Harmony fall, is it so bad?

I will never drink again... never

Why would anyone do this to themselves?

I'm barely getting up, and I already want to die, I can hear my heartbeat hammering in my head, breathing makes me nauseous and while my mind was fighting to stay calm my body insisted on staying asleep.

“Are you okay, my friend?” That voice... Luna, it was difficult for me, but I began to remember, slowly the memories of yesterday returned with great pain

Luna approached me with those big eyes focused on me reflecting her concern, slowly the distance between us was shortened and… “BIB” I touched her on the nose causing her to recoil from the unexpected gesture, the truth is that It was my best attempt at a hit, now I remember that she was the one who forced me to drink, and I wanted to share a little of my pain, but that was the best I could do, so I would have to settle for that funny embarrassed Luna face.

“Water, please” My voice was hoarse and little more than a whisper, fortunately Luna decided not to be bothered by what had happened before and levitated a glass that she took out from somewhere to fill it with water that she condensed from the atmosphere.

Bless the magic

Although I wouldn't even joke with it at this moment, so I made a Herculean effort to move and take the glass with my paws, but in the end it wasn't necessary, the glass had already levitated, it was in front of me

I wanted to thank Luna for the help, but thirst overcame me, I drank greedily until there was not even a drop left.

I was catching my breath when I felt something soft but firm rub gently on my head, giving me clumsy caresses.

Luna was worried, that was unusual, I mean, of course she cares about my well-being, but she is not usually the type to show affection or concern physically, it may sound hypocritical to highlight this when I always take the opportunity to play with her mane, tail and feathers whenever she's distracted, but the fact that she's so reluctant to let me touch her voluntarily shows how uncomfortable she is with physical contact.

"Are you feeling better?" Luna asked.

The truth was that he didn't feel that bad, his fur, like the rest of his body, was cold to the touch, which gave a feeling of freshness to my sore head while also being cozy due to the softness with which each inhabitant of This world seems to be gifted, so I simply nodded slowly and did my best to focus on the sensations caused by the tender caresses, managing to partially ignore the pain.

Until…

“KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK” I squirmed in place at the sudden sonic attack. What idiot carries out a shootout in a castle?

“I will attend to it in a moment” Luna spoke, and I shuddered, if my own heart already sounded like a drum in my ear, the knock on the door was like a hammer blow with a chisel straight to the skull.

Luna was protective again as she hugged me until I calmed down and then put on some earmuffs that she must have had somewhere in her closet.

Once again I found myself surprised, but I appreciated the gesture anyway.

I couldn't hear almost anything anymore, so I could only see Luna's backside as she looked out the door and argued with whoever she had come to bother, this time I didn't feel guilty for appreciating the view, I owed it to myself, besides that you could hardly see anything due to the darkness of the room that seemed to become one with his coat and the little that was visible was covered by his starry tail... it's enough for me

After a few seconds that seemed miserably short, Luna closed the door and turned to look at me. Despite meeting my gaze, she didn't seem to realize what she was appreciating moments before.

“I'm afraid my sister demands our presence as soon as possible,” she said softly as she approached.

“Mmmh” I let out the closest thing I could to a growl, if this little sunny butt princess wants to see me, then let her come herself, I'm not moving!

“Hold still for a second, I'll use a healing spell.” Without waiting for a response, her horn began to shine, pointing right at my face.

"No, thanks, I'm fine!" I almost screamed, standing up abruptly and jumping out of bed, getting out of Luna's line of fire.

Bad... idea... I want to vomit!, but I had no other choice, those damn spells work in conjunction with another scanner spell to know what they are supposed to fix, but it could easily be used to see through my disguise, unfortunately There is no such thing as convenient and unreasonable as a cure-all spell.

Despite it being a fantasy world, that didn't necessarily mean that logic was dead, even magic had to have common sense in some aspects.

"Are you sure about that?" Luna asked, obviously confused by my sudden change in status.

“Sure, sure…” I affirmed, but I didn't need a mirror to know that I was turning green, I had to make an excuse, so I blurted out a half-truth in the most relaxed tone I could “In my family we don't like to wear those things unless we really need them, we believe that they harm us in the long run, trust me, I can handle this”

No I can't, I can feel it rise up my throat

Luna stayed, examining me for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity "I guess... it's okay, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to interfere in your family customs, but if you feel any discomfort, I want you to tell me right away. Do you understand me?" She finally said it with gravity in her tone.

