Fire and Shadows

Princess Celestia’s POV

I sit down on a picnic bench in the Canterlot Castle gardens for a light lunch with a few friends. Aurora is busy in the north of Equestria, and I am anxious for her safety, but I have had the privilege of watching her in training and I’m confident in her abilities as a soldier. I even gave her the offer of joining the Solar Guard, and she was glad to accept it. Today, a few members of the different Houses of Canterlot are with me, just for a little get-together. We aren’t here to talk about politics, although I have an idea that there will be some discussion about the little vampire.

Prince Blueblood is here, along with my lovely niece Cadance and her husband Shining Armour. Across the picnic bench from me are Fancy Pants, Fleur de Lis and my secretary Raven Inkwell. All of them are important ponies in my government as well as good company.

Surprisingly, Lulu has also joined us. She usually isn’t one to stay around when I invite friends over, but I expect it has something to do with the vampire. I am going to be upset if she chooses to disrupt this little gathering, but I doubt I will be able to stop her. When she chooses to do something there is no persuading her otherwise.

“So,” I say happily as I take in my surroundings; the rose garden has always been one of my favourite gardens here at Canterlot Castle. “How are all of you?”

“I am quite well, Aunt Celestia,” Blueblood answers. He takes a bite of a cucumber and daisy sandwich. “Staying in the Dragon Lands over the last few weeks was nice, but there really is no place like home and nopony like family.”

“Indeed,” Lulu agrees, although I have a feeling that the meaning of her words is open to some interpretation. I ignore her and pick up a sandwich with my magic.

“I have had quite a busy week, I must admit,” Fancy says. “Then again, that is nothing new here in Canterlot, is it?”

Raven laughs, “There’s always something for us to deal with. Whether it is the - excuse my poor language - Vampire of the Frozen North, or something a little more mundane.”

There we go. Raven said it. But I’m not about to criticise her; I haven’t had a better secretary and personal assistant in all of my years as ruler of Equestria. If I were to sack her I would have great difficulty in finding a better pony for the role, and I would be losing a good friend at the same time. I pick up a cupcake and decide not to criticise her for it.

“I agree, Lady Inkwell. But on the positive side, we rarely have to deal with these issues that arise on our own.” Fancy smiles at each of us. One thing I will never stop loving about these ponies is that they are always there for me.

Shining is able to lead the Royal Guard quite efficiently, even if there have been a few slight hiccups in his journey, but those couldn’t be avoided. When he was unable to do anything, Twilight, the little star of the House of Sparkle, was there for him, as was my wonderful niece Cadance, who is growing into one amazing little princess. Now all I need is a kingdom for her to rule.

Fleur of the de Lis household and Fancy Pants are my main links to the ordinary ponies of Canterlot, and they are always there to help carry my burdens. Fleur is very well-connected and tends to hear a lot of snippets of useful information, making her an interesting choice for a member of the Equestrian Intelligence Service. Fancy, on the other hoof, is the pony who organises everything and speaks to the ponies who I need to help me. He runs my government for me. If I tell him to do something, he makes sure that it gets done. Yet at the same time he is incredibly polite and courteous.

Raven Inkwell. The Inkwells are a fairly new family among the Noble Houses of Canterlot, but they are unlikely to fall any time soon. Wealthy, powerful, and I’m close to Raven in particular. Her role in my government is sometimes a scribe during important meetings or in court, and sometimes that of an adviser. Really, all of these ponies around me are my advisers, but often Raven is the nearest pony with a good head on her shoulders to talk to when something goes wrong, and she’s ever so tolerant of me as well on the days when I am not so pleasant.

Blueblood… I never quite know what to think of him. Naturally, I am not a fan of him showing an interest in every other mare he spots in the street. What makes him an amazing pony is that, even if he is on the other side of Equis, he is happy to stop everything he is doing at the drop of a hat and travel to Canterlot to assist me in any way possible. He was already born of the House of Bluebell, but I took him in as one of my own as well because of his charm and his loyalty. He is the voice that can talk to those who won’t listen to me, and the only exception to that rule is the vampire. But she’s something else entirely.

Shining and Cadance giggle slightly, looking at each other with excitement lighting up their eyes. Shining says, “Do you want to tell them, honey, or should I?”

“Oh, Shiny, let me.”

All of us look at her and wait expectantly.

“Well, Shiny and I are pleased to announce that we-” She stops herself and giggles. “We’re going to be having our first foal in a few months’ time.”

