A Very Minty Summer Sun Celebration

Celestia had wanted to go immediately to the hospital to visit, but was assured that Star Catcher’s injuries were minor and that she could soon be released and brought to the palace. With some reluctance, Celestia saw the wisdom of this. She also directed that Princess Luna be wakened, if necessary, and briefed on the situation.

She then ordered Shining Armor to help her prepare a special mission for his lieutenants. Within an hour they were ready.

Royal Guard officers filed into the briefing room. As each one entered, he paused just for an instant before managing to conceal his surprise. Most of them had never before been briefed by Princess Celestia herself. Yet, here she was—in all her imposing, outsized glory—sitting on a cushion fit for royalty. By her side was a painter’s easel, covered by cloth, and on the other side of the easel was the captain of the guard, Shining Armor, wearing the red jacket of his duty uniform and sitting on a bare floor fit for soldiers.

When all the guards had come in and gotten in order, he stood and addressed them. “Troops, we face an unexpected challenge today. It’s hard to believe, but the Princess has informed me that Minty is in Canterlot.” He glanced at his audience, noting their confusion. “It’s understandable if that name means nothing to some of you—those who slept through history class, at any rate. So, I’m going to let Princess Celestia bring you up to speed.” He turned to address her. “Your Highness?”

She stood and addressed the troops: “Equestria has faced many threats in my time, but none quite like Minty the Stampede, or, as some called her, The Equinoid Tornado. She left a trail of destruction across the face of our land. I was a mere filly in those early days of Equestria, but I heard the stories. How she could possibly have returned now, centuries later, I cannot say. Reincarnation? Suspended animation? A ghost?” She shook her head. “Some sort of powerful magic must be at work, but we will have to sort out the hows and whys later. Now our priority is finding and containing the menace.”

Her horn glowed and she uncovered the easel. “There are no surviving portraits of Minty, but Sketch Up has created this impression based on her description, which may help you identify her.” The canvas displayed a mint green mare with a pale pink mane, crossed eyes, and her tongue hanging out. In the corner of the canvas was a closeup of her sigil: three mint candies.

Celestia nodded to Shining Armor, and he said to the troops, “I’ll be depending most of all on our pegasus scouts to spot her from the air, although we’ll be checking public places indoors as well. All we know is that she was seen at the fairgrounds, so we’ll begin our efforts there. If you find her, call for backup! We can’t take any chances with this one. Are there any questions?”

After a couple of seconds, one guard hesitantly raised a hoof. “Sir?”

“Tillerson?”

“What kind of powers does this Minty have? I mean, she’s an earth pony, right? She doesn’t cast spells, does she?”

Shining Armor shook his head. “No, she’s not a spell caster. If the reports from history are to be believed, she’s just, well…” He shrugged. “She’s a really terrible klutz.”

Some guards glanced at one another uncertainly, but there were no more questions. As the officers filed out, going to rally their troops, Celestia spoke to Shining Armor. “Captain, if I may make a suggestion?”

“Of course, Ma’am.”

“I was just remembering some of those stories from my youth. I suggest that your locate and secure any large industrial repositories of molasses in the city. Just to be on the safe side.”

“Molasses?”

“There is a certain area along Cayuse Creek where the original village of Ponyville once stood before the flood, and on a summer day, the scent of molasses is said to still faintly linger.”

Shining’s ears drooped for a moment. “Ah. I’ll, uh… I’ll make sure a squad is assigned the task, Ma’am.”

The drawing room was adorned with elegant white and gold decor, giving it a refined and regal ambiance. Soft, plush carpets covered the floor, muffling the sound of footsteps, and large windows adorned with delicate curtains allowed natural light to filter in, bathing the room in a warm glow.

The walls were adorned with exquisite paintings of Equestria’s landscapes, and ornate mirrors reflected the beauty of the room, making it seem even more spacious. The ceiling featured intricate moldings and a grand chandelier that illuminated the room with a soft, golden light.

In one corner of the drawing room, the presence of a fireplace (although now closed up for the season) added to the coziness of the space, with plush armchairs and a comfortable sofa arranged nearby for relaxation. The furniture was upholstered in soft pastel colors, adding a touch of warmth and comfort.

A small, round table stood at the center of the room, laid out with a delicate tea set and dainty pastries, ready for a comforting tea time.

Despite the relatively cozy surroundings (by palatial standards, at least), Princess Celestia and Princess Luna showed their anticipation and anxiety. Celestia couldn’t make use of any of the plush furniture, unable to sit still. She paced.

“Luna, do you truly believe it’s her?” Celestia asked, her regal composure slipping to reveal her inner turmoil.

