Bloodlines

After all this, one might wonder, why Celestia had taken interests in bloodlines, if apparently it was just one stallion, that went around and sired offspring, that turned into dangerous murderers in one way or another. But most of those actually had foals on their own. Both Ivory and the Spire had had foals.

The Spire even several, with three mares. A distant descendant even married into the apple family at one point, but never had any foals on his own. It had been a family of gifted metal smiths.

Ivory’s only daughter had been taken into custody by Luna, for a few years, but the mare had expressed desires to live and work on her own and not live in her mother’s shadow and turned to art herself. And while she also used life for her art, she wanted to set herself apart and created statues from plants, for animals to live in.

Changing throughout the seasons and even becoming homes for ponies on some occasions, she was celebrated as a craftsmare of life. Her biggest and most ambitious project was a tree, where one could live in, that would grow rooms for its inhabitants. A literal treehouse.

And further on her descendants continued to have a knack for the beautiful things in life, but some also turned violet yet again. All surely were eccentric. The ebony colored mare with the bow, Treble Shot, had no offspring, but instead, had a twin brother. Sonorous Cello. A unicorn stallion, with the talent to create music from his magic itself.

To this day, several distant descendants, all carrying a certain attribute of craftsmanship and spark of creationism in themselves mingled across Equestria. And where a larger than usual amount of them had turned to violence in one way or another, not all the Spellblades were as much of a threat. At least not on purpose.

As Celestia continued her way down the line, she came past the remnants of two floating staffs. Between them spun a dented sphere, that seemed to be hollow and was covered in an impossibly fine looking and complex pattern of gold. A few feathers, brown and orange, were also fluttering around the staffs.

It was a sight that brought a slim smile to her face. Something she could not say about any of the other tools, but this one.. She remembered them and their wielders fondly.

_________________________________________________________________________

Year 8, Equilibrium fall.

By now Celestia had started to collect informations about unusual weapons and tools, used by unusual ponies. In the wild times after Discord’s fall, it had become a rather vast collection. And right now she was investigating one of these cases. Ever since Luna had nearly fallen to a user of these horrific weapons, she had become fervent with her search.

This time she investigated something, that she hoped most dearly, was nothing but a rumor. Two ponies, who apparently could control the very weather. And not just in small, cloudbusting scales and with long, arduous gathering of water to form clouds, but mere minutes, to create rainstorms and to destroy them just as quickly.

They were rumored to even be able to control the sun, but Celestia at least knew from a fact, that such was false. Except, apparently they had their own sun. And so, with troubling news in mind, she flew along the east coast of Equestria, towards the south, where a lance of rock separated the Winding Sea, from the Water Desert.

What took other ponies weeks of flight, were mere days for the princess. She had learned from the previous encounters. The weapons were incredible and so were the ponies using them, with how they handled them, but they were just ponies. And they were not immune to her magic.

That left the princess confident, even as she approached the area, that the supposed Sons of Storm were said to live. Only for her to stop in her tracks, as she saw something impossible. A flaring ball of blinding light suddenly appeared in the middle of the sky, kilometers away, and still radiant. For a moment Celestia thought, the very sun had come from the sky, and descended onto a cliff, as it started to rapidly fall, only to be suddenly turned aside, flung towards the ocean.

Over the large, slow moving waves of the Water Desert, where it hit onto the top of a wave and caused the water to evaporate, as the glowing started to dim rapidly. Steam was rising from the surface of the ocean, before the little sun was lifted up into the sky again and began to bounce quicker and quicker around the sky.

Breaking out of the impossible and slightly mesmerizing display, the alicorn increased her speed, as her worries all came crashing down on her. Ponies with such powers. Ponies who defied reason and probability. She just hoped to be wrong. But as soon as she got into a couple hundred meters of viewing distance, things seemed to one, get odd and two, seem to hint to her biggest fear.

By now she could see two ponies. One brown, one orange. Two rather slim looking pegasi, that held something that looked like a large fern of feathers each, in the color of the other stallion. Between them, bounced the supposed sun, but despite it’s radiance, it seemed to be tiny. Maybe as big as a foal at best.

And moreover, she could hear the cheerful, lighthearted laughter of the brown stallion, while the orange seemed to grumble, as the little sun flew past him. It was a very happy sound. Innocent, pure laughter, and as the orange stallion dove after the sphere, the brown one started to descend onto the ground.

By now large, quickly darkening storm clouds started to form above them, blotting out the actual sun, but becoming illuminated by the smaller sphere below. But with the dimming of the actual sun, the little sun seemed to follow suit, until the orange stallion reached it, while it was drifting on the endless streams and swirls of the Winding Sea, and launched it straight up.

