Royal Ties

Luna and Stardust were already on the train to Ponyville. Both ponies were in silence as Luna read the letter again and again.

“I… I just don’t… wh… why would he do anything like that? What the hell’s going on with him?” Stardust broke the silence his voice straining to even come out. He shook his head still utterly devastated and in complete disbelief over the letter.

“I am the one that grew up with him. You don’t have to tell me that, Stardust.” Luna was just as worried, constantly looking out the window for the arriving station. Neither of them could pass the time fast enough to make their destination arrive faster.

He put his head in his hands, unable to articulate any thoughts. Everything was just too much for him to comprehend. “I…” He could barely mumble now, so many things were washing over him.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. We have to assume there is a reason. We would be just as insane not to.” Luna finally snapped her gaze back to Stardust with a stern, yet still worried look.

“I know… I’m just…” He shivered a little, “I’m worried about everything… I don’t want anything to happen to him, and… I don’t want anything to happen to anypony else.” Stardust said quietly, looking up at her. “I’ve just… never felt so… so unsure of anything in my life…” His entire demeanor seemed much darker than ever before, it was as if something in him was multiplying his uncertainty and worry ten times over leaving nothing else inside of him. “I’m… so damn scared that something terrible is happening… a-and th-this is just the start of it all…” He suddenly lunged at Luna, his arms wrapping tightly around the princess. He seemed to be silently pleading with her, for comfort in all of this. She knew from the night before, he was scared of losing anypony, most of all it seemed to be he was truly scared of losing her and Ash.

• Later, back at Ponyville.

Twilight, Celestia, and Starlight were deathly silent. Their hearts threatened to explode with how panicked they were beating. “Where did he go?” Starlight seemed genuinely startled for the first time since she arrived.

“I don’t know… he could have gone anywhere.” Celestia shivered at the thought.

“We need to find him!” Twilight stated.

“If he hates you as much as he portrayed, he’ll come to us.” Starlight stepped up to Twilight with a serious stare. Looking into the unicorn’s eyes, Twilight could see concern for Twilight’s like past the dozens of layers of fortitude and willpower she so stoically shows on a daily basis.

“He…” Twilight could barely mutter out. She closed her eyes, “Y-...” Her voice was choked almost as if she didn’t really know what to say anymore. “We… we need to prepare for him to return than…” She said quietly,

“Luna should be arriving here shortly… we’ll be more than ready.” Celestia assured, “I… just hope he comes back to us. That… that was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It truly wasn’t him.”

A light whimper made Celestia and Twilight’s ears perk. They turned and saw that their greatest line of defense was gone. Shock and terror were all the emotions the two mares felt as they saw the vines wrapped around Starlight’s neck and horn. They saw just how close the thorns were to the unicorn’s neck, or more precisely, how close they were to penetrating the skin.

“N-no!” Twilight gasped out, her mind racing for any way to get her friend out of harm's way.

“Ash!”

A figure’s outline filled in beside Starlight. It was clearly Ash, however he was hiding began to falter. His gaze slowly turned to the entrance. Standing there was Stardust, with Luna just behind him. Ash’s shoulders slumped over. “Star… dust?” Ash’s true voice uttered quietly. Before anypony could respond, Stardust’s aura disintegrated every single vine in the room with a heat so violent that even the armor he had built melted. His body was flung into wall, after wall, after wall, dragging his face through the diamond-strength walls as if it was made of candy. The fire in Starlight’s eyes bled a hate as crimson as the light trickle of blood on her neck.

Stardust’s gaze turned only momentarily to Starlight before the unicorn felt a much more oppressive aura surround her, hanging almost like a thick gas around her entire being. Before anyone could so much as react Starlight vanished along with Ash, having been teleported some distance away from the castle. As Ash’s body hit the ground Stardust was quick to move beside him, kneeling down beside the massive plant pony.

“S-star… My Stardust.” Ash’s white eyes were clear as the stars, though they were trying their hardest to keep the rest at bay. Stardust remained quite, gently cupping Ash’s cheek. A few tears forming in the unicorn’s eyes.

“Ash…” He whispered softly, his voice filled with nothing but the purest form of love and care. He pulled Ash into his arms as best he could, holding him tightly, almost like the only thing he feared from Ash was him vanishing forever. Tears now sliding freely down his face, “I…” He choked back a sob, “Please… please stay…” He begged softly.