I nodded, it wasn't ideal for my dizziness, but if I tried to speak I was afraid that much more than words would come out.

“Okay, but first we have to get ready, we don't want to offend you, but it looks like our night didn't give us what the ponies would call a restful sleep.” That was fair, if I smelled half as bad as I felt, then that was an excuse. Enough to kick me out of the castle

However, any thoughts she might have had vanished the moment Luna turned in the direction of the bathroom.

Chance! It was undoubtedly risky, but I instantly lit a flame in my hoof that with a slight and painful shine from my false horn transformed into a 'Flame gate' in which I submerged my snout and stopped holding back.

“BRUUUG”

"What was that?" Luna noticed it

The damn sound!

I removed my paw and the fire went out instantly. By sheer force of will, I managed to close my mouth as the stomach material continued to pile up, leaving me with a sour taste that seeped into my nose.

And then I swallowed, I felt myself go cross-eyed for a second

I can only imagine what Luna thought because she watched the face she was making at all times.

“It was nothing- BRUB- it was nothing” I said covering a burp that escaped me with a hoof “Just a temporary dizziness” I didn't even believe it

“And that dizziness will follow you unless I give you some time alone in the bathroom?” He said sarcastically and leaving the way to the bathroom clear for me.

“I love you, Luna!” I took advantage of the offer right away, but as I was running, I thought I saw Luna's face turn red for some reason.

How strange she was acting today

Celestia was not happy

Not only had they disobeyed her yesterday, but they made her look ridiculous, at her nephew's funeral! Which was significantly delayed by waiting for the arrival of his sister, who never showed up, which caused the delay to be seen as a mistake by Celestia herself, since she was the one who insisted and ordered them all keep waiting

She thought about going and claiming them in person, but she had to be present, the ponies could have no doubt what their princess was doing in her time of need, but the guards she sent to look for her sister returned with burns or trembling with fear and The more soldiers returned, the fewer ponies stayed to watch Blueblood's departure.

That irritated her to no end, although she clearly didn't show it, her serenity never leaving her alabaster face.

But now, as if they hadn't teased her enough already, they had the nerve to leave her waiting, even for something as simple as breakfast, even though she knew they were awake.

Both

In retrospect, getting angry is easier when you know who to direct your anger at, and she had the perfect target for that, coming through the dining room door. The fact that she looked haggard and had an unsteady gait, slightly appeased her anger, but only because she found it pleasurable. The sight or at least until her sister wrapped her wing around her helping to keep her stable.

“Good morning, sister” Celestia greeted sharply.

“Good morning” Luna responded without noticing her sister's sharp tone in the slightest, as she was more focused on helping Spirit take a seat.

Celestia noticed it and didn't like it.

"What's up?" Spirit said simply, showing how little he cared about her manners by not even bothering to lift his head from the table or even look at her.

… If someone got close enough to her neck area, they would notice a vein standing out in the princess's pristine fur, but no one dared to get that close.

“Everything went well today despite the… unforeseen events of yesterday”

“We're sorry to hear that,” Luna said, lowering her ears, finally realizing her sister's anger.

“I sent ponies to look for you, why didn't you even respond?” Celestia questioned.

Luna shrank in her seat without knowing what to respond, it was a moment of weakness that she did not feel comfortable sharing like that, but knowing her sister she would surely insist until she found the answer, whether she wanted it or not.

Luckily, someone else realized how much it hurt him to talk about it.

“My bad” Both heads turned in the direction of the kirin, who still had his head pressed to the table, trying to reach a plate of pancakes that insisted on staying a few inches out of his reach no matter how much he stretched “I don't like funerals, so I got drunk and Luna had to take care of me"

Luna felt happy and guilty in equal parts when she saw how her friend took the blame for her just to avoid problems.

Celestia, on the other hand “Did you get drunk?” She asked incredulously, “Where did you get the alcohol?” The princess stood up in her own seat with her front paws on the table, trying to intimidate her guest.

Too bad Spirit was too interested in reaching the plate with the delicious, soft dough dipped in honey to notice it, Celestia stared at her until Luna, unable to stand the increasing tension, used her magic to bring the plate closer to her friend

With the plate of delicacies in her hands, she had no problem answering “I brought it with me, do you want some?” "I never imagined that you were one of those who drink early" She said in mockery before the stunned look of Luna and the guards.

