Chains

Suraci and the Lonely Grave

Canterlot was a beautiful place, as many of her citizens would tell you, but this was especially true in the early morning, before it sprung to life with the noises of the day which would drown out the natural ambiance of the mountain. The sun would peek just over the horizon to give the spires of the tallest towers a golden gleam, like massive torches, before it rose higher to bathe the whole of the land in it’s light.

Once the sun had risen, Celestia beat her wings gently as she came to land on the balcony, and smiled as she looked over one of her favorite sights to behold. The old city of Canterlot was warming and waking.

“Are you ready, Celestia?” came a voice from the balcony door behind her.

She turned to see Luna, waiting patiently; the younger alicorn’s eyes were tired as she had spent the night exploring dreams, getting back into her duty as the protector of the sleeping world.

Celestia nodded, and joined her sister inside, “I am, Luna. I’m sorry to ask you to stay awake for a little longer today, but you should meet the council yourself before we talk more on what to do,” she told her.

“I understand that,” Luna said as she steeled her expression, her eyes focused on where they were walking. “You wish me to better understand the political situation, and who our enemies are.”

“And our allies,” Celestia added as the two of them moved into the hall, to the salute of their guards.

They continued to speak in a hush as they moved down the hall of the royal quarters towards the back entrance to the throne room. They trusted their guards, but it was still not something to speak loudly of.

Celestia continued, “As I’ve said before, ponies have begun to sour at the idea of slavery. Ponies and their sensibilities change over time, even governing officials can change their minds. Not everypony in those council chambers see the humans as creatures to be held under hoof.”

As Celestia spoke, she and her sister, and their few guards, walked through the halls, out of the throne room, into the main hall, and turned down another hall towards the easternmost wing. Until at long last they came to a large oak door with brass and gold decorative lining. Celestia looked at it with some weariness as the two council guard ponies, their armor a striking cobalt which marked them as separate from both her and Luna’s guards, moved and their horns lit up to open the door for the two princesses, though their guards remained outside with the other two.

The chamber they walked into was round, with a hall leading to it from the door. Arranged in a crescent shape, with a pony’s length of distance between them, were five seats, four of which were occupied, the one furthest to the left was empty. While they were all grand the one in the center was fit for a King.

It wouldn’t take much of a guess for Luna to assume that this was the Head of Council.

The black unicorn stallion, dressed in near regal finery, looked perhaps no older than Celestia’s student, perhaps even a year or so younger. His light blue mane was cut short and combed evenly to both sides as he looked down from his throne, at the two Princesses, his silver eyes holding a fair deal of contempt, though it seemed to be mostly directed at the younger Alicorn. The Head of Council’s throne was indeed fit for a King, and the pony sitting atop it held himself with all the arrogance of one, though Luna would note, none of the poise.

It took more than a bit of self control for Luna to not glare back up at him. She would grant Celestia the favor of trying to remain civil in this meeting, as much as this stallion aggravated her just by his presence.

To his immediate left was a unicorn mare, cream coated and well into old age. The long grey mane spoke of years left behind, though her piercing yellow eyes held a miser’s guile, and her clothes seemed to be purposely expensive. Luna would be told later by Celestia that this was the Council Pony of Economics, Golden Mane, who oversaw to all the nation’s finances, from their income on taxes and tariffs to the payment of all government offices and public works.

Luna looked to the right of the Head of Council, and sitting there was the Council Pony of the Military, Keen Edge, who seemed to lack the weathered features one would expect in such a lofty position, yet he was easily the Head of Council’s senior by at least half his years. His tan coat was covered in a rich military uniform, his silver mane tied into a braid which hung over one side of his head, and his pale green eyes looking at the Princesses with some respect at least, his head down in a short bow.

Finally Luna looked at the end of the row on the right, where another mare was seated. She seemed to be about the same age as Keen Edge. Her deep blue eyes smiled, her red mane tied back in a bun. She was the Council Pony of Foreign affairs, who organized dignitaries to go to foreign lands, ensuring their fair treatment and comfort in their travels, and see to the comfort and needs of foreign diplomats. She was Amethyst Star, and though her smile was polite, Luna had difficulty reading her.

