while.
Pffff what?