Out of all the duties that Celestia had performed as the leader of Equestria, there was one thing that she had learned to loathe more than most of her other responsibilities: budgeting. In her position among the hierarchy of the Equestrian government, she had two goals to benchmark any decision she made: keep her constituents safe and don't spend money. Sadly, though, it seemed that whenever she did one, she would neglect another. Public transit costs money, farm subsidies costs money, welfare costs money, every decision she made for the betterment of her nation always set them one step backwards because somepony had to pay for it eventually. And as for saving money, well, the only way to do that was to not spend it in the first place.
As a result for this inability to perform these two seemingly menial tasks, Celestia found herself sitting in her personal office, like she had done last year, and the year before, and the year before that for as long as she could recall in her recent memory. Here, she was no longer a Princess, but a scalpel, slowly trying to cut away at some of the suffocating fat of Equestria’s numerous expenses. On her desk were two piles of papers stretching as if they were trying to reach the ceiling. The first pile, labeled “IN”, had taken five accountants to carry in stressed vanilla folders that, under so much weight, looked as if they were about to fall apart at any moment’s notice. Alternatively, next to it in the pile labeled “OUT” were the proposals which had not been deemed ready to be cut. From starting in the morning after breakfast to now, after the clock tower chimed five bells, the budgeting process had gone like this: folders full of expenses come into the room and be put atop the “IN” pile, were reviewed and subsequently deemed necessary, put into the equally tall “OUT” file, and sent back to whence it came to hibernate until next year.
But, there was a third pile, like the runt of a freshly spawned litter. This pile was feeble in comparison to the other two, barely reaching up higher than the width of a pencil from the desk. This pile, being the smallest, brought on the most agony for the Princess, for it was the pile of proposals that could be cut from further expenses. At this rate, the tiny stack of paper was little more than a pebble being thrown into a river in an attempt to stop the oncoming flood of debt.
The mental fatigue of this labor had set in on the Princess as well as her aide. From the time the sun rose over the horizon until it had began slipping back behind the planet, she had been turning over paper after paper in an attempt to find a solution to their spending woes and at each turn realizing how hopeless the errand was.
Throughout their time working together today, Celestia's financial advisor had slowly began to unravel his professional image. His normally erect posture had warped into a slouch, his noose-like tie slowly unfastened itself as if his neck had earned a stay of execution, and as with other strenuous labors performed over long periods of time, the armpits of his dress shirt had become dark and moist as the day had progressed.
The Advisor pulled another paper off of the desk, adjusted his glasses and read, "Proposal number 4677: liquidation and resale of underutilized private properties."
Celestia, mentally preparing to weigh the reduced costs versus public reaction of canceling something among the likes of No Foal Left Behind, didn't even try to think of what the receipt was about. "Which properties are under consideration?"
Her counterpart stuck his nose back into the paper and read silently. "There seems to be a private residence to the north which has been maintained as well as had its grounds upheld since its purchase, although it hasn't been occupied for almost a half a century. Liquidation via auction could garner revenue for local public services while nullifying maintenance expenditures.”
Celestia cocked her head sideways. The considered savings were abysmal at best, but at the same time every cut, no matter the size, helped. What really mattered was which property it was. A National Park? A Reserve? Government Installation? “What property does the proposal have in mind?”
The Advisor looked back at the Paper and adjusted his glasses as he leaned in in the paper. “Ahem… The mansion on 0015 Longpond Road, Buddingfield Plains, Marechigan Province… The Stonehelm Residence, to be exact.”
Celestia stopped and thought for a moment. The entire day had been a slew of names, places, organizations, and digits, so for a moment, her mind was racing in an attempt to put a name to a face… or in this circumstance, a name to a house.
But then she felt something. The hairs on her forelegs began to stand up on end while the pit of her stomach froze, and the core of this icicle reached up throughout her body and made her wonder if somepony had just walked in and opened a window in the room.
Was she embarrassed? She had felt this sort of shame before, like once after watching a foal use a public fountain as a lavatory or once when she had begun putting on makeup, got distracted, and then walked out with only one eyelash in, half a layer of blush, and a gob of mascara running down her cheek. But… this wasn’t necessarily the same. There was something about the house in question that made her regret the words being printed on the page, that made her not make eye contact with the pony she had spent the day with -that made her feel awkward over the idea of selling her personal property.
It was guilt, but why?
“Is there something wrong, Your Majesty?”
It was at that moment that Celestia realized that she had been blankly staring at the pony across her desk. She closed her eyes and shook her head quickly. “Everything is fine, I was just lost in thought for a moment.” Celestia could understand how her temporarily absent mind may have sent a strange vibe to her colleague. She had once been told that she had a stare that could make a cockatrice nervous.
“Would you like me to go into the projected sales figures and savings?”
But then it came back again, the nerves coursing through her body trying to tell her that she needed to run away and hide. She couldn’t explain it, and more importantly, she didn’t want to explain it. Celestia stood up and out of her seat and said, “I believe that we have done enough for one day. Why don’t we adjourn for now and resume tomorrow?”
The Advisor nodded his head. “That sound great, I’ll have these refiled and-”
Celestia put up her hoof with a smile. “No need to put the accounting department up for a job we would just undo by tomorrow morning! Let’s just leave this here until we resume again.” Without another word, the advisor packed his suitcase with his personal effects and vacated the room, finally waving goodbye before kindly shutting the door behind him.
As soon as the lock fell into place Celestia collapsed back into her chair and exhaled, feeling the security of newfound privacy letting a weight off of her chest. She pulled the document over and began to reread it. She understood what her advisor had said previously, but it still didn't feel right. Somewhere between the sales figures and the address was something that bothered her that wasn’t physically there on the page.
Celestia closed her eyes. She did know why the mansion meant so much to her. It only took one night -one stay overnight at the Stonehelm Residence- and she knew that the house needed to be hers. Impulsive? Yes, but even the best of ponies have moments of weakness. The house was built to suit a king, and its features alone were the epitome of opulence, but it wasn't the house or anything in it that motivated her to buy it. For all of the grandeur of the old mansion, there was not a single possession inside of the house that created the bond that wrought her soul so much.
Celestia opened her eyes. She needed to see it. Nothing else could calm the storm within her mind. She closed her eyes again and began to concentrate, focusing her thoughts on the place as her horn grew warm and bright. The less ponies who knew of her spontaneous decision to visit the property, the better, so she didn't bother leaving a note.
In a span that was faster than any measurement of time, a blinding white light ripped her from one place and into another, yet didn't make any more sound that a subtle pop.
She had arrived at her destination, but had not returned to the place that she remembered. The air was full of floating specks of dust that had been awakened by her sudden arrival into the room. All of the furniture had been huddled into the corners of the bedroom and covered in large white sheets. She stepped forward and approached a large bed made to support a pony of her size that had been stripped down until it was no more than a mattress on a bed frame. She looked down at the bed and thought for a moment on the few times she had used it as her resting place for the night.
In the state that it was currently in, it would take several hours for the house to be a living space once again, but that was not why she came here. To her, this house could have been four walls and a roof, but she wouldn't mind, because the house does not make a home. What did make this property so special that she would purchase it after spending one night was what happened inside it.
On one cold night, long, long ago -back when he was still around...
Celestia felt as if her lungs began to fill with water. Air had to be snorted through her nose because she felt as if she was about to collapse.
A slight whine came from behind her, and Celestia turned around in surprise over her disappearance being noticed so quickly, but more so when she saw her sister opening the door behind her.
Wiping her eyes and not bothering to smile, Celestia turned around and said, "Hello, Luna. What brings you here?"
"I felt something at the castle," she responded. "I looked for you, but when I found the embers of your transit, I assumed the worst. I didn't mean to intrude."
"There's no need to worry," she said, turning back around and looking out of a gigantic bay window and into a beautiful summer afternoon. "I've just been being a fool again, a fool lost in my own memories."
Luna approached her sister, stopping at her side and likewise was gazing out the window. "What's the matter?"
Celestia looked over into the corner of the room where an old oak desk sat with a heavy coat of dust over it. With a glow of her horn, she grabbed a lone picture frame standing on its surface. Using the backside of her hoof, she delicately rubbed the dust off of the frame, revealing a picture that had since become old and faded, but still held its image. The image was not very well done, even without the decay of time turning it a sunburnt orange, the resolution was blurred, as if the pony who took it was moving, and even at that, the quality of the equipment was poor.
Everything about the photograph was terrible, including the subjects within it. Although the color was gone, Celestia could easily identify herself clear as day in the center of the focus, facing away from the camera which was taking an impromptu profile picture of her right side while her eye seemingly was looking off into nothing and her mouth was open mid-speech. Until a more recent cake incident, this would have probably been the most undignified moment that had been captured of her character, but she loved it. It wasn’t because of a narcissistic love of her presence in it or some sort of way to show a humbling element to her regal demeanor by showing that a Princess could be the victim of a poorly taken photo, but because of the memory the image captured.
