The Unconquered Sun

Chapters

Lunacy
Uncanny Day
New Acquaintance

Lunacy

The Un-conquered Sun:

Chapter 1: Lunacy

The full moon alights softly in the sky, the clouds framing it like a half-lidded eye of some saturnine god. The pale silver light illuminating another becalmed evening in the land of Equestria, the domain of the immortal Diarchy of Princesses. This quiet night, with the sound of crickets spurring in the warm summer breeze, the Moon-princess, Luna, took refuge in the castle gardens. A leather bound tome inscribed in some ancient runic script rested upon a conjured dais in in front of her, as she paced.

“This is no good. A temporary measure for us at best.” She scowled, stopping before the book to re-read some obscure passage. “But this seems to be the only way we shall avert it. We shall simply have to clean up this mess before Sister finds out..” there is a brief thrumming sound, as the Keeper of the moon channeled her magic into some eldritch spell, her horn glowing with a pale blue light. “ We do so hope this works..”

A red streak hazes across the sky, and to the untrained, would seem to be just another shooting star. Glowing with malevolent streaks, the more sensitive among the magical creatures would view it as a powerful portent. Something was coming. The moon shimmered, as a wave of intense eldritch power choked the air all over Equestria. With a pale-blue shimmer, as though a mirage, the falling ember simply dissapeared.

Back in the castle gardens, the azure princess could barely stand, panting heavily as her forelegs buckled beneath her. “We... have done it. We can only hope it will be enough.” She spoke softly to herself.

----Nearly a thousand years later, and many worlds away...----

“Alright man, I gotta head out. I’ll see you in math tomorrow.” Says a plain looking boy with dark blonde hair, waving over his shoulder as he settles a messenger bag against his hip.

“A’ight, be careful going home. People drive crazy around here.” comes the response from his sedentary friend, the sound of some fighting game punctuating the blonde one’s exit.

The moon is full, it’s silver light the only thing that the blonde boy can see by. Living outside of the city has it’s disadvantages, although the ability to breath fresh air made it all the more worthwhile. His parents had moved out to the country following his birth, determined to raise him in a better fashion than they had been accustomed. His father, an avid nature fanatic, had taught him much about the art of naturalism. His mother had been an author, and a fairly successful one at that. Filling his head with stories of knights and kings and princesses and dragons, all spun with a mastery of language that had set his heart ablaze with wonder. Lost in his reverie, the boy wandered down the hard-packed road, smiling over the wonderful tales he spun in his mind. With him as the protaganist, of course. He had let his mind wander, having walked this path a hundred times before now, but this time was...somehow different. There was a crispness in the air. The smell of burning metal. Like the taste in the air just before lightning strikes. A pale blue shimmer along the edge of the wood caught his eye, and he stopped in his tracks.

Something did not feel natural about this. At all. In all his lessons, his father had taught him to trust his instinct. But his curiousity was piqued, and he wanted to assuage it. What on earth was that thing? Edging closer, the blonde boy checks his pocket for the spring knife he usually carries, just to hold it for assurance. He comes closer, and realizes that, it seems to be some sort of.. flat thing. Just floating in the air. Razor thin, like someone just tore a hole in the air. Coming around the edge of it, his breath hitches in his chest, and his heart freezes. Instead of staring into the woods, as he thought he might, he is staring into a patch of sky. Unfamiliar stars wink through a window in the air that shouldn’t be there. Backing away from the terrifying sight, the boy is brought out of his terrified stupor by the blaring of a car-horn. He’d backed into the street. The squeal of brakes and the swerving of the car, coupled with the boy’s mad scramble to not end up a smear, sends him stumbling back towards the window. Unfortunately for him, the hard-packed dirt edge of the road crumbled like dust beneath his weight. The shimmering window, yawning into reality like a hungry maw, is the last thing he’d see in this world.

The driver of the vehicle steps out of his car, parked a ways down the road, and casts the thin beam of a flashlight about in the dark. “ Kid? Hey, kid?!” He calls out. A jaunt up and down the road left the man puzzled. Had he seen anything at all? Because there was nothing there now. Shaken, he returned to his vehicle, and drove on.

