Venus Transcendent

by DWhay

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Romance
Length: 16458

A sequel to my story 'Venus Rising'.

The eagerly awaited sequel to Venus Rising, this fiction will take place after the first by about one year.
It follows the alicorn of Venus on his adventure into the public light, the pressure of being a ruler and managing his personal and public life.

Seamus is a young stallion now, and after the traumatic events in his foalhood he is ready to turn over a new leaf, but the dark secrets of the castle beckon to be explored by the adventurous young colt…

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-03 19:38:44 UTC

Prologue: Starting over

It had been a year. One year since that awful incident. Twelve long months of learning everything again. For what felt like an eternity Seamus lay in his bed and thought of himself. He was an alicorn, a young colt becoming a stallion, and a future ruler of one of that greatest countries on Earth. He was overwhelmed at first, and depression had settled in well before he'd even started his formal tutoring with Celestia. He was alone in the universe, socially and mentally isolated from anypony he met by how cold his heart was becoming. It was all he'd known. Death, destruction, torture, tragedy and loss. He was becoming a sociopath. He couldn't feel anything anymore. If he like a pony it was in a purely as their physical being, not for who they were. The colt was loosing himself to the thing he feared most.

Love, friendship, connections, family, friends. He had none of those. All were dead and he couldn't make any more. Like a ship trapped in an ice floe, he was incapable of moving forward in any sort of relationship, platonic or otherwise. He just couldn't deal with the fact that everypony around him seemed to die awful, tragic deaths and he could never do anything about it. He thought it was him, something about him was making ponies go insane. It must be a problem with him since if it was anypony else, they would have died by then. He was the sole variable in this mad equation that didn't equate.

Seamus sat up in bed, thinking of WindSnap. "I killed you... I was the one who was supposed to die and you got in the way."

A tear rolled down his cheek, hitting the sheets. The colt reached over to his nightstand and grabbed a bottle of wine, seeking to drown his woes in the bittersweet cranberry vintage. He'd tried this many times before with no results. It was Saturday, so he didn't have to wake up the next morning. He knew a spell for hangovers and he didn't plan on doing anything important. He never did. He just lay in his room in his spare time and thought of those long dead. He'd been filled in on his past and what he'd done in his young life. The only conclusion he could come to was that he was a monster.

"Maybe... one more drink will make me feel better." He muttered, taking another long draft.

It always went that way. 'One more drink, maybe.' was the thing he always said before he drunk himself to sleep. He didn't care, either. He knew he had a problem, he was antisocial and shy, he drank too much and he sat dwelling in his room for most of his days. He didn't read, he didn't have a hobby, he did nothing but drink, learn a few things from his tutors, drink some more and sleep. He didn't see the value in all of it. He didn't even see the point in living.

Seamus had a massive room in a turret tower, far away from the rest of the castle. The suite was simple, but cozy. He had a fireplace and a large canopy bed, a bookshelf he never used and a closet full of clothes he never wore. There were thick red curtains that he never opened to the light of day and a trapdoor he hardly ever unlocked. He never left that room, he didn't want to.

The alicorn had heard tell of Luna being captured and brought back, by her sister, and her eventual rehabilitation. She'd sent many, many notes to Seamus expressing her deepest apologies for what she put him through. Seamus knew it wasn't her fault and that she was under the control of an ancient Dark Artifact, so he'd written back to her saying that he accepted her apology. He didn't care to see her again. He hadn't in fact. She never visited in that little corner of the universe. He was completely alone in his little bubble. Celestia wouldn't raise a hoof to help him through his trouble, so all he did was get worse.

The worst part was that he drew pictures of those he had lost. Sky, WindSnap and Silver were drawn onto is wall with artistic precision. He'd spent a month on each, and now all he did was stare at their faces and cry. He'd brought the death of each one by just being there. Sky, killed by Jakben. Silver likewise. WindSnap was killed by Rainbow Dash being controlled by Jakben. Seamus stared at them all night sometimes, unable to do anything but cry and mutter his prayers of forgiveness to each one. He couldn't bear the psychological torture that he was put through by having them stare at him day after day, even as he tried to sleep. He didn't want to destroy the drawings, either. He thought he deserved it, the pain.

The colt took another sip. it was going to be a long night. He reached out with his hoof and touched Sky's face, a tear running down his neck.

A bang awoke him, startling the hung over alicorn. "What?" He mumbled into his pillow, his mane disheveled.

"Get up and get down to the throne room! Pack your bags with your best clothes and meet the Princess down in the Grand Hall!"  A guard yelled through the door.

"Why should I?" Seamus sniffed. "It'll be awful anyway....."

"She gave me the orders to physically remove you if you didn't comply, sir."

Seamus glared at the door. "Why don't you try?"

The guard burst through the trapdoor, lunging at the colt to try and wrestle him down. Seamus smirked and let him come, gripping his bottle of wine under his pillow. Just as soon as the guard came close, the nimble alicorn jumped over him and over to the trapdoor, still holding the bottle behind his back. The guard ran at him again, but this time Seamus slid between his legs, putting him behind the confused stallion. The colt threw the bottle at the back of the guard's head, breaking it over his helmet.

The guard, completely incapacitated, fell all the way down the tower stairs.

"Serves him right." Seamus snapped, slamming the door and locking it with magic. "Damned guards. Can't just leave me alone."

The colt sighed and crawled back into bed, smiling at his accomplishment.

"You are going to get up now or so help me I will wrestle you down and take you to the Throne Room myself."

Seamus' eyes snapped wide open at the sound of Rainbow Dash's voice. Her vampriric eyes were merely an inch from his, burning into his furiously.

"Umm... hey Rainbow.... what's up?"

"Don't 'what's up' me! This is an intervention. We can't stand to see you like this anymore. Get up, I already packed you, let's go! You're coming with us to Ponyville to live with Rarity."

"Hell n-" He couldn't even make out the last syllable before Rainbow tackled him out of bed and grabbed him by his horn, lifting the small colt in her arms. He weighed as much as a paperweight to her, and it didn't really matter if he tried to use magic or not, it didn't affect her anymore. She dissapeared in a blur of motion, grabbing his things just as impossibly fast. And heading post-haste to the throne room.

"This is colt-napping! This isn't legal!" Seamus roared as he sat in the throne room, arms crossed. "I don't want to leave! I want to be left alone! You all need to just leave me to my own pastimes and go home."

The mane six looked at him with the greatest of pity, wondering how they would convince him. He looked absolutely livid sitting on the throne room floor, pure rage flaring in his eyes. He didn't want to leave, he wanted to wallow in remorse.

"Dear... " Rarity began. "I don't know how to tell you this, but you're going to Ponyville for a little while to be with regular ponies, ponies that want to be your friend."

"I don't want your disgusting, fetid friendship! I want you to leave me be! I don't even deserve to have friends..."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy murmured.

Twilight stepped forward. "You're going to spend your first three days of the week in Ponyville and the rest here in Canterlot. You'll go to school there and here you'll be tutored. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like an egghead mare trying to say I'm an idiot that has to engage in talk with common, petty foals every day and answer questions on things I already know and you want to keep an eye on me because your soft, squishy conscious' can't allow you to do otherwise."

Twilight balked, enraged. "Do you have any idea how hard we've tried for you? Do you know what Rainbow has been through after you came here? Do you know what I've been through and Luna's been through?! You owe it to us to just give it a bucking try, or I swear on Celestia's mane that you are never going to hear the end of it from me or anypony else! There is a carriage outside waiting for us, now haul your sorry, ungrateful plot out there or I'll personally take you there myself in a coffin!"

Everpony around the unicorn stepped back, scared by Twilight's sudden rage. Seamus' eyes were watering.

"I'm sorry... It's all my fault for what happened to you and Luna and Rainbow... I should... just leave you all alone. You're better off without me...."

"Twilight." Fluttershy scolded. "None of these things are his fault, he's just a victim here."

The mare knelt beside Seamus smiling. "Look, Sea. We know that you're a good colt, bad things just keep happening to you. But not anymore. You can live a life and have friends and everything, now that you're free from Melody and that vampire you can make your own decisions and love who you want. I don't care if you're a misfit or you are a little unusual, you're a good little colt and I love you."

"But... I made Rainbow into a monster, I killed a pony, Rainbow killed a pony, I corrupted Luna and I caused the death of dozens more... I'm a freak. I care about you too much to hurt you, Fluttershy. That's all I do to the ponies I love, and I don't want you to be the next one."

