Across the Ages

Chapter 12

Celestia observed the raising of the moon. She was confused as to its unusual, wobbly path. She had done the raising herself for a thousand years while her sister was trapped on said moon and had had many nights with a similar result, but that attempt could only be accomplished because the moon had allowed her to do so. Now, with the return of its true mistress, the moon did not want to listen to Celestia’s orders any more. Unfortunately, this odd event could only mean one thing; her sister had been incapacitated. It was possible that she was injured, magically blocked, or, far more likely, in an altered state of mind.

Normally, when this would happen, Luna would be safe within the palace. In her diminished mental capacity, her magical prowess was greatly reduced, making it impossible for Luna to move the moon as easily as she normally would and very difficult for her to defend herself against an assailant of any real strength. Even more dangerous, would be if Luna were to panic if, or when, she were to be startled. Luna could attack her little ponies in a misguided attempt at self-defense. Luna’s reputation had taken far too long to rebuild after her return from the moon and it wouldn’t survive a relapse.

Luckily, Celestia knew she could rest easy. Luna was down in Ponyville visiting with her most faithful student; Princess Twilight Sparkle. Although young, Celestia knew that there was no issue that may arise that Twilight could not handle. Certainly, Twilight would think of something to keep her sister from losing control or coming to harm.

On top of the security that Twilight provided her, Celestia relied heavily upon the night guard as well. Aside from the impeccable night vision and unusual strength the thestrals have in trade for magic and weather control left little to be desired in their capabilities to defend their princess. Since Luna was, after all, the Night Princess, she was much more their princess than Celestia ever could hope to be. And she was fine with that. Luna could, and should, have the loyalty and love of the thestrals, and any other pony that chose to love her. In fact, Celestia pushed every pony that she could to do the same. After all, what better way could there be to prevent the return of Nightmare Moon?

Still, Celestia felt that it might not be a bad idea to check on her little sister.

With a little concentration and a considerable amount of magic, Celestia reached out in her mind and found the large mass of magic that could only be an alicorn. She then teleported herself into the library of Twilight’s castle, knowing that that was the most likely place to find her student. When she opened her eyes, she found that she was correct. Not only was Twilight there, but so was Rainbow Dash and Rarity, the latter of which was clearly upset about something, but Celestia had other things on her mind.

“Princess Celestia. Why are you here?” Twilight asked.

“Luna appeared to have trouble raising the moon. I believe that she has been incapacitated in some way.” Everyone in the room froze. “What is it?”

“Luna went to speak with Tommy and she hasn’t come back yet,” Rainbow told her.

Celestia hid her concern as best she could, but failed, given that there was a slight twitch in the corner of her eye. “Is that so? And which room was he in again?” Twilight told her. “Thank you,” Celestia said over her shoulder as she headed out of the library in a reserved rush.

Soon, Celestia found the room, guarded by two night guards. They both stiffened from their already stiff stances. As soon as she stood before them, one reached over and opened the door, allowing the solar diarch to enter.

Once inside the room, Celestia froze once again. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it was certainly not the scene before her. There was her little sister, sky blue with a light blue mane, and the strange human towering over her with a ringlet of flowers in his hair and a teacup halfway to his lips, pinkie extended. They were having a tea party. In a flash of light, Celestia altered her own appearance to be smaller and turned her mane into flowing pink locks instead of the ethereal aurora that she sports in the present time.

“Sister, join us,” Luna requested happily

“Yes, Princess Solis, come. Enjoy a biscuit and a cup of delicious tea.” Tommy stood and pulled out a chair for Celestia.

For her part, Celestia shot a warning glare at Tommy before sitting as Tommy pushed her chair in. She wondered briefly as to how Tommy knew her true name, but figured that Luna must have said it.

As Celestia lifted the teacup and kettle, Luna said, “Oh, how do you know Sister?” Once more, Celestia froze.

“Oh, I know all about you and your family, Princess Lunae. King Hannibal and Queen Faust are well known,” Tommy answered as he took another drink, looking at Celestia out of the side of his eye. “The exploits of Starswirl the Bearded have even reached the people of my homeland.”

“Really, I was unaware that anypony outside of Equestria was aware of our teacher.”

“Did he never tell you of his journeys around Equus? Hmm. Well, in a quest for more knowledge, he decided to travel to several of your neighboring countries and learn of their ways and cultures. One can only imagine what fantastic things he must have seen.”