Beside her in the shot was a colt. Although time had robbed the timesake of its color, it could not steal the abundant youth of the pony. Just like who he shared the photo with, he was equally in no position to be photographed. He, sitting beside her, was looking up to her and could not anticipate the flash that would dilate his eyes and make them swell to proportions more fitting of a newspaper comic character.
"It was a long time ago,” she said, still looking down at the printed memory, ”before you came back... back when he was with us. I'd tell you the story if we had more time."
Luna shook her head, "There's no need. I never wanted to tell you for I was ashamed, but I was there... I was there..."
Fourteen Years before Luna’s Return
The early morning snow that fell across Canterlot covered every rooftop, every bench, every lawn, and every sidewalk with a thin layer of powdery white fluff. The weather team of Canterlot had taken extra care to make sure that there had been enough snow to help get the population into the mood of the holiday while at the same time not making the festive precipitation a nuisance. From the suburbs to the apartments, business district to the villas, every home was decorated weeks before to prepare for this very day. Garland hung in the frames of every window, colorful white and red stars hung from trees, and large decorative stockings were pinned to each and every door. But for the grandest house of all, there were no such decorations.
In the Castle of Canterlot, being of such enormous size, the only consistent decoration that had been added to the fortress was a thin blanket of snow, covering everything from the tip-tops of towers to the blocks of the battlements and barracks. But there was one area in particular that the snow held significant importance. High above the white gardens, stretching up high into the sky were the highest points in the Canterlot skyline. The Highest tower was the personal chambers of the sovereign Princess of Equestria. The next, and viewed by all throughout the day, was the great clocktower. But, standing just short of the clocktower was another living space.
At the top of the staircase that wrapped up the insides of the structure was a hall, and at the end of which was a double door, one of baby blue and one of pink both being hand carved with motifs of youth. This door was the entrance to only a temporary residence reserved for foals: The castle nursery. This place was designed for children to stay and be safe from the adult world of the castle. Foals of aristocrats and workers would be brought here while their parents did their business in the palace, and decades later, they in turn would take their offspring to be watched by the staff of the castle, but that cycle had been broken recently. Now, the third tallest tower was no longer a place for visiting fillies and colts, for this tower had a permanent resident.
Between the defunct nursery and the stairs was a door, so plain and boring that it looked to be no more than a janitor's closet. But its actual contents were anything but an extra place to put a mop and cleaning supplies.
The door opened to a room of decent size. The opposite wall opened to a balcony beyond a glass door. Elsewhere in the room was a bookshelf filled with literature from bedtime tales to physics and biology as well as a matching desk suited to facilitate studies and learning. In the center of the room was a piece of furniture of most useful properties, a bed, and in the center of said bed was the resident of the third tower.
With two socked legs sticking out from the top crease of the sheets, a tiny black horned head with eyes tightly shut slept the early morning away. The sun had risen, and the other residents of the castle had begun their days, but not this one. For as the sunlight slowly crept across the floor, this little pony was content to stay in the comfort of his sheets.
Finally, as the light stretched from the glass door and reached up across the fleece sheets, the sleeping colt could not ignore the light burn as the sun stretched across millions of miles and poked at his closed eyes. He woke and sat up in his bed, rubbing the crumbs out of his eyes and then giving a hearty yawn and supplemental stretch. Although he was no longer sleeping, he was not truly awake until he looked out the glass door, and at the shimmering diamonds falling outside.
He ripped out of bed so fast that he pulled the comforter with him. He shook the wool socks off his legs and leaned down towards the floor, all so he could get as close as he could to the three inches of white stacked on the opposite side of the glass.
He opened the door and stomped outside, ignoring the sting on his hooves and the gust that whipped his black mane and made his fur stand on edge. He marched across the balcony to the edge, mounting his front legs up on the railing and looking over. Far, far away, he could see the rest of the world all covered in white, from the battlements separating this world from the outside to the rooftops all around him; it was white for as far as the eye could see. But what he was concerned with was right below him, in the castle gardens and the wondrous white world that awaited below.
"Stargazer, get in before you catch a cold!"
Stargazer did as he was told, albeit reluctantly, for he recognized the voice. With one last look out at the snow, Stargazer walked back into his room as the door shut behind him. The first thing he noticed when he returned inside was the pony who called for him, Princess Celestia, but she went by another name for Stargazer. Although their differences were immense: such as that she aged in the eons and he was just six, or that the two needed to crane their necks at sharp angles to look each other in the eye, the two had one very common -albeit critical- trait shared between mares and colts. For as Celestia went by several titles, there was a name which only one pony could use.
"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Mom."
Celestia lowered herself to the floor to be at her son's level and crossed her front legs at the same time." And a Happy Hearth's Warming Eve to you as well, dear."
The light morning snow was still on his fur and had begun to melt as he stood in the warm room; but the melting and cold of the snow could not keep the idea of going back outside off his mind. "Do you want to go out in the snow with me?"
Celestia slowly shook her head. "For as much as I would love to, we can't. I came to see if you had woken and to help you pack."
Stargazer gave a sigh, and as if a needle had just been poked into him, deflated onto the floor, sitting on his bottom and hanging his head low. “Okay…” he said.
Celestia felt her heart break a little bit, but at the same time felt a sense of contentedness, like the smell of a favorite meal or hearing the forgotten rhythm of a favorite tune. The disappointment, the defeated stance, and the foreshadowing of joy over what she had in store for him brought a memory back of Lu-
Celestia purged the thought from her mind. Now was not the time for that. She needed to keep her thoughts on what was happening here and now.
“No need to feel sad, dear,” Celestia said as she reached forward and brought Stargazer towards her and held him against her bosom, causing all of the water to evaporate from his coat with a glow of magic. “Where we’re going we’ll have more than enough time to go out in the snow.”
Stargazer shot back up and used his hooves to push against his mother’s chest in order to look her in the eye. “where are we going, then?”
“It’s a surprise,” she said in a sing-song voice.
Stargazer’s brow furrowed as he used his hooves to push himself as far away out from his mother. “Tell me!”
Celestia was about to continue to tease the vacation destination more when an idea struck her. Releasing Stargazer from her hooves, she gently set him down on the floor and pulled over two unzipped luggage bags.
“I can’t tell you.” Stargazer was about to protest some more when the tip of Celestia’s horseshoe met the tip of the Prince’s lip. “But, the quicker we get done packing the sooner we will be there.”
Stargazer was about to protest once more, but upon hearing the stipulation of their departure the unicorn’s eyes bolted wide open before darting around the room. Celestia crossed her legs once more and followed as a black blur darted from each dresser, drawer, and bureau and then back to the garment bags. Within the span of two minutes, a positively fatigued Stargazer pulled the zippers shut on his bags and dragged them towards the door.
The city of Detrot was like an animal: wild, proud, and free. The city was defined by its culture, one of mares and stallions working hard every day in the factories, not just to survive and provide for their family, but for the first time in generations, to live comfortably.
It was a gravel paved land of opportunity, where money and power were not obtained by birthrights and noble-hood, but by ambition and determination. The socialites were not the grandchildren of the feudal lord system or the descendants of paladins, but instead the ones who saw the value of conquering the challenges of life and have reaped the benefits of opportunity. One such stallion was an apprentice machinist who decided that following the cycle of endless sweat of an artisan crafting wagons and instead found a way for a group to do smaller parts of a whole job and accomplish the goal faster, cheaper, and more efficiently than anyone before them could have ever anticipated. It was with this intuition that the city’s legacy changed from a lakeside trading port and shipyard to an industrial powerhouse. Across the urban cityscape, a zebra took his life savings of eighty bits and created a vast musical empire from his basement while his family lived in the floors above him. He didn’t do it with an orchestra, or a musical academy, but instead with the songs that the assembly line workers would sing while walking to, at, and from work at the wagon assembly plants each day.
As Detrot took its final steps away from its origin as a fort along a river, it became the most populated city in Marechigan Province and the largest city on the Equestrian and Griffin border. Connections to the Axel City created a web across each corner of Equestria and even the entire world. But this raving and growing success would later lead to its decline.
Like a beast that had been growing too big for its habitat, the metropolis had become susceptible to disease during volatile growth. The sickness that had afflicted the axel city would leave it in a state of near ruin. It was the Great Destroyer, the End of Nations and Eater of Worlds: poverty.
What goes up must come down, and for the city of Detrot this would be the fate of its wagon manufacturing complex. The decline started small: petty breaches in morals, mistakes of judgment, ignorance over diligence, the safety of comfort now outweighed the uncountable benefits of marginal risk. This habit paved the roads to future failure, sloppy business, recalls, layoffs, lawsuits; the business took too many blows to stand as it once was during its booming rise to power, and because of the industry’s ties into the heart of Detrot, the city had no choice but to follow it into its grave.
Detrot, once applauded for its stance on its opulence of equal opportunity employment, had dropped to an all-time low of fifty percent unemployment. The city’s reputation of crime and violence had become as prominent as its manufacturing. The municipality went under scrutiny internationally when public water had been shut off to its poorest residents. During the winter the homeless would be collected every night lest they freeze during the night. Entire neighborhoods became ghost towns, and within the span of fifty years, the city’s population decreased by two-million.