The silence in the chamber was broken by the young Head of Council, “I’m sure you have a good reason for calling a meeting so early, Celestia,” he spoke in a tired tone as he turned his full attention to the Princess of the Sun. “We are not all in the habit of awaking for the Sun to rise, as you are. Did you wish to announce your acceptance of my offer?”

Celestia returned his tired stare with her own, though her tone seemed relaxed and collected. “I have no intention of accepting that proposal now, or ever. I called this meeting this morning because it’s long overdue that the council met and became familiar with my sister Luna.” She mentally added ‘And I would sooner set Canterlot on fire than agree to something as ludicous as… that.’

She motioned to her sister with a hoof. “She is usually asleep during the day, so I tried to arrange for a time that wouldn’t be too inconvenient for anypony. Is your beauty sleep so important to you that you can’t wake up early for such an important matter, Suraci?”

Luna noted Keen Edge crack a smirk and possibly almost snort, while Golden Mane put a hoof to her mouth, hiding her amusement a little better. The Moon Princess couldn’t see any change in Amethyst’s demeanor however. The only pony who was clearly unamused with Celestia’s shot at him was Suraci himself.

The Head of Council scoffed, but retook control of himself before looking once more to Luna. He was silent for a moment, as if expecting something, before speaking once more, “I have heard that you had returned to Equestria, and I have heard the legends as well. Your family squabble with Celestia is no concern of mine, so if she sees fit to have you return as a fellow Princess, I have no objections.” He held himself high in his seat. “The Council recognizes Princess Luna as a Princess of Equestria,” he said, giving a somewhat formal declaration, even if his dismissive tone betraying his apathy to it.

Luna’s jaw tensed up and she thought she saw Celestia’s wing twitch out of the corner of her eye. This Suraci was certainly pushing his bounds of authority, to think he had such command of things. Luna was not sure how much longer she could tolerate him, but a look from Celestia’s eye told her all she needed to know; ‘Play along, for now.’ she could practically hear her sister say. Luna lowered her head in a bow, but did not kneel. “I thank you and the Council, Lord Suraci.”

The Head of Council raised an eyebrow at this, and looked again to Celestia, “Your sister is more humble than you are, Celestia. Perhaps you should follow her example,” he said.

Celestia nodded, “I do my best, day to day,” she said. She looked to the other council chairs, stopping on the empty one. “Where is Gallant Knight?” she asked.

It was Keen Edge who answered her. “The Council Pony of the Interior was forced to decline this meeting due to his health once more. It seems to be another bad episode,” he said. His voice showed just enough concern that Luna could see that Keen Edge at least cared for the health of his colleague, but his voice betrayed nothing more.

Celestia took the news with a frown. “I see. I shall have to inquire into his health later, but if I do not have the chance to see him, please send my regards and tell him I wish for his fast recovery.”

Suraci and the rest of the present Council nodded, “We will pass it along if we see him. But if that is all, we have matters to discuss that don’t require your input,” Suraci said.

The eldest sister nodded, “Of course, I’m sure if you ever need my advice, you’ll send for me,” she said, looking to Luna and nodding. The two of them turned to leave the chamber, and didn’t look back until the doors had closed behind them.

Their guards followed them back into the hallways of the Royal Quarters. When they reached Luna’s room, Celestia spoke up, “We should speak a little more before you go to bed for the day,” she said.

Luna nodded, and the two Princesses looked to their respective guards and dismissed them before entering the Night Princess’s sanctum.

“That stallion is the most arrogant, pompous, self important…” Luna fumed as she paced, trying to find more words that would fit the Head of Council, who acted so smug upon his throne, treating the Alicorn sisters as little more than children.