Before, no doubt, he would have been a little scared by Celestia's hostile attitude, but after noticing that Celestia was the one who cared the most about her own appearance, he realized that she would never stoop to the point of attacking him in any public way. Against a pony and considering that Spirit Flame did not exist outside of this castle, he did not care what else he could do.

Celestia was about to respond when Spirit took out a piece with her fork and chewed it slowly, savoring the exquisite delicacy... or at least until she remembered the obscene amount of sugar that the ponies put in everything

He stopped when the sugar with hints of flour and egg refused to pass down his throat, he took a napkin to wipe away the remains of cream and crumbs or at least that's what he tried to pretend when he returned the chewed and drooled pieces of the pancake while at the same time I wrapped it with the napkin as discreetly as I could...

… Which wasn't much.

Luna covered her face with her hooves, the guards looked disgusted, and Celestia looked petrified with an expression that combined disgust and barely contained rage.

“Y-you.”

"Yeah?"

“Do you have any idea what problems you caused? How did we have to change the schedule we had planned? How I had to give up some of my time to personally say goodbye to my nephew? And I don’t even need to mention your complete lack of decorum that you are showing me!”

After finishing venting her rage, Celestia took some time to breathe and calm down, but to her surprise Spirit did not laugh or sneer to fuel her anger, on the contrary, she kept a straight face as she did her best to sit properly on her back. His chair and then lowered his head despite the dizziness that this caused him

“I'm sorry.” For the third time this morning, everyone in the dining room was perplexed “The loss of a dear family member is something I wouldn't wish on anyone, and I was inconsiderate by behaving like that, having passed such a short time since your loss.”

It took Celestia a moment to understand what was happening, it was clear that none of the mares liked the other and none of them were planning to do anything to change that fact, but at least there were limits that they were not willing to cross and that seems to be the case. That not respecting the mourning period was one of those lines... I could respect that

And so, based on common ground and considerable effort on her part, Celestia took her seat again and decided to offer a truce.

“Raise your head” Spirit obeyed, once again exchanging glances with the princess, but this time without challenge or ridicule, he simply maintained a serious face “I can understand that in your home these drinks are not a matter of great concern, but I ask that as much as possible respect our customs when you're in Canterlot, that's all"

Spirit nodded, looking surprisingly embarrassed “Yes, I understand perfectly, and you don't have to worry about something like this happening again.” The mare showed a genuine expression of disgust, and a shiver seemed to run through her body as her mind wandered through the few memories. Of her trying those drinks and none of them were pleasant “The truth is that I hate alcohol, it doesn't matter how they give it to me, the taste is almost intolerable for me.”

Luna furrowed her eyebrows and felt a pang of guilt again.

Celestia, on the other hand, decided to take this as her opportunity to lead the conversation to simpler and more trivial topics, hoping to avoid another conflict with her guest. “Does it have something to do with your race or is it staff?”

At least for the moment

“This is true,” said Hawthorn, putting a stamina potion in his saddlebag. “Not this.” He denied, discarding the chain and shackles while wondering, what were they doing in the potion warehouse? “Not this either.” I ignore a box full of sensory enhancement potions “And this…” Hawthorn paused for a moment, holding up what appeared to be a pinkish object, elongated and soft to the touch, the tip of which looked like a… “AHHH”

Hawthorn threw the obscene object into one of the corners of the family warehouse while rubbing his hoof against the floor, finally realizing the relationship between the object in question and the other materials found earlier “In the heart of the forest, Fyr! What the hell are you doing with my brother?! And here I thought that his thinness was due to the stress of running a kingdom."

Hawthorn and Aspen were never very different in a sense of skills and combat capacity, throughout their childhood they had equally well-built bodies because they were both trained together, always performing the same exercises and training with the only exception being their personal magic.

But after the marriage, which was shortly before he was declared ruler, they separated and Aspen's physique began to decline no matter how hard he tried, even if they followed the same training regimen.

“Females are scary,” Hawthron shuddered.

"You called me?" A timberwolf passing by heard the angry deer cry and knowing that his creator would not want to miss a possible compromising situation, he sent a signal.

“AHH” Hawthorn jumped at the unexpected guest “Don't you know how to play?!”