But the straw that finally broke the stallion’s back was what came next, the thing that pierced the hearts and souls of the inhabitants that still had pride in their city: Bankruptcy.
What had once set Detrot apart from the rest of the world as well as its overwhelming appeal to the hard working ponies of Marechigan, Equestria, as well as the rest of the world and everything in it, was that employment here was not a feeble attempt to stave off death, but instead to prepare for life. A hard day’s work did more than put bread on the table, it allowed ponies to set money aside for themselves in order to live a comfortable life after they could no longer work, granting them the peace of mind that they would not become a burden on their children. When the city defaulted, all of that money was gone.
The population was now just soulless husks, existing in a shell-shocked reality while the world around them crumbled to the ground. Detrot was more than sick, it was dying. Businesses began leaving the city because their investments were no longer safe. The people who had lived there for generations were finding new places to call home because it was no longer a suitable place to live. Foreign business avoided the place for fear that they too would go down with this sinking ship.
This would not be the end, though. Detrot had taken heavy blows in the past, but its fate was not sealed yet, not if Celestia had any say about it. Like a mother to her children, Celestia was coming to rescue the terminal city, to reach into the coffin and save it from its untimely demise by proving to the rest of the world that it was not destined for disaster and that it was still the powerhouse that it was before.
After all, if the city was as bad as it seemed, why else would the Royal Family of Equestria spend their Hearth’s Warming Eve there?
The carriage carrying the royals landed at the Detrot Metropolitan Mayne County Flyport, but they did not stay in the city for long. As the pullers unhooked themselves from the transport, a convoy of limousines from the royal transportation fleet pulled up to them on the shoveled tarmac and quickly whisked the two out of the city. Celestia and Stargazer sat in the main compartment of their vehicle on opposite benches. At first, the two royals had began the car trip by occupying themselves by watching the stretching landscape outside of their windows as they traveled down the highway, but after a while Stargazer became hypnotized by the landscape and fell asleep, leaning up against the side of his neighbor, who was not his mother. Celestia had seen her son’s intrusion into the passenger’s privacy, but did not give it any bother, for she knew that he did not mind the presence of the colt pressing up against his side. If he did, then Celestia would not have chosen him to be in the position that he occupied today, because after all, a person who lacked the patience of his charge sleeping beside him during a long trip would have been a poor fit for the Captain of the Guard.
Like generations of mares and stallions before him, Good Shepherd sat on the bench beside the Prince with a full set of shimmering golden armor which had been adjusted for his pegasus body as well as the ceremonial Corinthian helmet and violet crest at the top. At one point, he was nothing but an enlisted pony in the Equestrian Armed Services, the son of a wool herder who found that the only option to make a living for his new family was to risk his life in the face of wanton violence. The turn of events that had led to his name being brought to the Princess’ attention were unprecedented acts of bravery as well as an outrageous tale of insubordination. In the span of twenty-four hours, a largely unknown pegasus of the Light Infantry went from being reprimanded for insubordination, commended for bravery in the face of insurmountable odds, and ended the day with a bounty on his head for desertion.
Although she had been watching out the window to pass the time, her attention began to shift down at the two ponies in front of her, how Stargazer was wrapped in a ball in his seat and using his protector's leg to support his head. It was at times like these that the Princess reflected on the individuals who she selected to be the protection of her home and, more recently, her family. Although the world saw her as a gilded lady, Celestia’s criteria for the selection of her protectors was more focused on those who she cared for than her own wellbeing.
"Captain, I must apologize for keeping you away from your family during the holiday.”
Captain Shepherd kept his eyes on the surrounding, but still answered, “No need, Your Majesty. Cane and Hook know that their daddy needs to work.”
“I see, but I warn you, they are only fillies once and that time grows shorter each day.”
Good Shepherd nodded his head. He looked down at the colt sleeping beside him and flipped his open ear closed. “They get bigger each time I see them, but they know their dad loves them. We celebrated last week when I was off, so we had some together time.”
Celestia smiled and nodded her head, returning her attention out the window. There was more to Good Shepherd then the bravado and renegade nature that the stories told, otherwise Celestia would not have offered a position at the castle, or even pardon him in the first place. The Princess of Equestria, throughout all of her rule, was always given the option to pick from any of her subjects to serve, and always among those were the biggest and strongest of ponies, but what she looked for in the defenders of her home was something beyond physical attributes. What she found desirable in her guards did not come from what species they were or where they came from, but something that could not be trained or imitated: Character. And when Celestia read of a tribunal for a stallion who had risked life and limb for others before disobeying his commanding officer to return home, she was not in awe or impressed by his dumb luck and physical feats, but that he had done it all in order to be by the side of his ailing wife when she had gone into labor.
The ride carried on for a bit longer, but then the sound of the puller’s hooves slowed down the limo halted. The stopping motion woke Stargazer from his nap and stretched his legs out until they were locked straight. He yawned, “are we there yet?”
The Captain stood up from his seat and stood by the door. There was a knock on the outside, and Good Shepherd opened up and disembarked. Although he was not answered, Stargazer took the initiative and jumped out of the seat and dashed out of the stretch limo. Celestia, now the only occupant, used the extra space of the carriage and stood, stretching her back and long legs until they were spry and loose before leaving herself.
When she stepped out, she found herself looking at what could easily be mistaken for the residence of a fellow head of state. The paved path that the Royal Carriages parked on was a circle driveway, like the original owners had predicted that they would be receiving guests in both a high volume and of the class that could afford to have a dedicated driver and team of pullers. From the blacktop driveway, a long paved stone pathway lead across a white field of snow to a house that many would have confused for a manor in the feudal times. At the end of the pathway was the grand entrance to the house, with rich dark red oak doors and large white Ionic pillars which supported a canopy to shield the front porch from precipitation. Flanking both sides of the door were two-story towers with spiral peaks and rods sticking up into the sky. The mansion stretched both ways until it disappeared between the surrounding trees of the forest that crowded the mansion, but judging from the proud peaks poking up from the other side of the roof and trees, it would be safe to assume that there was much more architecture to be seen. As she had learned to be accustomed too through the last millennia, Celestia could see gold plated ponies patrolling the perimeter and interior of the residence.
Standing out in the driveway waiting for the door was a zebra in a stuffy winter coat and a knitted hat on her head. She stepped forward and said, “Welcome to Buddingfield Plains, Princess.”
The Princess had manners and knew that it would be the most appropriate action to return the greeting to the mare, but at the time she could sense a more urgent matter was before her. Stargazer stood in the center of the path leading to the mansion, stuck in so much awe that he didn't even notice that he slipped into a sitting position and covered his posterior in the cold white stuff. He couldn't believe it, but everywhere he looked, from the rooftops, the pine trees, and what he could suspect was the lawn, was a dense foot of sparkling white snow. He stood up and started a dead sprint towards the shimmering sea of snow, and Celestia knew what was about to happen next.
"Stargazer!"
The colt put his brakes on and slid on the icy driveway, grinding to and almost touching the snow that he so desired to dive into. He turned around and glared at his mother with a look that showed nothing but pure annoyance.
“I know you want to play in the snow, but not just yet.”
“Well, when then?”
Celestia had a reason for wanting to keep Stargazer clean, but it was a surprise, and one that she didn’t want to reveal just yet. Then, like she had done in the tower earlier, she had an idea. “You need to unpack first. Then you can have as much fun as you want in the snow as you please.”
Stargazer groaned, turned around, and returned to the carriage before heading off to the house with a duffel bag in his mouth. Celestia watched as Captain Shepherd followed with his other bag and entered into the mansion. Good Shepherd knew that what they had planned for the rest of the day, hopefully he could distract him enough so that she could confirm that the residence was to her approval with real estate agent and before her son would need to be refreshed.
With one setback avoided, Celestia gave a sigh of relief before addressing the zebra who had greeted her to the property. “Pardon for ignoring… you?” she trailed off, for as she looked where the mare had once been all she could see was the tracks from where she had been standing. She followed the tracks in the snow with her eyes until she found the greeter once more, standing beside her and with her face almost at ground level looking into the tire of the royal carriage. “Is there something you’re looking for?” Celestia asked.
The zebra stood up and shook her head, “No, no. Your Highness, I was just checking on something. Anyway, welcome to Buddingfield Plains. My name is Zayles and I am the realtor responsible for making sure your stay at the Stonehelm House is everything that you could possibly desire.” Zayles stuck her hoof out but then quickly returned it to the ground, she opened her mouth but only stuttered for a moment before saying, “.. Pardon me, but do I bow or kiss your hoof?”
“Have I become that unapproachable?” the Princess asked herself. She was about to answer that no formal show of submissiveness was necessary, but instead said, “the trip from Canterlot and transport from the flyport has made the royal hooves too sore and cold for kissing. Instead, if you would be so kind as to carry me to the nearest sofa and massage them then I will consider your dues performed.”
Although her hat and scarf obscured much of her facial features, Celestia could see the expression of unbelievable shock with what had just left the Princess’ lips. But after hearing the failure to suppress the following laughter, Zayles realized that she had been played.