With wide eyes, Celestia watched as the orb rushed upwards into the sky, disappeared into the clouds, nearly completely doused from it’s light. Only to flare up high in the sky and destroy the cloud cover, scattering it in every direction. Tiny, harmless rain clouds rolled over the sky and past Celestia, as the glowing sphere descended slowly back onto the earth, losing more and more of it’s light, before it fell onto the grasp of the brown pegasus.

While that happened, the orange one, had started to approach Celestia. And she immediately readied herself with her lance. Her armor was shining in the now mostly clear sky, reflecting the sunlight.

“Good day, princess.” said the stallion, with a slightly feminine and high pitched voice, that fit his rather slim appearance. He also had his eyes closed, but smiled in the direction of the alicorn, while beating his wings, to stay in the air. The feathered fern was strapped to his back, looking a bit like the large plumage of a phoenix.

“I would appreciate if you would lower your weapon, it is slightly unsettling to have the spear pointed at me, that killed my brother.” He made a placating gesture and showed a rather slim, slightly nervous smile. It gave Celestia pause.

“Your brother?” Celestia had not felled many foes directly in combat. She always preferred to find a peaceful solution, or to allow the ponies to fend for themselves. So the list of ponies this orange stallion could speak of was small.

“Well, half brother. Iron Crest. I think your people called him the Spire.” He said such words with ease, like it barely affected him and like he did not just admit to being related to one of the biggest obstacles, of Celestia’s campaign.

Such informations caused Celestia to become silent for a few seconds. The open honesty surprised her, but it could also be a trick, so that she would lower her guard. By now, the brown stallion was also approaching, holding a golden sphere under one arm. His eyes were closed as well.

“Something the matter, Sparrow?” He asked, as he floated alongside his twin, both only having a different color and cutiemark from another, but looked nearly exactly the same otherwise.

“Nah, nothing like that, Blackbird. I think Celestia was just worried, after the actions of our little half brother.”

“Ah yes.. I can understand that.” replied the brown stallion and rolled his shoulder a little and then smiled at Celestia, in an apologetic way. “I apologize on the behalf of our little half brother. He was always rather stoic and blockheaded. And loyal to the point of being just dumb.”

“Hey, that is not nice to say.” chimed Sparrow, the orange one, in. “I mean, you are right but.. Please, be considerate. He let down his life for the ones he served.”

“Which were misguided, paranoid idiots. I know you liked Crest. I mean, he was a gold smith and it reminds us of what mom told us about father. But you need to remember that the guy was paid to kill guys, who just thought that making Equestria one big place is the right thing to do.” Remarked blackbird, looking a little annoyed, despite the eyes being closed, but with eyebrows being furrowed.

Celestia was not sure how to handle this, as the two continued to bicker back and forth, until she cleared her throat and both flinched slightly and turned back to the alicorn. “Ahem.. It appears you two have a lot to talk about, but that is not exactly what I came-”

“Yes yes.” said sparrow, sighing slightly, as he interrupted the princess. “You came to see if we are any danger. After what you have seen so far, you are worried that we suddenly flood a city.”

“Or burn it to the ground.”

“Or blind all citizens.”

“Or bring eternal darkness.”

“Or eternal brightness.”

Both nodded sagely, as they listed up some concerns the princess might have, but then they smiles. “No worries, my brother Sparrow here, he hates rain and bad weather.” As blackbird said that, he pulled his brother close, interlocking arms and wings, as both started to perfectly beat their wings.

“And my sister Blackbird here is annoyed by the good weather. So yeah, we always clean up after another and need to compromise. Mom always said how important it is, for all ponies to be as happy as possible.” added Sparrow, as he held his apparently sister close, while both nodded, their eyes still closed.

Taken aback a little by the childish explanation of the two, Celestia finally lowered her weapon. That these two were apparently related to the one that nearly killed her, made Celestia nervous. And after testing both the ferns and the sphere, she knew that those things were also unaffected by her magic. So they were probably similar to the other tools and weapons, she had encountered so far.

“Can we land though?” asked Blackbird and disengaged from her brother. “I really am getting tired, been playing all day now.”

“Hah, weak.” came the teasing remark from Sparrow, who grinned at his sister, then swiftly ducked under the kick that was aimed at his head. Which struck Celestia as odd. Both had not opened their eyes and still acted with precision and to things, that were impossible for them to see coming.

Then the idea occurred to Celestia, that they were probably blind. Either from playing with the blinding sphere, or maybe even before that. “Well yes.. I think think we can continue our conversation on the ground.” with that she slowly followed the siblings, who had started to go ahead without her. In some distant corner of her mind, Celestia felt slightly odd about the complete disregard for respect and worry, that the two displayed.

Once on the ground, the siblings approached a rather small cottage, while occasionally sweeping at another with a kick, a punch, or even their ferns, while the other chuckled and deflected the attack. They really were acting like children and Celestia was slightly reminded of herself and Luna, when they were kids.