Ash grabbed Stardust’s head, cupping each cheek. “Kill me… you need to before it- it’s t-too late…” Ash pleaded.

“I can’t… I can’t kill you…” Stardust shook his head, squeezing Ash closer. “I… I can’t lose you…” He sobbed, leaning down for just a moment, his lips touching Ash’s in a soft kiss that betrayed every ounce of fear Stardust had. The tall plant pony’s eyes widened. Tears poured from his white gaze. Slowly, Ash’s eyes closed, and he embraced Stardust with a hug so gentle that, despite his condition, still believed Stardust was a brittle as a matchstick. The two were together for the longest fraction of time. Surprising the unicorn, Ash stood up, pulling Stardust with him without much effort. Ash’s gaze never for a moment left Star’s.

Stardust just squeezed Ash tighter, not wanting to even entertain the idea of separating from the larger stallion. Though eventually he had to, taking in a deep breath. “I love you Ash.” He said, tears still running down his face, “I love you so much…” He sniffled.

“I know. And the last thing I’m going to do is hurt myself, because the only thing worse than death… is causing you pain.” Ash’s sanity seemed to have taken full control, yet the two of them felt as though it wasn’t over quite yet. Stardust nuzzled Ash for a few moments, his face pressing harder into Ash’s neck. Star’s tears began anew, and he didn’t hold them back. In that moment Stardust had felt his heart nearly stop, Ash brought something back that Stardust didn’t know how to handle. All he could do was hug Ash tightly, there was no silence in the room, Star’s heart was beating far too loudly to let that happen, it seemed like it was about to explode.

Minutes into their embrace had passed before the two noticed that everypony else had found them. Though everypony was still only Celestia, Luna, Starlight, and Twilight. The rest of her friends had gone to safety, knowing far too well they were outmatched and would only get in the way should things go wrong.

“There’s something I have to do.” Ash whispered to Stardust.

Stardust looked up at Ash, “What… do you have to do?” He asked shakily.

Ash stood up and made eye contact with Starlight Glimmer. The two maintained their gazes before finally Starlight nodded. “There’s no point in talking. I was fully willing to die and take you two with me, and I said I wouldn’t allow myself to die for Stardust’s sake. But I can’t promise that Starlight will do the same, so consider your options before you even think about your next move.” Ash finished, stating everything aloud. Everypony was deathly silent. Not a word came immediately, just the wind. What breeze that blew only seemed to hit Ash. In fact, nopony else even felt such a gust. His left eye gave off a solid black, radiating a darkness that no light could penetrate. The other eye was the familiar yellow, and it had electricity arcing around in front of the lids. The mix of energies built, and built, Ash’s fists balling angrily. The anger and hatred that radiated said energies showed the slightest hint of white encircling them.

Each eye looked like an eclipse, except the white circles gave off an even brighter white. The white began to engulf the rest, beginning to engulf and entrap the energies in a tomb of brilliant white glass. Ash brought his hands to his eyes, and everypony was blinded by a blinding white flash. When everyone returned their gaze to Ash, his hands were down by his sides, and his eyes were closed.

Starlight still felt a bit uneasy, “Is everything… okay?” She asked quietly, almost worried that they had only just experienced the tip of a massive iceberg.

“Ash… a-are you okay?” Celestia’s voice cracked, though she didn’t take a step forward.

The rest of them could still feel each entity’s presence. The question is, when Ash opened his eyes, would it be Ash? There was a palpable tension in the air that tasted so bad that everypony was on the verge of nausea. Finally, his eyes opened. They were greeted by two bright white orbs, and familiar, razor sharp rows of shark teeth. “Hey.” Ash said casually.

Everypony breathed a collective sigh of relief, Stardust once again tightly hugged Ash, nuzzling the larger stallion lovingly.

“Thank the gods…” Twilight breathed out, finally able to relax after everything that had happened.

“You’re going to need to take a step back.” Ash asked as politely as possible, his smile turning to a frown. Everypony saw his fists were still balled, and they saw the familiar black energy leaking from between the fingers of his left hand, and the yellow electricity spark out from the right. Stardust teleported himself back to the rest of the group, everypony else taking a few steps back. Ash held his hands out, slowly unballing his fists. The appropriate hands released two perfectly round spheres of energy. Each ball levitating up, pausing at eye-level. “I would suggest you end this war, but we both know that isn’t going to happen.” He said in a quiet, almost depressed tone.