After furthering their introductions, the two walked up the path to the house and entered through the double doors. Inside the house the Princess was welcomed by a main hall of finely washed tiled floor and a shining golden chandelier. Immediately upon entering the house the first thing Celestia saw was a wide staircase with a ruby red carpet which lead to the second floor and access to both wings of the house.
“Welcome to Evergreen Manor, or as it’s better known by its creators and previous residents, the Stonehelm House.” Zayles stepped forward, her coat off and being carried against her chest in one hoof while walking with the other three. The two stepped forward and looked down onto the floor and found that the tiles in the center of the main room were actually a logo, that of a tire kicking up gravel while also on fire. “As you may already see, the house was the home of the creator and first CEO of the Stonehelm Tire Company. Their high performance snow tires and recreational tires are the first to be used in commercial wagon manufacturing and-as I wanted to make sure the rumors were true- also the tires used by your own personal transportation fleet.”
“Really now? I didn’t know there were rumors about my tires.”
“I remember I once saw an advertisement in the newspaper bragging about it . Now, normally I would give you a full tour of the house, but the coordinator from the castle has taken the liberty as to choose your room for you. Would you like to see it?”
“Of course.”
“Right this way then.” Zayles lead the Princess up the stairs and then down the halls of the Mansion. “The Stonehelm House is twenty-thousand square feet, and the property extends all the way to the lake in the backyard and into the surrounding forest. The residence itself is equipped with two kitchens and twenty-four fully stocked master bedrooms. The property also has a separate residence for servants, but from watching the guards arriving all morning intent to turn it into a barracks with enough hardware to impress the Zerilli Mafia.”
“One can never be too prepared.”
“As well as the living spaces, the house has its fair share of amenities. The mansion was built with a secret meeting room that was used extensively when the Stonehelm Tire Company Headquarter received renovations. The room acted as the meeting place for the company executive board. Besides the fifth largest wine cellar in the state, the house also has a private workout room, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a small theatre, two lane bowling alley, and an indoor and outdoor hot tub and sauna as well. With all this at the tip of your hooves, who would ever want to leave?”
Celestia agreed, but was unimpressed. Not because she already lived in what could possibly be called the grandest home in Equestria, but because all of the excessive features of the home meant nothing to her. Out of all the attractions, the only thing she would possibly use was the swimming pool, and she already had one at her own home. But she did not protest, instead she remained quiet and interested in the trivia of the disowned house and followed her realtor until the two reached a certain door and the real estate agent entered.
Celestia stepped in and was greeted to the sight of a wide open chamber with various furniture littered near the walls, a bed to support a pony of her size, and a pearly white hearth decorated with garland and mistletoe. “Although I thought it would have been rude to have somepony else decide which room was yours, Your Highness, I did find their choice of living space to be appropriate. When the architect was beginning to draw the blueprint of Mrs. Stonehelm’s bedroom she requested it to be fitting of somepony of your caliber.”
Zayles walked into the room and past the bed, towards a large window which looked out onto the backyard property until it lead to the boathouse which was connected to the -now frozen- lakefront. The zebra looked out the window and then beckoned the Princess over.
“It looks like Prince Stargazer managed to unpack himself,” she said. Celestia looked down at the backyard and could see a pair of tracks from a sliding-glass door to a little black form romping through the snow, making his black fur sparkle. “Before the respective families decided to move out of the area, it was said that Buddingfield Plains was like an assembly plant because the different tycoons who made separate parts for the wagons lived within the same square mile.”
Celestia kept her eyes outside at the pony barreling through snow that was almost up to his barrel as he jumped around and rolled every which way that he could in the white powder. His aunt was much like that at one time, wanting to disregard any form of decency and dignity just for the sake of having fun. Even as she would grew older and had less of a desire to have fun, she would still need to take time enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, even if it was below freezing temperatures.
“Excuse me, Princess?”
Celestia blinked and returned to the real world, “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“Although your brief stay is almost unheard off at my firm, they have approved of your renting of the Mansion and grounds for the holiday. Is the residence to your liking, Your Highness? “
From living in the castle for the last several hundred years, there was nothing a pretty mansion on frozen lakefront could do to impress her. The company who owned the residence, like the other abandoned houses of the new money, would do absolutely anything to sell the property that was worth a king’s ransom. Their exception allowing her to stay was a ploy to attract prespective clients and customers to the same house, saying that if it was good enough for the Princess of Equestria, it would be good for them.
As for her liking the Stonehelm House, to her it was just a big house. She had lived for as long as anypony could remember in big houses, and this was no exception. Nothing about it impressed her or seemed in the least bit desirable besides its use as a means to get away for the holiday as well as its close location to Detrot. So, to answer her question, she did not-not like it. So by default it would be acceptable. Zayles was obviously hoping that the stay at the mansion would convince her to buy it because she obviously worked on commission. But, at the end of the day all she was standing in was an excessively big house that would either stay abandoned or would meet its end with a wrecking ball. Besides a more scenic landscape than the highrise of a hotel, Celestia could not think of one thing that she approved of.
“That’s not my decision to make.” Celestia said, “It all depends if Stargazer thinks the property is to his liking.”
The two returned to looking out the window at the colt as he made a snowpony on the ground and shouted, “I’ve never seen this much snow in my whole life!”
The two mares looked at each other once more and Zayles asked, “So… can I take that as a yes?”
In the downtown borough of Detrot, there are houses everywhere, but only three homes. Across a ten block spread, numerous snow covered houses stood out in the dark of the cold winter’s night, their sidewalks unplowed, their windows empty, and their lights out. These houses had once been homes, but that had been a long time ago. Once, these homes couldn’t have been built fast enough to house the growing families of Detrot’s working class, but that time had passed. Family is what made a home, and these buildings were now orphans. It had been so long that any had cared about these houses that the only option for them was demolition -to die so another could be born. but the value of these structures was not even worth the investment of ending their misery, and so they stood.
That was the fate of all but three houses, for even though this neighborhood looked as if it had been abandoned, the last three houses left standing brought ponies into the area each year. The final residents living on Barkward Avenue were the Manticores, the Ligers, and the Feathers -the city’s representative sports teams- and their respective homes were called The Shiny Dome, CoQuestria Park, and The Foal Lewis Arena.
Being out of their season, two of the residents in the neighborhood had vacationed to warmer climates for the winter, ready to return in the spring to entertain the masses, but the last one was preparing for a night to remember. On the longest night of the year, the citizens of Detrot braved the cold embrace of winter in order to visit an artificially cooled building to watch athletes play a game. Among the many spectators of the night’s game, Princess Celestia and Prince Stargazer sat in the general seats at the front of the row, midway across the ice. The Princess sat tall and erect, either to keep proper posture or out of habit of sitting at her throne, while wearing nothing out of the ordinary. The Prince wore a bright red and white Red Feather’s hat with a hole for his horn. Sitting between the two royals was a large bucket of popcorn with a shiny glaze of melted butter and salt. In the seat opposite of the Princess, and the only pony wearing shining golden armor, was the Captain of the Guard. No other uniformed guards from Canterlot were present in the arena besides Good Shepherd, but that didn’t account for the block of unicorns, pegasi, and earth pony who were all wearing stuffy coats, sunglasses, and seemed to be focused on everything going on in the ice arena besides the game that was soon to begin right before them.
“So… all they have to do is get a… thing into the net?” Stargazer asked, looking up at his mother, and having to crane his neck higher than usual because of the bill of his hat.
“Yes, the goal of Hockey is to get a round object called a puck into the opposing team’s goal. There is more to it than that, but that is the easiest way to think of it for now.”
Stargazer looked at the goals, and then around the rest of the rink at the two teams practicing on their own respective goals. “That sounds… easy.”
Celestia nodded, “It does, but as you will see, it’s much easier said than done.”
Celestia felt a slight tap on the hoof opposite of Stargazer, so she shifted her attention to the Captain of her Guard. “I don’t like this, Your Majesty. There’s too many liabilities here. This is a bad idea,” he whispered.
Celestia gave a quiet and fake laugh. ”Oh, Captain Sheppard, please at least try to have some fun,” she said aloud, peeking back to the unicorn sitting opposite of the Captain and making sure he heard her, but then whispered “and not scare him like last time.” into the Captain’s ear.
Celestia felt another tug on her leg coming from her son, and so she return to him. “Detrot’s team is the Red Feathers, right?”
“Yes.”
“And the Clawronto’s team is the Pine Needles?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“So… what’s that?”
Celestia looked up, and noticed that Stargazer was not watching the players on the ice, but instead his head was angled up and into the rafters. There, suspended by several cables and ropes, was a large, violet, eight tentacle, creature from the depths wearing a large Red Feathers jersey. Celestia couldn’t help but smile and look down at Stargazer beside her as he look up at the inflatable animal suspended above the ice rink. “That’s just Sal the Squid.” She said.
“But what does a cephalopod have to do with red feathers or Detrot?”
Celestia shook her head gently and scratched her son’s back. “Don’t worry, you’ll see.”