“I just hope he never went to Cattus. The Cat people are cruel and would likely have held him for ransom, or worse,” Luna said with a grimace.

“Perhaps. Thankfully, our teacher has more sense than that,” Celestia added as she reached for another cookie.

Tommy made a note that he would have to read more of that book. “I, for one, would very much like to hear what he has to say about griffons.”

Under the table, Celestia pulled out her scroll and penned a short message to Twilight. Less than a minute later, there was a soft knock at the door. Celestia stood, “Excuse me, I believe I should see to that.”

Tommy watched Celestia walk out the door, catching a glimpse of purple hair outside the door. He took another sip from his teacup, savoring the rich flavor. The powdered tea he was used to couldn’t hold a candle to this stuff.

“Princess Lunae, may I ask you something?”

“Of course, Tommy, proceed.”

“Thank you,” he knew he was laying on the manners a little thicker than might be required, but he was having fun. “I have recently been having issues with unicorns holding me against my will with magic. You wouldn’t happen to know of some way to stop that from happening, would you?”

“Hmm, I may, but why would they be doing that to you? Are you doing something to provoke them?”

“I don’t think so. I believe they just aren’t thinking about their actions beforehand.”

“I have witnessed this, and have even been guilty of the same offense myself.” Luna rubbed her chin in thought. Light metaphorically dawning, she held out her hand and a simple necklace with a midnight blue stone in a silver clasp was held within. She focused on it for a moment, her horn glowing brighter as the stone did the same. When the light faded, she said, “Here. This will prevent unicorn magic from being able to grasp you.” Tommy looked upon the stone greedily, hiding how badly he wanted it in his possession. “But I must warn you; it will not stop any other form of magic. I am not yet skilled enough in those wards.”

Gently lifting the trinket from her palm and placing it around his neck, Tommy thanked Luna. “I am very grateful to you for this, Princess Lunae. Thank you so much.”

“You are quite welcome, Tommy.”

The door opened up again and Celestia leaned in. “Tommy, may I speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes, Princess.” Tommy stood and dipped his head, still refusing to bow to anyone. Tommy tucked the necklace beneath his shirt. “Pardon me, Princess Lunae, but it seems your sister wishes to speak with me.” He leaned in closer to her ear, “I think she has a bit of a crush on me.”

Luna giggled before returning to her tea.

Tommy walked into the hallway and followed Celestia and Twilight into the library where he found that Rarity and Rainbow had already gone home, which was fine by him. “Alright, Princess, what’s up?” he asked as he crossed his sizeable arms in front across his chest.

Twilight and visibly grimacing at his nonchalant behavior around her teacher and friend, but Celestia pressed forward. “Tommy-”

“You know, it sounds silly to be scolded by someone calling me that. I feel like a child. When you want to be serious, you can call me Thomas.”

“Very well. Thomas, how did you come to know my ancient name? Did somepony tell you?”

“Nope,” Tommy replied honestly. “No pony told me.”

“Luna-”

“Lunae,” Tommy corrected.

Celestia, however, was not in a playful mood. “Did she tell you?”

“Nope.”

“Then how did you know?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Me too.” Tommy let his arms swing free again as he turned to leave the room. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my tea is getting cold.”

His progression was halted when the guards at the doorway blocked his way with their spears. “You are going to be honest with me, Thomas,” the word was full of venom as the Solar Princess spat his name. “If you are not honest with me, then I shall put you right back into that cell you called home not too long ago.”

“Listen here, Solis, I haven’t lied to anyone since I got to this place.”

“And yet, I don’t believe you,” her scowl was unnerving Tommy, but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. Celestia’s horn began to glow as she charged a spell.

Twilight recognized the spell before it was even ready to be used. It was a forbidden spell, except for in the most extreme of circumstances. “Princess! You can’t use that!”

“Quiet, Twilight. He is leaving me no other option.”

For his part, Tommy was starting to get scared now. ‘What kind of spell could she be trying to use?’ he thought to himself. There were serious alarms going off in his head. Then, suddenly, there was a different feeling in his head. A presence. He was no longer alone in his own skull, and he had never been so angry in his life.

“What the FUCK are you doing?!”

“If you are not going to forthcoming,” Celestia answered through gritted teeth, “then I will pull the answers from you myself.”

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” He dropped to his knees, hands pressed against his temples, as he grunted under the strain of keeping his secrets his own.

“Stop resisting me, Thomas. You cannot keep me out for long,” Celestia warned.

