The Die of Fate

After I got - none too gently - escorted to my new residence, a richly decorated bed room, only few doors down the hallway from the study room I had my impromptu interrogation. The armoured ponies had herded me into the room and shut the door behind me and… well, left alone.

Except for the bed and a finely decorated vanity tucked into one of the corners of the far wall, just beside the window to give the pony a nice view while they… spruced up. The walls were lined with clashing paintings, some portraits of different creatures and ponies while some depicted landscapes. The walls were in a soft green and what appeared to be golden grapevines were painted on it.

I limped my way up to the wall to take a closer look, my shoulder still hurt a lot each time I put my weight on it. It did not look too impressive by a quick glance but from close up it was obvious that it all was hand painted… I suppose hoof or magic would be a more proper term now that I think about it...

I looked around taking in the sheer quality of the stuff around me. I was more than sure that everything in this room was irreplaceable and probably worth more than I could with good conscience ever spend in my entire life… I think, at least it be worth a lot of pocket change back home…

That fact was intimidating. It was like being in a museum. The unspoken but very much enforced ‘don’t touch the stuff’ rule rang loudly in my mind. What would the ponies do if I by accident damaged something in here? A slap on the wrist was probably not what I would receive.

I did my best to dispel my unease and walked up to the row of windows. I peered outside. The view was stunning; I could see out over a large garden, I guessed… it all was covered in a deep cover of snow, filled with statues. One of the statues I recognized immediately; Discord. He was the most… lifelike statue I had ever seen as it appeared he had been sealed just at the climax of a musical number. Knowing the world I was in it was not that farfetched to imagine. It did however show that the princesses was not below attacking while your guard was down… something to keep in mind for the future. Beyond the gardens white walls I could see rolling hills and mountains far, far below and away from my position, only small bundles of trees and snowy bumps was dispersed along the steppe. One lonely river snaked through the landscape into a forest I could barely see in the distance. The fact it was not iced over spoke of how rapid the current must have been.

Up in the sky and far away I could see clouds. Clouds that rained rainbows, it was a stunning sight. It could be nothing else but Cloudsdale.

I sat down. To think and wait; I had no doubt I would not be left alone for long.

“Your Highness is this wise?” said Shimmer Shield to his princess, who by all account looked tired, no, she looked exhausted. More so than he had ever seen in his entire tour as captain of the Royal Guard, and It did not sit well with him, not at all.

He watched her sigh deeply, her age truly showing for the first time in years. It was, in a way, touching how she let her guard down completely when only he was in her presence. It, if anything, showed how much trust she put in him. To let the mask she wore around others fall, even in only his presence was rare but he cherished those moments when it happened.

“No, I do not know if he speaks the truth yet and until I do he is not going to be anywhere without supervision.” She said and locked eyes with Shimmer, “Don’t disappoint me Captain or I will show you exactly how displeased I am with you right now.”

Shimmer swallowed hard but otherwise remained in the trademarked Guard stoicism. “Understood, pri-“ He never got to finish the sentence as the door to the study flew open and hit the wall with a loud bang, followed by a voice that he was all too familiar with.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Duke Blueblood shouted through the portal, “Aunt Celestia, please tell me the rumours are not true!”

Shimmer sadly noted how Celestia’s mask was again, placed over her features as she turned to greet her nephew.

“What has gotten you so distraught nephew?” She smiled kindly, if Shimmer Shield hadn’t known better he would have known anything was wrong with her. There were a reason why ponies saw her as invincible; she never let ponies see her weak.

Blueblood searched the room with his eyes. Shimmer saw him take a few discreet sniffs of the air before the young stallion’s mood changed from clear desperation to simmering anger.

“Oh, Auntie, I don’t know who would spread such lies about you but I will find out whom and ruin her!”

The young prince-apparent turned and left the same swift way as he had come. Shimmer turned to look at Celestia again but quickly looked away. That glare she was directed at him was more than enough to be reminded of how much trouble he was in.

“I-I will take my leave.” He bowed to her, making sure to avoid eye-contact.

“See that you do.” Came her scathing reply, Shimmer barely kept his hooves from going full sprint out of the room. He had never heard her that angry before and he was not going to stay and test her patience; There were just some things in life that was simply not worth knowing.