“He has a way of overstepping his bounds and getting under my skin as well,” Celestia said as she sat down on a floor cushion. “He thinks his position puts him above you and I, and I’m sad to say a century ago he would have practically been right.”

“I’ve met foreign Emperors who acted with more humility than that… that, Suraci!” Celestia’s own annoyance seeped into her voice, though she was keeping more calm than her sister.

“And you!” Luna turned and pointed her hoof at her sister. “You let him sit there and act the despot, letting him rule over the laws passed through Equestria every day and believe he can command when the Sun and Moon rise and fall!”

Celestia only nodded, her eyes closed, “I hate to say it, but for the time being, he is very important to what I have planned. And if it’s going to work, he needs to stay arrogant,” she said.

Luna paused at this, her outrage quelled for the moment by her curiosity and confusion. “What do you mean? Surely he is only an obstacle, and one that should be removed as soon as possible,” she said.

When Celestia opened her eyes again they locked with Luna’s and seemed to shine with resolve. “He is a fool. With twice the ambition of any of his forebears with less than half the talent. He provides an obstacle, yes, but it is one that will be brushed aside in time, and when that happens, both he and the title of Head of Council will be gone. He is the last of his line, there will not be another.”

At first, Luna did not understand what Celestia meant, but it did not take long for her to understand the implications, “You mean to have him killed.” She looked at her sister wide eyed and aghast.

Celestia nodded. “Only when the time is right. And that won’t be for some time,” she said. Her grim features brightened a bit and she smiled to Luna, “But it’ll be sooner than I originally planned, now that you’re back with me,” she said.

Luna tilted her head and gave her sister a sideways glance. “You don’t mean to have me kill him in your stead. Do you?”

The older sister shook her head “No, no, but my original plan didn’t take your return into account, I can move things a bit faster now. Especially if you accept my idea for what you can do to help,” she said.

“What exactly do you mean for me to do?” asked Luna.

“I’m going to introduce you to the leader of the Human Liberation Front, I think you’ll like her. And then, I want you to give them advice, and moral support,” Celestia explained.

Luna stood there, gawking at her sister. “Giving open support to a rebel faction?”

“The only one who knows about me helping is the leader herself, I’ve asked her to keep my involvement secret,” Celestia smiled to her sister, “All her fellows know is that she has a friend in Canterlot that gives her information, but that can only go so far in keeping their hopes up.”

Luna narrowed her eyes at Celestia, “Why do you continue to cling to secrecy?” she asked. “Why not tell them yourself that the ruler of Equestria herself is trying to help them?”

Celestia’s smile faltered and she looked down, biting her lip. “Because otherwise, history may mistake me for a liberator, which I have no right to being called. And if I told them the whole truth, they would never trust me to help them.”

The younger sister sighed, “Very well then, but, I’m not sure I can act as their secret supporter...”

“No,” Celestia cut her off, “That wasn’t my intention. You just returned to Equestria recently. Too recently for them to believe that you’ve been their ‘Friend in Canterlot’ all this time. However, you can be a mutual acquaintance, and fellow supporter of Human Liberation, I’m positive their resolve will be redoubled once Equestria’s redeemed Princess is there to help.

“Besides,” Celestia smiled again. “They probably already heard of you saving those humans from the Nightmare Cultists. It would make sense to them that you’re an abolitionist.”

Looking down, Luna could only nod. What her sister was saying made sense. “But what exactly would I be doing there, besides showing them moral support?”

Celestia stood up and made her way to the door, “Mostly help give them direction, and give them reason to trust ponies. While the Liberation is made up of both humans and ponies fighting for the right of freedom for humans, I fear the humans still eye us with suspicion as a whole.” Celestia seemed to desire a quick end to the conversation. “Which is understandable, but the more ponies they see as their friends, the easier it will be for them to trust us when they are indeed free.”

Stopping at the door, Celestia looked back to Luna, “We’ll discuss more of this after you’ve rested, until then, please consider all I’ve told you. I cannot make you do this, but I believe you can be a much needed beacon of hope for the future of Humans and Ponies working together.”