The feeling of being ripped sideways through space is unnerving, best described as having your consciousness put into a tumble-dry cycle full of cinder blocks. The blonde boy reeled, his stomach in his throat, as he tried to get his bearings. Why was it so windy? Why was he feeling so...Oh. In the sudden realization, his vocal chords nearly split in his terrified scream. The boughs of an unknown forest spread out below him in the dark, illuminated by the soft moon. He was falling, plummetting towards the earth. Shrill terror clawed at his consciousness, and he struck the canopy at full force. Buffeted on all sides by thick foliage, sharp sticks cut into his flesh like wooden knives. Through the thinner top branches, the assault continued down into the lower, thicker boughs. slowed considerably by the fall through the tremendous tree-cover, it did little to soften the blow as the boy’s head slammed into a thigh-thick casting of wood. With a sickening crack, and the thump of impact, the boy knew no more.

----Several hours pass in darkness....----

It was still dark when he opened his eyes. He was warm, and something soft was huddled about his upper body. The effort to sit-up was wasted, as the bottom of his stomach dropped out, and the myriad of scrapes over his body cried out, letting their stinging be known. Resting back against the surprisingly soft pillow, he came to find he was in a bed. A dull headache plagued him, a pounding in his skull echoing his heartbeat.

“Ungh...” the young boy murmured, rubbing his eyes to try to stave off the worst of it. After some minutes, he opened his eyes, to gauge his surroundings. A small-ish bed. A book-shelf with titles he couldn’t recognize in the dark. A large window gazing out over a fenced-in yard. A tiny nightstand. It wasn’t much, but it seemed homely, if a bit spartan. Though his nose turned slightly, the smell of fur and wildlife in the air. It reminded him of a time when...when what? What was it he had remembered? He couldn’t think, through the merciless drumbeat inside his skull. He settled for checking himself out, after the headache had ceased being quite so insistent.

His skull was bandaged, a thick gauze wrapped around his head, with what felt like some thicker padding in the back. Had he struck his head? The thrumming of his pummeled skull seemed to agree. The rest of his wounds were primarily superficial, and appeared to have been slathered with some potent smelling ointment before they were bandaged. It smelled faintly of mint. Other than that, a few bruised ribs and a lightly sprained wrist seemed to be the worst of his issues.

It took a while, but he managed to push himself upright, sitting in the bed without dangling his feet over the side. After a few minutes, the vertigo ceased, and he felt a little better. Trailing his eyes to the window, he saw now that it was extremely dark.

“Must’ve been out for a while.. Looks like the sun should be coming up before long.” He affixes his gray eyes to the window, as faint reds begin to spread from the sky. Watching the moon sink below the horizon, the boy mutters a little sing-song. The cadence of a lullaby, though it’s origin eludes him. Soon forgoing the words, he continues to hum the foggy tune, as sprigs of gold and amber reach up into the sky beyond the woods, prisms of dim light cast across the morning grass, shining in the dew.

Like a thousand diamonds, mist on the grass becomes the vision of an elegantly gemmed floor. the tiny droplets hanging on the pines garland the forest in a hundred million brilliant topaz, crowned by a thousand rubies. As the sun peaks it’s face beyond the tops of the trees, the amber hue of dawn begins to burn off the fog in the distance. A tremendous mountain, like a pearlescent fire opal stands silent guardian above the forest, an elegant golden crown atop it. Alabaster and gold glint in the morning’s fiery gaze. The whole of the world looks as though carved from a beauteous gem, with the radiant sun holding it’s dominion in the rapidly cooling sky. Like the quenching of hot iron, the morning begins to fade to blue, and the illusion is shattered. But for a moment, the magnificence of that single dawn had dwarfed every he’d seen before. Living in the country all his life, he had known nature’s beauty from an infant, but this was different. Sacred, somehow. The peace lasted a while, as the young man sat in the small, comfortable bed, before it was broken by yet another strange, and stunning development.

His languid appreciation for the dawn was broken by the sound of a door latch. What he saw next very nearly made him scramble out the window. Without looking at him, a butter-colored pony with a pink mane and tail, and cream yellow wings stepped into the room, dragging a small leather sack with a red cross on it. She seemed to be carrying a roll of bandages in her mouth, and seemed to be distracted by something in the bag. Trotting over, she slipped the bag on the nearby nightstand, and opened it with deft hooves. How on earth she did it with hooves is completely beyond his ken, but nevertheless, she does it, before turning to face him. The tiny winged pony’s eyes are large as saucers for a moment, staring at the much larger human, before a tiny smile and a tiny voice greet him.