The small smile that spread over her face, was quickly pushed away. She still had to evaluate these two. Children were innocent, but children were also cruel and did not understand what the consequences of their actions were. So she would need to be care about the two, until the very end.

But soon she was seated at a table, had a small plate of honeyed bread before her and a mug of lukewarm tea. A simple meal. Both Sparrow and Blackbird were moving around rather easily, even with the flexible ferns strapped to their backs. They acted roughly like tails and they even apparently could flick and bend them, which was confusing to Celestia. But finally all were seated around the table and silence reigned.

“Would you be willing to answer some questions?” came it from Celestia, after a while. As she let the two answer, she took a bite out of the bread and filed it away as decent. Sparrow tilted his head a little and Blackbird hummed.

“I guess. But not all of course. After all, a lady has to keep her secrets.” which oddly enough, came from Sparrow, causing Blackbird to groan. “Anyway, yes, sure, go ahead, your highness.”

“Yes.. Right. So, you said you are related to this Iron Crest?” “Yep” came it from both. “Alright. You spoke of him as your half brother. Which of your parents do you share?”

“Well, we had different mothers. Father was supposedly the same, but well, we never really met him. Mom said he left her. But she was always smiling, so I think it was okay with her.” said Blackbird, with a thoughtful hum.

Sparrow continued. “Well, she said that he was a savior and that he had also helped other mares and that she loved him dearly. But she also knew, that he could not really stay. He apparently was not that type. Though I think our mom and Spire’s mom met by coincidence and they talked and found out, they loved the same stallion. They became good friends.”

“And that is how we met brother Crest.” Blackbird’s tone was cheerful and a smile was on her face. “He was pretty cool, though we had pretty big troubles talking. Cause we are blind and he is… was” her smile dipped slightly and her tone became sad. “Mute, we could talk with him a lot, but he could not really tell us stuff. But he always made us cool little toys.”

Both pointed at a shelve, where small gold trinkets and figurines were standing, most had a rather simple appearance, but were crafted finely and smoothly. “We loved played together. We always held his hands as we went outside, cause he could see and keep us from tripping. Mom always said how it was hilarious, that our little sibling was taking such good care of us. Then again, it was not until much later, till we learned how to perceive stuff around us.”

“Yeah, must have been like, our thirties, right?” Sparrow nodded. “Yeah, around that time.” that caused Celestia to pause and look at the two with narrowed eyes. They looked around twenty at best. Maybe even younger.

“How old are you two?” Came the obvious question. “54!” The cheerful reply of both of them with smiles on their faces, causing the alicorn to deadpan at them. Silence reigned again.

“Ah right, we must look like, really young to you.” “Right, I always forget that you are not as ugly as your act.” came the jab from Sparrow, which earned him a wing to the snout, which he took with a snicker.

“Well, yeah, we were like, 15 years older than brother Crest.” continued Blackbird. “Our mom was also over 20 years older than Crest’s. Still they got along. Had a lot to relate to. Not just dad, but also like, troubles before. They never told us about it, but I think Crest knew a little more.” both sighed and seemed a bit dejected.

As no one continued, Celestia picked up again. “I am sorry about your family but I have more questions. Where did you get those weapons from?” She had to know. She had to find the source and destroy it, if possible.

“Dad made them for us.” said Sparrow and pulled the Fern off of his back and held it with a tender smile, while running his fingers through the plumage. “Feather’s from the one hold dear. Life given from the one who holds you dear. For that the skies may be your playground and you never need to fear.” recited both in unison, holding their respective ferns with something akin to holding a loved one or a child.

It was slightly uncomfortable for Celestia. They seemed to hold a dear connection to those tools and she planned on asking them to offer them up, but for now she would wait with that request and learn more about them. “So, you met your father?”

“Not really, no.”said Sparrow with a shrug. “Mom gave these to us on our twenty fifth birthday. She had taken feathers from each of us over the years, on each birthday twenty. So we have 500 on each tail. Cause on our birthday we added the last row ourselves. Ever since then it felt like dad was sorta with us. We learned how to use them ourselves and honestly, it got really easy, really quickly.”

Blackbird nodded and smirked. “Yeah. They were like additional wings for us. Except, we could do so much more with them. And he even gave us this orb. It’s basically a little gift for us, to play with. I have no idea how he knew but. Yeah it is amazing to play with it. But dangerous.” she chuckled slightly and gave the sphere a prod, while Sparrow grumbled and rubbed his behind.

“Thing gets incredibly hot.” came a slightly annoyed grumble. “Hurts like hell. At least it is not heavy. But ah well, we learned how to protect us against the heat and all and how to play with it. It’s most of what we do nowadays. We sell our talent at making weather to some farmers around, so we get enough food from them. A friend helps us with news and all and repairs we can mostly do ourselves.”