The timberwolf backed away as if he had hit it “And you know how to close a damn door?! Damn I'm hungover” The wolf growled in annoyance rubbing his head as he pointed behind him “If you wanted privacy it's your fault for not doing something so simple and by the way, what is… all… that?” The wolf looked at the chains and the phallic object of obvious functionality “Oh friend, wait until I tell Discord.” The wolf began to back away.

“Don't get any weird ideas!” The deer shouted, not wanting to think about what that demon could do with such disastrous information, but he could still save his reputation... what was left of it. "My brother uses this warehouse to store his personal supply of potions, I only came because I have a trip" what to do, and I never go out without an adequate amount of these things”

“Hawthorn! Would you blame your brother for your wicked actions? "I didn't believe you had layers" The wolf looked indignant despite lacking facial features.

“I neve-!”

"But you can rest assured my friend, I don't judge" The wolf interrupted him by patting him on the back while giving him a speech about equality and tolerance that could have been used to lead all the races in Equus to world peace, but unfortunately it would only be used as a simple joke and never remembered again

Hawthorn gave up on the idea of explaining halfway through that and settled for continuing to collect the potions that could be useful to him. “Hey, it's no fun if I don't see you suffer.”

Hawthron stopped, grabbed the wolf's head and shook it vigorously.

Many miles away at Canterlot Castle, a certain visitor Kirin had a sudden attack of dizziness and loss of balance that resulted in her falling directly into a small artificial lagoon in the royal garden while accompanying the sisters on a morning walk, who They learned the hard way that their guest didn't know how to swim.

“Son of a- COF!”

“Yes, yes, have this” Hawthorn took out a sheet of paper that he had kept in his saddlebag and shoved it in the snout of the wolf that was writhing on the ground “It is an exercise regimen, it is specially adapted for you and I want you to “Do it every day without exception.”

“Damn it, Luna, leave my tail alone, you're going to rip it off!”

"I'll take that as a yes, goodbye" The deer took his saddlebag, being sure that he already had everything he needed for the long trip and turned around to leave, but...

“My revenge… will be slow… and painful-COF” Forest declared between gasps.

He had barely managed to reach the shore despite the 'help' of both alicorns, but more than help to get out, it seemed that both were fighting to see who could sink it deeper.

Luna would repeatedly try to pick her up with her magic while Celestia insisted on trying to teleport her, which resulted in a magical clash followed by a mutual cancellation of their magical auras which only managed to hinder the dizzy mare even more, as these 'crashes' often caused enormous damage. Waves despite the limited amount of water

“In that case, I better make it worth it” She ran towards the now terrified wolf that was crawling on the ground and decapitated it in one fluid motion.

That didn't kill him, he knew the limits of these things, but before the head could meet the body, Hawthorn threw it a meter into the air and then kicked it with all his force towards a nearby wall.

The wall burst upon contact, leaving a hole that a pony could easily stick its head through.

"What was that?!" Aspen was heard asking in the distance.

"Bramble! If it was you, get ready because I'm going to show you why our parents had a collection of belts despite not having any pants." Fyr's voice resonated throughout the house, bringing with it several traumatic memories "And if it was you Hawthorn, Start praying to the forest for mercy because I don't have any left!

Hawthorn took that as the ideal time to set the record for the fastest land creature that has ever existed.

“Your majesty” As soon as he was in front of the figure of his princess, his body bent giving a polite bow, more by reflex than by true intention, years of service in the royal guard had turned the polite gesture into an ingrained involuntary habit. To your muscle memory

“Captain Shining Armor” Celestia answered him, but without looking directly at him, his attention was on the Kirin while he was being carried on a stretcher by a pair of guards.

“All I see is darkness…” Poor Kirin lamented.

“Maybe because your eyes are closed” Luna answered with her eyes rolling as she walked to the side of the moving stretcher.

“I swear a fish almost ripped them off!”

The ridiculous conversation continued without him and Celestia paying attention to them, and they continued on their way to the deeper parts of the garden while they took their guest to the castle's infirmary.

“Princess, if you don't mind me asking, what happened back there?”

Celestia shook her head, not being able to understand what had happened either. “I wish I knew, everything was fine while we took a quiet walk in the garden and had a debate in which she claimed that our baked goods have too much sugar to be consumable when she seemed to get distracted and a minute later it was as if gravity had reversed just for her, resulting in her ending up falling into the lagoon and when she finally managed to get out it was as if someone had kicked her in the face throwing her back into the water"

The captain did his best to keep her face serious, but he found it difficult to imagine such a spectacle. “And they couldn't help her?” He finally asked, hoping the answer would distract him.