“Good morning!” says the tiny pony, shuffling her hooves nervously as the young man continues to stare incredulously. “ U-um. Let’s get your wounds l-looked at?” She says, although she seems to lack confidence, and it comes out more as a question than anything. Struck dumb, there’s little else for him to do but nod. Shaking some of her nervousness, the butter-yellow horse directs him to move to and fro so she can remove old bandages, and if necessary, apply new ones, with new ointment. It seems there’s painkiller in the liniment as well, as the new application dulls the sting of various scrapes and cuts. The whole time, she’s talking in that soft, soothing voice.

“Alright. There you go.. Don’t move if it hurts too much. Is this alright?” A string of platitudes and kind words, slowly winding down the mental fuse, even as he does as he told. After she finishes, she continues to look around the room shyly. “Uhm.. I suppose I’ll get you some b-breakfast. You must be...” she mutters something beneath her breath, and goes to retreat, that absolutely crushing shyness coming back to the forefront, before the boy interjects.

“W-Wait!” He says, swallowing slightly. The pony hides halfway behind her mane in surprise. Before they both speak almost simultaneously.

“How can you talk?”

“-You can talk?”

For a moment, there’s a heavy, pregnant pause, as the two stare at one another in shocked silence, before the tiny horse speaks up. If by speaking up, you mean a barely audible whisper. “Um. H-hi. I’m...” she squeaks, clapping her hooves to her mouth and breathing through them. “Fluttershy.”

The boy nodded his head in acceptance. “ I’m...” his features rearranged into a a confused, slightly pained look, before he put his fingers to his eyes.

Fluttershy, as the pony seemed to be called, stepped forward, speaking in a calming tone. “ D-don’t force it. You took a pretty bad bump on the noggin.” He shook his head as if to clear the headache.

“ I..I don’t know. I feel like there’s something that should be there. But it just doesn’t seem to be coming forward.” He says plaintively, gray eyes locking onto the tiny mare sadly. She responds by stepping closer, and putting a hoof on his hand, jolting him.

“ It’ll be alright. It happens sometimes when my friend Dash runs into stuff. But she generally gets it all back in a few days. A-are you okay?” She asks, giving his hand a kind pat.

The young human looks down at his hands, and then to the tiny talking pony, and reflects inwardly on the fact that he has no idea where, or who he is, and answers honestly.

“I don’t know.”

Author's Note

This is my first bit of fiction, and I'll be working on it pretty extensively. As further chapters come out, don't be mad if I come back and edit, fix, and perhaps add a little, here and there, to make the story more fitting. I'll try to keep on a pretty consistent update schedule, And I absolutely appreciate all criticism and feedback!

Let me know what you think!

-Gestapo

Uncanny Day

Chapter 2: Uncanny Day.

The advent of another dawn came silently, as the morning sun beamed softly in through the kitchen drapes, warming our boy awake. He cast his hand over his eyes and grumbled incessantly, trying as best he can, the ancient ruse of the teenager.

“Just a few more minutes, Fluttershy..” He murmured, throwing his arm over his head along with the blanket. There was no insistence to wake to help with chores forthcoming, however, and the silence was bothersome. After his self-granted few minutes, the blonde-haired boy stumbled out of bed. A hastily made nest on a couch was the best he had for the time being, having given the bedroom back to Fluttershy. Despite the overall absurdity of being in a tiny cottage in the woods with a talking horse, he had been moved by her kindness and soft-heartedness.

His strength had recovered, over the last two weeks, and as he had felt up to it, begun helping his benefactor take care of things around the house, though he had yet to go beyond the fence. Perhaps it was a sort of reluctance, to see anything else, until he was ready. But the coming events would see that reluctance sorely tested. This morning, however, she seemed to be absent. It hadn’t been the first time, and he assumed she had gone into the nearby town she had talked about, to shop. That had been another stunner.

Not only were there talking ponies, there was a whole talking pony society. A whole talking pony Kingdom, if he understood it right. Fluttershy had been a little taken aback when he had started asking questions, and though she had answered to her best ability, she clammed up when he continued to press for details. In either case, he had resigned himself, for the time being, to get better and try to find a way to repay the kind little butter ball, and this morning that included feeding and playing with the animals outside.