Pinkie was sniffling and the back of the group, drying her tears with a handkerchief. "This is so beautiful..." She squeaked.

"Oh, little colt, why do you tell yourself such things?" Fluttershy smiled. "You aren't a freak or a monster. You're a colt, a little foal that I love very much. Don't tell yourself that you're worthless, you're the Venus Alicorn, and you're going to grow up and be a kind, passionate stallion like you are now."

Pinkie broke into tears at the back of the group while Rarity wiped her eyes. Even AppleJack, who had a very serious dislike for Seamus, felt moved by this heartfelt reunion. Fluttershy already had a few droplets running down her cheek.

"Now, I want you to go to Ponyville with us, you'll love it there. Rarity has a whole room for you and I do too if you want to come over. You'll always be welcome. Will you come with us? For me?"

Seamus nodded and embraced her, ready to start a new life.

It was going to be better this time.

Much, much better.

The Next Step

'Add water, stir mixture until it's a batter, then bake.'

Seamus sighed at the instructions, making pancakes wasn't his forte. He was glad to be back in Fluttershy's house, away from the palace and among normal, non-murderous ponies. He was adjusting well, Twilight was his official tutor, Rarity made his clothes and he lived more or less with the pegasus who was cooking his meals. Fluttershy was very kind to him, she always knew when he had a problem or if he was having a moment, even though she regularly talked him into baking. He wasn't the best cook, and setting the small cottage on fire wasn't his intention.

Although he was getting used to the life of a common pony, some things about being an alicorn still hounded the poor colt. He couldn't go out in public without ponies wanting autographs, a hoof-shake or a chance to meet the one and only Venus Alicorn. After a long while he'd decided it wasn't worth the attention he got, and shopping with Rarity had to be stopped. Some ponies where even hostile towards him; there were whispers he was to replace Luna as co-ruler of Equestria.

Of course these were untrue, he was only seven, and he hadn't the foggiest idea how to run a country. Somepony had once tried to hurt him by tripping the prince out onto the street, actively displaying her dislike for a third (and male) alicorn. Seamus didn't mind all of the attention or the controversy he caused, as long as it didn't affect his friends. For the most part he was in good standings with the locals due to the popularity of the Elements of Harmony, which he was in close contact with. Pinkie was his baker and friend, Twilight was his teacher and Fluttershy was his lodger.

"Seamus, you're, um, adding too much water." Fluttershy interrupted his thoughts.

"Sorry!" The klutz took the bowl out from under the water, turning the sink off.

He poured the batter onto the pan and waited for the dough to rise while Fluttershy cleared off the counters. Seamus had been distracted recently, but the pegasus knew that it was best not to ask him. He was still coming to terms with being a prince. Although he wouldn't admit it, the thought of him leading a whole country (or even a portion of one) scared him. Luna was glad to help him, but he'd rejected her offer to try and lead a normal life. He might be an alicorn, but he wanted to see how a typical, non-traumatized colt lived.

The dough was risen and the plate ready, so he levitated the fluffy batter patties over to the table. Fluttershy sat there, eager to see how he'd done this time. He'd made pancakes before, this was actually his sixth time. The first he'd set the house on fire and Rainbow had to make an emergency visit. He'd burnt the dough to pure carbon on the second attempt. All those after had been varying degrees of failure and triumph, but this time he was confident in his skill.

The pegasus took a bite, savoring the rich taste of maple syrup. Fluttershy nodded and swallowed, smiling. "That was delicious. "

The maroon alicorn ate dinner and went to his room, as was custom. Of course Seamus was supposed to go to bed, but he'd decided long ago he wouldn't be falling asleep until about midnight. His abode was decorated with drawings, sketches and other such artistic apparatus. The only problem he had with leading a life like this was that it was, without a doubt, the most boring, uneventful, dreadfully dull slog through time he'd ever had the displeasure of enduring. This life, compared to his younger years, bored him to no end. He didn't want to insult the pony that had taken him into her home, but her lifestyle didn't impress him.

Every day he practiced the mental will to not dwell on the past, but it made it so much easier to focus on the future or present of they weren't both so gods-awful boring. So ever so often he did think about the past, of the ponies he'd saw die and the trials he'd endured just getting to where he was. He was only seven and yet he'd been through more than any elder could boast about. Luna had tried to torture him, twice, Celestia had wiped his memory, he'd had his horn sawed off, his genitals mutilated a fair number of times, his best friend and lover had been killed in front of him, his most hated enemy had turned his new friend Rainbow Dash into a bloodsucking freak after he'd tortured her, and at long last he'd been raped a few times.

There wasn't anything to be said about this besides that burying his memories had been a blessing, but the residual effects of the trauma were still there. He wouldn't go out at night and looking up at the sky reminded him of his lost love. Luna was eternally sorry to him for what she'd done in her haste and lust for power, Celestia had done him a favor by erasing his memory to a degree, something he had mixed emotions about, but this just made the life he led now so bland and tasteless that he wanted to go back sometimes.

He spread his fluffy, jet black down wings, the ones that he enjoyed along with his crimson horn. He didn't talk like an Equestrian, his voice carried a lilt, almost like he was singing. His wings had been plucked, so they were still covered in a silky fluff, the same down most pegasus and birds have when they are young. For the moment he couldn't fly, and magic was difficult. He knew it was all part of recovering, his rehabilitation, but it still frustrated Seamus.

The colt wasn't imposing, he was about the size of Apple Bloom without the sturdy muscle. His legs were long and thin while his face and muzzle resembled a mare. He walked hunched, his head bowed and black mane over one amethyst eye. He always looked frightened, scared of something. Maybe it was his small stature or the way he tiptoed when he walked, but he just looked fragile, delicate. Even though he looked like that, he'd grown a thick hide from all his abuse, and he wasn't one to take an insult.

His title was 'The Venus Alicorn' due to his Cutie Mark. It was the astrological symbol for the goddess of love, just like Luna had a picture of the moon and Celestia the sun, he too had a place in the night sky, even if it was less noticeable. When he felt he could; about once a month, he raised Venus into the Sky across from Luna's moon. His might not be the biggest, or even the brightest, but he was still capable, and it gave him a warm pride for his work.

Although he wanted to stay up late and finish his drawings, Seamus couldn't keep his eyes open much longer. Sitting on his bed and thinking was a good way to make yourself drowsy. He looked at the lamp and turned it out with his magic, flopping down on his pillow. Tomorrow would be a good day; it was his first day of school with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Nostalgic Meetings

They say that dreams, and rather, nightmares, are mere gateways to our subconscious. Sometimes we don't expect what our minds secretly experiment with in the back of your heads, and most of the time we aren't aware when we're dreaming. That changes when you've lost someone close to you. I'm not talking about an uncle or your great grandma, but somepony that you were close to, lived with on a daily basis. Somepony you laughed with and gave your most dark, mischievous secrets to. A childhood friend that had grown into a best mate for life.

Seamus had lost one of those, and his dreams would never be quite how they were. Before Sky had died, the world was right, had one general purpose and direction. His dreams were borne to easy, simple matters, lucid illusions of what could be if he'd ever escaped his prison in the North. Once he'd had freedom he wanted to go back for Sky, and soon the other colt had consumed his dreams like sand absorbs a heavy summer's rain. But once he was there he hadn't slept all that much, he'd been too absorbed in duties, distractions, having his will picked at by colt-napping and treason. The things that consumed his attention wasn't Sky, the pony he'd longed to see or the colt he'd vowed to spend every moment with.

Then,  when the two were finally reunited they spent two nights together, the only two nights they'd ever spent as free ponies. Even then, on just the eve of the third night,  Sky was killed in a bloody assassination. The funeral had been short, only Seamus had attended since Sky had no family, and the world all but forgot of the baby blue colt.

But not the pony that had loved him more than life itself. Seamus had never forgotten, had never stopped looking back at that fateful night and saying 'I could have saved him'. That was the one subject that consumed Seamus' dreams. Every night it was about Sky, invariably. Sometimes it was the night he was killed, replayed over and over in an awful repeating nightmare. On others, it was just him and the colt sitting on a cloud, as they'd always dreamed of doing, and having a picnic.

The colt cried no matter what happened in his dreams, they all ended the moment he woke up. Sky was there, polite, innocent and strangely charming, then he was just... gone. Burnt up in the sands of time. The worst nights were the good dreams, when Seamus tries his best to apologize for letting his best friend and lover die. Of course the pegasus would forgive him and they'd embrace, but no sooner. Than that the alicorn would wake up in reality.....

