Princess Celestia sat in her chair behind her desk, on the top floor of the tower that housed her School for Gifted Unicorns, tapping her fingers lightly on the wooden desktop. Her wings ruffled slightly as she glanced at the confiscated items drawer. She rarely had to use it, so anytime she did, it always rankled a bit.
She wanted her young students to feel free to be themselves, to enjoy life and have fun. That said, they were still here to learn, and that was hard to do when you were more enthralled by some silly picture book than the lesson in front of you.
The Alicorn had only gotten a brief glimpse of the front of the book, enough to know it was one of those “comics” that all young ponies seemed obsessed with, now-days. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in her little ponies being able to have fun, in what ever way pleased them, of course, but. . . . it just seemed that her students would be smarter, and more engaged, than to bring such a thing to school with them and read it during class.
And not just any class. Her class.
She tapped her fingers again, smartly on the desktop, and then looked up as there came a soft, hesitant knock on the door.
“Come in.” She said, gently but firmly. He had to understand, that she wasn’t pleased.
The door opened, and a dejected looking Unicorn colt walked in, his white coat and blue mane both looking muted in their colours, his eyes downcast on the floor. She cast her eyes to his flank, seeing the blank expanse of fur there. She wondered when he would get his cutie mark. . . .
Back to business. This young colt had shown himself to be quite adept at magic, especially defensive and shielding spells. It was probably something that had inspired his parents when they gave him his name.
“Shining Armor.” She said, softly, and he looked up at her out of big, deep blue eyes. You’re going to be a heartbreaker, when you grow up, little colt. She thought, but narrowed her eyes, not letting the thought show on her face.
She reached over and opened the drawer, pulling out the comic book, and sat it down on the desktop. “What is this?” She asked the question with a quirk to her eyebrow that brooked no lies or argument. He hung his head again, abashed.
“I-I’m so sorry, Princess! I-I just. . . Umm. . . . “
Her mind told her not to go easy on him, but her heart said that he had not meant any harm. Her heart won the argument, as it usually did. She sighed, softly, and laid a hand on the cover of the comic. “Shining, you mustn’t put simple entertainment above your education! You have so much potential, and I only want to see you be able to reach it, the same as any of my other students. Do you understand?”
Shining lifted his muzzle, opening his mouth, then closed it and nodded numbly. She frowned, sighing again. “Shining Armor, look at me.” He glanced up and she met his eyes, smiling softly. “Why don’t you tell me why this,” she flipped the comic lightly, making the pages ruffle, “is more important to you than my class?”
His eyes went wide and he shook his head. “I-It’s not, Princess, I swear!”
She held up a hand, chuckling softly. “It’s alright, Shining! I know you meant no harm, and I think you’ve learned your lesson. I just want to know why.” She cocked her head at him, an ear twitching and he took a breath, shrugging in discomfort.
“I. . . Err. . . . I’ve always liked comics and stuff. . . . And, well, when I heard that Fyreoath Comics had a new series coming out, I got a little. . . obsessed. I read up everything I could about the new series, and loved the whole idea of it, and, well . . . when the first issue came out,” he pointed at the comic on the desk. “I sorta . . . went a little nuts. I bought it, and well . . . this is actually my fourth time reading through it.”
She wasn’t sure what was so special about these comic books, and not for the first time, thought to herself that she really needed to try and expand her knowledge of this newest generation of her little ponies. She looked down at the comic, taking in the image on the front once more. Some small details jumped out at her, and she frowned.
“What. . . “ She hesitated, then bit her lip, and shot a conspiratorial glance up at the young colt, before leaning forward over her desk. He leaned towards her as well, his eyebrows lifted.
“What is it about, exactly?”
She watched his face shift and glide through multiple expressions of confusion, disbelief, awe and, finally, gleeful delight. She smiled at his enthusiasm, and listened intently.
“It’s about this royal guard who loses a member of her squad in combat. He was her best friend and probably a bit more than that, I like to think. Anyway, her grief really overtakes her and she has a bit of a meltdown. Her commanding officer is forced to put her on indefinite leave after a psych eval says she’s unfit for duty. She’s, like, completely against this, and wants nothing more than to stay and serve in the guard. But, her commander is adamant, and so she has to leave. She goes back to her old home city of Manehattan, but all her family are dead or moved away, and she can’t find any peace. Then, one night, she saves a young filly from some muggers, and feels the fire of purpose once again!”
The young colt was sitting there, fist clenched and eyes shining at this tale of awesomeness. Part of her worried that the story seemed a bit too . . . mature, for someone of his age. However, she also knew that different ponies grew up different, some doing so faster than others. It wasn’t her place to tell him he could not enjoy this story, if his parents were okay with it.