Fluttershy kept at least twenty different kinds of food in the house, mostly for feed for her various animal companions. Hefting a bucket, the blonde lad filled it with various things kept in the house, before stepping out into the warm summer-morning air. Immediately met with the expectant stares of a veritable herd of various beasts, the boy stepped out into the yard. Several birds flocked around his feet, and a number of rabbits hopped up nearby. One particularly gruff looking rabbit was looking at him disdainfully, and holding out his paw as though the boy owed him something.

“Well good morning to you, too, Angel.” the boy said with a laugh, selecting the fattest carrot from the bucket and dropping it into the bunny’s outstretched hand. “Don’t overdo it.” He cautioned, receiving a buck-toothed grin and a thumbs up from the assuaged lapine. The big problem out of the way, it was tedious, rather than difficult to complete the task. After a number of trips back inside for more food, and an argument with a rather stubborn bear about eating his damn berries, the job was done. The sun had risen higher in the sky, and the day was proving that it was going to be a hot one, as the brilliant orb beat down on the open yard. After filling the water troughs, and retrieving a glass for himself, the boy sat down outside in the luminous summer sunshine. It was warm, but for some reason, it was just so unmistakably comfortable. Stretching out in the grass, he lay there for some time in comfortable silence.

At some point, though, he must have fallen into a doze. An overcast shadow interrupted his snoozing, as he lay on the lush bed of weeds. Opening his bleary eyes, the boy came face-to-muzzle with a new pony. Her inverted head occupied his entire field of vision, and as soon as he focused, she grinned, the light of curiousity ablaze in her eyes.

“ You must be the ‘human,” the new pony stated matter-of-factly, staring down at the teenager. Her gaze traveled to Fluttershy, a few feet away, as if searching for verification. “ Did I pronounce that right?” .

“Well, I..” he almost got a sentence started, before the over-excited unicorn immediately started gushing out her own introduction.

The purple unicorn interrupted his thoughts to continue gushing, “Hi! I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I just wanted to ask you a few questions about where you came from and ohgoshthisisso-”

“Twilight.” Came the soft-spoken voice from behind her, pulling the purple unicorn away and letting the sun fall back on the lad’s face. “ D-do you think you can help?” The butter yellow pegasus took a seat on the grass nearby, looking between her friend and the strange human that had come to stay with her, nervously chewing on a strand of pink mane.

The purple unicorn stepped away and rested on her haunches, the long horn poking from her forehead radiating a sort of pale light, before a scroll and quill popped into the air in front of her, as thought they’d always been there. “ Well, that depends on what I can find out.” She says, flashing the boy a smile as he propped himself up on his elbows. He looked at her, a bemused quirk to his lips. “ So what’s your name? Where did you come from? How did you-”

Again the mare was silenced, although this time by a protesting hand from the boy, held up in placation. “Alright, just take it easy. But first, what in the heck was that?” He said, pointing at her horn.

The unicorn looked behind her, twisting her head around to rake her eyes across the sky. “What?” she questioned, before tracing a line with her eyes from his finger to the center of her face. “ My horn? All unicorns have these, what are you..? OH!” she exclaimed, smiling. “ It’s the focus of practical magic for unicorns and alicorns. It acts as a magical focus for our abilities, which cary from pony to pony. All unicorns can manage some for of magic, but the talent for it is larger in some cases than others, although no-one can match up with the Princesses. Earth ponies and pegasi have latent magic, but unicorns like me have overt control of it.” she explains, her smile slowly evaporating as she realized she was being stared at by a pair of incredulous grey eyes.

“Magic?” The boy asks. “ There’s magic, too? Not just talking ponies and flying ponies, but magic ponies?” he asked, before rubbing the bridge of his nose. Twilight simply looked confused, and Fluttershy was chewing the ends of her mane. He sat there for a minute, perhaps longer, composing himself, before nodding. “ Alright, alright. Magic. Cool. I can handle that. But to your questions.” He said, sitting up fully and brushing the errant strands of grass from his clothes. “ I don’t really understand how I got here. I was walking home, I think. But that’s all I’ve got there. I remember falling through the air and waking up in Fluttershy’s house, for which I’m immeasurably thankful.” He shook his head sadly. “ Unfortunately, that’s about all I’ve got. Whenever I try to force it, I just get a headache and get dizzy.” There’s a long, awkward moment of silence, before Fluttershy pats him on the back supportively, and Twilight cuts back in with a resolute voice.