Seamus cracked his eyes open  to find Angel the Bunny tugging on his tail, trying his best to get the alicorn out of bed.

"Leave me alone, Angel." He grumbled. "You know I hate it when you get me up this early."

The rabbit lost patience with him, grabbing a calendar and throwing it onto the bed. It was August ninth, his first day at Ponyville schools, and actually the first day of his education. As a prisoner in the far North he'd never had the ability to learn much, bits and pieces here and there about magic or history, but overall his knowledge was constricted to a few subjects. He grasped magic naturally, as was to be expected from an alicorn. His history was spot on after so many, many lectures from Twilight about his home country in The Northern Counties.

Angel snapped his fingers and slapped Seamus on the nose, pointing to the door. Without any more delay he gave into the rabbit's command. He set about his morning ritual, bathing, combing his mane, tail and preening his feathers. Luckily for him Fluttershy had a nearly limitless supply of shampoo due to Rarity, that and the other products she gave him kept the colt smelling like a batch of daisies.

The colt finished brushing his teeth and went off to breakfast. He knew that Fluttershy wouldn't be up at this ungodly hour, so he made himself a sandwich and tucked a pencil behind his ear. At any rate he'd be early; school started at about seven and it was only six o'clock. Despite this he left in a hurry. He wanted to be early and stake out a seat by the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Seamus and the Crusaders went back a year, to when he'd first arrived in the beautiful country of Equestria. Shortly after he'd met the fillies, and they'd had a small misadventure with Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, he'd been forced to leave Ponyville to live at the castle. He hadn't seen them in a year, and he couldn't wait to see them again. Scootaloo had never been all that friendly towards him, but they were still friends. Apple Bloom and him were on thin ice with each other due to Applejack’s rather harsh opinions on the prince. Sweetie was (rather obviously) both envious and attracted to him at the same time due to his royal status and looks. He didn't return affection.

Walking anywhere bored Seamus, maybe because he'd rather fly, or teleporting was just easier. True, he could have been there in less than a second, but if he'd done that he would have missed Scootaloo heading out of Sugar Cube Corner with Sweetie Belle. His heart leapt into his throat; how would the two react after he'd disappeared for a year? He'd never even said goodbye, he'd just vanished from their lives a short day after he'd met them. They'd really had it off, and he was sure Scootaloo especially would be angry.

"Hey guys!"

Scootaloo clocked him upside the head, sending him reeling backwards. No sooner had she done this did she grab him and pull him into a hug. Sweetie Belle just stood there staring like he was a ghost. He'd been gone a long time.

"Um... feeling a little conflicted?" Seamus sighed.

"I want to hit you again, but I'm afraid I might break your face. That was for leaving, this is for coming back."

Sweetie pulled the two apart. "You're alive?! We thought you'd died or something!"

"No... I'm alive, mostly. So what're you two up to?"

Scootaloo took a bite of her jelly doughnut, speaking through her mouthful of grape flavored jam. Specks of food and bread spattered the other two foals. "We were just getting somethin' to eat."

Seamus brushed off his front, smiling. "Classy, Scoots. I’ve been at the castle-"

The pegasus filly shoved her hoof in his face, silencing him. "Um... not that I don't think she's old enough, but I already know the story. I don't want Sweetie to hear about it."

"What story?! I wanna hear!"

"Oh, boring stuff, paperwork and running Equestria, meetings with Luna and all that fancy barf."

The filly narrowed her eyes, pointing at them suspiciously. "I know there's somethin' up... and I'll figure it out... watching you two... always watching..."

"Scary." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "So I hear around you're going to school, Sea?"

"Yeah, I just wish that I knew half the ponies there.... wait, how did you know I was going to school?"

"Well, a filly hears things if she knows what to listen to... like Rarity's constant gabbing about how you're so cute in a bowtie." She snickered. "All you have to do is sit there and nod along n' she'll tell anypony everything about you."

"I think she likes Seamus more than she likes me." Sweetie sighed.

"Aww... I'm sure she loves you, Belles. At least you have a family. Both me and Sea have no family to speak of."

"There's that, but I think that Sea is stealing all my time with Rarity. We didn't even take our scheduled vacation to Canterlot this year since she had to watch you for the week...."

Seamus sighed, guilty. "Well, I'll get Fluttershy to watch me all next week, how's that? You two can go off gallivanting all over Canterlot and beyond if you want."

"Galli-what-ing?" Scootaloo questioned. "Is that a disease?"

"Yeah, it's where your wings dry up and fall off." Seamus teased.

The filly's eyes shrunk to pinpoints of terror at the thought. She reached back and felt her wings to make sure they were still attached to her body.

"I was just kidding, you big chicken!"

She drew back and hit him in the side, angry at being deceived. "I was really scared there! I thought I was going to have to walk everywhere for the rest of my life!"

Sweetie Belle gave her a look. "Ooooh, so scary, how horrible to have to walk anywhere!"

Well, this chapter went from heavy, to light, to medium, to light again with humor at another pony's expense.

That type of  humor is the best!

Leave a comment of two sentences or more, please. This was another chapter I couldn't have proofread, so please point out mistakes!

Excuse Yourself

Hardly a day went by without Seamus being reminded of his specific disposition to mares his age. On one hoof he kept his nature under wraps and rather out of the way, not making his rather embarrassing secret known. But being a prince and an alicorn, his personality and life was put under intense watch every day. Some ponies noticed his secret, others didn't. Some didn't take kindly to his preferences, others couldn't care less. Some, like AppleJack, didn't like him very much. She kept herself muted, only muttering her occasional angry comment to her family or friends, who would just shake their heads and continue what they were doing.

But sadly a few family members couldn't just walk away from AJ when she complained about Seamus, like a little filly named Apple Bloom. She couldn't just ignore her sister; they worked in the orchard together, making it impossible to shrug off. Most of AppleBloom's days were filled with collecting the apples her sister missed, but on downtime the topic did occasionally come up, and when it did the filly tried her best to steer her sibling away from the subject.

The mare didn't like to talk about him, but her long-winded rants about Seamus were undoubtedly the most vulgar things she dared say around her little Sister. The worst part was the Apple Bloom had to sit through them all, sighing and nodding along as her sister made barely concealed insults aimed towards one of her best friends. It had been a year and ever since the alicorn had returned to Ponyville AppleJack's insults were becoming more vivid than ever.

So when Seamus walked into class one day with Sweetie Belle, cracking jokes about how lazy pegasi are at Scootaloo's expense, the farmhand nearly fainted. Her sister had told her to not go near the alicorn or talk to him, so she shrank down into her chair as far as she could, pretending to be invisible. She didn't want to disobey her sister's direct orders.

"Hey 'Bloom!" Seamus called, smiling. "What's up with you? You look whiter than a sheet."

The filly weighed her friends to her family, and the decision was obvious. She didn't like her sister; forbidding her to see one of her best friends was a very low blow in the filly's book. So without even the slightest amount of shame she disregarded orders and gave Seamus a big smile. It wasn't that she wanted to disobey her sister, it was just that, for once, her older sibling was wrong.

"Sea!" She leapt up and gave him a hug. "I haven't seen y'all in this half'a forever! How'v you been?"

"Good, I guess. Almost died a few times, one time I almost did it myself, was colt-napped, had my horn sawed off, a few other things that you probably don't want to hear. But now I'm fine and here to stay here in Ponyville."

"Really?!" Scootaloo jumped in front of him. "I thought you were just here to visit like last time!"

"Um, no, I'm here to stay until the end of the week, I'm always busy on weekends. I have to go to the castle and Luna has to teach me all this boring stuff about politics and  running Equestria and being an alicorn. Twilight already has me study magic, so school here is just adding to the pile."

Meanwhile, a very jealous rich filly glared at Seamus from across the classroom. Silver Spoon, the most royally eloquent pony in the classroom stared hatefully at the alicorn, furious at being shown up. It was nothing that he'd done to her or even that he had even done anything at all, he was simply the only other pony in the room with more class than her. As an alicorn Prince he held much more status. He didn't know it, but that really chafed at Silver Spoon.

"Can you believe him?" She whispered to Diamond Tiara. "He just things he's so amazing, with his wings and his horn all-.... are you listening to me?"

