The New Gods

Her snow-white hooves gently compressing the emerald grass beneath her through golden cladding, the regal creature moved slowly through the exquisite meadow. It was a fine day.

Her sunlight streaming down through the leaves cast glowing veridian shadows across her snowy flank, turned the dark scarlet of the apples to a firey ruby red, and the daisies at her hooves into tiny stars, the contented bees orbiting almost lazily about them. As she walked, the closest birds about her fell silent in awe at their visitor. The trees seemed to bend to offer their gleaming fruits in tribute ti her presence. The very clouds of the sky seemed to scurry across the cerulean plain in haste, as awkward servants desperate not to cast shade on their glorious master.

Celestia was indeed a fine creature. Nearing the tender age of 35, no worry over the production of foals entered the mind of the princess, and no age seemed capable ever of streaking her perfectly rose-tinted mane, which rippled cheerfully in the light breeze behind her. She was as tall and glittering as a crystal princess, as slender as a changeling queen. Her perfect, seamless connection to her star had cemented a shining amber symbol of sunlight upon her soft flank. Her large violet eyes shone like amethysts in this light as it slanted across her face through the leafy glade. To top it all, her lily-like figure was literally gilded by her palatial fineries of status, the heavy neckband, shoes and crown bourne with the lightness and grace of her upbringing.

To all observers, this youthful and well-brought-up solar deity that had just alighted upon the orchard clearing would seem the perfect pony princess. Were it not for a certain lack of guards which must accompany a perfect pony princess at all times. This immortally perfect, regal, celestial pony princess craned her columnar neck down like a cautious water-bird.

"Discord?" She whispered tentatively.

Today had been harder than most to extricate herself from the palace.

"But Tia!" cried the little moon goddess most unregally. It seemed that the longer the time the royal sisters were given to be fond of one another, the shorter their names became in each other's private company.

"Lulu...." Celestia sighed as if to affirm this, before nuzzling her younger sister. It was too easy to baby her baby sister, who was now by age a nearly adult mare. Though she grew much faster than Celestia under her older sister's care, the still surprisingly small filly seemed further diminished in size by the light streaming through the grand windows of their shared bed quarters. Her translucent azure mane which seemed to glow in softer lights and in shadow was rendered a pale sky blue by the bright light streaming through it, and its inner mysterious lights rendered invisible through this greater one. Her midnight blue coat sparkled a gentle lilac beneath her sister's sun. Only her obsidian neckband and inky flank remained more or less the same, icy crescents shining out from her dark velvet fur and from her upper chest to match; though she did not bother to hold her neck as regally as she should. This was in contrast to the juxtaposing presence of her setting-a-good-example-crown-princess sister, hero, and best friend.

"Come on, Lulu, you don't want to be too tired to do your duties tonight, do you?"

This wrenched at the little filly's heart. Their mother had been discussing shortening her powers over her beloved night if she couldn't prove herself as capable of the responsibility as she should be. And she wanted so much to be strong and proud like her sister! But she stood her ground. Babying her hadn't turned out too well for Celestia.

"I don't want to sleep now, Tia! I want to go to the orchards and play with you!" Celestia stiffened. Luna knew about the orchard?!  She always took such care to walk beneath the trees where she wasn't visible, and it had never crossed her mind that anypony had seen her! She forcibly relaxed herself to hide the involuntary movement, but it was too late. Luna saw. And though she was immature in the unofficial presence of her sister, she knew what that little twitch had meant.

"Do not even try to say it's official business, Tia. I know you've been slipping from under Commander Brightline's guard for years now. Grandvisier Light Armour is always in a flurry looking for you, and mother is growing impatient waiting for you to take more responsibility for your land and subjects. So don't speak to me of duty!"

Celestia's ears flattened against her skull. Not only was her secret paradise in danger of discovery and her battle to get her baby sister to bed a losing one, but she had been reminded of her cruel and ungrateful neglect of duty and the care of her oldest and best commander.