She glanced once more at the cover art, depicting who she could only assume was meant to be the main character. She pursed her lips, and spoke without thinking. “She looks like a thestral. . . .”
“She is! She’s a member of the Lunar Guard, or was, before the story!”
Celestia looked up at the young colt, a strange smile on her curious face. “Aren’t thestrals scary, though?”
Her glances away, and shrugs. “M-Maybe a little. . . But, they’re really cool, too! And, she uses how so many ponies are afraid of thestrals to keep all the bad guys scared of her. It’s really awesome!”
She glanced back down at the comic again, and felt a small smile tugging her lips up, her expression thoughtful, and a bit forlorn.
“Princess? Are. . . Are you ok?” His voice was soft, concerned. She glanced up, and grinned at him. “I’m perfectly fine, Shining Armor!” She stood up, leaving the comic on the desk, and walked around to stand beside him, her hooves making soft taps on the floor. “Now, you’ve learned your lesson, yes? Not to put entertainment ahead of your education?”
He stood up so fast he nearly knocked over his chair, nodding rapidly, eyes darting briefly to the comic before going back to her face. “Yes, Your Majesty!” She nodded, slowly, and smiled.
“Good. Then you can go.” He grinned, and moved to take the comic. She leaned over and placed her hand atop it, pursing her lips at him, and cocking an eyebrow. He gulped, drawing back away from her and the comic. “P-Princess?”
“I think you should leave that, here.” She saw his face fall, and her heart just about exploded at how adoracute he was. She reached into a pocket and pulled her hand out, holding it out to him. He frowned, but reached out and, smiling, she lay a couple of bits in his palm. “There. So you can have money for the next issue. This one, however. . . if you’ve already read it four times, I think it’s only right you share it, yes?” She asked, giving a humorous quirk to her mouth.
His eyes went wide again, and his jaw dropped, before he picked it up off the floor, and grinned like a loon. “Yes, Princess Celestia, of course! Thank you!” He said and, at her nod, took off out of her office, laughing. One of her guards glanced inside, his golden armour shining slightly, and she nodded with a smile.
After the door closed, Celestia walked back around the desk, sitting down slowly, and pulled the slender form of the book over to her. She once again cast her eyes to the image on the front. . . .
The strong, yet still feminine figure there was covered in dark clothing. A hood and cowl obscured her features, even her eyes hidden behind a pair of red tinted goggles. Manatech armour covered her limbs and torso. A glimpse of her tail showed it as being short-cropped, and a dark brownish-black in colour.
The armour she wore was all a dull, matte gray, fitting her perfectly, made to provide the best balance between all-encompassing protection, and full mobility. From beneath her breastplate, the separate tails of a surcoat hung, two to a leg. It reminded her, in spite of the very hyper modern aspect of the manatech armour, of the sort of gear once worn by Equestrian knights, and that was probably deliberate.
The surcoat was a deep, midnight blue, bordered with silver. In the place where a knight would have had his or her coat-of-arms, or that of their liege, was a symbol. One that was very familiar to the Solar Princess, and which sent a small jolt of pain through her chest. Nearly a full millennia had dulled the pain, but nothing would ever take it away, until the time was spent, and she could, perhaps, if the Elements smiled upon her, hold her sister close again. . . .
The crescent moon on a black, starry background, her beloved sister’s cutie mark, was worn as this comic book heroes arms. Or, rather, perhaps it was better to think of that as her liege’s arms. For, emblazoned upon her chest, a deep silver against the matte gray of her armour, was another symbol. A bat-like shape, wings spread around a blackened shield.
The figure stood atop a roof in what was clearly meant to be modern day Manehattan, a police airship hanging in the air behind her, her large, bat-like wings partially folded against her back, while the moon hung above, the face of the Mare in the Moon shining down upon her.
Across it in deep blue lettering was written the title of the story, and, with curiosity in her heart, Celestia glanced up at the wall clock. Feeling that she had enough time, she cleared her throat and turned to the first page of the story, quickly becoming engrossed by the tale.
She could see what had young Shining so enraptured. This was a beautiful, heartbreaking and, yes, action packed, perhaps even “awesome” story.
When the last page was turned, she pursed her lips, and then glanced up at the clock again. She smiled, telling herself she could reread it, just once, before her next class, if she was quick.
And so, she turned the pages back to the beginning, and started over with the tale;
BATMARE - THE RISE OF THE NIGHT!
Coming Soon!