Star Pupil
A Heart as Black as Night
This is a tale of days long by, before your granddam’s granddam was sired and before the Royal Sisters were divided by the terrible squabble that nearly plunged the world into eternal night. In those days, Everfree City was the jewel of the Equestrian Plains and Princess Luna’s most promising student was a bright-eyed young unicorn named Crepusculo Sombra…
***
“Sombra, wake up!”
Sombra’s eyes fluttered open and he lifted his head from the stack of books he’d been using as a pillow. A thick rope of drool tethered his face to the page and his rich black mane bushed out in an unruly tousle.
“Huh, bluh?” Sombra blinked, looking around. He was in the Great Library of Le Palais des Soeurs Royales; The Palace of the Royal Sisters. The pale morning sunlight poured down through the high arched windows on the eastern wall, casting long beams in the dusty air. In the gallery below, the first visitors of the day had begun to trickle in. The clip clopping of their hooves on the marble floor echoed faintly in the vast hall as they browsed the shelves for one book or another. Somewhere in the distance, a librarian’s stamp barked out a rhythmic “kachunk kachunk” as the staff worked their way through the mountain of books left in the overnight drop box.
Sombra stretched, shaking life back into his creaking limbs. By the stiffness in his neck and the height of the sun, he could tell he’d been asleep in that position for several hours at least…
“You spent all night here again, didn’t you?”
Sombra’s ears pricked up in sudden recognition. He whirled in his seat to face the speaker, accidentally knocking a pile of books to the floor as he did so.
“Princess Luna!” Sombra exclaimed. He awkwardly tried to bow while his legs were still tangled up beneath the reading bench and ended up doing a spectacular faceplant at Luna’s feet.
Sombra felt an electric crackle shoot through his coat as Luna enveloped him with her magic and straightened him out so that all four of his legs were turned the right way.
Sombra bowed low again and looked up at the princess.
Even against the mundane backdrop of the library, Equestria’s Princess of the Night cut an imposing figure. Tall and slim, with a midnight blue coat that absorbed light like a living shadow, Luna radiated an almost overwhelming aura of power and authority. Her long, elegant mane and tail were an ever shifting curtain of nebulous blue speckled with stars and galaxies. She had broad wings that would have been the envy of any pegasus, and her impressive unicorn’s horn crackled with incomprehensible energy.
Sombra was as familiar with her as any of her subjects could be, and even he got the shivers from time to time. He was definitely getting them as Luna scowled down at him, her expression stern and haughty.
“I know you’ve lectured me about taking regular study breaks, your majesty,” Sombra looked down and shuffled his hooves. “It’s just I’ve been grappling with a particularly sticky conundrum the past few days…”
“So I see,” said Luna, reaching out with her forehoof to whisk away the trickle of saliva dangling from Sombra’s chin.
Sombra blushed sheepishly and scratched his belly with his hind leg, avoiding Luna’s gaze.
“Come with me,” Luna instructed. The familiarity implied by her use of the informal “me” as opposed to the royal “we” was not lost on Sombra, and he relaxed a bit knowing she wasn’t really upset with him.
He trotted quickly to keep up with the brisk pace set by Luna’s lanky gait and she led him down the broad central staircase to the marble gallery below. Sombra gave a familiar nod to the librarian as they passed the front desk toward the exit. Ahead of them, the crowd parted like water fleeing a drop of oil. Everypony nearby found some reason to be somewhere else, so that Sombra and Luna walked alone down the center of the sunlit lobby. Luna noticed the not-so-subtle skittishness of her subjects, but she and Sombra were both long past the point of acknowledging such behavior. If anything, both of them seemed to take their unspoken ostracization with a kind of smug pride (Sombra always thought of it as theirs though really it was Luna the ponies feared).
He held his head higher and walked a little closer to the princess, glancing around to see if he could catch anypony staring as they passed.
“I know you haven’t breakfasted yet, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you missed dinner as well,” Luna glanced down at him from the corner of her eye as they walked.
The growling of Sombra’s stomach was all the answer she needed.
“I’m sorry, princess,” Sombra bowed his head.
“‘Tis not me to whom you should apologize,” said Luna. “I am not the one who suffers.”
Sombra looked away.
“In any case,” Luna continued, “you will have your fill soon enough. My sister returns this day from her sabbatical at Mount Clover and she has invited us to break our fasts together.”
“Us?” asked Sombra, making sure he hadn’t just misinterpreted a wayward majestic plural.