The now ageing stallion had matured under the command of the princess, and was now a highly respected warrior, his lean grey figure and grizzled mane cutting an awe-inspiring personage among the guards in the barracks. The sight of his light-beam flank marking and the small griffon coat of arms on his chest plate struck vast pride in the hearts of his cadet-ranking sons and daughters. His whole family held great pride in their status and ancestry from various warrior tribes famed for battle prowess, from his deceptively small-featured and pretty pegasus wife to his rebellious youngest son, who hornless and wingless had fought his way into the upper echelons of the cadet ranking on skill with mouth-wielded sword alone. As it had come to be apparent among the inner circles of palace guards years ago, Princess Celestia's regular escape from directly under his watch was a source of constant humiliation to the ever-loyal commander, though he bit back his pride to protect her more fiercely than ever when the two were once more united for official business.

In the lofty royal bed chambers, the small round mare stood triumphantly facing her elder sister. Until Celestia's large violet eyes fell down to rest in her little Luna's green ones. She had one weapon left. She yawned.

The yawn continued with a widely stretched muzzle, a dramatic groaning and a sleepy descent of her eyelids across the shining plain of her vision. She slumped her neck down and nuzzled the filly gently. "I'm so tired, though, Luna, from staying up with you all last night to play! Don't you see how my exhaustion from keeping you company past my own bedtime has dimmed my sunlight today? It's so dark, you'd think it's evening already!"  She yawned again, big, wide, loud, and shameless.

Luna looked out on the cheery bright morning sun doubtfully. Her vision was extremely light sensitive, and Tia did know better than she did about this... And then there was the matter of her big sister's huge, ceaseless, utterly shameless yawns. Against her better judgement, and against her will, The filly of the night slowly began to open her little mouth as the familiar groaning grip of oncoming sleep rumbled through her throat and sent waves of warmth through her tiny frame. Once started, the yawns wouldn't stop. Her head began to buzz and her legs trembled and finally sank down onto the bed beneath her as she realised just how tired she was.

Celestia smiled and nuzzled her into the crumpled sheets, offering to sing a lullaby. Luna gave in, and accepted, only managing to get out before she closed her eyes:

"If I was in your position, Tia, I'd never leave you alone. I'd stay by your side all the time, and never let you feel loneliness like I do..."

Celestia grimaced slightly, unseen by her charge. She would have to find Luna some nocturnal subjects to spend time with. Just the other day the filly had expressed concerns that none of her subjects even knew who she was. She watched tenderly as the blue lids slid softly shut over the aquamarine orbs of her sister's purple-rimmed eyes. Luna felt herself become heavy and warm under the blanket as the lilting voice of her sister filled the now darkened chamber, curtained against the sunlight.

"You've come such a long way..." sang the sun princess. The little filly's breath grew slow and deep, faster than would normally seem possible. Celestia sang out the whole song to the end for the sake of her sleeping sister. "...to fulfill your destiny."

Among the shifting leaves came a sudden rustle, startling the princes from her reverie. She began to turn her head, but faster than she could say "Discord" a blur of red-green and brown had shot from nowhere and pinned her to the ground. The wind knocked roughly from her Royal Lungs, the crushed grass leaving green streaks down her Royal Flanks, she gasped for air and allowed a wild laugh to tear from her throat.

They rolled among the daisies, claws digging only gently into velveteen coat, hooves kicking out in jovial struggle leaving incidental bruises beneath ragged brown fur. Each small jolt of frolicking discomfort was accompanied by an airy laugh, husky with breathless reality and musical as ethereal wind chimes. The world span about them as if being tossed into a salad and all the world's cares were long gone as the hazy half-forgotten vestiges of a long woken dream. When they finally landed stationary on the fragrant grass, Discord's unpaired limbs expertly pinned beneath four golden hooves, she leant her face down by way of greeting to nuzzle his, her perfect straight horn brushing between his two twisted mismatched ones.

