Short stories about ponies and whatnot

by shutaro

The direction of tomorrow

The sun was rising over the city and Gardenia Glow looked at it with so much love that it almost hurt. Every morning was a gift, she had learned that along with everypony, but this day was exactly one year since ... There was no point in dwelling on it she decided. They had made it, the sun was up in the sky and the birds were singing, she gave herself a little pep-talk.

The unicorn went by the kitchen to fetch the breakfast for the princess. A glass of milk, a small bread, some carrots and a little side dish of dandelions. The cook that worked in the kitchen and provided for the staff did not look too motivated, but as usual a simple “Well, maybe today she will,” was enough to make him show a little enthusiasm. She held her head high; as the princess’s personal maid it was her station and right to get the best food from the kitchen. She placed the plates on her back and balanced them. It had been a bit uncomfortable in the first weeks, but she had gotten used to it.

She went down the windowless gallery and enjoyed the sun on her coat as it warmed her. Maybe some day the roofers would come here to fix the holes and make the place gloomy again, but until then she would enjoy everything there was to enjoy. As she made her way to the princess’s private tower she threw a gaze down into the royal gardens. A platform had been raised; the princess would give a little speech later. Maybe something to enlighten and encourage her ponies. Or maybe something to remember the sacrifices they all had made to make sure there would be a tomorrow after today had become yesterday. Who knew? But she was sure the princess would not let them down, after all, she never did. The gardeners had done a terrific job to fight back the weeds that had started to grow in the last few weeks, too.

Gardenia walked up the stairs of the tower. It was the last building they had yet to pull down, but who would dare while the princess was still in it? And so she looked out for the hole in the wall on the second floor and the little jump on the third, where a beam had blown away some steps. But it would be all right; she did this every day.

Like every other morning in the last year she reached the top of the tower and knocked. “Princess, your breakfast.” She was just about to place the plates on the ground when the door actually opened. That hadn’t happened all year! She carefully picked the plates back up and carried them into the room. The curtains were drawn, the air smelled … of pony, very much so, and she was sure she heard heavy breathing in the darkness. She walked to the windows and in one swift movement drew the curtains open.

She knew that she would never share this with anypony. Not because she was so immensely loyal, but because she would fight every minute of every day to forget it and hate herself for remembering it. The first thing she saw was the furniture. Everything was broken, the bed, the sofas, the tables and the wardrobes. The cushions had been shredded, the mattress had been ripped. The walls were covered in scratches and burns, dozens, if not hundreds.

And finally she spotted what she first thought was a bundle of rags. But it moved. It got up and stood on four spindly legs. She could see every single rib, every bone under a coat that might once have been white, but now looked just grubby gray. It’s horn glowed golden as she felt the plates lift from her back. She had just enough time to jump away before the broken magical field reacted violently and rocketed the plates into the fireplace, turned the glass of milk into ash and melted the rest into slag. This place had not taken well to the clashing of titans in the skies above.

But the look in in those golden eyes, she realized her mortality in those eyes. This could not be Princess Celestia, because this was not allowed to be Princess Celestia. There was no denying it though when she heard the voice. A bit reedy and thin perhaps, but her princess no doubt. “The date, Gardenia Glow, tell me the date.”

She swallowed. She knew what it wanted to hear and what she did not want say. But she said it anyway, because there was no denying the voice. “One year since you fought.” A beam of fire hit the wall. It broke in some places and she could have sworn there was a bit of space where the beam was interrupted and another where two streams raced next to each other, but it hit the wall and burned one single scratch. “One year,” said the thing with the voice the princess.

She looked at the bits of burning and molten stone that dripped onto what had once been the carpet. The thing looked at her and once again she felt like she was measured, like there was a ruler and she was stripped down and put against that ruler to see how much she was. Not in height or in weight or in any physical measure, but in being.

Finally, as if the universe had decided that now was as good a time as any other, the pony that would be her princess again sat down. The voice, now becoming more and more like the one she knew, said “I don’t think I can make it today. I’m sure Twilight Sky can hold a speech just as fine. Tell them their princess will be back tomorrow morning.”

Gardenia bowed and made her way back to the door. As she was about to close it she heard her Princess, nothing more than a whisper this time “Tell them ‘Thank you … for staying here, with me’. And I would really love breakfast.”

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Twilight Sky did not stand on the platform. That place was for the Princess and the Princess alone. But he walked to the front of the group of ponies that had made the increasingly dangerous journey through the new forest. He did not have to read the speech he had prepared, thank the stars. So instead he just told the ponies what they had wanted to hear, what everypony had wanted to hear for the last year.

“One year ago, on this day Princess Celestia brought the greatest sacrifice she could have brought.”

He told them about the feelings of doubt, of insecurity and of self-loathing that sometimes got to him at the thought that their princess had chosen the little ponies over her sister. Of the hope to live up to those expectations. And at last he told them that their princess had come out of mourning and would return to them with the next sunrise. As one pony all eyes turned to the tower, the last standing monument of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Some claimed to have seen her at a window; others said it was just a curtain in the wind.

Twilight Sky looked at Gardenia Glow and nodded. Their lives would have a direction again at last.

Author's Note:

No comedy today. And sorry for such sombre story on such a happy occasion. It's all that rain and gray-in-gray.

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The Prompt: The circumstances leading to, following, or surrounding someone beginning a speech with, “One year ago, on this day…”