A Royal History Lesson

by crazyjw18

Stormy Skies Ahead

Magnificent.

It was the only word that came anywhere close to capturing her grace, her elegance. Like an airborne goddess she soared, swooped, and wheeled freely across the sky, seemingly unbound by the heavy chains of gravity. The vast heavens were both her playground and her daily workshop.

Celestia paused to wipe away a bit of sweat from her glistening brow before she continued guiding yet another errant little cloud towards the rapidly growing raincloud she had been working on all day. The warm sun gently caressing her white coat certainly felt nice, but after a few hours of it she was starting to long for a bit of shade. Not to mention something cold to drink.

It seemed like a shame to cloudy up such a nice day, but the village's fields desperately needed the rain. It wasn't until she had taken over the job of managing Everfree's weather that Celestia had realized just how tricky the work really was. It had taken months of studying her father's meticulously planned schedules before she had been confident enough to start creating her own.

It had been rough going at first, but overall the villagers had been patient towards the orphaned filly as she learned the ropes. Everypony knew that she needed the job, and considering the circumstances no pony could bring themselves to be too harsh towards her. Still she was all too aware that the crops weren't doing as well as they had the year before.

After she carefully merged the cloud with its larger brethren, she flew back a bit to inspect her handiwork. The darkening cloud was starting to become delicate now. If she wasn't careful there was a chance the rain would start falling too soon. All the hardworking ponies trying to finish up their tasks in the fields below certainly wouldn't appreciate that.

Celestia was about to head off to fetch another cloud when a wooden cup surrounded by a pale blue nimbus came wobbling into view. Glancing down, she caught sight of her sister slowly ascending towards her, the smaller alicorn's face scrunched up with concentration.

"Why thank you very much, Luna," Celestia called out as she snatched the cup with her own magic just before it could spill. "I was just thinking that I could go for a drink right about now."

"Did you see that? I didn't spill hardly any!" Luna crowed as she joined her sister.

"That was quite good!" Celestia encouraged her. "You're really improving at levitation."

Luna suddenly pouted. "I'm still not as good as you though."

Celestia patted the younger filly on the head. "Give it time. If you keep practicing like you have been, I'll bet in a few weeks you'll be able to move ten cups without a sweat."

"I don't know, Big Sister," Luna replied doubtfully. "It was hard enough just lifting this one." She glanced around, as if making sure no one else was listening before whispering, "This one was actually my third try."

"The important thing is that you did it," Celestia said between cautious sips. The chilled water was obviously fresh from their well, and the last thing she needed was a headache.

A wide smile broke out on the younger filly's face once more. "I've finished all my chores and lessons for today."

"That's very good," Celestia replied as she drained the last drops of water from the cup. "I should be done here in a couple more hours, and then we'll have dinner."

"Can I help?"

"Nope," Celestia answered as she playfully balanced the now empty cup on her sister's head. "But I do appreciate the offer."

"Oh, come on," Luna whined as she hastily snatched the cup off her head.

"Sorry, but the answer's no," Celestia said more sternly.

"You're just worried that I'm going to mess something up," Luna accused.

"I'm worried that I'm going to mess something up," Celestia retorted. "And if I do, that means no bits. And that means no fresh fruit for the rest of the week."

Luna's eyes widened as she contemplated that grim fate. "I'm going home," she announced haughtily as she flew away.

"Thanks again for the drink!" Celestia shouted after her.

She could have sworn that she faintly heard the little alicorn blow a raspberry at her.

---

The slate gray clouds hanging low over the village were rumbling ominously as the sun started to sink below the horizon. An occasional small bolt of lightning flashed now and again, briefly illuminating the gloomy mist. Out of this dark stormy haze a white angelic form soon emerged. Her damp pink mane and tail were draped limply across her body and her formerly lithe wings flapped stiffly as she descended towards the ground.

The young mare touched down hard, her knees flexing with the impact. She carefully stretched her delicate looking wings a few times before drawing them in close to her sides and starting down the path towards her cottage. Before she could take more than a few steps a light drizzling rain began to fall. She paused for just a moment and cast a rare and unexpected smile up at the rainclouds before she continued on.

"I'm home," Celestia announced wearily as she pushed open the door. She was just stepping inside when something compelled her to look back over her shoulder. It was hard to see very far through the fog that was starting to roll in, but she was almost certain that she saw something dart across the path.

She watched for a minute more, but there was no more sign of whatever it was. Shrugging, she went ahead and closed the door, making sure to secure the latch behind her. With their home being on the outskirts of the village it wasn't unusual for the odd wild animal to traipse by, but there was no sense in taking chances. Besides, this wasn't the first time she had felt like she was being watched.

"What's the matter, Big Sister?" Luna asked as she emerged from their bedroom.

"It's nothing," Celestia replied hastily. "Come on, let's go get dinner started. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

---

"I must admit that was a mighty fine rain, but I believe you overdid it just a bit," Amber Waves said as she irritably waved a hoof at the dangerously swollen creek running past the village.