In this tiny moment a breathless silence fell between them, and a tender little heat played within the depths of Discord's face. She had regularly nuzzled her cheek against his in her hugs of greeting for each of their thousands of clandestine meetings; but this was... different. His flush was met by a tiny touch of pink in the princess's own cheeks, as her winded breath trembled through the grey fur of his muzzle.

But the moment passed without ceremony and was blinked into nonexistence in the same breath as it began, the graceful white neck drawing away from its temporary rest and stretching into a shaft of unfiltered light, dazzling the helpless draconequus in a sudden burst of radiance. He didn't at first register that she had ceased to stand on his limbs, as his extremities regained a sensation he wasn't bothering to notice. A clatter and thunk later, and the sun princess had dropped all of her gold vestments into the grass without ceremony.

She stood unclad, a perfect white sculpture in the glade if not for the grass stains on her flank. She straightened and looked expectantly at the wild thing lying still upon the grass. Red-gold eyes looked back at her expectantly. She placed one bare hoof across the other, slowly, across the warm fragrant space as if completing a complex dance with utmost concentration and precision, all the while maintaining her eye contact with the creature in the ground. One hoof before the other, she stepped slowly up before him till she was nearly on top of him again, this time standing left and right hooves on either side of his outstretched gleaming tail. She leaned forward , and with a single outstretched hoof-tip gently prodded his heaving, uncertain chest till her hoof was half-buried between brown downy chest-feathers. Their breath stopped, eyes locked.

"YOU'RE IT!" Hoof withdrawn, wings spread wide, she spun on one hoof and galloped of between the laden trees, laughing maniacally. Discord sputtered and grinned as he scrabbled to regain his various feet. Once all claws and hoof were connected to the damp and heated ground, they gripped into the earth, tearing the grass behind him as he took off after his quarry.

He laughed.

Joyously.

Exhileratedly.

Wildly.

He laughed at the unclad hooves thundering off away from him, looking so bare and vulnerable without their usual gold plating.

He laughed at the pink mane trailing in the breeze like a cloud that had wandered back through time from the sunset or a lost puff of cotton candy floating in the wind.

He laughed at the sunshine on her flank, the way it dazzled his eyes and made him see stars even when his lids were closed. The golden quality to that which streamed through the leaves and meadow and warmed his own ragged mess of a pelt.

He laughed at the wind that caressed his face so roughly and playfully as he chased her.

He laughed at the strange pulsing and relentless feeling of flaming heat that rose unwarranted through his gut and chest as though it were he who channeled the heart of the sun itself, each and every time that her face would cross his mind.

He laughed, and tears ran down his face, both and cause and result of his continued laughter, and of something else entirely. The wind blew them dry, one more salty streak of dirt upon his unkempt coat. And those wings, white like unbearable, blinding moonlight stretched out across his vision until they filled up his world.

Blinded him.

A humble bee buzzed herself to finally stop upon the most vividly ultraviolet and fragrant daisy she could find, setting down her heavy legs behind her as nature would have her, laden already with more pollen than most were capable of carrying. But she was set off the flower once again as a great breeze blew it over momentarily. In a cataclysmic rush, first one, then two enormous beings thundered through the clearing, their chase sending the multitude of flowers, insects and even several small trees into a chaotic disarray. Their laughter radiated through the warmth of the day, shining down for all to see from an almost unbearably bright noon.Their laughter bounced between the trees and into the dark forest. It sparkled off woodland streams and even disturbed the fish that lazily floated there, bubbling quietly. It lifted from the ground and from the sky. The birds were outdone for the production of such jovial sounds and things below the earth trembled to hear it. In the carefree timeless dance the two beings chased and ran, laughing without stop. The sun shone down in a youthfully relaxed manner, bright and happy lightwaves meeting the physical world with a cheerful shine and glimmer.

It was a very fine day.