The princess's face turned red, accompanied by a hint of guilt. “My sister and I don't synchronize well.”

Shining endured the curl, but it was impossible for him to prevent a crooked smile from forming on his face.

Certainly, that was not the way he expected to meet the mare, Cadance had told him about her, he said she was pleasant company once you got used to the rudeness and lack of manners.

Although she was a little worried when she made a special point of never making her angry, when he asked her why that was, she just stared into space trembling as she muttered something about getting an 8 or the pale stallion would catch her.

She had no idea what she was talking about, but it gave him the idea that the pony was intimidating like a dragon, but upon meeting her in such a state, he couldn't help but laugh as he felt the growing nervousness that had built up dissipate.

“He-hem” Celestia coughed into her hair, drawing Shining's attention “Have you finished thinking about what we talked about before?”

Shining's good mood vanished from her face instantly, being replaced by a conflicted expression.

The conflict caused by having to decide between what she thought was her duty and a desire for revenge shared with her princess was clearly visible on her face.

“Excuse me princess, but I'm still not sure about this, it seems to me that you are too impulsive” The truth was that he had turned a blind eye waiting for her to reconsider, he hoped that the plan she had told him about was only the result of anger. Arose from loss and that hopefully she would realize how risky it was when she was more composed, but apparently she was determined to carry it out

"Doubt me?" Celestia asked, stopping in her tracks.

“O-of course not princess, it's just that…” Shining thought, but her words eluded him, it was at times like this that she most envied her sister, who was basically a living encyclopedia.

"Except that?" Celestia pressed again

"There will be problems, the nobles will not like that they have not been informed, especially those who have relatives in the guard." For Celestia's plan to work, they would need a considerable number of guards and the only place that met their requirements was an acceptable distance was the royal guard base in Canterlot, it went without saying that many of those who had the honor of serving in the capital of Equestria possessed noble blood "And... I must admit that it does not seem appropriate that my first great act as commander of the guard is to ignore the chain of command in such a way…”

"You will not be betraying or defrauding anyone, you will be doing exactly what you swore to do, protect Equestria and its inhabitants from evil, and you will not be alone, I will lead this company, I only ask that you make the preparations, I cannot risk that what I plan to leak, and you know very well that I do not possess the freedom that everyone would imagine typical of a princess"

That was undeniable, not only the nobles always have an eye on the princess due to endless political issues, but all of Equestria, she was their idol after all, everyone wanted to know her favorite type of tea, her brand of shampoo. , where she buys her dresses, where she has breakfast and a hundred etc. “I have that perfectly clear, but I think we need more information, we cannot risk danger like this”

“We could do it,” she admitted. “Be patient and gather information, waiting for the right moment to attack, but while we do that, those who follow Blueblood's duty will be at risk or worse.”

“Do you really think all that was because of him? Excuse me, princess, but it seems exaggerated to me"

“What else could it be but? "She came here and went directly to where he was hiding, it can't be a coincidence that she ran into the pony in charge of supervising the area where we know she lives, she had him marked from the beginning." When Celestia read Twilight's letter, she thought that It would be a good opportunity to test your nephew, perhaps help him mature and hopefully abandon some of his usual narcissistic behavior.

It worked on Twilight, after all, forcing her to step out of her comfort zone and confront her worst traits while bringing out the best in herself.

Everything indicated that it would be the same for Blueblood, but unlike with Twilight, Blueblood's adversary decided not to leave anything to chance.

“We have to nip it in the bud before it causes more damage.” He looked directly into the stallion's eyes with an intensity that made him feel like he was making eye contact, not with his eyes, but with his soul. “Would you help me?”

In the end, did you really have a choice or was it decided from the beginning? "Always princess"

Celestia nodded approvingly. “Excellent.”

"But if we are going to do it we have to do it well, the teleportation pillars are ruled out, since they are in the care of the Reality Marble family and mobilizing such a large number of troops without alerting the population will be complicated"

“I agree” Celestia agreed with him on that “We will need a date when both the nobility and the commoners, and hopefully our adversary, are too busy to pay due attention to the surroundings”

At that moment, both the captain and his princess were clear: there was no better date available or a more suitable holiday for their plot.

Celestia internally apologized to her sister for what she was about to do.

“Nightmare night”