“You and I,” affirmed Luna. “It seems my sister has finally come down from her lofty heights long enough to notice the progress you’ve been making in your magical studies. She is impressed by what she’s heard.”
“How is Princess Celestia’s summer palace coming?” asked Sombra. “What does she call it? Kandor… Camu…”
“Canterlot,” Luna sighed, rolling her eyes.
“A play on ‘Camelot?’ How droll,” Sombra scoffed. In his long association with Luna, downplaying Celestia’s accomplishments had become second nature. He knew it made Luna happy to see there was at least one pony in Equestria not absolutely in love with the Princess of the Sun.
“Yes, my sister apparently wishes to compare herself to the Arthur of Legend. Meanwhile, she fritters away her subjects’ time and gold on a pointless vanity project above the clouds, leaving me to handle all the court business in addition to my duties as Princess of the Night.”
Luna heaved a heavy sigh.
“Between Commander Blitzkrieg’s constant machinations and my sister’s reckless spending, it’s a wonder Equestria isn’t coming apart at the seams…”
The pair emerged into the bright sunlight of the Royal Plaza and Sombra shielded his tender eyes from the glare. He suddenly realized it had been days since he’d been out of the library while the sun was up. He tried to reckon back, but his days in the library blurred into an indistinct jumble of books and shelves and chapters with no beginning or end…
Luna prodded him lightly on the flank and Sombra snapped out of his reverie.
The opposite end of the plaza was dominated by the looming gothic spires of Harmony Hall. Though Le Palais des Soeurs Royales encompassed dozens of buildings over nearly fifty acres of land, Harmony Hall was the building that everypony saw on postcards and in classic paintings. It had been the seat of Equestrian government as well as the family home of House Platinum since the founding of Equestria centuries before.
From its sweeping balustrades to the delicate tracery on its ten story façade, Harmony Hall was a triumphant marriage of engineering and aesthetics that was widely regarded as the premiere architectural wonder of the world (narrowly beating the sprawling Hive Fortress of the Changelings for the top spot).
The Praetorian Guard were out in force to honor the return of Princess Celestia, gleaming in their ceremonial bronze armor and holiday crests. Two full platoons performed parade drills on the broad plaza. They came to a halt and rendered honors as Princess Luna passed. She returned their salutes with a regal nod and led Sombra through the massive arched doorways into Harmony Hall.
***
Celestia’s apartments were vast and opulent. Sombra could have spent hours wandering the dozens of chambers, antechambers, vestibules and atriums that made up the eastern wing of Le Palais des Soeurs Royales. Each room was more elegant than the last, with Celestia’s private chambers the most breathtaking of all; gold filigree danced over every surface while towering marble pillars quarried from only the purest white stone supported the arched ceiling thirty feet above them. One wall was almost entirely taken up by a plush bed the size of a swimming pool, while the wall opposite displayed a twelve-foot high reproduction of the royal crest of House Platinum: a silver sun and moon overlaid on a purple disk.
On closer inspection, Sombra realized that the silver was real silver, delicately etched with thousands of tiny images depicting the history of the Platinum Dynasty. The purple areas of the disk were made of polished jasper, each tiny stone cut perfectly to join with no visible seam. His mind boggled at the expense. Gems were plentiful in Equestria, but skilled artisans capable of crafting something that was simultaneously so large and yet so intricate were a rarity to be sure.
“Ah, sister, I am gladdened by your return,” said Luna.
“And you, sister,” an angelic voice replied.
Sombra turned away from the crest and, even after everything he’d just seen, all the precious stones, glittering metal and peerless craftsmanship, Princess Celestia still took his breath away.
He’d never seen her up close. She was beautiful.
Her coat was as pure and white as the driven snow, the feathers of her wings as soft as an angel’s. Her magnificent horn glimmered in the sunlight, giving off sparks like tiny fireworks that popped in a silent cloud above her head. On her neck, she wore a golden peytral inset with an amethyst the size of an orange and a golden tiara sat regally above her royal brow.
But that mane. That mane! Her mane was most breathtaking of all.
Like Luna’s, it shifted and flowed constantly, as if caressed by the wind of an alien time and place. But where Luna’s mane was a vertiginous window into an inky starscape, Celestia’s was like a living strand of aurora borealis brought down from the heavens and fixed to her head. It gleamed with the light of a distant sky and when he lifted his nose to the wind, he caught the scent of roses. The smell filled his head filled with strange images: a gray tower rising from a vast, blood-red sea of roses… and the sound of drums…
“Ahem,” Luna cleared her throat and Sombra shook himself back to reality.