The composure of Stargazer’s back melted away and relaxed in the chair for each fiber of muscle that the Princess’ hoof touched. Like an oversized cat, Stargazer stretched his body forward, exposing and stretching every little piece of him for the intruding hoof to rake apart. Seeing the effect of the friction, Celestia scratched a bit harder, deeper, and faster. Powerless to resist, Stargazer could not help himself as he closed his eyes in submission and the rubbing moved up towards his shoulder blades and neck.
The way he arched his back, the way he closed his eyes, the way that the hat was tight atop his head, it reminded Celestia of a long time ago, of a filly much like her son in ways but different in many more. This filly was so relaxed by the public display of affection that her wings were stretched out so far that it looked as if she were preparing to take flight, and her headwear was not a fabric hat, but a wreath of gold, and her relation to this pony was much closer than mother an-
No… not here… not now.
“What’s the matter, ‘Tia?”
Just stay quiet, it will pass.
“Tia, what’s wrong? Answer me!”
It’s not real.
“Say something. You’re scaring me!”
“Mom?”
Celestia awoke, although she did not feel as if she had been sleeping. Stargazer had long since lost the pleasure of having his back scratched and was looking back into her eyes.
Celestia retreated her hoof back and closed her eyes, giving her head a micro-shake and then returned the attention to her son. “What is it, dear?”
“A buzzer just went off,” he said, “The game is going to start now, right?”
Celestia looked at the ice rink and noticed that the players who were not starting in the game skated their way to their respective benches while, in turn, the ones who were took positions at various places on the ice. The seating around the arena looked to be filled to capacity and the vendors had started their rounds through the audience.
“Yes,” she said, before leaning down and putting her head next to Stargazer’s and teased, “are you ready?”
Stargazer nodded his head, and the two shifted their attention to the ice as one individual from both team met in the center of the rink.
On the right side of the arena, the Griffin Kingdom Pine Needles, wearing bulky blue jerseys with white stripes and painted pinecones across the chest were at the ready as a griffin skated his way to the center of the ice and readied his hockey stick. Opposite of the griffin was an earth pony possessing a red jersey with white stripes and painted feathers on the chest who skated to the face off. Although size did differ in the game between the species, the popularity of sport in both nations (as well as their competitive nature) had the two neighboring countries combine their love of competition and they found a common ground to regularly play the game. Both teams had mixed species, such as the Pine Needle’s right defender being a unicorn while the Red Feather’s left defender was a stag and goaltender was a griffin, and all participants wore equipment in order to make the game fair. From magic canceling headwear to belts securing wings to their sides, no one could make an excuse over the outcome of the match besides biased loyalty, teamwork, or the occasional blind referee.
An earth pony wearing a white and black pinstripe uniform skated between the two players with a puck in his mouth. After giving the Red Feather’s pony and the Pinecone’s griffin sideways glances, he dropped the puck and the game began. For several minutes, the two royals sat in their seats, watching as a tiny back blur zipped and zapped on the ice and players of varying size slammed, smacked, and slashed at anything that got between them and the illusive rubber disc.
It was all so fast, so violent, so competitive, and so… boring to the Princess. Since the dawn of Equestria, Celestia had sat as audience to the games that ponies had played to satisfy their egos over whom was better than another. Throughout the ages the games had changed, the prizes had changed, and the consequences suffered by the losers had changed as well, but the system as a whole had remained the same. After being spectator to the pinnacles of masculinity for generation, the appeal of competition had left her with a tolerance of boredom in regards to the breaks in monotony that athletics could do. But the lack of interest in the event did not give her the authority to be apathetic towards the ones who used the professional teams as a means to escape the cages of their lives, especially the colt sitting beside her who seemed to be, for the few times they were out in public together, enjoying himself.
“Mom?” Stargazer asked, pulling on Celestia’s hoof once more.
“Yes dear?” Celestia answered, not looking down at Stargazer.
“Why are we here?”
Out of all of the questions Celestia could have anticipated, this was not one of them. Although there would always be room for surprises in life, the millennias-old mare did not anticipate such a philosophical question leaving the tender six-year old’s mouth. “Whatever do you mean?”
“I mean why are we here, in these seats instead of a private place like we normally do… and why are we here in the city? We usually stay in the Castle or go to some big fancy place or on a beach somewhere?”
“Oh,” Celestia said. If she were in a more private place she would have taken her foreleg and wiped the teeny bead of sweat off her brow. “That’s much simpler, but at the same time a bit complicated, dear.”
“Okay, why?”
“There’s much more to it, but Detrot is in a spot of trouble right now, and we’re here to try to fix it.”
“How?”
“The problem is quite convoluted, and the solution is more so, but the reason why we are here is to bring the city into the center of people’s attention. Bad news travels fast and many ponies have made up their minds about Detrot, but our presence here will hopefully show a different side of the city, to shift the paradigm of the public and boost morale.”
Stargazer cocked his head sideways. “And we’re going to do all this by sitting at a hockey game?”
Celestia nodded her head slightly and said, “Yes, there will be more work for me to do, but the solutions to big problems have tiny beginnings.”
“Really? That’s all it takes?”
“Of course there’s more to it than this, I will be busy working with other ponies over the next few days, but this does help.”
“So we’re just here for business…Okay,” Stargazer said while slowly returning to the game with the taste of defeat lingering on the end of his words.
Concerned, Celestia wrapped her hoof around Stargazer and pulled him close against her side. “Don’t worry, just think of this like an early Hearth’s Warming Eve gift.” Then she leaned in close, whispering into his ear once more, “And my sources have informed me that Santa Hooves is out already.” Celestia pulled away and turned to the Captain of the guard. “Isn’t that right, Captain Shepherd?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty,” The pegasi said automatically.
Stargazer slowly moved himself back to the center of his chair and took a deep breath, and had a tiny smile on his face. “It’s alright , mom. You don’t need to tell me about Santa Hooves, because I know he doesn’t exist.”
The Princess, popcorn mid chew in her mouth, almost choked on a kernel at that moment. With the shocking revelation that her son didn’t believe in Santa Hooves, Celestia felt like -for lack of a better analogy- a foal who had just learned that Santa Hooves didn’t exist.
“Who told you such a forgery, dear?” she asked, not trying to sound malicious, but at the same time preparing to find the pony who robbed her son of Santa Hooves and having them don a red coat and squeeze down a chimney for their carelessness.
“It wasn’t anypony, I just figured it out once.”
Now Celestia began to worry. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
For better or for worse, Stargazer became reluctant to speak. He adjusted his Red Feathers hat, but knew from his upbringing that he had been spoken to. “Well… Santa Hooves is supposed to get ponies whatever they wish, and… well… last year I didn’t get what I wished for.”
Celestia’s fear-striking concern turned to head-scratching confusion. Although she had been often too busy to give him as much attention as she wanted, she had never detected a materialistic change to his attitude. Possibly it was just a part of growing up, but that was not the point. Celestia was the Princess of Equestria, a mare with an unlimited line of credit, billions in assets, and the ability to, literally, move the heavens if need be. What a six year old colt could possibly want that she couldn’t obtain baffled her.
“What was it, sweetheart? What did you want that Santa Hooves couldn’t get for you?” Stargazer’s cheeks became as red as the hat on his head. Looking at the concrete floor below him, he rubbed his hooves together. After taking a moment, he turned back to his mother and said, “All-“
POOF!
“Well, Look at this happy family!” said a voice which sounded as if it was trying to speak out of its nostrils.
Out of one eye, Celestia could see nothing but a blinding white light. Out of the other, she could see Stargazer rubbing both of his eyes with his hooves. With her eye that was still functioning, Celestia could see the spectators around her and her son beginning to jump out of their seats like mother bears hearing the cries of a cub. But she knew that there was no need for alarm, just annoyance.
With one eye blind, Celestia turned her head and looked down the aisle to see a mare standing at the stairway access down the length of bleachers. Pinned to her blue vest were several dozen pins that read “Vote Prop. 2”, while a shiny red wig contrasted with her greying coat. She stood in the aisle with a large smile that seemed to consume her face while her sparkling teeth so bright that it looked as if she had stolen a few stars out of the night’s sky.
She walked down the row of seats towards the Royal Family, each spectator wearing black sunglasses kept their eyes locked on her, looking for any reason to spring into action. “Sorry to interrupt, but my motto is that when opportunity comes knocking, you’d better answer. I just saw you two having such a good time, so I couldn’t resist.” She stopped besides the Princess, in front of the Captain’s seat. “I don’t think you remember; My name is-”
“Marey Maroon, No need to reintroduce yourself. To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?” Celestia said, in a cheery voice, but with a crocodile’s grin to match the new arrival. To say the reason for her visit was surprising would be a lie, but whatever excuse she could conjure up may be a source of amusement later.
“I was up in my suite and I just noticed you two down here having a good time, so I decided to come down and capture the moment, and I must say you two look marvelous!”
She took the photograph from the printer of the instant camera and presented it to the royals. Front and center in the picture, Celestia was facing away from the camera, mouth half open and eye looking off into nothingness while Stargazer was looking up at her, mid speech and with two blood red eyes.
“My, you should be a photographer.”