In the blink of an eye, two figures were standing side-by-side in front of Ash. Whatever they were, the group saw what they were really fighting back in the castle. The yellow figure was the tallest. It was taller than both Ash and Celestia. His frame was bestial, wide, imitating a muscular body. It looked more like a Minotaur, though it lacked horns and anything else similar other than the shape.

The black figure was darker than shadow. Staring at it sent chills down everpony’s spines. Though they were both unnatural, this one was different. There was one word that described it. A single word that all the ponies staring into it agreed universally. Malevolent. Utter Malevolence. The figure shared a shape more akin to Ash, only much shorter, with a much more elegant and straight posture. The one thing both creatures shared were two, white, eyes. The two entities stayed long enough to burn themselves into everypony’s mind. A bolt of lightning identical to their colors flashed, leaving a burn mark where they once stood.

Ash smiled and let out a long sigh of relief. “Adios little brothers.” He uttered a farewell. Looking back to everypony else. “Is everypony okay?”

Everypony was simply staring at Ash, all of them not really comprehending what they just saw.

“W…” Stardust muttered quietly, blinking a few times to fully clear his vision.

“We’re… fine but…” Celestia murmured.

“You… h-have brothers?” Twilight eeped out.

“I think that’s… rather obvious now.” Starlight commented, glancing nervously up at Ash for a moment, “But… why were they inside of you?”

“They’ve been inside me for, well, ever. Don’t take that out of context.” Ash joked in a manner playful enough to fool them for a split second that what just happened didn’t happen. If the weren’t certain before, they were now… It was Ash.

“Okay… but why did they take control of you?” Stardust piped up.

“Let’s start from the beginning. You see, the sun and moon…” Ash leaned his head back and raised his arms out as if preparing to tell a lengthy story with an excessive amount of hand gestures.

Stardust glanced momentarily to Luna, “I believe most of us know this story already.” She laughed. “Well, at least three of us know it.”

“Oh, well that saves some trouble.” Ash beamed, putting an arm around Luna and giving a one-armed hug. “Thanks Lunie moonie.”

Luna scoffed and looked away from him for a moment before returning the hug.

“I still want to know… how did they take control of you, when you’re basically the very essence of Equestria.” Stardust said.

“Wait… what?” Both Twilight and Starlight said, now staring right at Ash.

Ash’s face blanked. His eyes were stretched to utterly shocked proportions. His arm slowly left Luna’s body, and he took a step away from his niece. Luna’s face slowly went blank as well.

“Ash, is something wrong?” Stardust asked, stepping up to him and gently taking both his hands.

Ash’s chest puffed out slowly, and sank back in via long, steady breaths. He set his stare straight ahead, not looking at anypony. “Well, since the cat is out of the bag…” Ash began, speaking through gritted teeth. Though to the average pony, Ash’s gaze simply switched to Luna. But to Luna, his eyes rolled slowly toward the moon princess in a way that was so painful and tooth grindingly scary that his slowly rolling eyes might as well have been played to the sounds of nails on a chalkboard.

Luna’s ears immediately drooped and she stared down at the ground, utterly ashamed of herself.

Stardust glared up at Ash, “Oh, I see.” He said, letting out a small sigh, he stepped back from Ash and simply crossed his arms. “So, no one was supposed to know that?”

“Please don’t hate me.” Ash put his hands on his head. “No one was supposed to know that… I trusted you… Ohh gods please…” Ash’s demeanor shocked the others. He had never been in such a state of panic. Though they knew for certain it wasn’t going to lead to anything destructive, it hurt to watch. The sight of the loving giant in such a state of fear was unbearable.

“Hate isn’t something I could ever feel for you. I just…” Stardust sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “Look… we all have secrets we want to keep, and things we feel should be hidden away and never brought up again.”

“Like me! I’m a monster. Those two haven’t done nearly the wrongs that I’ve done. I should have stayed hidde-”

Stardust had grabbed Ash’s snout, silencing him completely. “No.” He stated firmly, “First off, don’t call yourself a monster again, a monster doesn’t act the way you do.” He let go of Ash’s face, cupping his cheek. “Second, please, for your sake just… leave what happened in the past there. Don’t beat yourself up over things you can’t change.” He caressed Ash’s face, smiling warmly up at him. “Gods, you and I have so much we need to talk about when we’re alone if we’re going to truly make our lives together serious.” He pulled Ash’s head down, staring deeply into his eyes. “You’re an absolutely ridiculous stallion, and you manage to make me love you even more every second.” He momentarily kissed Ash, now hugging him in full again. “Oh, and if I ever catch you saying you should have stayed hidden again… well, let’s just say I’m going to show you every reason why that’s wrong.”