Diamond Tiara was busy drowning in Seamus' amethyst eyes, a bit of drool dripping onto the desk. Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and pushed her friend's jaw shut. She'd thought her friend would get over her massive crush. She had been wrong, as usual.

"Hello?" She waved an impatient hoof in front the other filly, who snapped out of her trance.

"Wha? Oh, were you saying something? I was, er, busy."

"Can you believe that pony?! He just stands there looking all shy and delicate and everypony just flocks to him like he's more important than me! Me?! Can you believe that?"

"I actually think he's charming." Tiara sighed, resting her head on her hoof.

"But still! He's such an attention hog. I bet he looks himself in the mirror and complements his own mane."

"I thought you do that?"

"Shut it! That's different!"

By now the rest of the class was heading in, and many eyes were being turned towards the alicorn. A few were so fascinated that they poked him to make sure he wasn't a figment of their imagination. Some asked questions nonstop and others just gawked in awe. Seamus wanted to sink into the floor or disappear; he'd never liked being stared at, and all the ponies gathered around him in a circle, eyes wide as saucers with some trying to ask him twenty questions at once, was making him want to leave before class even started.

After a few more minutes of this one specific pony broke through, a colt about the size of Seamus, an Earth pony with an accent not so dissimilar to the alicorn's own.

"Hello sir!" The colt saluted, smiling. "My name is Pip!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned. Pip was like their biggest fan; he stalked them and wanted nothing more than to join their group, but no matter what the Cockney earth pony did they wouldn't let him into their group. The reason: He was younger, his voice did get rather old, and he was a colt. So far, every member of their group had been their age and female, save Seamus, and he was let in for rather obvious reasons.

"Hello, Pip." The alicorn smiled. "I see you're not from around here either."

"Nah, I'm from Trottingham! The most beautiful city this side of the world! This place took some getting used to but now I have loads of friends and I fit right in! I'm sure you will too eventually!"

Seamus gave the crowd around him a look. "Sorry, but I don't think I'll ever fit in. Alicorns don't blend well...."

Cheerilee came into class with a smile on her face. The whole class took a seat within a second. Seamus was left standing in the middle of the room, looking awkward and out of place. As if he wasn't enough already. He fumbled about looking for a seat while Cheerille watched him bumble around like the floor was slicked with oil. He finally gained his footing and took a seat next to Apple Bloom and Pip, who gave him a nod. Diamond Tiara was still doe-eyed across the room. The Teacher had been on the job for a few years, and she noticed everything that went on in her classroom, especially how her students reacted to a new face.

"I do believe that we have a new student among us." She announced, gesturing to the alicorn who was trying his best to look inconspicuous.

If all eyes weren't already on Seamus, they were now. He put his book down and gave the class a meek smile, hiding his flustered expression from them all with his long mane. Diamond Tiara swooned in her desk at how adorable he looked when embarrassed.

"And your name is?" Cheerillee asked.

The alicorn sighed; he just wanted to get this over with.

"Seamus." He muttered.

"You aren't from around here, are you?"

The alicorn looked at her and thought of how little they all knew, especially what was sitting in their classroom, what he had been through and what he thought every day of his life, then smiled at the pure irony. the contrast between how they saw him and how a pony like Rainbow Dash saw him brought a grin to pass his scarred face.

"No, no I'm not."

Plot Twists

Fate has a way of being rude. Of taking our most sheltered and happy moments and wrenching us out of them and throwing us into another proverbial tub of cold water. Specifically, those that act as the harbingers of fate, e.g. Celestia, are masters of inconvenient timing. The Sun Empress seemed to have a knack for acting at the worst of times, and interrupting some of the most sacred and memorable moments.  Her title among her servants was the great and mighty Trollestia, and the way she could ruin a perfect moment was almost uncanny.

So when she couldn't find something to wear, she decided that she'd reach a little out of her way and call out for somepony with a sense of fashion. Not so much as call out, than moreover teleport them to her and see just how badly she'd messed up their day. She gazed from one dress to the other, thinking that the pieces of cloth she held were the worst things to ever be made to wear. But she was supposed to be ceremonial, as she had an ambassador coming from a rather small country  to the north. She didn't know why, but she felt that if her day was going to be ruined, than somepony else's could be ruined as well.

The Princess made up her mind on who's schedule she would pulverize. With a flash of her horn, she summoned Seamus.

Back in Cheerilee's classroom the teacher was giving a lecture on the nature of magic. A lot of the students were snoring loudly, but a purple-maned filly and a maroon-coated alicorn were passing notes about how they could somehow get the former to fly. Seamus was reaching out to pass Scootaloo a note, their hooves both on the piece of paper when, at the worst possible time, he disappeared, dragging the filly with him to his unknown destination. In his head, just as he teleported he thought to himself that this had something to do with Celestia.

"Ah, Seamus, good. Could you please tell me which of these looks better?" Celestia grinned, knowing he'd just ruined his whole day.

"Really?!" The colt put his head in his hooves. "That was the worst, and I repeat the worst possible time! You even dragged Scootaloo along!"

"Oh, I am so sorry about that." The princess' voice dripped with sickly sweet sarcasm.

The colt gave her a look of pure anger. "The left one. Can I go now?"

"Oh, I was thinking, while you're here, you could help me with this meeting I'm going to have. You see, little one, I have an ambassador coming from a certain country in the North and I'd like you to be there, seeing as how you have so much knowledge of their culture."

"What do you mean 'Certain country'?"

I mean, the mare coming to visit here is from your country. And she is no mere ambassador, she is the Princess there."

"So... Amethyst is coming here...."

"You know of her?" Celestia questioned, hovering over him, eager for details.

"I was owned by her for a good year of my life. She was so kind.... never once asked me to do anything wrong or immoral. She wouldn't force me to do anything. She even brought Sky into my life and sheltered me from her tyrannical mother. I couldn't have asked for a better mother, but sadly no sooner was I ready to call her that was I sent here. Not that I don't like it here, of course."

"Really? This mare owned you as a slave and you don't loathe her? Fascinating... so she is Melody Amore's daughter?"

"Umm... yeah, but now that I... kinda killed her mother she's the head of the country now. She runs the Northern Counties. And she is sharp as a tack, let me tell you. I couldn't beat her at a game of chess, or cards, or backgammon, or-"

"Yes, yes." Celestia interrupted. "But tell me what she has to do with you!"

"That's it, really, I mean she is nice, smart, well meaning. I think that your meeting will go well.... Without me. Send me and Scootaloo back to class now, would you? I don't think Cheerilee would notice us slipping back in."

Celestia shook her head. "Oh no, do you know why she's coming here? She's here to negotiate herself out of poverty. Don't you want to know what happened after you left your country and killed the Queen?"

The Princess trotted over to her shelf, where many chess boards were stacked. She found one, in perfect arrangement. Her horn lit up and suddenly the king caught fire and burnt to ashes. She drew her hoof over the entirety of the board and suddenly the pawns were gone, and some of the knights. Right after the enemy side advanced with lighting speed, destroying most of the other team's pieces and leaving once side of the board in shambles. Celestia regarded to board as she would a bug she found in her washroom, curiosity, accompanied with the eager impulse to stomp it to death.

"Once you killed Melody the massive source of wealth disappeared. The Counties that she had pulled together and managed to oppress and command as her own revolted. Amethyst lost control of the mines the other counties held. Most of her populace left. Then, just as Amethyst stepped up she finds bandits and raiders at her borders, plundering towns and burning villages to ashes, slaughtering foals and committing atrocious acts of depravity. She lost all control of her kingdom."

Celestia turned back to Seamus, solemn. "And now, she is here to sell me everything to get back control. She needs everything, money, troops, strategy. She inherited a tinderbox of anarchy and it went off in her hooves. I want to help the poor mare but it's just too far gone. There is no Northern Counties anymore, there is just a no-pony's land with little more than mountains, outlaws and the occasional pony that hasn't lost their mind to the sudden revolution."

Seamus jumped up onto her nightstand so he could look her in the eyes. "So there is nothing you can do? It's just going to get worse and worse?"

"Last night Amethyst was ambushed leaving her castle to come here. Her country loathes her because her mother ruined their trust in their ruler. I want to help, but it just seems like a lost cause."

"What if I helped?" Seamus begged. "I was born there, and Amethyst is a good mare! If she could show her subjects she isn't her mother then maybe she could get her kingdom back on her side!"