Celestia nodded meekly. "I'm really sorry," she apologized earnestly to the elder mare. "I'm not sure how it happened, but I must have miscalculated the water vapor levels."

"I suppose it can't be helped," Amber replied dryly. "Just try to be more careful next time. We can't have all our fields under water, can we? Not going to get a very good harvest that way."

"I know," Celestia answered contritely.

Amber sighed and placed a comforting hoof on the filly's shoulder. "Listen, I know it's been hard taking over for Clo- your father. And we all know that you're trying your best."

Celestia swallowed and nodded her head. "Thank you. I'll do better next time, I promise."

"No real damage was done anyways," Amber Waves continued with a smile. "The fields needed a good rain, and by golly, we got it."

"I suppose so," the alicorn replied, still looking crestfallen over her mistake. She cast a rueful glance up at the gloomy sky. "I guess I should go ahead and start cleaning up."

"Don't push yourself too hard," Amber warned as she withdrew her hoof. "Hard work is good and all, but you have to know your limits."

"I know," Celestia replied as she stretched out her wings and took to the air. "Don't worry; I'll have the sun out in no time!"

Amber waved a hoof at the departing filly. "I shouldn't have been so harsh with her," the elder pony berated herself as she watched Celestia resume her work.

"I don't think you have to worry about that," a mocha coated stallion remarked playfully as he trotted up behind her. "You don't have a harsh bone in your body."

"Oh, stop that, Topsoil" Amber replied with the barest hint of a blush coloring her cheeks. "You saw her face, didn't you?" She sighed heavily. "The poor dear tried her hardest, I know that. But we can't afford to lose our crops because of a single mistake."

"That's very true," Topsoil replied. "You didn't say anything more than what needed to be said."

Amber nodded. "I just feel so bad for her, you know? She hasn't been the same since she came back. And we still don't know what happened to her parents."

"Well, she doesn't want to talk about it, and we have to respect that," he replied. "Whatever happened, it's a darn shame. They were both such friendly ponies, even if her mother was a bit on the quiet side."

"Do you believe the rumors?" Amber asked, her voice dropping an octave. "That Starlight might have really been the Queen in disguise?"

"Well, I don't know about that," Topsoil replied slowly. "It's a bit much to swallow, don't you think?"

"Well, she first showed up here around the same time the Queen first went missing. And they say that the Queen was sighted right after Starlight and her family disappeared. And don't forget that Royal Guard who showed up right after that looking for Celestia and little Luna."

Topsoil nodded patiently. Every pony in the village had already discussed the issue to death, but Amber seemed reluctant to let it go.

Amber frowned. "It's too much of a coincidence for me," she announced. "And those fillies are something special too. How many alicorns do you think there are in Equestria?"

Topsoil shrugged. "I haven't seen any others. Then again there aren't many unicorn or pegasus ponies in these parts I'd imagine."

"Well, we are a good distance from Cloudy Dell or Canterlodunum," Amber admitted. "But still, I don't think they are common at all."

"Anyways, I still think you're grasping at straws." Topsoil grinned as he gently patted the mare on the shoulder. "We don't even know for sure that Queen Galaxia came back. None of the bucks who went to the capital saw her."

"Of course not," Amber retorted. "That monster Tirek was already gone by the time they got there. She must have defeated it."

"Then why didn't she come back?" he countered.

"I don't think she survived. Her or Cloud Bolt."

"That's one theory, I guess. It would be nice if those idiots in the capital would just come out and say what happened," Topsoil grumped.

Amber looked around to make sure no one was nearby. "I was talking to that fruit trader who just came up from Trottingham the other day, and he thinks there's a civil war brewing."

"A war?" Topsoil scoffed. "There hasn't been a war in Equestria since the Great Calamity."

"They say one of the Queen's advisors is trying to seize the throne." Amber continued. "He wouldn't dare do that if he thought the Queen was still alive."

"Until we hear something more solid than a trader's thoughts, you'll excuse me if I take this with an extra huge chunk of salt," he replied.

"Time will tell," Amber staunchly replied.

---

The talkative tan mare had an abundance of audacity, that much was certain. How dare she insult the wonderful storm that the angelic white pony had worked so hard on! Yes, maybe the rain had been a bit heavier than expected, but a good shower never hurt anybody. And it wasn't like the creek had actually overflowed or anything. And even if it had, so what? A few boring ponies might get their hooves wet. Big deal.

But making the white pony sad, that was unforgiveable. This situation called for revenge. The only real question was how to go about it.

If any pony had been carefully watching the edge of the forest, they might have spied one of the many shadows suddenly shift and slip away into the thick labyrinth of trees. Even if any pony had seen it, they likely would have just chalked it up as being one of the many wild animals that called the forest their home.

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[crazyjw18]

Thank everyone for the comments, it's really nice to hear people's thoughts.