“Thank you, but since I’m here, would you mind if I borrow a seat?” For as much as Celestia loved to hear the stories of hard work and success, she had to accept that the first thing left behind on the road to riches was humility. But, having the composure of a proper lady, Celestia ceded and motioned for Captain Shepherd to surrender his seat.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“No need, what was on your mind? ”
“Oh, I just wanted to make sure that you knew of the gross manipulation of the citizens of Marechigan by the unjust conservatives who are abusing this once great state like it’s their own personal plaything.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, albeit by force. ”Oh no, that’s troubling! Whatever are they doing?”
“The authority in Prancing is resisting the division of their power with the constituents that had elected them in the first place by keeping nonessential authority vested to themselves. The goal of Proposal 2 had campaigned to relieve them of those powers and return it to the ponies who it belongs to. ”
“Yes, I recall, the bridge proposal removing the Province’s authority to make bridges as they see fit. I remember signing it into law eighty-seven years ago, the same law that saw to the construction to your bridge, I remember being at the opening day like it was yesterday,” said Celestia, not changing her smile but still feeling a bit smug about it.
Marey was silent for a moment, but then quickly shot out, “Well, the Bridge is property of the Detrot International Bridge Company and the Griffin Transit Company.”
“Oh, pardon. My mistake,” said Celestia to the sole owner of both companies. “But I am a bit interested that a second Bridge to our neighboring Kingdom of the Griffins hasn’t been constructed yet, for if I recall correctly having only one bridge from Detrot across the border would constitute a monopoly.”
“The sole existence of the bridge does not make it a monopoly, as has been determined by the Supreme Court of Marechigan, but we need to think of what the population truly wants. If you would back Prop. 2, we would be able to ensure the capital would not abuse their authority on an unnecessary bridge that-”
It was at that moment Celestia had completely tuned out the bureaucrat. The audacity of ponies like this were the cause of the city’s current misfortunes, and the nerve of trying to seek favors at a time like this made the alicorn’s skin crawl. Of all the sins, greed was the ugliest, which reminded Celestia of the little unicorn sitting beside her. She had seen bad behavior creeping out of even the best of foals long before she herself became a mother. Stargazer’s recent green eye did not surprise her, but it did catch her off guard. She looked down at the colt beside her who had returned to watching the game. She would look further into his unsatisfied desires later, for the cause of this change in attitude needed to be found and rectified immedia-
The shriek of a buzzer split the air in two. Celestia, nearly fallen asleep with her eyes open, felt the urge to jump on her son in fear that the building had been attacked by a foreign army. But, from the matching cheers from the audience that replaced the buzzer engulfing the arena in white noise as well as the flashing light above the visitor's goal, she conclude that the alarm was a good thing instead.
The Griffin goalie, laid out in a heap, punched the ice with his balled up glove while the Red Feathers glided around the arena. While the players reset, the Detrot natives, sitting at their seats with large coolers nearby, made fast work opening their treasured chests. Once every respective fan had unlatched their cooler. They shoved their heads into the ice and dug around. Like they were bobbing for apples, each person emerged from the depths of their box with a big, gangly, slimey, eight tentacle creature from the deep in their mouth.
"Mom... What are they doing with those squids?"
Plob
Plob plobplob
Plobplob plob plob plob
One by one, the dead seafood found its way over the safety glass and onto the ice until the surface was covered with it.
"Is this normal?" Stargazer asked, once again pulling on his mother's leg.
"Ha! Normal?" Marey answered, "This is Detrot!" She proceeded to make a sound akin to that of a pig snorting and added a comment about "cracking herself up".
Meanwhile, custodial staff entered onto the ice with brooms and trash containers and began to collect the discard seafood off of the ice.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not sanitary… Why are they doing that?” Stargazer mentioned.
Celestia opened her mouth to explain the significance of the squids, but before she could speak a syllable Marey did the job for her, “Oh it’s a long story. It’s just a part of our Marechigander culture!” Stargazer turned his head back to the game, Celestia did the only lady-like thing that she could do in the situation and rolled her eyes.
The Pinecone's goalie stood up and ripped off his helmet, making his normally neutral charcoal feathers appear as a burning bed of coals while steam rose from his head. With enough vigor that almost matched the buzzer that had declared that he had been scored on, the goalie shouted words of the most unspeakable variety soon followed by the responses of the Detrot Natives. Upon hearing the curses, Celestia’s eyes shot wide open and she wrapped her hooves tightly around her son’s virgin ears.
The official on the ice skated across and up to the goalie and ordered him off of the ice. The Pinecone’s goalie complied, but could not help but return the hospitality of the heartfelt goodbye from the Detrot fans. All the while, Stargazer tried to break free of the vise that was trying to crush the two sides of his head together, and to his relief, his mother would so release his poor cranium, as soon as the Goalie left the ice and play would retu-
Plob.
Until a thirty-pound Reef Octopus landed right on his exposed head. Instantly, he took the expired sea monster in his clawed talons and opened up his gigantic maw. Without any further ado, he brought his beak down and chomped down into its cold rubbery skin. with one extended pull, he stretched, and stretched, and stretched his two arms apart, digging the tear deeper and deeper into the gigantic mollusk. With one final pull, he split the octopus in two, spilling blubbery white meat and squishy muscles all over the ice before returning the tribute back to the home crowd.
Marey Maroon shrieked, “That’s the most repulsive thing I’ve ever seen!”
Celestia couldn’t help but feel like her plan had backfired. Who would have thought that going to see a city’s sports team perform could have turned out so bad? All she intended to do was have some family friendly fun with her son to show that Detrot was still a place for a pony to have their family. At this rate, nothing else could go wrong.
Once again, she felt a tugging on her leg from Stargazer’s direction. Celestia took a quick breath. None of this was Stargazer’s fault, and for what it was worth, she still had a duty to see to it that he could still enjoy himself.
She took a breath and quickly fluttered her eyes to regain her composure and turned to her son to see what he wanted. Counter to what she had thought he wanted, she did not expect to see Stargazer with both of his hooves over his mouth and his face a sickly shade of green.
“Oh my! What’s the matter dear?"
Stargazer gagged, lurched forward as if he was about to vomit, but swallowed hard to keep it down. He quickly pointed his hoof at the ice and then returned it to his mouth. Celestia gave it a glance, and all it took was a quick look at the octopus that had been reduced to chum to see what had upset the Prince so much.
oh no
“Captain Shepherd, we have an emergency!” she shrieked, hopping out of her seat and (ignoring the numbness of sitting a seat designed for somepony half her size) began to push her son out of his seat and towards the nearest restroom. But, as soon as Prince Stargazer removed his hooves from his mouth and tried to walk, he could feel the acid burning at his throat and the collapsing integrity of his stomach. The reflex of the sensation brought him back down to his knees. Around him, the spectators who couldn’t give a care about the game sprang into action and forced any of the civilians aside, making a tunnel for the two royals to save the public of the unfortunate circumstance. Unfortunately, for all of the effort put forth for him, Stargazer could not hold his integrity. The poor Prince did the only thing he could do, which at the time was to grab the jumbo bucket of popcorn, stick his head into it, and not pull it out until the incident had made the front pages of the next day’s newspaper.
In one of the many master bedrooms of the Stonehelm House, the day was about to end rather similar to how it had began. Although not in his tower, snow was still falling from outside of the suite's window, shimmering in the night as they shined through the dark. Stargazer was in his new bed, sleeping socks all the way up his legs, and the sheets tucked up to his chin. Celestia was sitting on the floor at his side.
"Stargazer, are you sure you don't want anything to eat before bed?"
The colt shook his head and looked out the window and answered, "No...I'm just not hungry after... you know. I don't think I'll ever look at popcorn the same again."
"If you're certain, then its quite alright, but if you change your mind then there's no need to go hungry. Okay?"
"Okay..." Stargazer tried to ignore his mother's presence next to him, but at the same time could not ease his weary mind. With a huff, he said, "I'm sorry I ruined the game, mom. I knew it was important to you."
Celestia would never earn the Mother of the Year Award, and she would admit to putting her duties before spending time with her flesh and blood far too often, and when she did find time it often had other priorities to distract her as well -the game was testament to that- but hearing the unicorn Prince take responsibility for nature’s due course made her heart break. She leaned her head in and nuzzled the side of his head and whispered that it wasn't his fault into his ear.
After making sure he was free of guilt, Celestia pulled her head away, and for what it was worth, it seemed that Stargazer was relieved. "Is there anything else you want to get off your mind, dear?" The Prince thought for a moment, but could not think of anything. So, with nothing else to be done, Celestia leaned in towards Stargazer once more and found a patch of cheek to kiss. "I'll see you in the morning, dear. If you need me, don’t hesitate."
Celestia stood up from the floor and walked towards the door, but before she left, Stargazer asked for her once more, so she returned to his side.
"There is one thing that I wanted to say."
For the twelfth time that night, a shot of anxiety surged through the Princess' body. "Okay, what would you like to share?"
"We never really did go out In the snow together."