"You to realize that is the real reason I called you here, not to discuss some frivolous fashion crisis?" The Princess gave him a sly look. "After all, did you really think I just love to toy with my subjects like that?"

"Yes."

Scootaloo, who had been otherwise invisible through their conversation burst out laughing. Celestia shot them both looks of death, annoyed beyond measure at how the smaller alicorn saw right through her ruse of well meaning.

"So what do I do?" Scootaloo asked. "Sit back and try to be invisible?"

"Yup." Seamus stated simply.

No less than an hour later did they stand in the throne room, the throne room that had seen the faces of many shadows of the Venus Alicorn's past. Jakben and Melody had both stood on the same carpet he now stood upon, and upon closer inspection the colt could swear the faint outline of blood was visible from when the Lady of the North had stricken him with a wine glass. She was dead now, he'd killed her himself, but through all she had put him through a slight echo of guilt still lingered in his heart.

But now a new face was walking into the room and down the aisle, a pony that Seamus hadn't seen since the day he'd left the castle a year ago. Amethyst Firenze' Amore opened the doors with a rugged shove, throwing her crown at a slight angle. She trotted in with not a single guard with her. She bore no weapons to protect her but her hooves and her magic. The carriage outside had a single stallion at it, and he didn't wear so much as a helmet to protect himself. While the Princess of the bitter North wore a rather worn suit of leather armor, on which there were a few cuts and stab marks where knives and swords had tried, and failed, to take her life, she still held her stature of pure royalty and class.

Overall she looked haggard and weary, but she still had the air of a ruler. The crown in her head, despite being a bit awkward and odd-fitting, still gave her the aura of power. Her peppered white coat was still groomed and styled, her mane was still short with a slight curling flare towards the bottom. She strutted up the entrance hall with all the cocky swagger of a rock star, but every movement reminded the bystanders that she wasn't just for show; the muscle under her leather armor could easily part them from their heads. Without a doubt, the greatest asset was Princess Amethyst's eyes. They were slits, like that of a feral bobcat or a puma. She held the air of a predator, and she lived up to that title.

"Princess Amethyst Firenze' Amore... I am glad to make your acquaintance."

"Princess Celestia, I'm so sorry to interrupt formality and I'm flattered that you wore ceremonial garb to address me, but I'm going to have to ask you to cut to the chase. I just traveled thousands of miles to come here and ask you for an small army. I need it and you know well enough that I'm willing to swear fealty to you to do so. That is the situation, now let's negotiate."

Seamus, who sat next to the throne, smiled a bit at how forward the mare could be. She cut to the chase, and when she couldn't she cut to the bone.

Another Unchecked one in this line of experimental chapters. Tell me how I did in the comments please!

Soon To Part

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."

Adio

Luna personally sent out letters to Scootaloo's friends, saying that she would be heading out on a trip and that they needn't fret over her safety. The princess did the same with Seamus' guardian, Fluttershy. She received a long letter back, detailing what foods he liked and how he preferred his soup and that he needed to preen his feathers three times a day. She spelled out every aspect of his day like a concerned mother would, and it made Seamus feel good inside. She treated him as a son, and he loved her in return just as much, even if her concern was a bit embarrassing.

"You like to oil your feathers?" Amethyst asked.

"You weren't supposed to read that!" He snatched the letter off the princess, who only grinned.

"Awww! You like warm milk before you go to bed?" She snickered. "Or bubble baths instead of showers?"

The colt just rolled his eyes and tucked the letter into his saddlebag. He didn't mind her being sarcastic towards his tastes in warm milk. Instead of rebuking her for being annoying he walked out of Luna's room and down three stories, to the east side of the castle. His room was, for the most part, far away from any window or skylight. It was down in the deepest part of the castle, deeper than the dungeons or even the Crystal Catacombs.

The city itself had a foundation deep in the mountainside. Originally it was a massive mine used by the Earth ponies that settled the land, but eventually they filled it in with concrete and used the old passages as an anchor to root Canterlot onto the cliff face. The castle itself was set on a bed of solid bedrock. Originally the castle was underground, a small fort under the stone to used in times of need. After Celestia took over thousands of years ago, she began to construct it as her own castle.

After the event a month ago when Seamus moved out, Celestia moved all of his possessions down there, where she could keep them in storage. It wasn't easy getting down into the Old Castle, as some of the staircases were crumbling and the footing wasn't stable, but the guards managed to sequester his things down in Celestia's personal hiding spot. After a long walk and a small lantern, Seamus managed to make his way to the underground cavern.

There were no lights that deep, as nopony ever went down into that part of the castle. The reason being, it was crumbling, decaying. The once grand golden trim along the walls were turning a pallid copper, and the copper door handles were oxidizing and turning a gross pitch of green. Even the air down in the Old Castle seemed dead. It tasted of iron and earth, and some of the passages were collapsing from lack of care. Celestia couldn't be bothered to sink funds into the place. Namely because nopony even knew it existed save her and Seamus, perhaps Luna.

The Venus alicorn hung his lantern on a wall, looking up at the door the Old Castle's wine cellar. It had a huge door of solid diamonds, but in a shape of the olden king of the Earth ponies. No wonder it was so easy for Celestia and Luna to take hold of the place; they wasted all their materials on extravagance and culture, not so much as spending a single cent on things like swords or weapons.

Seamus tried to use magic on the massive door, but apparently the King knew better than to leave his cellar susceptible to unicorn sorcery. After a few minutes of sitting in place, it was apparent the colt had not other option but to open it with his bare hooves. Of course, by all laws of physics, that was impossible. Diamonds are, by nature, asininely heavy. But there was no other option. With a slight tug, the door glided open.

At first the colt gawked; the purely diamond door was not only hollow, but with all it's tall might it was light as a feather. The crafts-ponies of old were apparently masters at what they did. Pegasus ponies may have had the sky and maybe the unicorns had their magic, but the Earth ponies had the soil and the crust beneath them, and they'd mastered it perfectly. The door was a quintessential marvel of workmanship, massive and intricate, menacing to anypony that beheld it, but it glided quieter than a breathe of wind on it's hinges and weighed no more than a bag of sand.

He took up his lantern and went into the massive room. Just to met with another shock. Treasures, gold, diamonds, bronze, silver and platinum, rubies, sapphires and emeralds stacked higher than an Ursa Major littered the room. Seamus' jaw nearly unhinged; it had dropped so suddenly he heard the sinew pop. Untold riches lay before him like the fabled city of gold found again. But among all the coins of metal and chunks of minerals bigger than him, he heard the dull clop of a pony clapping.

He didn't even bother to look up. He knew who he would find.

"Hello little boy." Celestia chirped, two huge torches burning on either side of her throne of diamonds. Her face had a slight smirk to it. She sat hunched in her seat while leaning forward. She put her weight on a sword, easily the size of a grown stallion, and wore a suit of armor cast in diamonds and rubies. Her slouch bespoke the power of a lion after the hunt, of muscle and power boundless, yet unbidden, lying dormant.

"And you couldn't spare a cent." Seamus sighed.

The armored Princess' smile grew. "Of course not. I'm just so poor you know."

Seamus grabbed his notebook, his clothes and a chunk of emerald. The colt didn't even give the princess a second glance, disgusted. He left soon after, heading back to the surface. But just before he left he heard Celestia call to him.

"If you tell anypony about this place, it will be their head."

Luna ate her midnight meal in her room, wearing her custom-made blue silk jammies with little stars sown into the cuffs. She head a few candles lit and a servant delivering her cheese every ten minutes. She had a craving for cheese sometimes. Personally she'd missed the amazing dairy-made delight during her exile and now that she was back she couldn't stand to not dine on the perfectly delectable cubes of cheesy goodness. She was going on her fifth plate when Seamus walked in.

"Hey Luna did you know tha-"

Luna paused mid-bite, melted bits of dairy all around her mouth and on her muzzle.

"Er... did I interrupt something or...."

"No dear." Luna wiped her mouth. "I just like to eat like a common pony sometimes. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you knew about Celestia's treasure horde down in the Old Castle. See, when I found it she told me that she'd behead anypony that I told, but she obviously won't behead her own sister and besides you're more powerful than her anyway. But did you know?"

"No." The Empress of the Night stood in her ever-so-threatening silk pajamas. "I will confront my sister about it this instant."

"You might want to change first." Seamus held back a laugh. "I can't take you all that seriously in your silky pajamas."

