1-1 The Princess and the Student
----Part 1:The Rise of The Elements----
Chapter 1
The Princess and the Student
Sirens blared over the loudspeakers across Canterlot. Civilians were being corralled rather like sheep to safe houses strategically placed around the city. The safehouses had been installed there when raids by the Dissenters started becoming more frequent. It had only been fifty years since then, and there were more of them now that the group had picked up again after the first two leaders died. They all had thought, or perhaps hoped that the Dissenters would die out with no one to lead them but it seemed that somepony had picked up the position.
The worst part was nopony knew yet exactly who it was.
Every raid brought about fear and panic but also for the crown, the possibility that the new leader of the terrorist group might reveal themselves. It always made at least one of the Princesses feel uncomfortable, and she always felt that they should confront the leader and handle it the old fashioned way, with a team.
The Elements of Harmony.
However it had been a hundred years and the team of Twilight’s years were gone. Rainbow Dash had gone down in the line of duty, good old Applejack refused to sell out a friend “for the greater good”. She couldn’t bring herself to replace either of them with some pony she didn’t know. Apple Bloom tried to take up the mantle after the loss of her sister but it never did work out, just as Applejack predicted.
“It’s not that Apple Bloom’s not an honest filly, but she ain’t me. An’ I wouldn’t want her ta try to be either, she’s her own pony and if she’s going to be any element she should be her own.”
Twilight would find later that the Elements , ever powerful had their own limitations. One of them being “one team every one century”. Nopony could replace another pony in the current team after they were gone. It seemed that whoever crafted the elements thought a lot like Applejack. (It wouldn’t have been surprising, she surmised if whoever created the Elements possessed all of their qualities.) They tried to make do over the years without the elements.
Alicorn magic could not solve this problem alone. It was widely believed, even by Twilight Sparkle herself at one point that alicorns could do anything. It wasn’t until the Canterlot Conflict that she learned a hard truth. That there were some things that spells and friendship couldn’t fix.
Like war.
Equestria had managed to avoid wars in the past until one came from the inside. The ponies had never dealt with such a thing and didn’t know how to react. Even Twilight wasn’t prepared; she knew how to deal with little ‘betrayals’ between friends but not one like this. Lately it had felt like the Dissenters were winning.
But she couldn’t let herself think like that.
“How are you doing it?” she asked Luna at one point.
“Doing what?” Luna had asked. Twilight looked away instantly regretting the question. Luna had been banished to the moon by her own sister for pony’s sake. She had lived for well over 1,000 years. Before she could get away Luna realized. “When you’re a ruler it is not pleasant seeing your subjects in pain, when they are like your children.”
“I know” Twilight said, “That’s what makes it so hard.” Agh, just when she thought she was getting better at this.
“But it is the sign of a good ruler if you feel this way. “ Luna said, gently lifting her head. In the years of her leadership ruling over the night’s stars the princesses had become closer. While Celestia still felt like a second parent to her, Luna was more like one of the older sisters Twilight never had by birth (Cadence, of course was the other). “However you do have to keep calm. As a Princess you are a beacon of hope. You must show your ponies and the enemy that we will get through this.”
What got her by was thinking of her friends and how they would get her through this. They would surely never let her give up. So as the sirens sounded Princess Twilight calmly waited for the guards to tell her what the damage was. All she could hope that was nopony had died this time-or as few ponies as possible.
Her heart broke looking up at the sky and waiting because she knew Lightning Charger was out there with the Wonderbolts. Lightning was never one to back down from duty, much like his father. The threat of danger wasn’t enough to keep him away though sometimes Twilight still wished she could still shield him from danger. She stood at attention when some guards entered. They hurriedly bowed before her and for a moment Twilight got the feeling that they were bringing bad news.
She could feel her heart pound and the worst thoughts started flying through her head. But she remembered Luna’s words. “You are their beacon Twilight” she told herself breathing deeply.
“Princess Sparkle” they said.
