10 years later

~~~

The sun shone brightly down on Canterlot that day. The sky was partly cloudy, the perfect balance, not too humid, not too dry. But the faces of two ponies were very damp as they watched the ashes blow gently into the wind off the cloud they stood upon. The tallest spire of Canterlot Castle was behind them as they faced west and into the sunset. The pillowy cloud they shared was all their own. The soft cries of two ponies were only met with the gentle breeze of wind blowing through their manes from the east carrying the remains of their favorite mare into the sunset.

“Goodbye, mother. I will never forget you. You were the wind beneath my wings and the cloud I rested my hooves on. I could never have made it to where I am without your unrelenting guidance and support. You never gave up on me, even when I pushed you away as hard as I could. Even when I flew away as far as I could go. Even when I cried away the night as hard as I could. You were always there. And I want you to know that even though you are no longer with me in body you will always be with me... in spirit. I love you mother, always and forever”

Arcus squeezed his eyes shut as he watched the small cloud of grey ashes get carried away like a flock of birds on the high altitude gusts. The tears were cleared from his eyes as he blinked and watched. The beautiful mare who gave him life and raised him on her own was now reduced to ashes and memory. The beautiful, vivid and spunky orange mare with the maroon mane who was so full of life and lively spirit had lost hers to an incurable sickness of the body.

“Goodbye, daughter. I will never forget you. You were the light in my darkness and the dawn for every night. I could never have kept going, day after day, night after night, without your bright smile and happy stories. You never gave up on me, no matter how hard it was for us to be apart. I wish I could have loved you as much as you deserved. I wish I could have given you more of myself than I had to give. I wish I could have given you my wings so that you could feel how you made my heart soar to know that you were happy, and that you loved me. I wish I could have been half the mother to you that you were to your own foal. I want you to know that even though you are no longer curled beneath my wing, or riding on my back as I carry you across the heavens, that you will always be with me in spirit. I love you daughter, always and forever.”

Celestia turned to look at her grandson. Her powerful and infinitely kind knight was huddled under her wing and resting his head against her. His maroon mane mixing with her spectral one as they held each other close and blinked away tears together. Their magenta eyes, similar because of so much more than a coincidence. Their embrace so much more than friendly. They were best friends, and family. A grandmother and her grandson. A princess and her knight.

“Princess, let’s go away from here. Far away, just you and me. The princess and her knight, we can have an adventure and make our own kingdom. We can live in the clouds forever and you can teach me to live forever and we can be together, forever. We don’t need anypony else.” Arcus nuzzled into his grandmothers barrel and felt his sobs abating. It was a question he had asked her many times. He loved her and wished she would never have to feel the pain of loss ever again. But she always said.

“Arcy, I won’t leave you, I will always be at your side, we can fly together and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together and go on adventures just like you want. The princess and her royal knight, now and forever. But no matter how far we follow the sun or for how long we all have to eventually come home, back to where we belong, where it’s safe. If we live like immortals we can’t appreciate the things that are most important.”

Arcus and Celestia shared a nuzzle and held each other closer.

“Like family.”

“Like family.”

Author's Note

Thanks for reading my story.

This is my first attempt at a short story/one-shot. The inspiration for this story came from the MLP:FiM DVD box set bonus features where the voice actresses and production crew were talking about the parents of Scootaloo. Nicole Oliver jokingly suggested that Celestia was her mother, much to the chagrin of all the other voice actresses. I thought the idea was beautiful because Celestia and Scootaloo have always seemed like the loneliest characters to me. I also wanted to explore the idea of what it meant to be close to Celestia as a royal guard, and how that even Princesses could play favorites now and then.

As for Arcus' father, I briefly hint that his coat is a light grey color and in my mind I link that to Rumble. Why or how Rumble left Scootaloo is up to your imagination. But Arcus' eyes and mane are from his mother, just as Scootaloo's eyes are from her own mother, Celestia. His strong wings comes from his father, and his determination and rebelliousness from his mother, but his protectiveness is his alone.

If you liked this story please check out my first story here: Time Makes Foals of Us All