Glad that it wasn't another piece of his psyche unraveling, Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled and said, “I’ll try to find some time to go outside with you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
With the agreement made, Stargazer rolled over and prepared to sleep. Celestia left him in the privacy of his room.
The Princess walked through the mansion and made her way to her own temporary residence. When the door finally locked behind her, Celestia fell flat on her bottom and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. Slowly, she stood up once more and walked towards her personal vanity and slipped her hooves out of her horseshoes and placed them into their compartment beside a mannequin which would hold her bracer. She opened up a small box in the center of the station and let her magic remove her tiara from her cranium and put the last piece of jewelry to bed.
Finally free of the restraints of gold, she raked her hooves through the aether of her mane and freed heaps of hair which had been oppressed by the crown before taking her hooves once more and pulled her head down to the side until the room came alive with the pops and cracks of her vertebra.
Done undressing, Celestia made her way towards her desk, normally in her private office in Canterlot but had been brought with the rest of her personal items to the mansion, and something caught her eye. Although the night had long since begun and darkness had filled most of the world, Celestia could still easily see because of the abundant candles around the room as well as the decorated hearth which supplied the room with more than enough light.
Normally, she would have expected a bulletin or some sort of inquiry which had arrived during her absence, but what had been patiently waiting for her attention did not look like anything of the sort. As she sat at her desk with a pillow to cushion her posterior, she found herself looking down at, of all things, a gift.
The box was about eight inches tall and had a thick red ribbon wrapped around it in a cross formation which met with a bow on top. The box itself was made of some thin, cheap, cardboard printed to look like wrapping paper with some glitter sprinkled on for extra measure. As of last year, Stargazer didn’t believe in Santa Hooves anymore, so although the amount of effort put into the wrapping looked like it came from a foal, she knew that it would not have been probable that he had made it. Her guess -because of the lack of effort in the packaging- it was a lazy pony’s attempt at giving a gift.
Beside the bow was a sticker, which at first looked to be a part of the original package, but upon further inspection was the proof that the package had been inspected by security and was deemed safe. Clipped to the bow was a folded paper tag, she opened it, and found the present addressed to, “H.R.M. Celestia”.
Celestia had been given gifts before; numerous were in the form of invites to public events, others were from fellow heads of state, nobility, as well as from those who wished to be associated with her, but there was something different about this one. Not that it was addressed to her, or that somepony thought to buy her something, but the fact that it was here, because as far as she knew, her trip to Detrot was all but spontaneous to the public. Further, who knew that they were staying in the Stonehelm house?
Well, there was but one way to find out, so she pulled the ribbon and lifted the lid off the package. It took but one glance, and the Princess felt her heart start to race into the rhythm of rage.
Facing her in the box was a large round metal button with a pin for the wearer to clip onto their fur. Printed on the front of it were the words “Vote Prop. 2”. A thick binder of paper, the cover page of which read 'Proposal 2', and beside that was a the photo of them taken at the game.
Celestia tossed the button into the circular cabinet. Next, she took the photo in her magic and prepared to rip it in half, but before she could free the two halves from each other, she heard a voice in the back of her mind whispering for her to stop.
The photograph was awful, the way that the shot didn’t even properly feature them looking at the camera gave it a quality that a member of the paparazzi would even call garbage. Yet, there was something about the photograph that felt genuine, something that made it special. She looked down at her desk, and across the furthest edges were pictures of her with ponies, not taken out of narcissism or vanity, but for nostalgia. In each frame was a piece of time, either taken by camera or painted, of her with one of the youngsters who had at one time become hers, to become strong in a wealth of knowledge and more so in character, who have become so close that she thought of them as family. The adventures of their lives began by her side, and she would always remember them.
Family… There were some landmarks in her family that could only be captured in memory, but that was then; this was now. It had been a while since she had taken a protégé, but her absence would be understandable as she herself was embarking on her own adventure known as parenthood. Like the stills of her students, she had pictures of her flesh and blood on the desk, but there was an artificial look to them, like they were fake. She had his foal pictures, and there were pictures of them together, but that was the extent of it. The photos of them together were like looking at exhibits at a zoo, they looked scripted, confined, and lacked authenticity.
The picture in the box was indeed awful, there was no way to deny it, but at the same time it was the first picture that the Princess had that didn’t involve standing in front of a backdrop, or have her wear a dress and Stargazer in an argyle sweater, or have the two look into nothing and talk to each other through gritted teeth for half of an hour.
Celestia gently set the photograph aside and made a note to find a frame for it. She removed the last item from the box and then discarded the container. She set the proposal, easily an entire ream of paper, onto the desk with a heavy thud and gave a matching sigh. It may have been a case of becoming overdramatic, but for the Princess it felt as if everything during the trip had ended in failure so far. The point of today was to lead by example, to spark changes to Detrot at a down-to-earth personal level with the residents of the town. Yet all she managed to succeed in doing today was embarrass her son and probably make him even more reclusive of the outside world while politics found a way to monopolize her family time.
The rage that wanted to rip the photograph from earlier returned, and judging by the size of the stack, she wagered that it would make very good kindling for her fire. Yet, the anger towards the paper and its author redirected and fell onto her. Today was a failure, she couldn’t deny it, and the second attempt by Marey Maroon to monopolize her time was her consolation prize. Today was not supposed to be a day for paperwork and litigations, that was why she was here in the first place, but for as much as she wanted to burn the stack of papers that held the subject of Mary Maroon’s greed, she knew she couldn’t. Instead of having her title on the card, it should have been labeled, "Congratulations, Loser."
The joy would have only been a temporary and vindictive victory over the mare, but that wouldn’t change any of the work that was needed to make the trip to Marechigan a complete bust. To make a difference to the city, there would be much more paperwork to be read, so she may as well start now.
A crisp three knocks came from the door, and Celestia turned to it. Odd, she thought, that somepony would be knocking at this hour, but if it was more interesting than her current bedside reading then she’d take it. Due to the rather courteous knocking it seemed that it was not necessarily urgent, but still warranted her attention.
She walked towards the door, and found a reason to chuckle at the situation. It was Hearth’s Warming Eve, she was a single mare, and the chances were that it would be a stallion on the other side of the door, so in the moment of time that it took to get to the door she took advantage of the situation and muttered, "I hope its not one of my gentlestallion callers." She stood at the door and made sure that she got all of the chuckles, however few there were, out of her system before opening the door, but as she looked outside of the chamber she feared that her joke had become a reality.
Standing present at the doorway was the Captain of the Guard, except he did not look the role. His armor, often polished and worn with pride over the prestige of the position, was gone and replaced by a pair of boxer shorts with hearts on them. The razor tipped blades he wore on his wings to protect the lives of his charges at a moment's notice were gone, and all he was armed with was the courage that it took for a stallion to present himself to his ruler and physical representation of divinity wearing next to nothing.
"How may I help you?" Celestia said, not sure whether to be more concerned over his current attire or his determination to maintain vigilant in nothing but sleepwear.
Captain Shepherd cleared his throat and said, "there has been a recent development and needs to be discussed... privately."
Celestia gulped, but did not show it. Although she was not decent at the moment, she did not know how to respond to such a request amid the circumstance. So she just stepped aside and allowed entry.
The Captain, boxers and all, stepped into the Princess' chambers. But as he stepped in, and extra set of hooves clipped against the tile floor. It took one glance for her to find an explanation over the Captain's bizzare timing and unsavory appearance, for as he walked in wearing his boxers and looking as if he had just been summoned from bed, the Captain's other charge followed close behind him.
Stargazer stood beside the Captain and looked down at the tiled floor, but the pegasus beside him cleared his throat, urging the unicorn to speak. Celestia waited, but when Stargazer looked up at her his cheeks became a rosy red, and he immediately returned to looking down at the floor, using one of his socked hooves to cover his eyes.
Celestia’s head cocked to the sides. Why was he so reluctant to look at her? It was not like she looked any different. Then, like a light just popped into her head, Celestia had an idea for this had happened with a student a long time ago. Celestia summoned her tiara from where she placed it on her vanity. Once it was back in its usual spot on her head, Celestia leaned down toward her son and asked, “What’s the matter, dear?”
Although the jewelery covered less of her body than her bracer, and even at that covered nothing that would become embarrassing, there had been some sort of psychological connection that happened in a colt’s brain after seeing her wearing it for so long they would believe it to be a part of her, and the lack thereof would render her anatomy scandalous. Stargazer peeked an eye out from behind his hoof and, as Celestia had predicted, found no reason to be embarrassed.
“I couldn’t sleep… I had a bad dream.”
“Oh no!” she gasped. Although more dire circumstances would have been more appropriate for the reaction, experience with fillies and colts had taught her that overreacting to miniscule issues often reduced reluctance. “ What’s the matter?”
Stargazer retreated a step and tried to look away once more, but continued. “I thought that something was… trying to break into my window.”
Captain Shepherd interjected, “We’ve discovered an offending maple tree, and are ready to amputate said branch on your command, Your Majesty.”