As Celestia left she said “Sleep well, Luna.” And the door closed behind her.

Luna sighed and cast a tired glance at the door “You continue to only tell me half of what I wish to know, and leave before I can ask more questions.” With that she made her way to her bed, removing the least comfortable parts of her regalia before sliding into the soft mattress and drifting off to her own dreams. Before she let her tiredness take her, she muttered “I wish you would trust me more, Tia.”

On the other side of the door, Celestia looked down at her hooves, a small smile playing at her lips. “You’ll do wonderful, Luna, I know you will, much better than I ever could,” her voice was just barely above a whisper, and there was nopony around who could overhear. Shaking her mane, she strode down the hall, intending on finding a servant to inform everypony that the Day Court was going to be postponed today.

She needed to visit a place that she should have gone to long ago.

Within the wilderness on the edge of Equestrian land, there stood the crumbling ruins of a society long since spirited away from it. These old buildings had once belonged to the humans who had come to Equestria, and have been fighting an ever losing battle against the wild weather which was present in uninhabited places of the Pony Lands ever since they were made empty.

Wind and rain had worn the once strong structures down. Nearby, however, newer, more temporary structures had been raised. A cluster of tents and a campfire, protected by the elements with a lean-to, to keep their occupants warm at night.

Within her red tent, sat a mint green unicorn as she poured over what she and her fellow anthropologists had recovered. Though, there was very little that could be deciphered. Wall murals had been nearly washed away by the rain, and there was not a single book or even an old scroll to be found.

Most would have considered it a pointless venture, to look through the ruins, which were hundreds of years old. But this was a particularly stubborn mare. She believes it was this very same stubborn streak that is, at least in part, responsible for the Princess Celestia to have not only given her permission, but a Royal Decree to discover as much as she could from these ruins.

The unicorn stifled a yawn as she looked up and saw that the candle she had been working by was nearly melted away. The night had gone and the sun was up outside. She leaned back and stretched her hooves to her sides, letting some of her muscles stretch.

Looking back to the work table, she caught glance of the photo of her marefriend, which made her smile. The cream coated earth mare with the blue and pink mane would sigh at her and herd her toward the bed, and tell her to get some sleep.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to one of the most unique things they found in their searches. A very old bronze shield, small enough to be classified as a buckler for an average sized human, the most interesting part of it was the writing it had indented in a circle pattern.

Normally it would be no problem to read it, for her especially. Some anthropologists would take up learning the nearly extinct written language of the humans as a hobby at best, and only the most serious understood it well enough to read from memory.

But this mare was a great exception. She understood the language inside and out, even its most complex compositions. There were likely more fingers on the average human’s hand than there were ponies as knowledgeable on the written human language as she was.

The problem was not in understanding the words, it was making them out through the moss green color of the aged bronze. And doing it by candle light was no help.

But through half the night she was nearly done translating, and she silently asked her marefriend to forgive her, wherever she may be, for not going to bed just yet.

She looked carefully with tired eyes as she translated the last character, and smiled lightly as she read the finished phrase.

It read out, ‘Crafted In Honor of the Future King, Taelon Bluedawn ‘Ponyfriend.’ May His Reign Last as Long as this Shield.’

The mare grinned. This was certainly a find. She wondered how many more weapons and armor were engraved with important histories. She set the shield aside finally, and stood up from her seat. Her eyes glanced towards her coffee pot, and noted that it was quite empty.

Sighing, she admitted defeat, and looked again to the photo of her marefriend, “Well Bonny,” she said to nopony in particular. “Looks like you win,” With that she went over and blew out the candle, and grabbed the empty coffee pot in her magic. She went out of her tent to set it near the campfire for any of her waking fellow archaeologists and anthropologists who may wish to brew their own ‘elixir of life.’

She glanced out again at the silent ruins they were camped next to. The day would be spent sifting through whatever rubble they hadn’t already, carefully putting aside anything that looked like it had a picture or writing on it. If they were lucky it would be in good enough condition to read.