Luna looked down at herself, annoyed. "Okay, I'll do it tomorrow. When I'm rested and dressed in something intimidating."

The next day dawned beautiful and clear, Celestia's sun dawning over the land in a blaze of glorious light. Seamus was already down in the throne room, preparing to meet the ponies he'd be traveling with and to say goodbye to the ponies he would be leaving. He wore a smart looking brown suit with a white undercoat. Fastened around his neck was a red bowtie, which gave him an odd glance every now and again, but he didn't mind.

"Why are you wearing a bowtie?" Scootaloo asked. "Seriously, twentieth century much?"

"I wear a bowtie now, bowties are cool." Seamus grinned.

Fluttershy showed up not a moment later, swooping him up in a huge bear hug. She wouldn't let go and had tears in her eyes, but eventually she set him down and looked at him. She looked upset about him leaving, but proud of him too. Seamus couldn't resist giving her one last goodbye hug, knowing he wouldn't see her again for at least a few months.

Amethyst eyed the visitors and guards with apprehension; she didn't like large crowds, the could always hold an assassin. It was plain to see the knives she had on her. They were strapped to her waist and there was even one hidden in her armor on the upper left side of her chestplate. The sword she carried was old and beaten, massive dings and cuts marred the cutting edge of the blade and caught the sheathe when she went to draw.

Twilight showed up soon, giving Seamus a massive book of spells to study and an enchantment to allow his saddlebags  to hold a nearly infinite amount of items inside and not grow any heavier. She gave him a hug and a few bits, hoping that he'd stay safe up in the North. The spellbook she'd given him was mostly defensive and attack spells, with a few trap hexes in the back. He knew that Twilight preached peace, but he also knew Twilight was aware he would, in all likelihood,  see battle. He thanked her as a teacher, and then less formally as a friend.

As he did this a rather strange character wandered around the edge of the gathering. The pony wore a cloak and kept their face hidden from bystanders, making it's way over to the guest of honor. Amethyst drew her throwing knife, ready to put it in between the stranger's eyes if the need arose. Just before the odd pony reached Seamus did the colt turn toward the figure and smile. The mare put the knife back, still wary of the newcomer. The pony pulled back their hood, to reveal it was actually a paler, more menacing Rainbow Dash.

"Hey kid!" Rainbow scooped him up and began to shake him like he was a doll, holding him close to her chest. "I've missed you so much and you didn't send me a letter so I just decided to visit you today and it's a good thing I did because you're leaving and I just wanted to say goodbye because I wub woo so much! Yes I do!"

Seamus groaned, but was still smiling. At least Dash was still in good spirits. "I missed you too! Can you put me down now!"

"Oh." She placed him on the ground. "Sorry, just wanted to get in a good memory of me before you left."

"It's fine Dash. So what have you been up to? I hear you've found a regular source of food?"

"Yeah... he's kind famous, see. Let's just say that he was a little more than excited about me hanging around him." The pegasus winked at him. "When I'm not at his place I'll just be flying around Equestria. Not many places I can't go now that I'm like this. Yup... it's all cool."

"Nice." The colt gave her a hug goodbye. "But you'd better get outta here, I think you make Amethyst antsy."

Amethyst was right behind her, hoof on her sword, ready to draw it.

"I kind noticed." Dash smiled, walking away.

Soon after the rest of the Mane six arrived, each with a farewell gift. Rarity had a huge coat for him, made of genuine rabbit fur; much to Fluttershy's horror. AppleJack (*grudgingly*) gave him a green and black scarf Granny Smith had knitted for him. Pinkie awarded him a tiny oven, hardly the size of his hoof. She said it was best used to cook chestnuts and small things like. Even Spike gave him one of his gems for good luck.

Not long after this did Amethyst lose patience. She pushed the guests out and closed the doors, not caring much for being cordial or polite. She kicked them out at swordpoint, sighing and slouching against the doors after they were shut. The mare next invited in the ponies she'd be traveling with. There were a number of guards with higher rankings, but one seemed to stand out among all the rest. Specifically one with a very strong, chiseled facial structure.

The guard was, judging by the colors on his jacket, a general of high esteem. Other troops in the room parted way when he walked past, while when a private or rookie walked by they had to slither all the way around to get through the crowd. The general that Seamus was keeping his eye on was tall, about a foot taller than Big Macintosh and just as muscular. He wore a rather dangerous looking sword, and his scar put him across as violent. But his eyes and face spoke another story. His look was kind, sympathetic to the soldiers he looked at. The troops he talked to always smiled at him and occasionally the general would tell an informal joke, getting a good laugh.

Amethyst approached the stallion and shook hooves, each one grinning ear to ear.

"Seamus, this is general Armstrong, and he will be in charge of commanding our new troops and keeping an eye on you and your friend.... speaking of that runt where is she? We're ready to leave."

"I'm here!" Scootaloo pushed her way through the crowd of guards and soldiers, walking in between their legs and squeezing past where she could. "Sorry, got a little lost in there."

"We're leaving in ten, so get ready to walk!" Amethyst shouted to the gathering. "Hurry it up and pack up! Anything you want to bring with you had better be on your own damn back, hear me?! No pushing the work off onto one of the larger officers!"

A few of the soldiers sighed and began to re-pack their things.

"That's what I thought." The Princess smirked.

Reprieve

Seamus poked the bed of coals, hot cinders flying into the night air in a whorl. It had been a hard day of marching, and hardly a moment went by when his legs weren't sore. A slight pang ran up his front leg as he handled the long fire-poker, trying to ignore the slight pain. Scootaloo sat next to him around the fire, while Amethyst and Armstrong sat a few meters away from them on a log. As much as the Princess wanted to be at FrostSpire by nightfall it hadn't happened, and sadly it would take another long day of marching to reach the City of Ice.

Scootaloo wasn't tired at all, and even now the filly was busying herself by tying ropes in knots and untying them, sighing and biting her lip if she made them incorrectly. At first Seamus had questioned her on her motives on taking this trip with him, but now he had not reserves at taking her along. The pegasus was perfectly capable of keeping up with Amethyst, even more so than the alicorn himself. He'd gotten out of shape in his year of lounging in the castle. Scootaloo had acquired a small knife from Amethyst, and the grin on her face as she held it was the happiest anypony had ever seen her.

Seamus threw another log on the fire, letting the blue-ish flames lap at the new source of fuel. He'd been wondering something about Amethyst, but he was hesitant to ask her. But seeing as how she couldn't get rid of him this far into the journey he reasoned that it wouldn't hurt.

"Hey.... Amethyst? I overheard you and Luna talking the other night about a Book. Anything I should know?"

The Princess froze and shot him a look of death, her hoof twitching down to her belt of knives. She instinctively wanted to but one in his foreleg, but she refrained. The unicorn had promised him returned unharmed.

"I don't think this is a tale to tell around foals." Her eyes flicked to Scootaloo. "Unless she can handle it?"

Scootaloo gave her a nod, putting on a brave face to impress the armored Princess.

"You may know that before Jakben left on his final trip out of Ponyville, he left something behind. A book he used himself to learn all of his dark magical tricks. Have you ever wondered how he got so good? Not even a vampire can move as well as he could or get in and out of rooms as silently as he could. He had help form that book, and it taught him the ways of darker magic."

"Wait, so there is a way for an Earth Pony or Pegasus to learn real magic?" Seamus pondered. "I didn't even think that was possible... but even it is you keep saying that the Book 'Taught' him. Like the Book literally told him how to do all those things."

"It did." Amethyst sighed. "Sadly, the text is a book from a land far away and it was made in a language so far dead that no living thing can remember save maybe Discord or the Zebras. It is so laced full of dark magic that it took up a conscience, somehow. It can think and reason, and it knows full well it's position as a powerful artifact. It manipulates the current possessor of the tome with it's power and wreaks havoc on the world to it's content, happy that nothing would ever guess a book would be able to wreak such chaos.

The problem arose when this book, the same one that helped Jakben in his reign of terror, was stolen form the Castle. Right out from under Luna and Celestia's nose. If a simple pony has it, and this same book managed to gain control of Luna herself, imagine what it could do with such a simple being as a thief. Besides that I don't think the Book would be satisfied with a simplistic host. It would want somepony powerful, and only one pony was powerful enough to satisfy the Book for over seven-hundred years."

Seamus was beginning to see what she was getting at. "You mean that this Book is going to be going back to the North to find Melody?"