Stardust expected to see Ash’s smile. It was the right amount of tough love, pep, and inspiration. But Ash hadn’t changed his demeanor at all. The look in Ash’s eyes was despair. Something was wrong, truly wrong. There was a deep seeded issue that Ash couldn’t just put on a smile and ignore.

“Ash, what’s wrong?” Stardust asked worriedly.

Ash slowly looked back at Stardust. “You’re right… I shouldn’t have hidden away. They deserve to know the truth.” He said in a dead voice, devoid of all hope. The thought ran through everypony’s mind, and there was no way to deny. Ash did something horrible… but what?

"Ash..." Stardust murmured, "What... are you talking about?"

"No! I deserve to suffer for what I did to you. But I can't tell them. I'd rather die. I can't!" Ash fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. "Just let me die... It isn't worth hurting them, NO! IT WOULD DESTROY THEM!" He shrieked as if he was talking to someone. But both brothers had been banished from his body, so who was he talking to? The rest of the ponies tried to sense anything else residing within him. There was in fact another. But it wasn't evil. In fact it was quite the opposite, comprised of nothing but love and compassion. Ash's energy gave off regret, despair, sadness. One thought ran through Ash's consciousness on repeat: penance, penance, penance.... the other consciousness however, was uttering several messages to Ash: They love you. No one will judge you. You are a good pony. You didn't know.... but there was one recurring phrase repeated above all else. A phrase that it kept telling Ash over, and over. It said: I forgive you.

Stardust had stumbled back out of surprised and was now on the floor. His heart was racing and he couldn't so much as utter a word. Not a single one of them knew what was going on, or what they could even do.

"I didn't know. I couldn't have... why would you let me. You didn't have to. It was your body!" Ash wailed. Those words send shockwaves through everypony. While they may not know exactly who... it was all becoming much clearer.

"Ash... wh-what are you talking about?" Celestia asked uncertainly, everyone now staring at him. Though their care for him hadn't diminished in the slightest, they were just now more worried than ever before.

"My brothers and I... we are the embodiments of what comprises this planet. The sun gives this world life, it's emissary a powerful alicorn like Celestia, able to control it and all it's majesty. The moon, giving life to the night and those who flourish during it. A moon that gifted us Luna. And the stars in between to make us reach for them, always striving to go above and beyond. But something happened that made my brothers petrified. One of the stars reached back..." Ash said in a more somber tone, finding comfort in a history lesson.

Everyone listened to him, giving him their fullest attention. This was something none of them knew, and they were all willing to learn.

"Luna and Celestia were never told of this visitor. Only my brothers and I knew. Being the oldest and wisest, I chose to welcome the newcomer. But my youngest was the smartest, and selfish. We had our sun, Celestia. Our moon, Luna. And each other. My brothers and I had no forms, so we took animals and plants to represent ourselves. But this newcomer wasn't alone."

"What... did the newcomer bring?" Celestia asked quietly.

There was a long pause. "Ponies." Ash said.

Not a single one of them could even comprehend what that meant, they understood the word perfectly. They just... couldn't fathom the implications of that.

"So... o-originally ponies didn't even... exist here?" Starlight muttered quietly.

"The embodiment of a dying star used it's dying breath to give the ponies it failed to protect hope. And we took them in. Celestia, Luna..." Ash looked up at the two celestial goddesses.

The two goddesses looked back at Ash. "That's..." Luna mumbled.

"Oh my..." Celestia's voice trembled.

"That dying star's name was Solaris." Ash finished.

Both of them fell completely silent and their ears drooped instantly. The shock of his words hitting them both hard.

"I couldn't let him die, so I gave him my life. I got to watch you two grow up before you even knew me. Gosh, I am so proud of you two." Ash started to sob uncontrollably.

Celestia and Luna were instantly hugging him, squeezing him as tightly as they could. Neither was their usual composed selves as they started to break down, tears sliding down their faces as they nuzzled him.

"This all happened before you two arrived. Only when given a true purpose was an avatar born. The world you all know and love was seeded by him." Ash stood up and approached Star, cupping his cheeks to finally repay the unicorn's fruitless efforts earlier when Ash was depressed. "Our lives, and mine, was given purpose all because of Stardust." Ash said metaphorically.