“Well then we’ll just have to help you! You might be stuck here for a while, until we figure out where you’re from and how to get you home!” Her resolve cuts through the somber air like a knife, and the boy smiles warmly. “ But um.. firstly, we need to have something to call you. We can’t really just say, ‘hey you’ until you get your memories back, can we?” she asks. Fluttershy’s tiny voice speaks up.

“Um. Well, he’s got a really shiny mane, and he d-doesn’t remember much.” She stammers a little, not really confident. “ S-so he’s kinda down to brass tacks, i-isn’t he?” The tiny butter colored horse squeaks out the last part, sticking her hoof to her mouth as she concludes, “I mean.. if t-that’s okay.” somehow, her incredibly demure tone just makes her absolutely adorable. The boy meats her teal gaze with a cocked eyebrow, causing the Pegasus to flinch away slightly, and avert her gaze, her voice tiny. “Just a s-s-suggestion.”

She jumps when the boy places a hand on her head and smiles. “ Brass Tacks it is, I guess. I haven’t got anything better.” says the newly-christened boy with a shrug. “ If I’m gonna be here a while, I suppose it’d be nice to have a moniker. Thanks Flutters” Fluttershy’s face broke into a large smile as she accepted the compliment. Only to have Twilight break back into the conversation.

“Yay! Progress!” she claps her hooves together excitedly, although it’s clear that she’d been taking notes the whole time. Already the entire scroll looked full, and she was cribbing notes into the margins. “Now there’s just a couple more things...” she trailed off.

----Meanwhile, In Canterlot...----

The afternoon wears on in the Canterlot castle, the sun making it’s languid journey through the sky towards evening. Courtly business completed for the day, Princess Celestia, Sovereign of the Sun sits upon her golden throne. Her bright smile reminiscent of the celestial body of her station as the courtiers file out at her behest, with petition to return tomorrow to continue. There were a few grumbling dignitaries and administrators, vexed that their concerns would not be addressed this day, but they dared not show their displeasure openly in front of the Princess. As soon as the great golden doors closed, she let out a shuddering breath, and closed her eyes, before standing and stretching out her cramped hindquarters. Stepping lightly to limit the pins-and-needles feeling that was rapidly fading from her hind-hooves, she descended from the throne platform and out onto the adjoining balcony. Her regal gaze swept over the kingdom, a weary smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Another day well done.” A moment of relaxation, the warm breeze feeling wonderful after the stuffy air of the throne room, for hours on end.

Even in the brief respite, she felt a small amount of melancholy. Though her burdens had been lightened considerably with the return of her sister, and as such she no longer had to be dutiful at all hours of the day, she was still weary. A light clopping behind her signified somepony’s approach, and she held her head up high, returning to a regal bearing, and affecting her benevolent smile. Turning to see who had business with her, she relaxed immediately as her beloved sister’s teal eyes and azure starry mane met her gaze. Her smile spread a bit wider, as she greeted the Keeper of the Moon. “ Good evening, Luna. I trust you slept well during my watch?”

Luna returned the smile as she came forward, to gaze out over Canterlot along with her co-ruler and elder sister. “ Indeed, we had a wonderful rest. Although we are not looking forward to Night Court this eve, dear Sister.” she said, her starry mane blowing in the same aetherial wind as her sister’s, the two not making eye contact as they continued their conversation. “ How were the treaty talks, with the Griffins?” she asked, casting a sidelong glance at the regal form of the Sun Princess, which, to her, looked as though it was sagging under a great weight, though others would never notice.

“ Not terribly well, I am sad to say. Our relationship is becoming strained over their incessant poaching. Though I understand that their diets require meat, I cannot overlook their hunting parties in Equestrian territory. I doubt it will come to conflict, however.” She says, recounting the severe face of the Griffin ambassador who had come to request a leniency. “ An agreement should be reached within the week on how to deal with the issue. I proposed to them that though our lands have bounty that they require, their subjects helping themselves to our resources is a grave crime. I doubted that they would appreciate Griffins being forced to pay for each pound of meat with a year of service mining crystal in Tramplevania.” She giggled. “ By the look on his face, I’d say I was right.”

Luna inclined her head approvingly. “You always were shrewd, Sister. We concur. To allow them free-reign would be to project weakness.” She smiled, “ Though we would have made it 5 years on the pound.” The Moon Princess sat her haunches on the balcony, and continued to watch the sun set, preparing herself for her own duties to raise and move the lunar body. “ Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?” she inquired.