“Yes, what’s going on out there?” She almost winced; there was still a trace of worry. But the important thing was did they hear it.
“The Dissenters are trying to get in the barriers.” One reported. “We have two ponies down.” Twilight’s heart almost stopped for a moment. “D-down?”
“Yes, injured,” the other guard confirmed. She breathed a sigh of relief. “and…erm one dead.” For a moment it was as if everything around her stopped. For a moment everything flickered out and all she could hear were the confused mutters of the guards-and her own heart.
“Princess?”
“Are you allright.” She gulped for air. “Y-yes.”
“Yes, thank you.” She said, “See to it that the injured pony gets the best care possible.” They both nodded and rushed out. She realized she didn’t ask who the dead pony was. For the next hour and a half she paced back and forth waiting for another report. It seemed to stretch on forever. She tried to do the breathing exercises that Cadance taught her for stress. But all she heard was Lightning’s voice. She didn’t know what she’d do if she never heard that voice again, losing Steel and Red had been bad enough.
Sometime after a couple of the guard ponies came in with a ruffled looking unicorn colt who was limping on one hind leg and teenage dragon with spike on her head that was rather reminiscent of a horn. If it weren’t for Royal Propriety and saving face, Twilight would have smacked her forehead with her palm. It was her student Dawning Sun, and his best friend Carly. When those two were up to something, there was a fifty percent chance of some sort of crazy stunt.
****
Only hours earlier Dawning was finishing his plans for a “project” that he was confident would give Equestria the advantage it needed to beat the Dissenters. In one of the books in the Canterlot library he found a book of spells. One that caught his eye was a flying spell called the airscrew that when done properly could be of great use to the militia. The only catch was that it had to be controlled carefully so as not to cause unintentional damage.
“Are you sure? You have to be very careful about this, Don!” Carly said.
“I’ve been studying, come on Carls, relax.” Dawning said, “This is my fourth year of studying under the Princess herself. I think I can handle a spell.” He flipped the page with his magic. “Besides, think of all the good it could do! We could torpedo the Dissenters until they beg for mercy!” Carly rolled her eyes.
“That would be great…if we could find the Dissenters.” She pointed out. Dawning had a tendency to do only the studying that was expected of him to get what he wanted or needed. He favored brash actions to hours reading books. Carly always ended up being the voice of sense that pulled him back. He preferred to think of it as ‘being a ‘downer’ (a few of their arguments had been because she ‘crushed’ one of his brilliant ideas.) She looked over the illustrations and had to admit that the spell looked useful; if they could find the terrorists attacking Equestria the spell could go a long way in taking them down. Though as much as she hated to admit it , it would be best if it was done by a pony more advanced than Dawning.
“Yeah, all the time to perfect the spell!” He said. He used his magic to shut the book with snap, but not without dog-earing the page.
“Princess Sparkle is going to have your flank for that” Carly playfully swatted him with her tail.
“I’ll smooth it out before she sees it.” He chuckled returning the swat. Dawning went out to the balcony overlooking the vast courtyard. It was the perfect contained little space to work on the spell. As he cast it he could sense Carly looking over his shoulder making sure he did it right. He cleared his throat finding the right spell.
He produced what looked like a miniature tornado and Dawning kept his eyes locked on it as he started carefully guiding it around the courtyard avoiding making contact with anybody. It started out rather difficult to move at the beginning, but he found that as he did it more, building up power and momentum it became easier.
As he moved the airscrew around he started to get lost in his thoughts, imagining what would happen when he announced his discovery to his teacher. He would show it to Princess Sparkle, she would congratulate him and the idea would be passed on to the unicorns in the royal guard. With this spell and at least a dozen royal guards, Wonderbolts, and pegasus scouts they would be able to root out the Dissenters and bring them to their knees. The war would finally be over; all the ponies stationed in the Crystal Empire-including his father-would be able to come back.
“Dawning? DAWNING-“he heard Carly’s voice shout.