“Congratulations!” I smile. My niece has done well for herself. I always thought that young Shining from the Noble House of Sparkle was a good match for her. A handsome unicorn stallion who rose quickly through the Solar Guard ranks from the moment he joined. Much better than that other stallion she once ran off with. To be honest, I’m more than a little glad it didn’t work out.

“Oh my gosh, c’est magnifique!” Fleur cries.

“Congratulations, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour!” adds Fancy Pants.

The two of them blush slightly. They can barely tear their eyes from each other.

“You had better be careful,” jokes Blueblood. “Foals are often nothing but trouble. You’re likely to have a unicorn child, and you’ll have to make sure that everything is nailed to the floor. Of course, there is a small chance that the foal could be an alicorn, in which case the only advice I can give you is to save yourselves.”

"Really, Prince Blueblood, I doubt that would happen," Fleur giggles. "If Princess Celestia has never heard of an alicorn child being born, it is quite unlikely."

Cadance laughs, “Oh, Blueblood, foals are a joy to have in the family, no matter how much trouble they cause. The baby will be able to grow up all nice and safe here in Canterlot, with the love and care of their Great Aunts Celestia and Luna, and of course Uncle Blueblood,” she teases him.

“Oh, please, no. Me, babysitting? I doubt I would manage. My area of expertise is politics, not bedtime.” He picks up another sandwich.

“I think you’ll find that there isn’t a huge amount of difference between the two,” Raven titters. “Some foals can be quite a hoofful.”

“Well, there are some other in-laws who would be able to look after the foal if ever you needed them to,” says Lulu. “Of course, that would be after the current political situation is resolved.”

All of us fall silent and I struggle to swallow the mouthful of cake as quickly as possible just so that I don’t end up spitting it out in her face. Well done, Luna. You have brightened up all of our lives with your moonlight and your wise words. Run along and mess around with your night sky elsewhere and give some other poor soul a nightmare.

Shining snaps, “Excuse me, Princess Luna?”

“Princess Cadance has a cousin, does she not?”

“Yes, Aunt Luna, she is my cousin,” Cadance sighs. “But I wouldn’t trust her or her husband with my child, war or no war.”

“And why is that, Cadance?”

“My foal shouldn’t be exposed to dark magic from such a young age,” she says flatly, mirroring her husband’s expression of annoyance.

Luna heaves a sigh of her own and crosses her forelegs. “Cadance? Enlighten me. You grew up in quite a rural area of Equestria, did you not?”

“Yes, but what’s that got to do with-”

“Were there bat ponies there?” she inquires.

“Well, yes. Actually, there was some talk that one of my distant relatives there was a bat pony-”

“Well, then.” She grins with satisfaction for a moment before a cold look settles upon her face. “Cadance, Shining, I should warn you that the choice of who looks after your child might be taken away from you.” She shoots a glare in my direction, and I brace myself for the next onslaught of nonsense. “If my dear sister thinks that your foal is of the ‘wrong sort’ to be a future leader of Equestria you might find yourselves exiled. Or, if the two of you are too important to remove from the equation, she may just send the child away to live with her own kind.” She spits the last few words, and I know that she remembers what happened all of those years ago far too well.

Luna stands up and walks off without another word. She can’t help herself, can she? She has to throw a spanner in the works and ruin everything nice that I do. Now I have to clean up this mess and convince my lovely niece not to hate me. The last thing this country needs is for another feud to start in the Royal Family.

“Cadance, Shining, please ignore Luna. I wouldn’t do that.”

There is hurt in Cadance’s eyes. “But if you did it to her foal, then how do we know-”

“The stallion she fell in love with was a traitor who plotted to kill her, and he ran away with the child. She wanted to go and look for the foal, but I didn’t let her because I feared for her safety. I have told you before, Cadance, alicorns are not truly immortal - they become stronger and weaker over cycles of several years. At that point she was weak as she had been looking after a foal which had sapped her strength, and I feared that neither she nor the child would return.”

Not all of that is true, but the ponies I find myself surrounded by would not understand the truth. What is true is that alicorns do become stronger and weaker. Currently both myself and Luna are growing stronger, but my power is increasing at a much faster rate than hers.

“And why didn’t you send the Royal Guard to bring back the newborn heir to the Equestrian throne?” Cadance’s wings twitch a few times by her sides.

I have to think on my hooves to get around this one. “The newspapers knew that the foal was…” I search for the right word, “illegitimate. The ponies of Equestria were not so loving then as they are now, and they likely would have tried to harm her. If she grew up out of the way, I reasoned that no serious harm would come to her. Of course, nopony could have anticipated the events that followed.”