“As I was saying, please allow me to introduce my protégé, Crepusculo Sombra,” Luna continued.
Celestia smiled down at him with an expression of mild amusement, but Luna’s face was hard. He realized he must have seemed just a little too taken by Celestia’s stunning beauty, and he reminded himself that all Celestia’s glamour was just that. Nothing but glitter and vanity.
Sombra bowed and kissed the golden horseshoe on Celestia’s outstretched foreleg.
“It is an honor to meet you, your highness,” said Sombra in his most formal tone, careful to withhold any tremor of awe or reverence. He didn’t want to upset Luna any further.
“And you,” Celestia nodded and bid him to rise. “‘Sombra,’ is it?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“That’s Spanish… Shade?” Celestia tapped her hoof on her chin. “No, in this context, Shadow! Am I right?”
“Y-yes m’am,” Sombra nodded.
“Twilight Shadow. Heh,” Celestia chuckled. “It’s no wonder Luna has taken a shine to you. I hardly hear her speak of anypony else!”
Sombra’s words got tangled up in his throat and was only able to choke out a meek “thanks,” before dropping his head to stare at his hooves. He had no idea Princess Luna thought of him so highly! She bragged about him? He’d never felt so proud and yet so small in all his life. Here he was, a scrawny little gray unicorn with a bent horn and scrubby black tail standing in the shadow of two goddesses whose beauty defied mortal description. And they were fawning over him!
He blushed a deep crimson and stole a glance up at Luna. She was blushing, too, though it was almost invisible behind her swirling mane.
Sombra’s stomach growled again and Celestia tittered with a tiny laugh as pure as birdsong.
“What kind of hostess am I? Keeping us all from breakfast. Follow me, it’s on the balcony.”
Sombra and Luna followed Celestia through the towering glass doors out onto a balcony big enough for a tennis match. There, a large table was laid out with more food than three ponies could ever hope to eat, even when two of them were as large as Celestia and Luna were. Plates piled high with sweet grass and flowers jostled for space with tureens of oatmeal and stacks of pancakes drenched in honey and syrup.
“I should say it’s about time you came out. I’ve been sitting here starving!” whined a white unicorn seated behind a small tower of waffles. “Auntie said I couldn’t eat until you lot arrived.”
Luna muttered something under her breath and Celestia responded with a shrug and whispered plea.
Luna turned looked back at Sombra.
“Sombra, I believe you know our niece, the Crown Princess Frufru,” Luna gestured to the white unicorn lounging on a velvet pillow next to the waffles.
Sombra had actually met the crown princess many times. When they were little, she was usually the ringleader of the gang of foals that chased him all over town, teasing him for his unruly mane the unusual upward curve of his horn. As they’d grown up, the teasing had become less overt, but no less cruel.
Sombra did his best to pretend she hadn’t called him Creepusculo Sob-ra as recently as last week and then stuck a banana on the end of his horn in front of a crowd of giggling mares.
“A pleasure to see you again, your highness” Sombra lied through his teeth as he bowed.
Frufru acknowledged him with a dismissive wave of her dainty hoof.
“What a pleasant surprise to find you here,” said Luna through a forced grin, “I thought you were staying up in Canterlot.”
“So did I,” sighed Frufru, “thankfully, auntie Celestia brought me back with her when she returned. I guess she finally realized that maybe a dusty construction site halfway up a mountain in the middle of nowhere is hardly a fit place for royalty.”
“I’d have thought it appropriate, considering she is hardly fit to be called royalty,” Luna whispered so only Sombra could hear. She gave him a knowing wink and he fought hard to suppress a laugh.
After that, Sombra’s mood lightened considerably and was actually able to enjoy breakfast and even found himself swept up in conversation with the trio of princesses (though, once the discussion turned to more intellectual topics, Sombra was gratified to see Princess Frufru had been left far behind in a quiet sulk).
By the end of the meal, discussion had turned to Niccola Machiafilly’s upcoming book, La Principessa. Machiafilly was the Royal Sister’s current majordomo at the royal court and Celestia had the good fortune to get a glimpse of an early draft of Machiafilly’s manuscript.
“I’m telling you, it will be her masterpiece. Ponies will be studying it for centuries!” said Celestia.
“Oh really? Is she finally doing your majesties’ biography?” asked Sombra. The thought of a comprehensive work detailing the long and illustrious lives of the Royal Sisters was exciting to say the least.