Celestia leaned in further and rubbed her muzzle down the side of her son’s, feeling her eye against his still warm cheek. She wrapped her hoof around his back and gently rubbed it down her son’s drooping shoulders. “I’m sorry about that, dear,” she said. “Bad dreams can be scary, but it’s all imaginary, and imaginary things can’t hurt you.” She nodded to the knight in sterling white boxers beside them and added, “Now do you want the Captain to chop that big bad tree down, or do you want to stay with me tonight?”
Stargazer looked up at Celestia with such shock and disbelief that it took the little colt a moment to comprehend what she had said was a joke. As she looked back at him, she could almost see the gears in his head drawing up the glorious image of Captain Shepherd throwing on a flannel coat and braving the cold of night in his boxers and taking an axe to the big bad maple tree, dragging it to the foyer and pinning it up beside the hearth for tomorrow morning
“You’d let me spend the night with you?” he asked, not speaking with sarcasm or a hint of snark, but with genuine surprise as if he hadn’t even heard that the alternative was to send the Captain out into the snow to chop a tree down.
“Of course, dear. We can even share the bed.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Stargazer reared onto his hind legs and wrapped his hooves around his mother’s neck, hiding his muzzle inside of her mane. Celestia, still surprised by this seemingly incredible reaction to something she would do for children who weren’t even hers, rubbed him on the back and waved Captain Shepherd back to bed, for his job was done.
Celestia escorted Stargazer to her bed, helped him up onto the mattress, and tucked him into the center so he could get a head start on sleeping. With another kiss on the cheek, Celestia returned to her desk and continued to read, but, as she did, she could never shake the feeling that a pair of eyes were watching her from the crease of the covers. She began to think of finally turning in and retiring for the night, for the idea of cuddles did seem appetizing at the moment, but she felt a greater duty to finish some more of the reading, for even though Marey had robbed her of some time with her son, she needed to finish something in order to make the day with some sense of progress in Detrot’s finances.
But then she stopped. She had already let that greedy little sloth ruin one time to be with her son, why in the world would she allow her to do it again? Celestia stood up from the desk with the proposal in her magic. In one move, she casted the entire ream, all five hundred pages, into the open maw of the hearth. Like the offering of a lamb to a lion, the fire jumped onto the new fuel and stoked the flames higher. Stargazer's eyes shot wide open at the startling burst of flame and subsequent whine that turned the paper into nothing but ash.
Remaining silent, Stargazer watched from the center of the bed as his mother approached him. She opened her wings and gave them one mighty flap, causing a massive gust of air which blew out all of the candles in the room sans the fire which was still munching on its late night snack.
Celestia pulled back a sliver of the sheets to enter. Remembering his manners, Stargazer began to scooch aside to give his mother space, but slid to a halt as one of her hooves planted itself in his way and pulled him close. Stargazer hung on the hoof that pulled him like lasso and a calf. When it slacked he did not feel the need to reposition himself for his destination happened to between a mare and a soft place.
Celestia pulled and contorted the sheets around in the bed in a way to serve both of its occupants. Her, lying on her side, needed it pulled up the length of her back in order to cover her great size but allowed the sheet to bend and ruffle as it went lower, exposing her chest and leaving room for the unicorn acting as the little spoon to pop his head out and breathe. While she adjusted their sleeping arrangements, Stargazer repositioned himself against the warm white mass to his back, rubbing his head and hips back and forth until a cross of hooves came down across his chest and fastened him up against his host.
As the fire casted orange light through the room and against the bed, the two ponies enjoyed the company of each other's silence as the mother who had tried so desperately to show affection for one of her duties finally was allowed to do so and the vigilant offspring greatly accepted it.
It did not take long for the embrace of his mother finally calm Stargazer to rest, and within only a few moments he was drifting off to his dreams once more. Celestia watched, and then finally remembered something that had been bothering her for most of the night. She was about to speak, but the feeling of his neck starting to fall limp against the joint of her hoof froze the words in her mouth. Yet, for as wrong as it felt to intrude on such a moment, she felt the need to ask growing stronger as her source of an answer began to lose consciousness.
"Stargazer," she whispered.
It took a few moments, but eventually a "Hummmn?" came from between Celestia’s hooves.
"What was it that you wanted from Santa Hooves?"
Stargazer's black coat blended into the darkness that the flickering fire and bedsheets made, so she couldn't tell if he had fallen asleep or was thinking. At this point, she had decided that it would have been cruel to try to pursue the question further, so she laid her head down.
"Yes."
Celestia looked down at the colt lying against her barrel for a hint to his answer, but judging from the rhythmic breathing and lack of movement he was too far gone to inquire further. She tightened her hooves around Stargazer, dragging his limp form up across her body as high as she could bring him and gave him the tiniest kiss on the bridge of his muzzle.
She lifted her head up and looked out the large windows of the room, looking out into the pitch dark and the constant yet lazy flakes of white snow shining like falling stars in the night.
“I suppose today wasn’t all that bad,” she thought as the breathing mass beside her moved in small rhythms while wrapped in her hooves. Her eyes became heavy as she watched the dancing snow before her, as they finally began to close she thought, “we should do this more often.”
But then, as she finally felt the urge to end the day on a high note, a guilty feeling washed away the heavyness in her eyes. Why did she need to do this more often? What had stopped her from enjoying being the mother of her son? The corners of her eyes began to sting, because she knew the answers. Of all the faults in her life she knew that the only pony to blame was herself. She trapped herself inside a vicious cycle of working until the jobs done, but then finding reasons to push the illusive ending further and further away, distancing herself further away from all those who she cared for. Her eyes stung so much that she had to blink, and allowed two tears to escape down the crevice of her face. She wiped them away with her hoof, but instead of putting it away she found herself looking at it with regret gripping at her heart.
She found herself so caught up in who she was supposed to be that she had forgotten who she really was, not a Princess, or a god, but a mare. The hoof she was looking at, the body that had birthed her son, and the pony who he had called his mother were not who she really was, but who she had become. She was so caught in the web of her duty as matriarch that her very son could not look at her without her tiara.
She made a decision, right then and there, that for the first time in millennias she would cast aside the façade and be who she wanted to be. She set her hoof down and covered Stargazer’s closed eyes with it, and then closed her own and focused on a pony from long ago, long before her rule, long before six ponies hid in a cave, long before any recorded time, back when there were only two.
When she opened her eyes, she returned to who she truly was, the long legs and slender body were now just of normal stature. The majestic and eternally flowing pastel mane was now a flowing river of golden hair. She was no longer a Princess, just Celestia.
It felt strange, like finding a once lost but favorite pair of boots, yet it made her feel a sense of fidelity, like for the first time in forever she was finally set free. She would need to change back before Stargazer woke in the morning, she didn’t want to confuse the poor colt, but for this one night she was going to be who she wanted to be, not who she had to be, herself, with not a care in the world, and with her flesh and blood tightly at her side…
But then she couldn’t even do that. Space and time separated her family, leaving only stories for Stargazer and memories for Celestia. The memories teased her of just how far away her happiness was, alone and leaving her to carry the burden of guilt with nothing but the images that waited behind her eyelids to haunt her. Luna had been all but erased from history, leaving her as the bearer of the truth. There were no paintings, photos, or monuments that had been left standing; the only reminder of Luna -good and bad- was all inside of her head.
Celestia combed her hoof through the Prince’s black mane and shook her head in congratulations of ruining another night for herself. She closed her eyes and made a prayer, for as foolish as it sounded, to whomever it was that was the spirit of Hearth’s Warming Eve. She begged to whoever it was -to the Great Boar who gave his only son to save the Warthogs from the Eternal Winter, the stars that lead the Zebras to freedom, the Spirit who kept the Griffin Nest fires burning for a week even though they lacked the wood, or whoever it was that the Benchmark Greeting Card Company wanted her to believe was the spirit of Hearth’s Warming Eve that if it were at all possible- let her spend one night with her family.
She waited, and didn’t hear anypony sneaking a Princess sized box to her door, or the sound of something sliding down her chimney, or a team of magically inclined stags soaring towards her roof, so she gave up. What was the point of trying when she knew it would fail.
Annoyed, she opened her eyes, and was awestruck.
Shining brightly as the only light in the inky black sky, Celestia could not believe it, but there she was, Luna, right before her, looking back across a thousand miles through cloud, snow, and space. She knew that the imprint on the side of the moon could not see, but what she did know is that she could indeed see her, and that was all it took for her to not suppress her memories, but embrace them for what they were: memories. They were family then, and they would be family now, as she laid in bed, for the first time in forever, her son tightly against her chest and Luna in her gaze, together.
Now finally at peace, Celestia laid her head down against the pillow and gazed out at the only beacon in the dark night knowing that, even if it seemed impossible, they would finally be together, someway, somehow.
As the longest night of the year finally began to end for the alicorn, she could finally find a reason to smile. As her eyelids around Luna she whispered that she didn’t have snow, or presents for her, but that she promised one thing, that all three of them would be together even if it was for this one night. Although she did not know if Luna could see her, Celestia had already found her, and one way or another they would meet during the longest night of the year. For even if they could not physically be with each other, they would still be family, if not here in Detrot, Marechigan then only in her dreams.
Author's Note
Started June 6th, 2014