"No." Amethyst rubbed her sinuses with her hoof. "It's going to look for it's long-dead owner, Jakben."

A harsh quiet fell over the circle as the name echoed. Even the other fires several yards away were sent into a hush after the accursed name was mentioned. The breeze from the North suddenly seemed to chill their bones as they sat there, prompting Seamus to put another log on the fire. As the blaze leapt up again Amethyst continued.

"Of course the Book will find nothing but the pit that your newly vampiric friend Rainbow Dash threw him in and maybe the dust that he withered into. We won't have to worry about him again, but it's new host could be a problem. It might want to jump owners again, to a pony more powerful or more useful. Besides that we will still have to deal with my people's woes. Bandits, marauders and psychos are thriving in the Northern Counties now, and I have to fix all that. Of course, you all will help."

General Armstrong nodded sagely. "If you would permit me, I could lead either the search for this Book or your army in it's campaign."

"We'll decide that at a later date.' The Princess yawned. "For now, it's time to sleep. Set out a sentry and give him a loud alarm. I'll see you all in the morning."

I deeply apologize for the brevity of this chapter, but school just started for me and I'm not able to get as much done as I used to. I hope that you can understand.

~DWhay

Reminisce

Seamus slept in his bed, tossing and turning fitfully as nightmares flooded his once pleasant dreams. After a while of this he woke with a sigh and cursed his own foalishness. Thoughts and shadows of the past plagued him even now, with no chances of letting up. They were fraught with images of his dead friends and his non-existent family, of Jakben and Melody. Sadly he had no way of staving the nightmares off, so he reached over and sipped his small cup of water, hoping the cool  springwater would calm his nerves and steady his breathing. it didn't.

So without another pause the colt trotted out of his tent with his cup of water under his wing, out into the crisp night air. The soft breeze was devoid of humidity and cooler than a pool on a hot summer's day, easing the tension out of the alicorn's shoulders. It gave the night a comforting mood. Even Seamus, in his grumpy mood, had to admit to the comforting feeling of the wind in his mane. He trotted off through the camp, where a few lanterns were still hung just in case the troops needed to be up at moment's notice.

He wandered outside of the pool of light that was the encampment, and over to a large cliff he'd found earlier that day before they'd settled. It was a long drop, and he was sure that it was dangerous even to him, but he didn't much care. He wanted to feel in danger, he felt he deserved it somehow. He smiled and sat Lyra-fashioned on the edge of the cliff, trying his best not to look down. The chasm before him was so deep he couldn't well see the bottom of it, but he wanted little more than to fly on the trough of air it was giving off. But his wings denied him, as they were still a fluffy down.

He'd always wondered when he'd mature, when he'd grow a few real feathers and his magic would fully return. He wanted to have some sort of control over his body, something that made him look even a bit adult. But looking at him from any angle and you would undoubtedly mistake the poor young stallion for a young foal. He was so small, he had barely grown an inch since last year and his mane wasn't even all that trimmed up, so he looked like a wild pony. He looked like a small street urchin, and he felt like one too.

But that wasn't the time to dwell on those things. The reason Seamus had made his way to the cliffside was a far more personal reason than to wallow in his self-pity and loathing. Tonight was the night he celebrated the passing of the most important pony of his life. He'd wanted a view of the moon, and there it floated in the sky like a beautiful silver orb. It was even tinted a light orange for the harvest moon, making it even more perfect. The pony he was thinking of had always liked the moon, and heights.

Without further ado Seamus plucked one of his down feathers and let the wind take it, spinning and twirling up into the sky, never to be seen again. The thought of the feather was the grim symbolism that marked that night. Sky had passed just as suddenly, just as unceremoniously. And now he would forever remember that date to be the day he was to grieve.

"Why so glum?" Scootaloo asked, appearing as if from nowhere.

Seamus nearly jumped out of his skin, but he retained his composure. He turned to see Scootaloo sitting on the edge of the cliff face, just like he was. She had a curious look in her eyes, but a caution he hadn't seen in the filly before.

"Scootaloo... could I just have a moment? It's not that I don't want to talk to you I just-"

"Tonight's that night isn't it?" She sighed, putting her head in her hooves and looking out into the country. "The night when Sky died?"

"Yeah... I always do this. I can never just sleep tonight, I always wake up, like my body is making me remember."

"Can I ask you something personal? Like, really personal. I swear not to tell anypony."

"What?"

"You and Sky... I guess you two were a little more than friends, but what did you two have before? Before you came down to Equestria?"

Seamus though about it, but tears sprang to his eyes in pain. He didn't want to talk about those simpler days, as for some reason those were the moments he wanted to relive. He wanted to go back to those and relive them over and over again, no changing a thing. To just see him again would kill him inside...

"Scoots... I really want to tell you... but I don't think that I can. I'm afraid I'll get all teary-eyed." There were already tears leaking down onto his cheeks, but he hadn’t noticed them yet. "Besides... it hurts too much."

"Okay... can you show me? You have magic after all."

"You want me to let you into my memories... well, it would be better than telling you everything. But why not go ask Amethyst? She's not as emotional as me."

"But I want to hear it from you, Sea. Your view is always the most interesting."

"Please Scoots I don't want to."

"Pleas Sea? I just want to see Sky. I didn't get to see him all that much back when he was around."

"Fine." Seamus tried for magic, letting what very little he had focus into the right spell. He was taught by Twilight how to do this, how to transfer memories instantly. It would hurt him more than he could imagine at the moment, but maybe then he'd have somepony to talk to. A filly that actually knew about his past in detail. "But Scootaloo, I will only show you a bit at a time. Just a bit each night, while we march."

"Sure! So how do we do this....?"

Seamus held out his hoof, biting his lip. He had no idea how Scootaloo would react to this, but he knew that she would never badger him about it again if he just gave her the truth. His hoof glowed with a purple energy, an aura that was trying already to leap to Scootaloo in attempt to share his thoughts, memories and dreams.

"Can you just promise me one thing?" He asked.

"What?"

"I'll still be your friend once we're done."

"Got it."

Seamus pressed his hoof to hers, and they both ceased all thought.

Seamus woke up back in the tower, the same one he'd spent years of his life in. It was beautiful as ever, with it's massive, open arches out into the night sky and balconies. The one bed that was set up on a podium overlooked the whole room, allowing him to see the whole night sky at a three-hundred-sixty degree pan angle. The couches down at the base of the podium were a soft leather and the bed itself was made of the finest of brazilwood. Seamus didn't dare turn over, he didn't want to. He was afraid of what he'd see.

Just then he saw Scootaloo at the far corner of the tower, approaching quietly on the tips of her hooves. She was so quiet that she almost took Seamus by surprise when the filly appeared beside him. The colt buried his face in his pillow; he didn't want to talk. She'd come to see Sky, and that was it. So he would let her.

Most say that a piece of a friend or true love will live on inside you forever. Nothing could be more true with magic involved. In this memory Seamus held Sky, eternally bound in this room for this same day for the rest of the alicorn's life. It was a version of Sky that was the young pegasus in every way, from his physical feel and appearance all the way to his bright blue eyes. And this version of Sky lay across from the other colt, mocking him with it's realism. But in his mind Seamus always knew this would be fake, unreal version of his true love.

"Hurry up." Seamus simpered, wanting this to be over as soon as possible.

Scootaloo looked intently at the Sky the other colt had given her to look at. It was him in every way except that he was living in reality. Here, he was technically alive. It was all too tempting for some mages of good standing to retreat into their own worlds when a loved on is lost, and Seamus didn't want to be a victim of that. He wanted to go back, he knew that the real Sky would want him to move on, to live in the real world. Not with this fake bubble of lies.

"He's pretty cute, I've gotta give you that." Scootaloo commented.

The alicorn bit his bottom lip so hard it started to bleed. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and see Sky again, but he knew that if he did he'd never leave this place, he'd never go back and he'd trap Scootaloo here with him. But... wouldn't it be worth it? To be able to live on with his immortality in this world where Sky could live on and never die? And once the memory was done and over with he could just set the memory to loop, the same day over and over again forever. The only ponies that would notice the time would be him and Sky....

"Scootaloo... can you give me a few days in here?" The colt asked. "Just enough to see him again?"

"Umm... okay." Scootaloo said. "But won't somepony notice me?"

"You were never in any of these memories, so the ponies in the dream world can't see you."

"But won't somepony notice that we're gone?"