“There was a report from the eastern regiment near Dappleshore. It seems several mares and stallions have dissapeared, and that something had fallen from the sky into the mountains nearby. I’ve received no further word, but I am concerned. I will have them continue their inquiry.” said Celestia, her tone one of worry. Despite her responsibilities, she did dearly love all of her subjects. It was perhaps this single quality that made her the most beloved ruler in all the world. A fact that did not escape Luna.

“From the sky?” Luna inquired, cutting her eyes at her counter-sovereign. “That strikes you not as an oddity? We shall have the Nightguard fly there hence!” she said, stamping a hoof. Celestia calmed her with a hoof on her shoulder.

“I too am concerned, dear Luna. But we must not act hastily. It is probable that they have simply gotten lost. I trust in our servants to do their jobs. It would behoove you to do the same. Though this new world is confusing to you, I promise that we still carefully screen for competence.” again the brilliant smile, the reassuring tone. Celestia had done much to repair their strained relationship since Luna’s return, and though the touch did calm her a little, the night keeper’s mind turned inwards.

The two halves of the Diarchy sat and watched as the golden disk of the sun began to dip below the horizon, and Celestia gave a soft sigh, her horn lighting up with a familiar golden magic, instinctual and instant after millenia of the same duty, day in and day out. Luna’s horn glowed with a dark blue, as the bright silver waning moon peeked up from the opposite edge of the sky, the brief moment that the two shone together casting a beautiful aurora across the infinite vault of the sky, before the sun dipped into sleep, and the moon took it’s dominant place atop the world. Celestia brought her foreleg to her mouth to stifle a yawn, shaking her head. “ Luna, I am greatly tired. I’m going to sleep. Hopefully your night is far more relaxed than my day.” she said, sitting up on all four hooves, and beginning to trot off.

“ We are sure it will be, sister. Rest well.” spoke the azure pony, continuing to sit out on the balcony under the dark sky. As Celestia left, and the door closed behind her, Luna let out a terse sigh. She had hoped her spell would work longer. It seemed that as the night princess, she was the only one who could feel it yet. The faint emanation of malevolent magic.

“By Tartarus, if I had my full powers back...” she spoke to no-one in particular, her turquoise eyes riveted on the faintest red glint hiding behind the corona of the moon. She had felt it not long after she had returned from the moon, the unraveling of her spell from long ago. She had thought it would avert fate, but it seemed it had not. Merely shifted a decimal point in time, perhaps, but not diverted it entirely. Coupled with that, had been a rift opened several weeks ago during her watch that she had not reported, though the Nightguard had searched the entire Everfree, and found nothing. Not even her most powerful scrying could locate what had come through, though she was sure something had, from the disturbance of mana.

Though it would not show on her face, it terrified her, and a shiver ran up her back. Still fixating her unwavering gaze on the red glow behind the moon. “We must stop it. We cannot allow it into our lands. Nay, we can give it no quarter on this world. Almagest...” fear crept into her voice like ice.

Tonight, Dappleshore would be plagued with nightmares.

Author's Note

Chapter 2!

As always criticism is wonderful. Drop it in the comments or PM me at your leisure!

-Gestapo

New Acquaintance

Chapter 3: New Acquaintance

The procession of days continued unabated, and the only human in Equestria had come to enjoy the quiet monotony. Over time, his strength had returned, and the morning chores had become simply routine. It had been nearly a month now that he had lived here, and thanks to the manual dexterity that having hands allowed him, he had taken quite a bit of the daily chore load from the tiny yellow Pegasus. Hands were simply more efficient. Of course she had complained and begged him off, telling him he didn’t have to work so hard. It hadn’t taken him long to convince her it was no trouble at all, and Fluttershy seemed glad for the reprieve. So here they sat, at the end of another day, drinking lemonade and sitting in the grass in front of the quaint little cottage.

“Thank you, f-for your hard work today, Brass.” Fluttershy said quietly, sipping her lemonade from a straw as she laid leisurely in the sun, wings spread. Even when she was calm she was still shy.

“It’s no trouble, and it’s barely hard work anymore, Flutters. I have to thank you and Twilight and your friends for taking care of me. And I especially have to thank you. I wouldn’t have a place to stay were it not for your kindness, so it’s only fitting that I work hard to pay you back.” The boy suppressed a chuckle and patted the yellow pony’s withers gently, just between the wings.

