The Legend of Fauna

        It was just about seventeen hours out when Celestia received the letter she'd been so desperately waiting for. Celestia was never in the dark about anything. Ever. Until this particular event came up, that is. Grabbing the letter from the floor with her magic, she took it in her hands and removed the... re-purposed seal? Then started to read.

        As soon as she managed to let the letter unfurl, there was a knock on the door. She sighed, put the letter away in her desk drawer, and then headed toward the door.

Damn it. Every time. From now on, a Pocket dimension goes up as soon as I see these things. One of the few days I actually fill the role of principal, and they have me working. I thought it was in practice to straighten up when the boss visits? What happened to that? Celestia let out another breath and turned the gilded handle.

        She was greeted to the sight of her 'favorite' teacher holding a pair of students by the earlobes. Celestia gave the vampiric strain Angel with velvety blue hair a hard frown, then tilted her head at the other. A girl whose name she wasn't familiar with, nor one she recognized from any of her own classes.

Is this kid new? Hmm... I did fill out a whole bunch of forms on coffee fumes last night before I finally went to sleep... there could have been a transfer notice in there, but right in the middle of a trimester? Strange...

        “Alright Cinch, what are they in for?” She said, trying to avoid the earful that professor Cinch loved to give everyone around. If it weren't for the fact that Sola had sit through several of Cinch's lectures, She might actually punish the students who were brought down by her. But that wasn't the case, and it take a special kind of person to listen to cinch for more than forty-five minutes.

        “Interrupting my class of course! Is it ever anything else? Especially this one in particular. Why is it impossible for you to simply be quiet and listen to me? Final bell is only twenty minutes away, you can wait that long!” She said as she pulled upward on Tsukiko's earlobe. She failed to react for a moment before giving a yelp. Celestia sighed. Luna probably couldn't even feel it. Such a dull pain wasn't even enough for her to respond to anymore.

        “That's enough. I will take it from here.” Celestia said, ushering the girls into her office. “Take a seat by the window. Thank you Cinch, I will straighten them out.” The woman huffed.

        “I would hope so. Those two are the only ones without eighty percentages in my class. I'm beginning to fear they may not make it into good schools on a path like that. Tsukiko has already missed so many days of instruction...” She let her expression melt from stern to concerned, then back again.

        “Thank you, my Queen.” Cinch took a bow and headed off in the other direction. She was a good teacher, and a nice Mage, but she needed to learn how to loosen her shoulders.

        Celestia walked back in to her office and slammed the door behind with her magic. She kept her arms crossed and flared her wings out to keep the menacing appearance she was known for by the students. While at the school, she wore her orange-yellow blazer with her sun medallion pinned to it and dark violet pleated pants to appear as official as she possibly could, all the while keeping her necessary armor plates and sword on in the event she had to respond to an emergency.

        “I'll let the regular explain to me why she was sent here later. So tell me, what is your name dear?” She said as she lowered her body into a much less intimidating stance, then taking a seat in front of the two, pulling one of her violet leather recliner chairs behind her.

        “B-brightness... Brightness Slate ma'am...” The girl was a pale white angel with bright white wings and white curly locks that fell in spirals to either side of her head with blue and gold streaks here and there. She had clear gray irises that made it look like her eyes had rings of ice in them, and wore the red girl's uniform that indicated she was a first year. For a moment, Celestia thought it odd to see her without black pants underneath her skirt, then remembered that Twilight was also a special case, along side being Cinch's favorite student.

        “I see... Are you new here?” The girl twirled a finger in her tendrils of hair before finally answering.

        “I moved here with my older brother recently... we...” She trailed off with her sentence.

A shy one to be sure, I'll have to find out if I have any classes with her. I imagine Luna thought it would be nice if she had a friend. Speaking of...

“Care to fill in some details miss regular?” She said, giving a hint of a sneer at the end of her sentence. Tsukiko stuck her tongue out.

        “Her parents had been officials in the northern city toward the coast and were caught up in an incident. Her twenty year old brother is now supporting them in the outskirts of the lower sector. Apparently, the Day Queen gave her a special exception to transfer into her prestigious school immediately, effective as of this morning.” She sneered back.

Damn it! I knew there was something I'd forgotten this morning! Celestia frowned.

        “Delightful. You will stay after I am through with her. Sweetie?” She said, taking her motherly tone at the end. After realizing that 'sweetie' referred to her, Brightness responded.

        “Y-yes ma'am?” The girl stuttered.