“Far from it,” Celestia shook her head. “This is a philosophical work. A scientific study of the nature of politics.”
“Sounds fascinating,” said Luna.
“It is. In one of my favorite passages, she asks if it is better to be loved or feared. Obviously the best answer is ‘both,’ but if you could only pick one, which would be more important to a ruler?”
“And which is it, then?” asked Frufru, already bored by the topic.
“Love, of course,” answered Celestia. “Because even if you lose everything, you will still be loved and love is more important than power.”
Sombra was considering this when Luna spoke up.
“That’s typical Machiafilly,” Luna scoffed. “Doesn’t she realize that fear is more important when it comes to government?”
Celestia sighed.
“I think you misunderstand where Machiafilly is coming from, you see-”
“Princess Luna is right,” Sombra interrupted. He realized his transgression and stuffed both his forehooves in his mouth.
Princess Frufru snickered.
An awkward second passed and, when he realized there was no rebuke forthcoming, Sombra took his hooves out of his mouth and continued.
“That is, your majesty, Love is more important to an individual…”
Luna’s expression darkened a little.
“But,” Sombra added quickly, “to somepony in authority, fear is more effective because ponies love you at their convenience, but they fear you at yours.”
Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow “Interesting. He really is your protégé, sister.”
Luna sat up straighter, allowing herself the smallest smirk of pride.
“He is,” she said. “And now that he’s demonstrated that he really is as smart as I’ve been saying, how about you tell us why you’ve summoned him here. Your audiences are never merely social. You always have some scheme you're brewing. Even when we were children you only ever invited the palace guards to have invisible tea so you could trick them into revealing where mother and father hid your Hearth's Warming presents.”
“I do social visits!” answered Celestia in tones of mock hurt. “And besides, it worked every year...but you’ve caught me this time; I’ve heard much about Sombra from you and his other tutors at the palace. They paint a picture of a student who is diligent, focused and so studious as to be practically a recluse!”
Sombra tried to hide the pride in his expression.
“Which is why,” Celestia continued, “I think he is a perfect candidate to organize the upcoming Crystal Faire!”
The Crystal Faire? Sombra’s stomach dropped A trip to the arctic circle? A week before midterms? With all my exams coming up and my studying only half done?And she wants to-
“Take Sombra away from his studies to organize a carnival?” Luna spoke up, giving voice to the thoughts racing around Sombra’s head.
“Sombra is obviously a brilliant student, but he simply must stop reading those dusty old books!” said Celestia. “Look at him! Cooped up in that library for days at a time, this must be the first time he’s seen sunlight in ages!”
“There are more important things than sunlight sister,” retorted Luna.
“And there is more to a young stallion’s life than studying. That’s why I’m sending him to the Crystal City to oversee the preparations for this year’s Crystal Faire.”
“Sister, I must protest!” Luna raised herself to her full height and flared her wings. Celestia stood as well, but kept her wings folded and her expression calm. Luna was taller than almost everypony, but Celestia was taller still. In the face of Luna’s anger, she was a pillar of serenity.
“Luna, you know this is what’s best. This will be an excellent opportunity for him to develop his leadership skills and, more importantly, make some friends.”
Sombra reeled. Make friends? He didn’t want friends! He wanted knowledge!
“Besides,” Celestia continued, “what student of magic would pass up an opportunity to see the most powerful psychic engine ever built in operation? I would have thought an inquisitive mind like Sombra’s would leap at such an opportunity, or did I overestimate him?”
Luna and Sombra were both caught off guard by this question.
He’d forgotten about the Crystal Heart. He’d often read about it but never seen it in action. It would be fascinating to say the least.
But still! The Crystal Faire couldn’t have come at a worse time! The trek to the Arctic Circle would take weeks. Weeks on the road, away from the library, with only as many books as he could carry. He’d have read them all twice before the journey was halfway through!
He looked around, ashen faced, desperate for somepony to speak out against the trip. All he saw was Princess Frufru snickering at him behind the Royal Sisters’ backs. She stuck her tongue out at him and made herself more comfortable on the velvet pillow where she rested her haunches.
“Crown Princess Frufru will accompany Sombra, of course,” said Celestia without looking back. “I’ve been trying for some time to broaden her horizons. This might be the perfect opportunity.”
Frufru’s expression immediately turned from one of sardonic glee to utter despair. Sombra didn’t think it possible, but he actually felt sorrier for her than he did for himself… almost.To Be Continued…