The Reluctant Protector

Celestia was talking to Miss Raven Inkwell when I got back to her room. I closed the door quietly so as not to disturb them. “So, the preparations are complete?” Celestia asked her.

“Almost, your highness. The only thing left is security, but Shining Armor insisted on handling that part himself.”

“I see,” Celestia responded. “Well, if that’s what he wants then its up to him. He can be so stubborn sometimes...”

“Quite.” Raven said with a smile.

The two mares noticed me. “Well, Raven, I do believe we should stop for today.” Celestia stood to show Raven the door. “And what a productive day it was.”

“Indeed. As always if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.” Raven looked at me, her face blank. Then she broke into a wide grin. “Good evening, Princess Artemis.”

I smiled back. “And to you.”

When she left, Celestia went back to her desk and slumped in her highbacked leather chair with a sigh. She gave a tired smile. “How was your talk with Mrs. Whisk?”

I sighed. “It went well, I think. She hugged and thanked me at the end, even though I didn’t really do anything…”

“You lent her an ear. I’m sure that’s what she needed in that moment.”

“Maybe.” I sat in one of the chairs facing her desk. “That mare… Her poor son…”

Celestia’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Yes, I heard. Terrible.”

“I gave her a room here for the night.”

She nodded. “I’m sure she appreciated it.” She then looked down at some papers and was occasionally signing her name.

“Sorry, am I interrupting? I can go if you’re still working.”

She tittered. “No, not at all. Just some last-minute things that need signing off for the wedding.”

“Wedding?”

“Between Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. It’s at the end of the week.”

“…Right.”

She looked at me. “Today’s Tuesday.” I nodded. “It’s happening on Sunday.” I nodded again. She facepalmed. “Of course you wouldn’t know, you’ve been in a coma. Sorry, My head’s all over the place.” She shuffled some papers. “Yes, the wedding is taking place at the end of the week, it was supposed to take place later in the year but last minute they insisted on moving it up to the week they come back. They should be here any day now.” She then stood and put some papers in a filing cabinet and took out some new ones to begin signing. “They’re cutting it pretty close, but will they listen? No.”

I nodded and stood and began wandering around her room. “Doesn’t this seem fishy to you?” I asked. She raised an eyebrow. "All this ‘changeling’ stuff going on and then they come back from… Where were they again?”

“Cadance was on a diplomatic mission in Neighpon.” The easternmost vassal state of Equestria, Neighpon serves as a staging ground for exploration further east across the Sunrise Sea. The Sunrise Sea is one of the four ‘Great Barriers’. Those being The Everfree Forrest to the south. The Frozen Wastes to the north. The Unending Ocean to the west and the Sunrise Sea to the east. Of course, the Unending Ocean isn’t actually ‘unending’ as The Continent lies west of that. The actual Unending Ocean is west of The Continent but the general public doesn’t know that.

Celestia continued. “Cadance is our top diplomat. Her being the Princess of Love, she’s the prime candidate for such a thing. Her charisma is unmatched along with her being just a genuinely good person, all the foreign leaders love her.”

“Yeah, she sounds nice.” I said absentmindedly.

"Does it seem fishy?" She asked repeating the question. "I suppose. But I'm not worried. We'll have the best security and some of the most powerful magic users in the realm attending."

I looked through various knick-knacks scattered about the room. Things from ages past. Memories that I wasn't a part of. Nothing I remember seeing before. I guess the ring really is the only thing she has from back then. One wall of the room was just a gigantic bookcase, complete with a small ladder on rails. I began perusing. ‘Holly Hocks complete guide to holistic healing’. ‘A compendium of eateries, A to Z’. ‘How to train your dragon’. Then, there was another book at the very end of the shelf, covered by the small ladder. Hello, what’s this?

I moved the ladder along the rails. It was stiff and it complained with a squeak, but it eventually gave and moved across. I reached for the book – tome, really – and came to see that it was unlike all the rest. Thick, leather-bound backing produced a lovely smell that only leather can produce and made me want to take deep breaths. A strange energy ran from the book through my body like an electrical current and sent the muscles in my forearm twitching. Gold-edged parchment was squeezed tightly together and the whole thing was tied shut with red ribbon. On the front of the tome was a stylised sun, not unlike Celestia’s cutie mark but this was different.