        “You're free to go for now. If she tries to engage you during Cinch's classes, You'd do best to ignore her. She's a terrible influence on new students, and is often in my office. Even though this year has only been in session since April, I've already seen her eighteen times.” Celestia said, trying her hardest to keep her smile in check. Tsukiko rolled her eyes.

        “I am only sent here by proctors with uninspiring classes. You'll never have coach Ferrous send me to you.” She protested.

        “Whatever. You being his star student has nothing to do with acting up in your classes. Brightness, was it? If you ever need to discuss anything with me, just sign your name by a time on the board at the door and I'd be happy to speak with you.”

        The white winged Angel managed a smile, bowed and said, “Thank you, ma'am. Good luck Tsuki!” And disappeared out the door. Celestia pulled it to a close and then looked back to Tsukiko.

        “You picked a good time to piss off Cinch. I just got my report from Spike.” She said, moving back to her desk and putting the recliner back by her coffee table with her magic. Celestia retrieved her letter and let it unfold once more. Luna removed her guise and warped the same recliner next to Celestia's chair.

        “Is is really necessary for you to tell them that I am a bad influence? Granted, that may be true on some occasion, but you always say it.” She complained.

        “You make it a habit to mess with my hair every time you take office and I'm sent here. Call it a fair trade.” She waved Luna's complaint away as she started speed reading the letter.

        “Well? What did he say? Waiting for information is agonizing, we haven't had to do this in ages.” Celestia's brow furrowed deeper. Luna frowned.

        “Well, first of all, remind me to reprimand Zeus later. He told Twilight about my family.” Luna rolled her eyes.

        “Were you not going to do that yourself in just a week anyways? What is the harm?” Celestia's lip twitched. “Oh? Did they run into Fluttershy?” Celestia sighed.

        “Not only that, but then Zeph got in a fight with her. He lost control, let all six of them know about us, and got his ass kicked. Apparently, she filled them in on just about every national secret about our personal lives that he didn't.” Luna frowned.

        “Now that may be a problem. Which one was it that worried you? Valkyriana's incarnate, or was it Optimism's?” Celestia shook her head.

        “Honestly, I'm more concerned about Amethyst's when it comes to this particular information. Rarity Belle runs a clothing shop in Ponyville, and I don't want her getting smart and asking for free advertizement. Pinkimena Diane Pie is an entirely different situation. Now that they know, I think I'll have to send Sombra in to deal with her, probably give them some more tools to fight with while I'm at it. Or, he will in my stead that is.” She said as she continued reading. She reached the end of the letter where the writing style changed, and she froze once she finished.

        “What is it now?” Luna asked. Celestia looked at her, then put the letter face down on her desk.

        “Um... it seems that Eclipse may have found a girlfriend. Or something. This says she's thirty. Or not. I'll have to ask for clarification on that.” Luna's jaw nearly dropped off her face, and Celestia let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Oh gods, I can't let her find out about this. She might do something drastic, and I don't need her going ballistic on a possibly innocent girl... or woman? He uses the word 'girl' very specifically, yet the birth date suggests she's supposedly thirty...

At first, Celestia was a little bit surprised by the reaction, or lack there of, from her sister. She was still in that jaw ajar pose and hadn't even twitched an eye since.

        “Luna? Are you...?” She started, but didn't finish. After several minutes of blank staring off into space, eventually Luna changed her expression and sat back in her chair. She crossed her arms, then crossed her legs.

        “Before I make any judgments, I will meet this woman. Age should be no factor as long as there is love.” She said. Her body movements suggested otherwise, though. Her wings were flicking and twitching at the fingers, most notably the first, which was twitching back and forth rapidly. She noticed a sound coming from the bottom of the chair, and Luna was drumming her wing fingers against it. Celestia couldn't tell if she was just that dexterous with them, or was simply doing this absentmindedly as a way to keep calm.

        Luna didn't handle 'girlfriends' well. When Jupiter had announced he had found one some time ago, Luna made sure to put 'fear' in her mind as soon as she could. They didn't last, and as far as Celestia could tell, Light had always come to her about one of his sons dating before anyone let Luna know. It's been a process. Once protective, always protective. Luna eventually picked up on Celestia's wandering eyes and bore down on her.

        “Is that all? The end of the letter simply says my son found a har-, er, woman?” Celestia reared away from her, keeping the letter face down.