‘If she wants to know what’s on my mind, then I’ll show her.’

As Celestia attempted to look through Tommy’s memories, an image flashed before her. Feeling victorious, she approached the image. As it came into focus, she instantly wished it hadn’t. There, before her eyes, was herself. However, this was her in a way she had never been before and would never describe to anypony. Ever.

On her throne, in front of a hall full of her subjects, was Tommy. At his feet, on her knees, was Celestia, wearing a collar and not much else. Attached to the collar, was a leash that was being held by Tommy. Her tongue lulled out the side of her mouth, drool dripping down onto her breast, and her eyes were rolled up and unfocused. The crowd seemed to be indifferent to this and were neither doing anything to stop this treatment, nor progress the situation. She could just make out the sound of humming as the image changed.

Now it was the streets of Ponyville. She was no longer naked at least. Instead, she was wearing ridiculous high heels, a pair of fishnet stockings, a very small miniskirt, a tube top that barely hid the important bits, and a plastic belt with condoms in holsters all the way around, several of which were empty. Beside her was a sign that said ‘Suck 4 A Buck’. While she couldn’t read the sign, judging by the wear and tear on the knees of her stockings and the dirt on the back of her skirt, she could guess at what the sign was about, and she had been busy. She didn’t even want to know about what the stains were.

The image faded out again and came back. This time, it was a busy beach, families every where and children at play. There, in the middle of it all, was a nude Celestia and Luna. Standing there in the middle of a blanket, was Tommy, also nude. Beside him, pressing herself against him, was Luna, rubbing his muscles longingly. Before him, doubled over, was Celestia, with a very pleased look upon her face. Before the sound of clapping could continue, she withdrew herself from this tableau.

It took her a second or two to come to her senses. Twilight’s voice being the first thing she could register.

“-estia! Princess Celestia!”

Celestia reached up and placed her hand on top of Twilight’s to get her to stop trying to shake her awake. “I’m okay, Twilight. I’m alright.” Her extreme blush said otherwise.

“Learn… your… lesson?” Tommy panted. Raising an accusatory finger, he said, “Stay the fuck… outta my head.”

Twilight stared up at the angry human with mild horror. How could he speak to the princess like this? How did he break out of a mind reader spell? And what did the princess see while she was in there? More concerning, what might he be hiding?

“Princess, what did you see in there?” Twilight asked, concerned.

Celestia looked her student in the eyes very briefly before looking away quickly, her face glowing a bright red. “I did not find anything… hostile.”

“So… so what does that mean?”

“Gawd damnit!” Tommy burst out. “I’m not out to get anyone! I was zapped here during an experiment and since then I’ve been treated like some kind of defector who’s secretly a spy that sucks at his job. I haven’t lied to anyone, hurt anyone, or been made to feel welcome by anyone. Now leave me alone!”

“Ho… how did you resist me?” Celestia asked, certain images still fresh in her head along with a slightly rising level of fear.

Tommy grunted in frustration. “Gawdammint! Fine! In prison, there are three types of people. Manipulators, victims, and the resistors. Everyone inside is trying to get one over on you. The guards, the inmates, the people running the canteen. You can either be the one taking advantage of other people, stow yourself away inside your own head, or have everything taken from you. Not even your black cherry is safe.”

“Wait, you grew fruit in the prison?” Twilight asked.

Tommy looked her dead in the eye, “No.”

Before Twilight could inquire further or notice the guards eyeing each other knowingly, Tommy turned to leave. He was in no mood for any more questions or judgments.

“Am I under arrest?” he asked, anger barely subdued.

“I, uh, do not think that will be necessary,” Celestia responded, trying to show dignity and authority.

“Good. I’m going back to my tea party then.”

Celestia and Twilight watched as Tommy stormed out of the library, the guards not daring to impede his progression. “Princess, what are we going to do about this?” Twilight asked her mentor.

“For now, Twilight, we shall continue to observe him. Thomas may not be a threat, but we still can’t be certain enough to let him roam our lands, among our citizens, without some sort of safeguard. All we can say for absolute certain is that he is a creature who knows things and likes his secrets. If he truly has not caused any harm to any creature, or broken any of our laws, then we have no right to restrain him or his movements. However, I do wish I knew more about him.

Twilight looked into her teacher’s eyes, noticing the slight blush on her cheeks, and added, “So do I.”