Stardust's eyes glimmered for a few moments, his eyes locking with Ash's. He reached up and cupped Ash's hand, smiling weakly up at the stallion.

Ash gave him a gentle kiss before returning to Celestia and Luna. "I gave my life to Solaris so he could raise you two. A job I was not qualified for. But he taught me to be a parent, through his eyes. The truth I have been so ashamed of... I never went looking for your father. It was your father that came to me. I gave myself so you two could have a father, And when you two grew up. he gave me that life back so I could be an uncle. But I threw so much of it away. I couldn't handle hurting you if you two ever found out. Me looking for your father was an excuse for me to run away so you'd never find out he's never coming back because of me!" Ash wailed in a new wave of tears and sobs.

Celestia and Luna both hugged him once more, this time joined in full by Stardust. "There's... so much we didn't know about all of this." Celestia started quietly, pulling his head into her neck, gently running her hand down his cheek.

"Ash, you're an amazing pony... you did everything that you thought was right. When you returned we both said the only thing that mattered was that you were here. And that's the truth. Nothing will ever change the fact that we love you." Luna said softly, nuzzling him lightly.

"It was his choice to give you a chance. Don't blame yourself, no pony is to blame for it..." Celestia cooed softly. "We just have to make sure we live the best way we can. Just as we have. Forgive and forget... so long as we continue to change and make our home better than it was the day before, so that way there's always... always hope for something better. You can always look back at yesterday and say how you could have done something better, or look to tomorrow for what might come, but you need... always need to ground yourself in today, in the here and now."

"Your father gave me his life, and I won't waste another day of it hiding." Ash hugged Celestia tightly. "I want to be more than a father or uncle. I want you to feel special..."

"Just by being here you're already making me feel special." Celestia hugged him back squeezing him tightly.

Ash moved to kiss Celestia, but froze. He glanced over to Stardust as if asking for permission.

The glimmer Ash saw in Stardust's eyes told him it was more than alright. It didn't hurt that his smile doubled as well. "You don't need to ask my permission for anything." He assured.

"In some cultures that's considered rape." Ash chuckled.

Stardust rolled his eyes, "Very funny." He sighed, giving Ash a small grin.

"Right, where was I?" Ash turned back to the princess. He tackled Celestia onto a bed of tentacles that quickly formed to pad their landing.

"I want to do so much more than just kiss you..." Ash peppered her face with his lips. Every kiss was even more loving than the last. His next whisper gave her chills. "No language can detail the volumes of your beauty..."

"Oh dear gods, that's enough cheese to make a sandwich." Stardust said, stifling a laugh as he looked away from the two.

That joke definitely drew Ash's attention. Celestia gasped as the stallion disappeared suddenly from the flurry is kisses she was receiving. It seemed as if he teleported, but Ash can't use magic. Stardust opened his mouth to let out an equally shocked sound, but was unable. The speed at which Ash moved distorted the air, nearly knocking Stardust over with the split second of hurricane wind. The temporary vacuum pulled the breath from Stardust's lungs The first thing Stardust's mind registered after flipping back on was a kiss. Specifically Ash's lips on his. Stardust was absolutely stunned at Ash's true speed. He literally took his breath away. The only time anypony saw him move that fast was during the rampage back in the castle.

It took only a few moments before Star's mind caught up with his body. His eyes slid close as he slowly hugged Ash, squeezing the large stallion lovingly. The moments dragged on into eternity, and for them both it was perfect. Stardust pulled back from Ash's soft lips, now eyeing Ash with an almost sultry grin. "My, my." He breathed, nuzzling Ash's chest. "An act like that deserves a reward..." He leaned in closer to Ash's ear, "Would my stallion want me to cook for him, and give him a nice show?" He whispered, nipping it softly. "Or did you just want to go somewhere we can make even warmer and just cuddle up together?"

"Well, I'm still sore from having two people inside me. So cuddling sounds perfect."

"Great! Then off to my home it is." Stardust smiled, squeezing Ash even more. "Than when you get up, I'm going to cook a feast."

Ash gave a toothless smile, something that was rare for him. He didn't feel like making anymore jokes, or witty remarks. The towering pony closed his eyes and embraced the sensation of Stardust's arms around him. "That sounds lovely..."