        “Sort of. She needs to be brought here and examined. This girl was one of Umbra's puppets that he managed to rescue. She has no memories other than her own birth date, which happens to align with yours, and Twilight's birth date.” Saying it out loud didn't help make it sound any less ominous. Rituals relied on the celestial calendar for potency, and if this 'girl' was born on the winter solstice and only remembers the first night of the year at the turn of the millennium... That could only mean there was more black magic at work behind the scenes.

        “I... don't like the sound of that. But I suppose you'll have a plan for all of this within the next hour or so. I'll leave it to you to decide how to proceed.” She looked like she was about to stand up, but then paused with one of her fingers raised.

        “How is it that you intend to have Sombra train them? I thought he was out with Apollo.” Celestia sighed.

        “You remember how they've been closing dimensional rifts around the country right?” Luna nodded slowly in reply. “Well, to put it bluntly, they fucked up. Apollo's mirror cracked, which caused another rift to open and the two conjoined. They believe they saw some creature escape it before they used a last ditch effort spell to seal the thing in stone. This happened yesterday and Sombra is coming home tonight from the badlands. Apollo is trying to figure out what that thing he saw was, and if possible, a way to track it. He said that it smiled and laughed at him. Called it an 'amalgamation' of beasts.” Luna frowned.

        “We... are going to have to deal with that, aren't we?” Celestia put her fingers to her forehead.

        “Most likely. Who knows what unimaginable horror they've released into the world. A Sentient unimaginable horror at that.” Luna shook her head.

        “Honestly, I would rather deal with Twilight's future if those are my options. I supposed he doesn't want outside help either?” Celestia nodded. “Of course. 'It is my mistake, and I will fix it.' And then I have to repair a stained glass window-”

        “And I have to pull glass shards out of my twelve year old's foot.” They both sighed, and then the final bell rang throughout the school.

        “And that would be my queue to return to my chamber before a night of patrols and dream hunting.” She started to flare up her aura, but stopped after raising a finger again. “But before I go, I would like to know something. What do you plan to write back to young Spike about this? I know how you like to with hold information from them until the last possible second.” Celestia scrunched up her mouth. She hadn't thought about that. She had things she needed to get to the boys, but she also couldn't just send that kind of information by text... then she remembered she knew enough languages to write books on translation.

        “I'll keep the necessary messages to Spike and everyone else in languages they can't read. I may have to avoid using Harmonian though... what else does Eclipse speak? I know Zephraim is enough of a weeb to read Anyan.” Luna gave her sister a sly smile.

        “My, what a derogatory phrase to call your own son by. For shame. But, I believe Eclipse knows the moon runes as well. Apparently, Zephraim never played fair when they would have their 'pocket-creature battle games' because they had native copies, and Eclipse didn't ever know what he was doing, and eventually decided to learn it himself. Truly, I could likely play the game myself, he has complained to me about it so many times over the years. Something, something, unfair type advantage, et cetera.” Celestia tilted her head and returned the smile.

        “Oh? Learning the slang of the day are we? I'm sure you absolutely love the whole 'moon runes' thing.” Luna rolled her eyes.

        “I can not very well run around pretending to be a teen and speak like this all the time. Contractions still give me the worst of it though. The slang is easy.” She stood up and stretched herself out before giving in to a yawn. “It seems as if I've reached my nap time. Keep me in the loop.” She said as her hands started to glow silvery blue again. Celestia stood and took a hearty, dramatic bow.

        “But of course, my Queen.” She said, letting her white teeth shine in the bright sunlight. Luna rolled her eyes once more.

        “Mmm. Good night, sister.” And with a flash, she was gone. Celestia relaxed and sank into her chair.

What am I going to write back? First, I need to give Eclipse and Zephraim their new orders... I should probably apologize to Twilight at some point. She sighed. I also need to remember how to write in Anyan...

Good evening, my beloved student Spike Sparkle.

It seems as if you've had quite the full day's worth of experiences. I'm sure I don't have to say this, but please keep everything you know to yourself. I trust you to do that much. The coming days are unlikely to be so eventful as your first, so I hope you can keep yourself occupied in that time. You live in a library, so I'm sure it won't be hard, even if no one likes to read as much as your sister does.

With this letter will be two additional pages, one for my son and one my nephew. Both will be labeled so you know who to give what, but make getting them their letters a priority. Also, if you would, give Zeph a good swat on the back of the head for me. His father won't be there until later to do it, and he should be unassuming enough for you to pull it off. Just tell him it was from me when you do so.