Ponies are the race most pre-disposed to magic in the realm, with Kirins coming in at a close second. Kirins being the offspring of a dragon and a pony. As such, early in life, ponies discover something that they love. Something that they are passionate about. Their special talent. Their latent magic will latch onto this thing and permanently mark the pony’s skin and fur like a tattoo. Their ‘cutie mark’. It could be anything. Celestia’s cutie mark is a stylised sun. Luna’s is a half-moon on a dark splotch.

Me being a human, I don’t have a cutie mark. Despite my talent with magic. I suppose, if I did have a cutie mark, it would probably be a black triangle.

Yes, this symbol on the front of the tome is definitely a cutie mark. Eight flares protruded from the centre circle, half of which were a light amber and the other half a deep crimson. The centre circle was separated like a yin-yang symbol, the yin being a golden amber and the yang the same deep crimson as half of the flares. The entire symbol protruded from the leather backing and was inlaid with thin gold.

I reached for the red ribbon and untied it. Then stopped. What am I thinking…? I mentally chastised. This could be Celestia’s diary. I’m not about to betray her trust like that… I sighed and slowly re-tied the red ribbon and placed the tome back on the shelf, wiping a bit of dust away that a maid must have missed as I did.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Celestia called. Lyra entered. “Hello, Lyra.” Celestia said with a smile. “What can we do for you?”

I spoke up. “Oh, you're probably here for your lesson, aren’t you?”

Lyra nodded. “That’s right.”

“Do you want us to go, Celly?”

Celestia stood. “No, that’s fine. I’m done now anyway.” She filed away some papers she was signing and sat on one of her couches. “I wouldn’t mind sitting in on this if that’s okay with you?”

“Fine with me,” I said. “Lyra?”

“It’s fine.” Said Lyra.

“Okay.” I sat next to Celestia. “I can’t very well teach you if I don’t know what you’ve been learning.”

Lyra sat opposite us. “Well, when you were asleep it was mostly Celestia giving me what she said was some good exercises. Stuff like this.” She scrunched her eyes in concentration and held out her hands like she was cupping some water. Her breathing slowed and she took a few slow, deep breaths. Light began to emanate from her hands. It started small, barely noticeable. But with each breath, the light got brighter. A very light, pale green colour that made me think of mint. Brighter and brighter it became, until the light literally poured out of her hands, like the vapour from dry-ice. It fell slowly to the floor and pooled underneath her and around her hooves.

Then her eyes opened and she closed her hands quickly. The light dissipated like it was blown away in an unseen wind. I clapped. “Well done!” I said, genuinely impressed.

“Indeed,” Celestia said, matching my sentiment. “That was masterfully done.”

Lyra’s face went red and she looked to the side. “It wasn’t that big of a deal,” She looked to Celestia. “You said it was just a party trick.”

“That’s because it was a party trick,” Celestia said. “However, that particular party trick also has the side effect of honing your ability to channel without a medium. Hands only.”

I nodded. “And for only a few weeks of practice, you did very well. That was illusion magic, how are you with other schools?”

Lyra thought for a minute. “I can produce a few sparks out of my fingers if I breathe calmly for long enough. I don’t know what school that’s from though.”

“Is that so? Show me.” I said and folded my arms.

Lyra raised a brow. “Right now? It'll take a while.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “We can wait.” Lyra nodded, closed her eyes, and got to breathing. Celestia got up and retrieved a book from her bed-side table that had a bookmark in it, sat back down next to me and began reading. I closed my eyes and waited.

A few minutes later, Lyra said in a strained voice. “I think I’m ready.” I opened my eyes to see Lyra’s face strained in deep concentration. A few beads of sweat forming on her forehead below her broken horn. She held a hand out in front of herself and pointed up towards the ceiling.

Two sparks flew from her finger with a small ‘pop’ like a pathetic firework and dissipated shortly after. She let go of a breath she’d been holding and panted in exhaustion. Me and Celestia stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Sorry,” Lyra said. “I- It’s the only other thing I’ve learned. Luna was impressed, but I think she was making fun of me.”