Upon reaching his room, Tommy found the young princess not at the table, but rather asleep atop his bed. All his rage and ire ebbed away. He walked over to the bed and pulled the blankets up and over Lunae, up to her shoulders. She emitted a soft hum of contentment and went back into her silent rest.

With a smile, Tommy reached over and picked up Starswirl’s journal. He then sat upon the chaise lounge and began to read in the soft light of a magic crystal powered table lamp.

Sadly, I fear that my little ponies peaceful lives have been uprooted. I have returned from a mission with my new cohorts to find that the Catian Nation has not only crossed the Equestrian borders, but have laid waste to several cities along that border.

My brave and noble Hannibal has led an army to face this threat. Fortunately, they were successful, but at a very high cost. Several thousand ponies have paid the ultimate price to return peace to their homes. Hannibal being among them.

He had been wounded in battle, but had managed to return to his queen’s side in their new home of Canterlot (I suppose they missed our ancient home as much as I had). The medical ponies had done everything in their power to save their king. I am very sorry to report that my old friend, a pony I had come to think of as a brother, did not survive his wounds.

As much as the loss pained me, it was nothing compared to Faust’s misery. She had become a shell of her former self. She would wander the halls like a living ghost, haunting this majestic palace without aim or purpose. The last time I any pony had seen life in her eyes was at the funeral. She had appeared there in a black gown, each of her daughters clutching one of her hands. The ceremony was held on the place grounds, but that was just a farce.

He was buried in the canyon near Everfree Village, right where the strange meteor struck the Earth, changing her forever. However, that was kept secret from the world. The only ones who knew were Faust and myself. I had secreted away the body under the cover of darkness, leaving behind an empty, but beautiful, crypt. I alone descended down into the canyon. Using my magic, I removed earth and stone, formed a second, unadorned crypt, and lowered my brave Hannibal into the chamber. I left behind no markers or indicators to alert any creature of who was there.

I tried my best to continue on with my life, but Faust seemed to have simply given up. I saw her ignore her duties, her children, her own personal care. She would wear the same clothes for days, always black. Her mane and tail were knotted messes and her fur had lost all of its luster. She would even go for days without eating little more than some dry toast. It was heartbreaking to say the least.

On the first anniversary of the death of her husband, Faust approached me. She admitted to me that she wanted to end her life. She could not bear to live on without her stallion, especially for all eternity. I listened carefully to what she had to say. I tried to talk her out of it. I tried and tried, but she was determined to be with Hannibal again, and wanted me to send her to him.

If any other creature had asked, I would have refused, but she was my family, my friend, and she was hurting like no one I had seen before. Reluctantly, I agreed to do it.

I took her to Hannibal’s tomb, where I raised his body. Thanks to the magic in his body and the surrounding earth, thanks to the meteor, His body had not decomposed at all. I remember waiting for him to open his eyes and greet me one more.

Faust embraced her husband, holding him to her chest one last time. Through her tears, she told me she was ready. I placed a hand upon her head, said my farewells, and plunged a knife into her heart. She died with a smile on her face, and that’s the only thing that allows me to sleep at night.

I folded their hands together and lowered them both back into the crypt, sealing it forever. Fortunately for me, if I ever want to visit my good friends again, I merely have to visit the odd crystalline tree that sprouted above their resting forms. I like to believe that they had so much love for each other and for their citizens, that they could never rest fully. We may, someday, need to call upon them again, but I pray that when we do, they will still be willing to help us.

I took over the care of the princesses. I did my best to raise them as Faust and Hannibal would have wanted. I taught them magic and of the world. I did what I could, but I always fear it wasn’t… isn’t enough.

Unfortunately, I fear I had to leave them behind to attend to a matter of worldly importance with the other Pillars. I wish to return home to my little princesses, but I know it is not to be. There will be only one way to vanquish this evil and we have made our peace with it.

I have done what I could to prepare my ponies, Equestria, and my family for the future. I can only hope they have taken my lessons to heart. I will miss them all dearly but I must leave them all behind in order to ensure their continued health and happiness. Farewell my friends, and good luck to you all.

Tommy closed the book, wiped a tear from his eye, and took a deep breath. He looked back to his loaned bed and at the, once again, full grown Night Princess. He had a new appreciation for what these princesses had gone through. He had thought that they were simply stuck up and felt that the world owed them just because they were bigger and, honestly, hotter than many of the other citizens of their land, but they had seen serious hardships at a very young age.

He still didn’t trust that pearly one though.