Venus Transcendent

Seamus was, for the most part, glad to see his previous owner and friend. But something about her new demeanor made him uncomfortable. She looked tired, and her eyes were sunken into her head from days without sleep. Amethyst seemed angrier than ever after an hour of arguing with Celestia; they couldn't reach a decision and the maximum the latter would provide was one-hundred troops and a meager amount of supplies. They'd been at if for hours and a few ponies were starting to catch glimpses at the hidden conversation the two royals were having.

In certain terms, there is a way to say one thing and mean something completely different. If one paid close attention to the way the two spoke, venomous, heated words were being exchanged. Celestia was calling Amethyst a young, naive foal of a leader, while the other was spitting insults of how pompous and egotistical Celestia was. Over time even the most uneducated pony in the room began to wince from how heated and nasty their words were. At last, the dealings were finished by the Sun Princess.

"As much as I love conversing with you, I'm tired, and it's getting late." She smiled. "You can bunk in Luna's room tonight."

"I'm not leaving until you provide me with five-hundred soldiers! That is the least a princess of your stature could provide."

"Oh, that was the first kindness you've given me all evening. I like it when you preen my feathers."

"I had no intention do to do so." Amethyst hissed.

"Is that your last tactic here? when everything else fails suck up to me as much as you can?" Celestia blinked in such a sweet, sardonic manner more than a few ponies in the room flinched. "I think that if you continue I might just feel inclined to acquiesce to your request."

Seamus couldn't watch this anymore. Celestia was laughing in Amethyst's face behind her mask of sarcasm and he couldn't watch his friend demean herself as the princess was suggesting. He turned to leave, ready to make tracks to his room were he could pack up. He had every intention of leaving with Amethyst. He'd taken no more than two steps before he ran into Luna. The Empress of the night was a kind mistress and a cunning mare, and she, much unlike her sister, didn't feel the need to tease a pony that was asking for her help. She strode into the throne room, her presence interrupting the conversation at hoof and setting Celestia on edge. Luna liked to ruin her fun.

"Amethyst Firenze' Amore," Luna nodded with respect. "I have heard good things about you as a leader. I'd be glad to provide you with a group of three-hundred of my own guards free of charge. I apologize for not giving you more but I must keep Canterlot safe at night. Is that adequate?"

Amethyst gave Celestia a smirk. "For free, that is more than I could have hoped for."

"The least I could do." Luna gave the princess a warm smile, happy to help. "They will accompany you out tomorrow afternoon. Pardon the lack of urgency, as they are used to sleeping during the day. It will do them good to see some action again. Ever since the Wedding disaster they've been rather lax. A few days of marching North will get them back into shape, though."

Celestia's eyes were spitting daggers at her sister in outrage. She'd deprived her of good fun. That and she didn't want to seem like a charity case. The princess didn't want every country in trouble to be clamoring for a handout. Seamus caught her eye; he looked back at Luna as fast as he could. The princess looked as if she was on the edge of violence, shaking with unspent fury. She's had no intention of giving Amethyst anything, she'd planned on carrying on like this until Amethyst snapped and made a foal of herself.

"And," Luna continued. "I'm sure that there will be volunteers for this journey. Anypony that would like to join Princess Amethyst in reclaiming her country is very welcome to. Simply meet her tomorrow afternoon at entrance to the city."

Seamus trotted down the hall to Luna's room, thinking of what he could say. He wanted to thank her for her bravery back there. It meant a lot that she'd stuck her neck out for him and his home country. He wanted to tell her in a way that made it seem like no big deal, but in the back of his mind he knew what she'd done was, in essence, the best thing she could have done for him. He arrived at her bedroom door with every intention of knocking, but he couldn't help but overhear somepony whispering inside.

The curious colt knew it wasn't polite to eavesdrop, and Luna herself frowned on the practice, but in the end his instincts won over. He pressed his ear to the door, listening intently.