I looked to Celestia. “Did you teach her that?” Celestia shook her head.

“She didn’t,” Lyra said. “I just thought it might be cool if I could make a sparkler with just my hands. It’s pretty pathetic though.”

“Lyra,” I said, stopping her. “What you just did, was a fireball spell.”

“Huh?!”

“It’s true.” Celestia chimed in. “If you were to have a medium, you would have produced a perfect fireball. Keep that spell up for long enough, and you would have produced a thick gout of fire.”

“Wha- Bu- I didn’t-”

I stood and hugged Lyra. “That’s my apprentice. I’m so proud!” Lyra smiled and hugged me back tightly. “If you’re that far along already, I dare say you may be ready.”

Lyra looked to me quizzically. “Ready for what?”

I ran to the other side of the room and grabbed my staff. “For your very own medium.” I brought it over to her and held it out. “Here, take it. No spells though.”

She hesitantly put one hand on the Elderwood and the deeply carved runes pulsed once with light. “What was that?” Lyra asked.

“That was your magic surging through the wood.” She looked up to the pale blue crystal that was cradles in the branches of the shaft. And I mean, she really had to look up. The staff was slightly taller than me, I’m taller than Celestia by a head and Celestia is taller than most ponies. So much so that they usually only come up to her chest.

“I think it’s a bit big for me.” Lyra said. “Also, it’s really heavy. It’s hard to keep balanced.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well duh. You won’t be getting one as big as this. You’ll get something more your speed.” I lifted the staff and positioned it so that it would be easier for her to handle. She put both hands on it, close to the crystal. “Now try that same light illusion as before.”

Lyra nodded and closed her eyes.

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Try not to keep your eyes closed. It’s bad practice. Just breathe.”

She nodded again. After a few seconds, deep within the crystal, that same minty-green light began to show. It grew slightly and we all peered into the crystal. The light was actually a glowing cloud. It grew like ink in water, swirling around itself until it dissipated all together.

“Oh…” Lyra said with slumped shoulders. “Well, that sucked.”

“It doesn’t trust you.” Celestia said.

“What?”

“Artemis’ staff doesn’t trust you. Elderwood is alive, Miss Hearstrings.” She said whilst I took my staff back from Lyra. “Not just alive but sentient, to an extent. The tree that this is made from chose Artemis to be its barer willingly. Not you. It doesn’t trust you.”

“She’s right.” I spoke. I held up the staff examining it. Near the top, where the crystal was held, a new leaf was beginning to grow. I smiled. “We’ve been through a lot together.”

Celestia cleared her throat and I snapped to her attention. “I take it you’ll be heading out tomorrow?”

“That’s right,” I sighed and placed the staff against the wall again. “Should only take a day.”

She nodded. “Very well. Lyra, it’s getting late and you apparently have a big day tomorrow. You should get some rest.”

Lyra nodded. “Yeah, okay. Goodnight.” She turned to leave.

“Goodnight,” I called. "And well done. Really." She nodded with a grateful smile and left.

When the door closed, Celestia turned to me. “I can never get enough of watching you teach.”

“Huh?” I asked. “I barely did anything. In the time she’s been my apprentice, you’ve taught her a hell of a lot more than I have.”

She shook her head and hugged me, pushing me down onto the bed. “Doesn’t matter.” She kissed me. “It’s wonderful every time.” Another kiss. “Watching you with that filly today, watching you teach Lyra. You’d make a wonderful mother.”

I snorted. “Yeah right, it’s all well and good when I can spoil them, but I’d just want to send them away eventually. You were always the natural mother between us, Cell.”

“Kiss me.”

I grabbed her shoulders and rolled her over so I was on top. I leaned down and pressed our lips together, deeper and deeper I was drawn in, until we had to pull away to breathe. She stared into my eyes and I into hers. An unspoken acknowledgement of what was about to happen occurred. She smirked. Her horn lit. The curtains were drawn quickly and the candles lighting the room went out.

Oh my…