Solace for the Sol Princess
Being royalty came with many responsibilities, even before Scorpan had become next in line for the throne. He'd learned the importance of being on time, even preferably early, for everything when he was young. So it made sense that he would awake at the crack of dawn, before anybeast else--even the servants--were up.
His eyes narrowed as he hovered to his window. Depending on the time of year, the Equestrian sisters had worked out later and earlier times to raise their respective heavenly body; even in their desert kingdom, the days became shorter and the nights became longer.
The problem was that it was summer. Shouldn't the early rays of the sun be peeking over the horizon? Shouldn't the stars have just become invisible?
Scorpan glanced over his shoulder at the invention that had been made just over a century ago, but to his confusion, the grandfather clock on the opposite side of his room was on time.
The moon was still high in the sky.
"That's odd..." he murmured. It had been a while since he'd spoken to the Equestrian princesses, but he liked to think that he still knew them fairly well. He knew, for a fact, that they were even more punctual than he was; the fate of their world quite literally depended on it. If sunlight was not evenly disputed all over their world...
He flew onto his balcony, heartbeat rising in anxiety as he watched the night sky, only releasing a sigh of relief when bands of pink, peach, and orange slowly peeked over the mountains.
He'd almost convinced himself it was his mind playing tricks on him a few days later when a speck shined against the horizon.
The pink pegasus with the blue mane and tail was there to deliver a message to the royal family of the Netherlands. Scorpan's eyes widened as he read; nearly as soon as he finished the letter, he let his father and mother know he was about to make a trip.
It took three days to reach the Everfree Forest by flight. Thankfully the pegasus, a correspondent named Firefly, helped to guide him. She seemed to be quite a daring thing, he thought to himself; he certainly never would have taken the shortcuts she had.
The trip was worth it, though. He couldn't help gasping at the sight of the two sisters' castle. The last time he'd been here, the place was a magnificent, shining building that stood proudly above even the tallest of the forest's trees.
In its place now stood a ruin, its once magnificent turrets and towers crumbled both inside and outside its stone walls.
"The princess's letter was alarming, but I didn't realize..." Scorpan trailed off as he hovered in place.
The pegasus nudged his side with her hoof. "She's sent the guards away."
The implication was clear. It wasn't Princess Celestia who needed Prince Scorpan for an alliance; it was Celestia who needed her friend in an extreme time of need.
She looked different from when Scorpan had seen her last. She was taller, more slender, her legs even longer. Her pink mane had changed; it no longer hung against her withers like an ordinary pony's, but billowed around her in a misty cloud. There was still pink there, but it was now joined by lavender and teal. The sight reminded Scorpan of early morning sunlight on fog.
"Celestia..." With the guards away, Scorpan felt comfortable dropping the title. As he said the word, though, he trailed off.
What was he supposed to say in this situation?
She turned to face him, and his heart ached for her. Her lilac eyes were red-rimmed and damp tracks stained the white fur of her cheeks. She opened her mouth, as if to say something.
Then she did something that took Scorpan completely by surprise. She galloped at him, where she buried her face in his shoulder, stopped from sinking even lower only by the existence of her long horn, and wrapped her long wings around him.
He stood there, completely frozen, for what seemed like an eternity. He was broken from the reverie by something he'd never heard before.
The princess, eternally patient and poised, was sobbing against him.
"There, there..." he murmured, unsure of what else to say as he reluctantly wrapped his arms around her neck. "There, there..."
Guilt nudged somewhere in his core. It had only been a few days since he'd gotten Celestia's letter, but he felt awful about making her wait for even that long. He knew from personal experience just how hard it was, keeping this kind of composure, even if only for a while.
"They...they want to make this a yearly thing..." Celestia hiccuped and gasped against the brown fur of his shoulder. "They are celebrating me...banishing my sister..."
Scorpan ran his fingers through her mane. Though it now resembled something more like colored fog the further it got away from her, the base was still made up of the wiry hairs that made up most ponies' manes and tail.
Despite how powerful she was, at the end of the day she was just as much flesh and blood and bone as he was.
"I have to control the moon in her absence...I have to touch her with my magic, and...and they want to remind me of it on this same day every year?" Scorpan stroked the fur of her withers. "She is the only family I have left, and I've failed her. Doesn't anypony understand?"
Despite himself, Scorpan couldn't help smiling. It was always a culture shock, going from the Netherlands to Equestria. He'd come to think of their vocal tics like saying 'anypony' instead of 'anybeast' somewhat charming. "I understand."
Now he understood why she'd written to him.
"I knew you would..." The princess sniffled. "What happened with you and Tirek..."
"I know it is not exactly the same, but yes." Scorpan pulled away ever so slightly to look Celestia in the eye. "I came home with an alliance to the kingdom of Equestria, but without my brother. We have a celebration of that day, and..." Scorpan took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "It...is a hard day for me. Beasts line up from all over the country to tell me how I saved them, made things better for them...and only my parents have ever brought up that...I lost my brother..." Only his parents knew that, the first year of that festival, after he'd made his princely appearance, he'd locked himself in his room and cried against his pillow. His father, usually so stern and cold, had pulled him into his arms and cried along with him. Scorpan knew he hated Equestria and its leaders for taking his son from him, and it was almost as hard to bear.
He didn't dare mention that, though. This wasn't about him.
Celestia closed her own eyes and looked down. "Do you ever think....I mean...Do you ever wonder if things could have been different?"
"Of course. Not a day goes by that I don't think 'What if I'd noticed something sooner? What if I'd said something?' But then I tell myself something important..."
"What is that?" Celestia's sobs had subsided; the tears sliding down her cheeks were now silent ones.
"I am not Tirek. And you are not Luna. They have made their choices, and there is nothing we can do about that. It is hard, but we did what had to be done." He tried not to think of the extremity of the consequences Tirek was still facing; he wouldn't have wished Tartarus on anybeast, especially not the older brother he loved and once looked up to. And he could only imagine how cold and lonely the moon must be.
Celestia gave him a weak smile. Not the look of a powerful monarch delivering unfortunate news to her subjects, but one of a lonely pony with the added weight of the world on her feathered wings. "I suppose so. It's...hardly a satisfying answer, though."
Scorpan sighed. All these centuries later, the concept of 'friendship' was still a foreign one to him, and right now he felt like a failure as one. Friends uplifted each other when they were feeling down, didn't they? "I suppose not. I am sorry, old friend."
Celestia placed her chin on his shoulder, yet another pony embrace. "It means everything to me that you are here, Scorpan."
Scorpan tucked a lock that still had hair-like consistency behind Celestia's neck. "Of course, Old Friend. I'll stay here for as long as you need me."
"I may need you for...quite some time. Are you certain?"
Scorpan didn't need to think twice. "Yes."
He supposed that would have to do for now.