“I always wanted to build a house in the clouds, but one bad throw from us and our house would be history.” said Blackbird with a heavy sigh. “But oh well, I am sure you wanna know more about these.” she pointed at the ferns and Celestia gave a slow nod, then, as she was about to correct it with saying something, remembering they were blind, they reacted.

“Alright then. But you gotta promise us one thing,” came it from Sparrow, as he turned his head back to Celestia. “If you can not promise us that, we would like to ask you to leave.”
There was a weight and seriousness in his voice, and mimicked by Blackbird with the way she held herself, that told the alicorn that they meant it and would not budge on this.

“I will see what I can do.” she admitted and nodded slowly.

“Don’t take these away from us.” said Sparrow, with a somewhat saddened voice, holding the fern closer. “I know they are dangerous to you. I know you do not know us. I am not a fool.” “Debatable” “Ahem.. I am not a fool and I know you see us as danger. But really, all we ever did and all we really want, is to be close to our father and play with another. For nearly thirty years we have not done anything harmful to other ponies, that not any pony else could do.”

“Yeah, a kick here, or a slap there. Maybe a broken bone to a thieve or intruder whom we whacked with our tails.” apparently she meant the ferns. “And that was really it. These are a part of us and we love to play with this sphere too. It is like our dad throwing us this ball. It allows us to pay for our food. It belongs to our tails. I promise, no, I swear” “Me too” “that we would never use this to hurt the ponies around us.”

Both were pleading now and as they did, they opened their eyes. Celestia flinched slightly as they did. Blackbird’s were completely white, as one would expect from a blind pony, but the size and on such a young face, it was really unsettling. And Sparrows were even worse. They were black, which Celestia had seen on some soldiers, who had gotten a fractured skull, but survived. Something about the blood causing the discoloration.

And both unfocused, unseeing eyes were filled with fear and sorrow, that was nearly crushing for Celestia. She nearly recoiled under the intense emotion they displayed, despite their inability to actually see and it resonated in Celestia. Where logic dictated her, to ignore her and their emotions, to not risk it and protect her ponies at all cost, her empathy stood against it.

Could she really cause such suffering and sorrow to ponies, just because she was afraid? It was nothing more than worry at this point, as she had indeed never heard anything bad or dangerous about the two, beyond their exceptional tools. It would be wrong. It would be tyrannical. These two were earnest. And while they were dangerous, they were not guilty.

So she could honestly only make one decision, while upholding her own morals. “Very well. But the moment you raise them against my ponies, I will destroy them.” It was a grim promise, but the smiles she earned were wide as a child, that had just been told it could eat all the cookies in the jar.

“Thank you!” Both yelled and bolted over the table, to hug Celestia.

_________________________________________________________________________

A soft chuckle escaped the alicorn, as she looked at the broken weapons. Sparrow and Blackbird had showed her the magnificent control of air and the mechanics, under which the orb absorbed sunlight, to heat up and reflect it, mimicking another sun. Several times she had met with the kind, childlike ponies, over several years.

But her smile slowly vanished and she looked over the ruined state the two tails, as she had come to call them herself, were in. It was not because of a broken promise. It was because of a tragedy and heroism. It was not sure if they had attracted it, with the light of the orb, or if it had simply been fate playing a cruel trick on them.

But one day, a massive sea monster, bigger than Manehatten’s biggest skyscraper had emerged from the Water Desert. It was a massive, amphibian creature, with an insatiable hunger, that even ate away the earth. Several smaller spawns had accompanied it. And it would have probably killed many ponies, griffons, minotaurs and diamond dogs, if not for Sparrow and Blackbird.

It had been their fight, with the second sun flaring to unknown heights, that had attracted the attention of the ponies. And while no one had seen the fight, they had seen the result. The creature, dead, with craters of seared flesh and burned spawn around it. The earth, shattered torn open and scorched.

And the siblings dead, with Sparrow holding his sister, who clutched the dented sphere against her chest. Both had acid burns and several puncture wounds from projectiles spat and thrown at them. And so they had been found. Together in a final embrace. The tails had been recovered too, as the monster’s body had been moved. And Celestia had taken them, after giving the siblings a proper burial.

They had showed her a lot. Taught her a lot. Not just about the mystery stallion and the connection he had to others, sparking her idea of tracing bloodlines. But also about fairness and that not all, who wielded such massive power, had to succumb to it. They never had offspring, always living lives distant from others, without falling in love.

But their ideas prevailed to this day. They had taught Celestia about a lot of weather manipulation, which she had given over to the pegasi. The knowledge had helped to create weather factories, or at least, their crude and simple beginnings, using lenses, to heat water with the sun and such.

Both Sparrow and Blackbird were eternalized on a portrait, in a hall of Celestia’s wing. And while no one else but her remembered them, she did so fondly.