“What? No, no. You don’t owe me anything. Not a thing. I won’t hear of it.” It was rare for her to get adamant about something, but when she did, she meant business. Quirking an eyebrow at her, the young man met her gaze with his own.

“It’s a gesture of respect. Don’t think so much of it. Besides, I couldn’t freeload. It’d just be poor manners!” He said, a warm smile spreading across his face. A snort, sounding composed of both minor annoyance and acceptance was her reply.
“Okay. But I still don’t think you owe me anything. I’m the element of kindness, after all.” The somewhat flat look on her face spread into a smile as she had her wings massaged. “But I’m not going to say no to that.”

From far off, in the distance, a familiar voice shouted a greeting. “Helloooo!” The two leisurely lounging friend’s gazes shot in the same direction, to encounter a galloping purple pony that could only be Twilight Sparkle. “I have great news!” She called, coming closer and closer, the expression on her snout one of giddy excitement.

Sitting up, and setting aside the glass of lemonade, Brass crossed his legs and waited for Twilight to come closer. She galloped full on, still with that giddy grin as she slid to a stop in the dust, panting heavily from exertion. He had become used to her eccentricities, and they amused him quite a bit. He and Fluttershy sat watching the panting mare as she gathered her breath to tell them this wonderful news.

“I…” Pant. Huff. Wheeze. “Sent a…” Pant. Huff. “Letter.” Her coat mottled with a few dark patches of sweat, she looked as though she was going to pass out. Spying the glass of lemonade that the boy had set down, her horn glowed with magic, and it levitated to her face, where she chugged the entire thing in mere moments. “Whew. That hit the spot.”

“HEY!” Brass called out, reaching for the glass, somewhat annoyed. “That was my lemonade!” He said crossly, fixing the unicorn with an annoyed glance.

“Oh! Sorry! I was just..thirsty?” She grinned sheepishly, and stared back. The blonde boy let out a huff, and sighed.

“Well what’s so good about this letter then?” He said, screwing his face up in a ‘get-on-with-it’ look.

“Right. So, I send out regular letters to Princess Celestia, to discuss with her my findings on Friendship and how this translates into my view of things as a whole. Imagine my surprise when I found a whole new talking –species- to be friends with! I was so excited I couldn’t sleep so I started reading a book on Minotaurs and then since I was hungry I had to look up a recipe on…”

“Twilight.” The boy interrupted, holding up a hand to shush her. “About the letter?” He interjected with a question.

“Oh yes, right! So I sent a letter to Princess Celestia to discuss the matter of having a new species in Equestria that can talk. She’s never written me back so fast! I came out here to tell you that the Princess wants to meet with you, and has deigned it important enough that she’ll be visiting here tomorrow!” The mare spat all this information out like she would explode if it didn’t exit from her somehow.

Fluttershy’s face took on a ghostly pallor, and she let out an eep, retreating back into the house with a “SorryIneedtoclean!”

The blonde boy and purple pony watch Fluttershy’s outburst with some alarm, before Brass addresses the hanging issue. “You want me to meet a Princess? Like a real, legitimate royal personage? Why does she want to meet me?” He asked, eyes wide and confused.

“You’re a whole new thing to Equestria, Brass! I’m sure she just wants to meet you and get to know you!” There was a note of assurance in her voice, and it calmed the boy visibly. Had his hackles been raised before, they were…somewhat less, now. “Well, I’ve got some more reading to do before tomorrow. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing! I’ll be back to check on you after the Princess’ visit, and I expect you to tell me everything!” And with that, she was off, to go do purple smart horse things.

-----A bit earlier, in Canterlot----

Not for the first time this month, Celestia was done conversing with the Griffin ambassador, who had just left the room in a huff of feathers and anger. The Solar potentate checked to see that she was alone, and let out an exasperated sigh. From a corner of the room, as if melding out of the shadows themselves, her counterpart steps out into the waning sunlight.

“What troubles you, dear Sister? Has the Day Court been so troublesome?” Asks Luna, her dusky voice catching Celestia’s attention immediately. The bright white Alicorn sits up a bit straighter and adjusts herself, a small smile climbing her snout.

“Sometimes I tire of addressing the same issues year after year, dear Luna,” her almost motherly tone full of fatigue. “It seems as though the Griffons are Tartarus-bent on this treaty to allow them to hunt in our lands. They are certainly stubborn.” She mused, before her visage took on a more concerned façade. “I’m also concerned about Dappleshore. The patrol I sent should have returned, or at least reported by now. I am sure they are fine, but it does worry me some.”