Luna hesitated, her eyes betraying her unease. “I am not sure, Sister. How could a pony become so far displaced out of her own era?”

Celestia halted in her tracks, the question weighing heavily upon her thoughts. “I know not the answer, but if it truly is our mother, then we must face the possibility that something has gone terribly wrong with the flow of time.”

The doors opened, a herald announced Star Catcher, and she was escorted into the room. Her injured wing was supported in a cloth sling, and she had a few bandages over other scrapes, but these were barely noticeable against her white-coated body.

The pegasus bowed, although not spreading her wings in the usual way due to her injury. “Your Graces!” she said, remembering how she had been greeted by Fancy Pants.

The moment they heard her voice, Celestia and Luna’s royal dignity faltered. “Star Catcher,” Celestia said with a tremor in her voice, “Don’t bow to us! No royal titles between us, please!”

Luna, equally shaken, said, “It can’t be. How can you be here?”

Star Catcher looked at them, her eyes showing confusion and vulnerability. “I don’t know. I joined Minty and Pinkie Pie to help get their balloon through a storm, but we were struck by lightning. And then...” She tried to shrug with her wings, but winced from a twinge of pain. “And then somehow we were here, in this time, this world. We drifted to a landing in this city, in your city.”

Luna approached, while Star Catcher involuntarily flinched back from the larger, dark alicorn. Luna lowered her head, stretched her neck slightly, and sniffed. Star Catcher instinctively sniffed back, exchanging breath with the princess.

Luna pulled back, eyes wide, and her upper lip curled back and quivered in the classic equine flehmen response—a silly looking gesture utterly inappropriate for a princess, or any other pony in polite society really. But that didn’t matter; they had privacy here, and Luna learned what she needed to know. She gasped softly and almost whispered, “It’s you.”

Then Princess Luna lunged forward and grappled Star Catcher in a crushing hug. “Mama, it’s really you! I’ve missed you so much!” she exclaimed.

Star Catcher struggled in vain against the strength of a large alicorn, which is to say, the strength of a large earth pony. Her eyes bugged slightly, then locked onto Celestia, and she gasped out, “Help!”

“Luna!” Celestia chided sharply, “Give her some air!”

“Oh. Oh!” Luna released her arms from the pegasus and backed up.

Star Catcher almost collapsed. “Ow! Ow, that’s tender.”

“Your injuries! I’m so sorry, I forgot,” Luna said, sounding mortified.

“I’ll be okay,” Star Catcher assured, “but I’m so confused! I, uh... I don’t mean any offense, but I don’t know you. We’ve never met before today. I’m sure I would remember that.”

Celestia stepped closer to Star Catcher, her composure giving way to vulnerability. She said, “You were a mother to us. We remember the love and care you showered upon us when we were mere little foals, long before we became princesses. But look at you! You look so young! Is it possible that you somehow came from a time before we were even born?”

Star Catcher shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea. I don’t understand any of this.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged uneasy glances, then Celestia sighed and said, “That means we’ll have to send you back to your own time. Somehow, we’ll have to figure it out. If you stay here, it would create a paradox. Luna and I could never be born.”

“No!” exclaimed Luna. She looked to her sister. "Do we have to?”

“It seems we have no choice. It doesn’t have to be today. We can have a little time together. But...” She bit her lip. Then, “I don’t know what we can even safely tell her without changing the timeline. Even knowing that we’re her daughters might be too much.”

“There’s no undoing that,” Luna said. “We’ll just have to take our chances.”

Celestia stepped forward to nuzzle at Star Catcher, gently, and said, “For a thou...” She paused and bit her lip, then continued, “For a long time I was kept apart from Luna, but I always dreamed of being reunited and ruling side-by-side with her, as we were always meant to. That dream came true. And now: the three of us together again as a family, even if only briefly? Unasked and unhoped-for, the best days of my life somehow are coming back to me from the depths of time. And I know, I know it must all be terribly strange for you, but rest assured: You will find only safety and love here. Then, after we return you to your own time, you will have a wonderful life ahead of you.”

Star Catcher nodded, dazed and confused but still somehow reassured. “Thank you, that sounds lovely. And Pinkie Pie and Minty? Will they be all right?”

Celestia blinked and sat back on her haunches and said, “Oh.”

Star Catcher pressed, “We have to find them! They’ll have to return to the past with me, if I understand you right. Won’t they?”

Celestia agreed, “Yes, they must. And we’ll find them. The Royal Guard are searching for them now.”