Until then, this graveyard of a long lost culture was quiet, and it made her excited to see what mysteries they would unearth. Her plans were cut off by another yawn, and she could swear she heard ‘Bonny’ scolding her.

With a chuckle she made her way back to her tent, and closed the flap behind her, crawling to the cot going to sleep, muttering “Your Lyra will be home before you know it, Bon Bon.”

Celestia walked down the forest path, one she remembered well, but hadn’t visited in nearly 300 years. The local wildlife was beginning to quiet as she neared her destination.

Her thoughts were muddled and her heart pounded in her chest like a hammer, trying to break a hole through her chest so it may escape.

She stopped in her tracks, and took a deep breath, before entering a clearing.

One would not notice at first glance, but the clearing was a perfect circle, with perfectly short but healthy green grass that barely measured halfway up Celestia’s white hoof. There were no trails to this clearing; the forest surrounding it seemed to be shut away, in fact.

Celestia’s gaze slowly came to rest upon a simple stone with no other markings.

She felt herself choke up, and part of her wished to flee this place, shame washing over her as her muscles tensed. Despite its enchanting peaceful calm, this place brought to her mind so many bad memories. She walked closer to the stone, and stopped as she looked down at it, a dozen flowers of various types lay there, untouched by time.

She knelt by the stone, and for a time the only sound was her steady breathing.

“I see my enchantments are still in place,” she said to no one in particular, as if she was trying to break the ice on an awkward meet up.

There was no one to answer her, save the soft gentle breeze that passed through the clearing.

She sighed, “I’m sorry it took so long for me to visit,” she said, but quickly shook her head. “No… that’s not what I should apologize for. I’m sorry for even showing up. I have the least right of anypony to visit your grave.”

Silence was again her answer.

“I… don’t dare ask for you to forgive me, but please, once this has all been fixed, when humans are free and they can live with ponies in harmony, please, forgive my little ponies for the horrors I allowed them to commit. I can not ask you to forgive me, but please, please forgive my little ponies.”

Tears formed in the corners of Celestia’s eyes. “I wish I weren’t such a coward in those days, I wish those humans hadn’t killed that one pony. I wish the council didn’t react so extremely.” Her eyes clenched closed as she put her head down to the ground in front of the grave, covering her face with her hooves. “I wish I had the courage to tell you how I truly felt about you all those years ago. I loved you. I admired you and wished myself everything you were. Strong, brave, confident… I’m still a coward.” Tears spilled out from behind her hooves.

“Since losing Luna, I’ve done nothing but make mistake after mistake, too afraid to take responsibility and seek easier alternatives to placate my ponies,” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her hoof.

“But… I have Luna back now, and with her help, things can be made right again. Humans can be free. And we can make sure this never happens again.” She was holding back more tears. “So please, please do not hate ponykind, for my mistakes.”

She took a few moments to calm down in the silence of the clearing, and it was many moments before she could speak again, this time with a gentle, though forced smile. “I… I wonder where you are. Ponies believe in the Golden Fields and Endless Sky. Some even believe in an Eternal Dream. Do Humans have an equivalent? Is it the same place? Does it exist at all?” She got quiet and looked down sadly. “I’ll never find out. Places like that aren’t made for ponies like me. Not liars and cowards. Not ponies who dared consider the title 'Humanfriend.'”

She stood up at long last, and looked sadly once more at the lonely stone. “Taelon, I’ll return once more, I promise. I will return only once more, to tell you that humans are free and safe. I hope then you can rest in peace, and I will ensure that this little clearing enjoys eternal spring, and remains hidden from anypony who may wander into these woods. For all the grief I caused you, it is not nearly enough to make up for it, but it is the best I can do now.”

Tears staining her cheeks, she lowered her head. “Goodbye Taelon.”

With those parting words, she left the enchanted clearing behind, exactly the way it was before she arrived.