Anyways, I'm glad that Twilight seems to be getting along with at least some of her new comrades. You know as well as I do that she isn't one to make friends quickly, or at all really. It's that 'winning' personality of hers that always seems to get in the way. How about yourself? I know it's a small town, a hamlet really, but there should be at least a few children about your age there. I'd hate for you to feel lonely while you're working for me.

How is the whether down there? It's a bit different from up on the mountain like you're used to. The hot air, the dry heat, all the sand and wind. Ponyville is only a short distance from the desert to the southern border with Leviathinos. The temperature in the summer is horridly high, but that shouldn't come as a surprise.

I'm not sure what you took with you, but in the event you didn't, you should find a pair of goggles for walking around town on windy days. Sand flies, and the town is usually covered in a blanket of it. I don't know if we ever tested whether or not you could get sun burnt, but keep sunscreen around in the event you find out you can. As white as your sister is, she'll need it at the very least.

It might feel strange to hear, but I'm more looking to have you take care of her than the other way around. She might be 'older' but you're more... well, functional. Try not to tell her I said that. I know she's capable, but she lacks a certain degree of common sense that you seem to have picked up. In any case, she'd be lost without you, so keep up the good work.

I'm looking forward to the coming days, even if the circumstances may seem bleak. If it ever seems too dark, just know that the sun will always rise in the morning.

All the best,

-Celestia Iscandor

To Zephraim.

You little moron! What did you go and open your mouth for? Of all the things I've had to reprimand you for over the years, this is probably the least forgivable of your mistakes. None of them needed to know anyof that just yet. Do you know how easy it would be for us to be blackmailed in the event they leaked our information? I'm sure you do. Keep yourself in check. I will have more to say on this later. You've been warned.

Now then, as for your current assignment, circumstances have changed. You will be taking over for Eclipse with the help of your father after Mr. Fume returns to work on Thursday. That girl needs to be examined as soon as possible, and it is going to take a good portion of my magic to get your father over there, let alone bring two people across the country. Physical transportation is just going to have to do for now.

On another subject, are you antagonizing Twilight? Spike said you've been 'arguing' with each other. I can't fathom why you would be, but stop that. She's got enough to deal with without you picking on her... Evenif she deserves it. Pushing Twilight's buttons is my job, don't take extra steps for me.

Finally, I'll have you let Cobalt take over for you after you take over for Eclipse. We still need a tracker, and while I know you're a better scout, you have other things to take care of now. The vulnerability we found in our system has yet to be repaired, so I want to keep anything sent digitally to minimal information at most.

Ah, one last thing. Give Fluttershy a hug for me? I know it must have been hard not to lash out at her any more than you did, but understand that she's a softer soul than you are. It couldn't have been easy living with the guilt of her first kill all alone, but at least she's okay. I know you have the potential to be kind, so exercise it for once, okay?

I love you. Be safe.

-Mom

To Eclipse

I don't know what you think about this girl, but for the love of Divinity, keep the idea of dating her out of your mind, if not for your mother's sake, but for her sake. The last girl is still in therapy recovering from the series of nightmares your mother gave her. Don't let that happen again, please? Oh gods, just thinking about that poor girl makes me sick. Your mother has jealousy issues, keep that in mind. I made the mistake of not reviewing the letter before telling her what was in it. That will not happen again.

In any case, you will have to bring her here as soon as you possibly can, but until the train is running again, you'll be stuck in Ponyville for now. Keep on as you were going to for now. I'll be sending Sombra to help Zephraim take over for you after we get a teleportation circle set up. So much for my day off huh?

If there are no problems, it should be done by Tuesday night, so your uncle should be there Wednesday morning. If the process weren't so tedious and taxing on me, I'd probably just have the two of you warped back here as well, but I simply don't have the magic stored to accomplish that right now. I've also been barred from using the city's reserves due to the blackout that caused last time. Unfortunately, I've abused my own laws a few too many times in the last quarter so I'm still dealing with that backlash. Something something, unjust Queen, you know how it goes.

Send everything you have on file to your Uncle. He needs to know what you've been doing with the girls and where to start them once he takes over. Keep the personal information out as much as you can, and be as detailed about your exercises as possible. Especially anything you've done regarding Pinkimena. If anyone is to know more than they should, it would be her. I'll have Sombra figure out what exactly she knows at some point during his stay.

I'll see you when you get back.

-Aunt C.

Celestia finished writing her letters and checked the clock on her disk.

        “Nineteen forty five huh?” Mere seconds after speaking, a dark red magic circle started to carve itself into her office floor. In a flash of blood red light, Sombra's dark figure appeared.