Well, actually, they did. Several ponies predicted that the vampire would become a creature of darkness. I was a fool not to send the Royal Guard to Hollow Shades. I should have just ordered for both father and daughter to be executed and been done with it. Instead, I allowed her to get involved with dark magic and look at what has happened. But I am not about to burden my friends and family with that knowledge. The blame is my own.

There are a few moments of silence, then Cadance nods with some reluctance. “You’re right. When ponies don’t understand something they can become upset or afraid. There would have been consequences. Either way, she’s been the cause of huge amounts of trouble.”

“And how do we bring an end to said trouble?” Blueblood wonders. “You’ve already tried plenty, Aunt Celestia. Everything from peaceful negotiations to some far more unpleasant means, and nothing has worked.”

“I have tried to be a little unpredictable in the methods I choose,” I say. “Yet she seems to know every move I make in advance.” I glance in the direction of the castle, thinking of my younger sister.

“Then go back to something you’ve done before. If you can go back to writing letters to her-”

“Something tells me that she will know whatever I choose to do next.”

There is another moment of silence. I take another cupcake.

“Princess? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Raven asks.

“Please, speak your thoughts, Raven. I am no mind reader.”

“I… It sounded like you were saying that you thought somepony within Canterlot Castle was communicating with the Crystal Empire’s rulers.”

I take a deep breath, then nod at her. “Yes, Raven. That is exactly what I am suggesting. Somepony inside Canterlot Castle is not as harmless as they seem and is communicating with that vampire. I have no shame in calling her that and I have no shame in denouncing who I believe to be speaking to her and the Umbrum she claims to be in love with.”

“Aunt Celestia, who could be doing such a thing?” Blueblood asks.

“It isn’t that hard to guess, Blueblood.” I can’t quite mask the edge in my voice. I already know what Lulu is up to, but I am always wary of Blueblood. He talks to so many ponies and when he returned from that little expedition to the Crystal Empire he was in quite a state. Anything could have happened to him, including those two placing some sort of spell on him. I would hardly be surprised.

“Princess Luna,” Fleur mutters. “I shall withhold my opinions for they should not be discussed somewhere so open as this.”

“If you want to say something, Fleur de Lis, please do so.” She might know something that could be useful. She might have her own ideas for what to do about my traitorous little sister.

“I should expect that you have confronted her about your suspicions, and if I were in your position I would do so again, Princess Celestia. If she is so desperate to help her daughter, then she can do so. Allow her to travel to the Crystal Empire, and prevent her from returning. Whilst these decisions are always difficult, I feel that in a situation like the one we find ourselves in, this choice is justified.”

I let Fleur’s words sink in. What she says makes sense to me. Send Luna to the Crystal Empire and denounce her as a traitor once she has left. Then I have sole control of Equestria and I can start bringing in the laws I need to introduce in order to stop her and her vampire daughter. I can do this. The downside of this is that obviously Luna will be working against me and that she’ll be back with the vampire again, but I think I can handle that if it means I have my power back.

The Crystal Empire will still be vastly outnumbered in terms of soldiers, and there will still be two alicorns to fight on my side, perhaps three if I can free Twilight and find that old spell that Starswirl never finished. If she can complete it, she will become an alicorn, just like that other old prophecy said. Once the Royal Guard is solely under my control, I can win. I can stop dark magic in its tracks once and for all.

It would be even better if I could get her in a prison cell, but I doubt certain members of the public would allow it. I need to wait a little for the vampires of Equestria to accept the fact that their Night Queen isn’t going to be able to protect them before I take any further action.

“You may be on to something there, Fleur,” I say slowly. “That might just work. But I think I will wait a little longer before I do anything like that. There are a few other matters I would like to deal with in advance. Now, let’s stop talking about politics for a while and enjoy this little gathering.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes. I’m no longer hungry so I have little to do to occupy myself. My thoughts drift to Twilight in that little cell in the Crystal Empire. How I would love to free her and see her again. Then I think of Aurora once more, busy trying to calm down the rebellion at that little town in Northern Equestria. That Starlight Glimmer deserves a place in Tartarus for stealing those cutie marks and then siding with the vampire and her idiot husband Sombra. What I wouldn’t give to stop those two in their tracks and show them what happens to those who use dark magic if they are not careful.

One day I will show them all and I will banish the last traces of dark magic from the world. One day I will be the sole ruler of Equestria again and I will bring in a new era of light, even more magnificent that the one that the vampire has brought to an end.

One day there won’t be any dark corners for monsters of her kind to hide in.