"Scootaloo, we could spend years down here and only an hour would pass in reality. This is my head, so I can kinda make things how I want."

"Okay... but isn't that a bit dangerous? For you, I mean? What if you can't leave once you've spent that much time here?"

"I will." Seamus lied.

Allow me to ask for some reviews  here and a little more. Who's fault is it for them staying there? Scootaloo's or Seamus'? I'd love to hear your answers. Leave them in the comments if you wish, my  dear readers.

Descent

It's been a long time coming for me to continue this story, and now I think is the best time. Enjoy the chapter.

Scootaloo wandered down a hallway in Melody's castle, unable to remember when it was. There weren't any clocks on the walls and she couldn't find a window to tell if it was day or night. Time didn't pass right here in Seamus' memories. Things were strange, ponies moved at the same speed as they naturally did, but everything else was fixed in place. She'd tried multiple times to get a pony to notice her by pushing something over, but what she found was that anything that wasn't a living breathing organism didn't have the ability to move an inch. The same place over and over, for what felt like the same time, just happening many different ways.

Overall, the filly was a ghost to the inhabitants of the castle. She tried pushing them, shoving them, she even tried stabbing them with her dagger, but nothing had worked. The only thing that registered to the ponies was the thing happening in the memory. By now the flightless pegasus knew every pace of the castle, every nook, every cranny and niche. Every room and hallway. Or so she thought. But now, after looking at nearly every inch of the fortress, she decided that she'd get down to business. She knew that she wanted to go someplace that Seamus couldn't. Since in the memory he was confined to his room, she would be his eyes and ears to whatever was happening at that moment on that day.

Nonchalantly kicking aside a piece of paper, Scootaloo made her way to the place that she'd wanted to see but was admittedly too afraid to. Far in the Northern wing of the castle, the turret suite directly parallel to her royal friend's, was Lady Melody Firenze' Amore's chambers. The filly couldn't get over how that part of the castle felt. It made her skin crawl and itch, and the pit of her stomach felt like it was being lit on fire. Every horror movie she'd ever watched was nothing compared to his awful place, with its blue and black pallet and dim lighting, the suits of armor and the torches that never flickered. The haunting blue flames that never went out. All of them made the filly want to turn tail and run.

But Scootaloo had more guts than any other pony in her town, and she wouldn't hesitate now. Not with her only friend counting on her. Her mind set on her self-assigned mission, she opened the door to Melody's suit. Just then did she realize what time it was. It was late, the moon was high in the sky and the torches on the wall were the only source of light on the narrow, winding staircase. Admittedly, stairs are a pain. No matter where you're from, excessive amounts of stairs are always frustrating. And these were a long, long set of steps. So long in fact that the physically fit filly had to stop twice on her way to the top. After finally clawing her way to the top step, Scootaloo opened the trapdoor to the corrupt ruler's suite.

A massive, three-hundred and sixty degree open room met the young filly's eyes, floors of marble on one end of the room , then dark blue carpet on the other, all leading up to a massive bed that housed a sleeping mare that could only be one pony. Melody, in all her power, lay there, dozing for a little while as Scootaloo began to pry into her things. Scootaloo wanted to get into all of her things, but then she remembered her unfortunate disposition of not being able to touch anything. She cursed under her breathe, words that were unknown to other filly's her age and words that even grown ponies would cringe towards.

The intrusive filly decided that sure, she couldn't open cupboards or drawers, but she could do something that rendered that unnecessary. Approaching the desk of the ruler, she eyed the locked redwood drawers. She then proceeded to reach her hoof through the hardwood and fish around for anything that she could actually grab. Fortunately, somepony in the memory touched the papers in the file recently, rendering them movable. Scootaloo scooped up the paper and began to read. It was a report from the guards on...

Scootaloo threw the medical records back into the desk in disgust. A record of ponies born, ponies culled at birth, those neutered, those submitted into slavery, those burnt for 'treason', and many other statistics made her want to tear up the paper and burn it. But she was here to fix things, not rage at how unfair the past was. Looking for other things, she came across many such records, including personal transaction receipts from a shady doctor dealing in young colts. Scootaloo was about to throw the file away, dismissing it as more things that she'd have to forget, when a name came up that interested her. Seamus' name was on the paper.

Reading farther in, she saw that originally Seamus had lived on a tiny island off the Northern Counties, but when Melody had them forcibly grafted the islands into her territory she'd found that crime was abundant there. Of course, the leader took her time to indulge by buying multiple slaves from the place before finally clearing up the organized crime. She found that the alicorn wasn't even a legitimate birth, as he had no birth records, no parents, nothing. All that was said on it was that he'd been sold to the tyrant when he was roughly one year old. By ponies standards that was coming up on adolescence.

Fascinated, Scootaloo read into it further. After a bit of skimming she came across some rather intrusive facts about the colt's body and more than a few things recorded that she'd rather just not read. Skipping over that portion she found that the whole reason Melody had kept his was as a trophy pet, something that she could bring with her around to other kingdoms and show off as a display of wealth and power. It didn't say much after that, but a neatly scribbled note at the bottom of the paper caught the filly's eye.

'Bottom drawer; left'

Figuring it must be a continuation of the already extensively lengthy file, the filly reached into the location designated and found another file, just as thick if not slightly more so. Except this one didn't have the alicorn’s name on it, but another familiar name that held just as much of a place in Scootaloo’s list of ponies to know about. Sky, or, as the filed indicated his real name, Indigo Sunset, was the subject of this near encyclopedia of information. The filly rolled her eyes at his real name; no wonder the colt preferred the name Sky. She'd heard Seamus once call him Sunset but she knew that was a pet name between them, and that she wasn't to use it. Moving on, she started into the pegasus' past.

The first sentence on the page set the mood for the past of the colt. 'Branded by his mother at the age of two and a half-' Scootaloo stopped reading, thoroughly afraid of what she was going to find. Just the first few words made her reconsider this. This was an invasion of privacy, and desecration of Sky's good name. But, unable to control herself, she read on. The more she read, the worse it got.

'- he was later on that year disowned by his family and kicked out into the streets. Not even a week later did he find himself in the hands of criminals who used him for everything from testing out new drugs to being their personal toy. Luckily he was taken back into the hands of the law and placed in an orphanage where he stayed for another year. The colt then proceeded to run away into the night, convinced that he'd make it out of country where he could be taken in by a country less stricken by poverty. Inadvertently, he ran right into the Northern counties where he was taken in by but another orphanage that later had him 'donated' to Lady Melody's daughter as a gift.

He was received at the exact weight of twenty-nine pounds and seven ounces, spells to halt aging already in place and already effectively neutered by means of cauterizing the flesh around his reproductive organs. Mane length, ten inches long. Height, four feet. Eye color, bright blue. Coat, pale blue. Mane, silver-aquamarine. Hooves, intact. Tail, four inches long. Sex: Male. Genital len-'

Scootaloo cut off there. The rest was either things she didn't want to know or things she already knew. Throwing aside the file, she decided she'd seen enough. Making sure to hurry, she galloped downstairs. She couldn't wait to tell Seamus all the things that she'd found out. But not a moment later did she trip and start to do flips, headlong down flight after flight of stairs, feeling things crack and snap as she just kept going until she came to rest at the landing over four-hundred feet below. The filly opened her eyes to see that, shockingly, she wasn't hurt. Then, with a sudden epiphany, she laughed. This was a memory, one that she wasn't a part of. You can't hurt a pony in a dream.

But just as soon as she started to walk out of the tower did the door open and a pony she'd never seen before walk in. He was gaunt, and his cheekbones jutted out of his muzzle. He looked emaciated and angry, charging towards the brick wall in front of him with no plans on stopping. He moved his hoof from under his cloak and began tapping the bricks in order, muttering an incantation to himself. Scootaloo leaned close to him, but not too close, just enough to hear what he was saying and memorize which bricks he was tapping. The wall folded open, and, as if everything was normal, the red-eyed pegasus strode through.

Scootaloo almost didn't catch what happened next, but just as suddenly as he appeared, the strange pony disappeared. Only after the wall was nearly closed did she see that there was a hole in the floor there. She had to make a decision, fast. Follow this strange pony into this strange place and hopefully she wouldn't find anything she couldn't un-see, or play things safe and head back to her friend. Forever the risk taker, she dove through the gap in the wall just as it closed, thinking of what adventure might await her down in the bowels of the earth.

Leave a comment or I won't write another chapter until Easter.