After some minutes had passed, they calmed down and sampled the tea and pastries. The three of them made an odd picture sitting together in the throne room, so awkwardly, while uncomfortable silence hung between. Finally, Celestia spoke up, breaking through the uneasiness like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. She said, “I don’t know how much it’s safe to reveal events that lie in your future, but perhaps you can tell us instead about your time, Star Catcher?”

The pegasus set down her tea cup and said, “Oh? What do you want to know?”

“Well... Where were you living? Had you moved to the Everfree Forest yet?”

Star Catcher frowned. “I live on Butterfly Island. I’ve never heard of Everfree Forest.”

“My sister means Minden Fa!” Princess Luna interrupted.

Star Catcher’s eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh! I know where the Minden Fa is. Earth ponies call it the Big Thicket. But I don’t know why I would want to live there.”

“I’m sorry!” said Celestia. “I started with a simple question, and now we’re already giving you ideas about your future. I didn’t know time travel would be this hard to deal with.”

With concern written on her face, Star Catcher asked, “Have you no experience at all with this? Do you even know how I got here?”

Princess Luna also looked expectantly toward her sister, who said, “Time travel is not entirely unknown, but it has been extremely limited. I can’t remember an example like yours.”

Star Catcher quirked a smile and asked, “I don’t supposed you could tell me who the father is, so I don’t tell him to get lost?”

That brought a giggle from both princesses. Celestia said, “We don’t know. You never told us when we were growing up.”

“We know who he is,” said Luna.

“We think we know,” Celestia tried to clarify. “As adults, with the clarity of hindsight, we can make a strong guess about our father, but...” She bit her lip.

Luna interjected again, “We will tell you what we know.”

“Luna, we can’t,” Celestia objected.

“We have to. Think about it.” She stared expectantly at her sister and waited.

After a few moments Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry; I don’t see.”

Luna sighed. “Let me try to explain this way.” She turned to her mother and said, “As you must have noticed, Celestia and I are not like other ponies. We are alicorns. We weren’t born this way by accident, from you simply connecting with the right stallion. Complex and advanced magic was required to make us as we are.”

Celestia frowned, concerned. “Luna, I’m not sure...”

“I am! Trust me,” Luna retorted. Then to Star Catcher, “Mother, do you know what a chimera is?”

“Hmm, sure. Nasty, big, fire-breathing monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s head, and a snake for a tail. I saw one once.”

Luna nodded. “That’s the iconic chimera. But sorcerers and wizards use the term in a broader sense to mean any monster created by magically fusing two or more different animals together. They use a morphogenic spell. The Wizard Wars must have been going on already when you were growing up, yes?”

“Yes,” Star Catcher admitted. “I’ve heard about rogue unicorns and other powerful sorcerers going on the war path. There are Malaclypse, Grogar, Queen Nastinka and more. Some have tried to invade Equestria. They used evil magic to create monsters like griffins to fill the ranks of their armies.” Then she blinked. “Oh! That reminds me. I saw a griffin at the festival. It was at the jousting tournament, wandering around like any pony. How is that even possible?”

Celestia answered, saying, “Griffins aren’t evil. I mean, temperamental, perhaps. They were among the first chimeras created by Malaclypse the Elder, at the beginning of the Wizard Wars, and in some ways they were too successful. Griffins are strong fighters, and able to think for themselves, and they are able to reproduce freely. Those traits made them ultimately impossible for Malaclypse to keep under his control. They rebelled. Today they have their own kingdom, and, um... reasonably good relations with Equestria.”

Luna added, “The other wizards learned from Malaclypse’s mistake. They created many other chimeric monsters, but usually with less brains, or with other limitations that helped keep them under control. The spell used to create such monsters is called a morphogenic spell. It was forbidden in your time, and it is nearly forgotten today.”

Star Catcher frowned. “All right. But how does this relate back to me?”

Luna answered, “Alicorns are also chimeric monsters. A closely related spell was used to create us, by combining the traits of earth ponies, pegasus ponies and unicorns.”

Star Catcher opened her mouth, then her jaw seemed to get stuck there for a moment as she struggled to pick from the many questions swirling in her mind. She settled on, “What?”

Celestia fidgeted, then blurted, “We’re not monsters!”

Luna pushed back. “That’s exactly what we are, Celestia. It’s what you and I have always been. With the Wizard Wars raging around our fledgling nation, Equestria needed its own magical super-weapons to answer them.” She looked to Star Catcher. “Of course you didn’t explain it to us that way when we were growing up. You said we were your little princesses, and someday we would rule Equestria and hold the three tribes together.”

Star Catcher frowned. “But who cast the spell? Was I captured and, uh, abused by some evil wizard?”