"Are you sure it went missing?" He heard Amethyst ask. Her voice sounded desperate.

"I had it down in the catacombs under the castle, and whoever managed to get their hooves on it was an expert. I wouldn't have mattered if we'd burned it or sent it to the far side of Tartarus, the pony that stole it would have gotten their hooves on the Book one way or another."

"But Luna you know what could happen if the Book found it's way back to the North. It could undo everything I've worked for, everything I've done to get my country back."

Seamus slipped and hit his head off the floor, sending a dull thud sounding off down the corridor. The two royals feel quiet. The smaller alicorn stood up and knocked, doing his best to look casual. Luna answered the door in her nightgown, looking cross. Her face lightened when she saw the young prince smiling up at her.

"Oh, Seamus." She sighed with relief. "I though you were somepony else for a moment. Come on in if you'd like, me and Amethyst were just talking."

Amethyst was laying down on Luna's bed, looking relaxed as she could. Her nerves still showed, though, as her hoof kept tapping on the side table in the rapid, intense tempo. The room looked much better than it had last year. Far less creepy decor and candles stabbed into the skulls of animals. Now it had a warm air, golden was the primary palette and the candles on the walls lent an even more cozy atmosphere to the suite.

The Princess leapt off the bed and picked Seamus up like he weighed no more than a box of feathers. "You didn't grow much. I expected you to be... bigger."

"Well excuse the flying feathers out of me for not growing to your standards."  The colt crossed his front legs in mock anger.

It won him a smile from Amethyst . "You didn't change one bit." She dropped him; he landed roughly on the bed. "I honestly thought you'd be gone by now. Living somewhere far, far away from civilization. I'm glad I was wrong."

"It's been rough." Luna broke in. "But he's tougher than you give him credit for. I think he might want to come with you when you go back North."

Amethyst turned to look at Seamus with cold, yet caring eyes. "Is that true? Do you plan on accompanying me?"

"Well... I was hoping that I could come with you specifically. I feel like I should have been there when the Counties split apart. I feel like I could have done something. As much as I hate Melody, I still love the castle. I may have not have seen the rest of the Counties, but the things I've heard..."

"So you want to come for purely humanitarian reasons?" Amethyst sighed. "I can bring you, but I'm telling you that things won't be good for you. You're an alicorn, that makes you a prime target for every arrow, spell and spear that the rebels have. You'd be in constant danger and I'd hate to have you killed, or worse, tortured."

"I can take it." Seamus stood up, brave as could be.

"Although I'd love to say no, you stubborn little foal, I know you well enough that you'll still follow me. Better to have you where I can see you. Fine, you will be traveling with me. You can bring a friend since I'll have you under the most extensive security I can afford."

"I don't have many friends here..."

Scootaloo jumped out from behind the door. "Don't have many friends you big jerk!" The filly hit him in the face, giving him a nosebleed. "I'm your friend! Seriously you freaking dork I followed you here and I was the first pony to give you a hug when you came back to Ponyville! Tell them you don't have any friends..."

"So you're going to come with him?" Luna asked. "I'm sorry but this is no place for a filly."

The flightless pegasus was so angry her hooves were tearing up the carpet. Seamus stood up, holding his nose and wiping the blood away. He gave Luna a look, a dirty, angry look that told her she was wrong. Scootaloo was more than capable of making the trip with him and Amethyst. He knew that she was a stubborn, sturdy filly and she knew how to make it on her own. That and even if Luna told her no she'd come along anyway.

"Fine, the flightless filly can go." The Princess caved.

"But what about the rest of the CMC?" Seamus asked.

"They have families and school and all that." Scootaloo replied. "I don't have a family and I couldn't care less about school. I'm flunking anyway. I want to come with you. I don't have anything else to do here, so I think that I'll go with Sea on a little adventure."

Amethyst smiled "I like this filly. She has nothing to lose and she's spunky. A little bit of a temper, but I like her."