“Worry not, Sister. We shall send our Nightguard to Dappleshore this eve, and discover their fate. It has…troubled me also. I have had no dreams from Our little ponies in that region, and such a development concerns us greatly. We shall have you an answer by the morning.”

“Thank you, Luna. It will be a great weight off my mind.” Despite the tension between them, and the ever-looming presence of the fact that she had banished Luna to the moon for a millennia, she was still her wonderful and beloved little Sister. It seemed as perhaps, that time would heal this rift between them, and that brought the Princess of the Sun some joy reserved solely for her person, rather than for the Kingdom. As she mused a moment more, there was a flash of green, and a scroll bearing Twilight Sparkle’s seal appeared in front of her. “Oh? What is this?” With a flash of magic, she opened the scroll and read.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have made an incredible discovery! Although I haven’t quite figured him out yet, a couple of weeks ago Fluttershy found a creature in the forest that calls itself a ‘Human’. I have been researching and talking to him, but unfortunately there seems to be no mention of his species. He was pretty badly injured, but we nursed him back to health. He seems to have lost his memory. And he can talk! Not all stunted, like minotaurs, either! He’s incredibly intelligent, and I look forward to helping him figure out his past, and make new friends in the process.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

As she finished scanning the letter, Celestia was already writing out a response as she spoke to Luna. “It seems there is a matter in the Everfree that will require some of my time tomorrow, Luna.” She said coyly. “I think perhaps I shall leave the ambassador to bicker to himself tomorrow. It will serve him with some time to cool off.”

“An excellent idea, Sister. We shall assure that the diplomats are informed of tomorrow’s change in schedule. We hope your business is…pleasant.” The night mare grinned conspiratorially, and the two mares share a giggle as Celestia finished penning her letter, and sent it away with a bit of magic.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

A new friend is always something wonderful! I find myself curious to meet your new friend, and I shall endeavor to meet him tomorrow. Please let him know, as I am always eager to learn more about my little Ponies and the friendships we make. We must recognize and acknowledge the differences between ourselves and others. Even other species. Such things are, without a question, important to Equestria, and all Ponykind.

Princess Celestia

Celestia stood then, and trotted with her sister to the balcony that gave a truly magnificent view of all of Canterlot, and a good portion of the lands beyond. The warm orange glow of the sun invigorating all it touched, some small portion of Celestia’s mind slipped into a reverie, of many years before, when they had done this every day. Much like the sun, she mused, everything comes full circle, given time. With an exercise of magic that she had done instinctually for years, she forced the mighty sun to yield to its sister, as her own sister’s magic awoke the moon. Like a well-choreographed dance, one fell, and the other rose. For a long while, the two sisters sat staring into the sky, sharing a companionable silence.

“I am tired, Luna. I think I’ll turn to bed for the night, and prepare for my ‘business’ tomorrow.” She said, “I hope your Night is peaceful.” She said warmly, nuzzling the top of her sister’s head affectionately with her chin.

Returning the affectionate nuzzle only half-heartedly, Luna’s gaze was fixed on something in the distance. “I am certain it will be, dearest Celestia. Rest well.”

The sun had gone to bed, and now must it’s Princess, who wound her way through the castle and to her chambers. With a click, the door closed, and the excited smile of the Princess behind it. “A ‘human’, hm?” She said, before tucking herself in and closing her eyes. “We shall see.”

Elsewhere in the castle, Luna had called her Nightguard to assemble. She looked less than pleased, and with a full platoon in front of her, she gave her orders, her voice regal and loud. “Assembled Nightguard, tonight you are to travel to Dappleshore, and determine why We have received no word of your brothers in the Dayguard.” She looked around at the lightly armed and armored ponies, and knew that each one was a deadly warrior in his or her own right. “Should there be any disturbance, thou art given our dispensation to deal with it as thou seest fit. Our only directives are these. Ensure that thee return to Us with a report, and should there be any danger to Our little Ponies in Dappleshore, handle it. Any other information is to be relayed to Us immediately upon thy debriefing” She stood aside then, fixing them with a fierce look. The Nightguard gave a sharp salute, and in formation, sailed out of the room.

Tonight, Canterlot was full of the sound of wings.

Author's Note

It's been a while since I worked on this, Lemme know what you think!

-Gestapo