        “So this is where you've been hiding.” He said, putting his hands in his coat pockets. Celestia relinquished her grip from the sword hidden beneath her blazer and a breath she didn't realize she drawn after seeing it was Sombra

        “Oh, gods... If you could, you know, not do that, that'd be greeeat.” She said sinking into her chair. The black clad Mage came to her desk and took a seat at it's corner while looking out the window at the amber sun.

        “It's getting late. No one was at the castle when I got back. I expected to see one of the boys, but even Zeus is off doing something with his friends. What are you up to?” He asked, keeping his focus on the sunset.

        “Hand writing a letter and two mission updates. Your boy opened his mouth.” She said, still fuming about the now exposed, treasured secret she'd kept for nearly 30 years. He turned to look at her.

        “Define, 'opened his mouth.'” Sombra said, now looking at her.

Fifty years, and those cold green eyes still give me chills. Celestia laid back in her chair and relaxed. Sombra had a strange pacifying effect whenever he walked into a room, be it his aura or his appearance, most were stunned when they saw him.

        “The girls know about us. All of us. Supposedly, it was a combination of Zeus and Zeph that spilled the beans, but then Fluttershy went and sold the house.” Celestia said. The words felt distant somehow, as if they had no real bearing yet, but would eventually become a problem to be confronted and solved. Sombra sighed.

        “That explains why Zeus is out. What else is new?” He asked.

        “Eclipse found a stray, and she is involved in yet darker magic and a time skip. You know, same old, same old.” She said laying the sarcasm on as thick as possible. Sombra brought his hands to his temples.

        “I see... and now that I'm done helping Apollo, that means you want me to...”

        “Trade places with him, yes. I can't yet fathom what sort of complex scheme she's being used in, but whatever it is, she needs to be far away from that town now. Andromeda believes she may be Umbra's incarnate.” Sombra's lips curled in.

        “Hmm... I don't like that. Andromeda has yet to be wrong about anything.” Celestia sat up and put her arms on her desk.

        “I know. Neither do I. But we can't do anything about it until we can get her here, so we'll have to wait until then. In the mean time, we'll set up a circle tomorrow so I can get you there Wednesday morning. Twilight knows who you are now, so it shouldn't do any harm.” Sombra put his hand to his chin.

        “Huh. I get to mess with the twerp again? Well, it might be fun after all...” He said, beginning to form a grin. Celestia stood up and grabbed his shoulders, slowly wrapping herself around him.

        “Oh, be nice. She however, is not your main purpose there. Optimism's incarnate sounds to be more than she seems, and she is far more proficient in soul art than anyone so far. She seems to have a good deal of control on her powers, and she might be stronger than we know. I want you to to find out exactly how much Opty has told her. I still don't have the faith in him that Andromeda does.” Sombra crossed his arms and nodded.

        “And you're doing this because...?” Celestia continued to draw closer, eventually reaching his hands with her own.

        “I haven't see you in a whole week, and I won't see you again for another after tomorrow...” Sombra relaxed and let her absorb him.

        “Bah. I can't 'No' to you anymore. Send your letters, and we can continue when we get home.” He said, pecking her on the lips before releasing himself from her embrace.

        “My, that was easy... You usually put up more of a fight... You must be tired. I'll be sure to 'remove' your fatigue.” She whispered into his ear. Sombra stood and backed away to his circle.

        “I will have no more children this century. I'll see you when you get home Celly.” Sombra made a quick escape, taking almost no time in between walking to his circle and activating it. Celestia sighed.

No chance to draw him back either. One day he'll learn how to take a joke. Oh well. I'll play with him later...

Celestia's hand began to glow with her golden field and her wax seal stamp flew to it. She snapped and her bright red stick of wax appeared in her other hand. She set both objects down, and removed an envelope from her desk drawer. She carefully folded the three pages into thirds and placed them inside it.

        She snapped her fingers again, producing a flame above her thumb. She melted just enough wax to from a pool on top of the envelope, spread the melted wax with the rest of the stick, and pressed it quickly with her stamp. With a fluid motion, she removed the stamp and ran her fingers across the gold to make sure nothing had stuck to it, then blew on the wax to cool it.

        With another snap, the fireplace in the office intensified and shined with a bright lime green glow. She covered the letter in the spell she perfected today, and tossed the letter into the flame. Satisfied that the letter didn't turn to ash and simply vanished, she moved to Sombra's circle and activated it. With one last act to lower the flame in the fire place to ensure nothing would be caught by it, Celestia warped home.