“No!” said Celestia. “Or I should say, you never gave a hint of anything so dark in your past. We never knew the details of what happened, but from what we’ve pieced together it seems to have been a project that you voluntarily joined, or maybe even organized. It would have required the cooperation of several ponies. To grant the powers we have, you would need a unicorn, an earth pony and a pegasus—each an exemplar of their kind—to contribute something of their living essence. The unicorn could presumably be the same one who cast the morphogenic spell. And since you are an outstanding specimen of pegasus, I dare say, it would make perfect sense for you to both provide living essence and to carry and give birth to us. Then you would only need one more participant: the earth pony. It could be done with only three, if they were exactly the right three ponies.”

“Three parents,” Luna underscored, “and we don’t know who the other two were. But we can guess about one of them. There were not many unicorn wizards in that era who were skilled enough, powerful enough, and not rogue warlords themselves.” Then she smirked and added, “And by the way, Celestia and I are not twins, so you get to do the whole procedure twice!”

“Lovely,” Star Catcher deadpanned.

At that moment a pale gray unicorn wearing an official sash entered the room and bowed in the pony fashion, and he looked directly to Princess Celestia and said, “Your Highness, I have begun the research into royal protocol that you requested, and I believe I have an answer to the question you posed.”

Celestia’s eyes brightened and she said, “Thank you, Courtly Conduct. Please enlighten us!”

He nodded and continued, “As mother of both of our reigning princesses, Star Catcher’s formal title is Queen Mother of Equestria, and she should be formally addressed as Your Majesty.” He then demonstrated by facing Star Catcher directly and bowing again. “Your Majesty!”

Star Catcher’s eyes went wide, ears turned back, and she stammered, “uhh... how? How am I supposed to respond to that?”

“You are not required to, Ma’am,” Courtly Conduct replied helpfully.

Celestia looked thoughtful. “Equestria has a queen now?”

Luna wondered, “Then she outranks both of us?”

Courtly Conduct answered, “So it would seem. I need to do more research on her precise role and powers. It has been a long time since Equestria had any royal in a comparable position. I may have to dig deep into the archives and locate some rare documents to be sure.”

Celestia nodded, “Yes by all means!” Then she caught herself and glanced uncertainly at Star Catcher. “I mean, if...”

Star Catcher caught the glance and looked equally uncertain for a moment, then blinked and said, “Oh! Err, yes. By all means!”

Courtly Conduct nodded acknowledgement to Star Catcher and said, “It shall be done, Your Majesty.”

A while later…

With a determined expression, Princess Celestia set off through the castle’s winding halls, her hooves echoing in the silence. Passing by elegant tapestries and ornate doors, she reached a hidden passage that led to a secluded chamber. This was where the statue of Discord had been carefully stored after his recent defeat, a place far removed from the eyes of curious onlookers. Celestia’s heart felt heavy as she continued her journey, the weight of her responsibilities pressing upon her.

Upon reaching the chamber, she found herself surrounded by an aura of enchantment. The air itself seemed to hum with the echoes of magic that had been woven into the walls and floors. The statue of Discord stood in the center of the room, larger than life and perfectly preserved, a testament to the chaos he had once unleashed.

Discord’s stone form was intricate and detailed, capturing his mischievous grin and mismatched features with uncanny accuracy, although all color had been stolen away, leaving only white marble. His form was a being of slender, serpentine shape with limbs like a dragon, but all mismatched body parts of seemingly different creatures. He stood upright in a backpedaling pose, mismatched arms thrown up as if to ward off a threat. The expression frozen on his face showed shock, panic.

Celestia mused that he’d been locked into a much more attractive pose the first time he was defeated, when he’d been caught gloating. This new view of him could almost evoke sympathy.

However, Celestia held little sympathy for her old foe. She glared. She said, “Are you oblivious, draconequus? Does some part of your consciousness remain? Are you aware, still, of what goes on in the world around you?”

A tense silence followed her words, broken only by the faint flickering of magical torches lining the chamber. Celestia’s gaze remained fixed on the statue, searching for any sign of response. The room seemed to hold its breath, as if the very walls were waiting to reveal a secret.

Minutes passed, but the statue remained unmoving, its stony features unchanged. Celestia sighed, her heart heavy with disappointment. She had hoped for a hint, a sign, anything that could shed light on the mysteries she faced.

With a sense of resignation, she stepped closer to the statue, her hoof brushing against the cool surface. “If you are aware, Discord, I ask that you guide me. If you possess knowledge that could help us unravel the enigma of recent events, I implore you to share it.”

She waited again. Then her patience cracked, and she spoke more sharply, saying, “Are you somehow responsible? Are you laughing at us now while your little mint-green minion is loose in Canterlot?”

The statue remained silent. Celestia sighed and turned away.