“I’ve got it under-whoa!” He never finished his sentence because just as he turned back to the airscrew it was headed straight for them. He tried to steer it away with magic but it would do nothing, he had lost control. He recalled the warning in the book (which now lay forgotten on the ground): ‘When not controlled by magic, an airscrew is highly destructive and will go on until it runs into the biggest thing in its path.’
Which, in this case, was them.
The inevitable crash came sending them both flying and hitting the ground. In the moment of impact it seemed Dawning’s mind skipped because the next thing he knew he was sprawled on the ground below with a sharp pain in his back leg. He was brought back at the sound of Carly’s voice.
“Do you even know what concentrate means?” she yelled, “I warned you!” He looked around and his heart sank at what he saw. The airscrew was gone but the courtyard was a wreck. A statue was broken leaves were everywhere a flower bed was destroyed and the balcony was in pieces. He pushed himself up teeth gritting in pain at that ache in his upper leg. Carly shook herself and a bloodied scale fell off of her, intensifying the squirm of guilt in his gut.
“I-I can fix this.” He said. She glared at him, baring her sharp teeth.
“If you do anything more than simple spells I swear to the Princesses I will rip into you!” He shuddered. It wasn’t so much from fear at the threat-though that did scare him too, if pushed hard enough ,Carly would strike a pony down with dragon fury- it was mostly shame that he had brought this kind of rage out in his best friend. Dawning strained to use his magic to fix up the courtyard. He found that while he could straighten up the flowers and fix the statue he couldn’t fix the balcony, not with how worn out he was. After he did everything he could he collapsed, his body aching for sweet rest. He assured himself that if he explained surely the Princess would understand, all he wanted was to help end the war.
“Hey!” The sound of the guards hardly even fazed him; he just pulled himself up with a groan. He would get a chance to explain himself to his teacher. “Who made this mess?”
“I..I was trying a spell” he said, “and I lost control.”
“You destroyed the royal courtyard!” One of the guards interrupted. Dawning winced at the word. Destroyed. Sure, he kind of wrecked it, but it wasn’t intentional- and it had only been the royal backyard technically. Though he regretted being so quick to try the spell out. He shut out the scoldings, as he made his way to the castle. His hind leg still hurt, but he didn’t dare say a thing about it, knowing the response he’d probably get-“serves you right”.
****
Twilight sighed when she saw them, as much as she loved her student, she found herself getting frustrated at his tendency for acting first and thinking second. Seeing Dawning’s test scores she knew he was capable of great magic, but he needed to learn how to use it and use it carefully.
“What happened?” her tone sounded more like ‘What did he do?’ .
“The courtyard is completely wrecked, and the balcony is broken, he says he lost control of a spell.” One of the guard ponies said.
“WHAT?” If she had been drinking she probably would have done a spit-take, “Dawning Sun, what did you do?” She was reminded of all the times she had scolded Lightning when he did crazy stunts. She also, to her shame, had reacted this way upon learning that he joined the Wonderbolts, so soon after his father’s death in action. Dawning cringed under her gaze.
“I-I just wanted to help-“
“And how is going around casting spells helping?” She demanded.
“I was just testing it out; I found a spell that would help with the war.” He looked down scuffing at the floor. “I probably shouldn’t have tested it out but I really thought I could do it. And I would have if I had kept concentration.” Twilight held up a hoof to silence him. She barely noticed the guards looking uncomfortable and slinking out to let the teacher and student deal with this alone.
“Dawning, I swear, I don’t know what to do with you. Did you ever stop and think that we have enough to worry about right now. If you really wanted to help, you would have passed it along to me. Magic is a serious responsibility; you can’t just try every spell you see. “She took a breath before she began talking again. “We are at war right now. We can’t afford to be careless. Ponies die when we are careless!” In the back of her mind she almost regretted her harshness when she saw the way Dawning’s eyes welled up. But he had to understand.
“I’m sorry.” He hung his head.
“I understand that you want the war to end. We all do. Many of us have loved ones that we’re worried about.” She said. She knew she did, oh how she wished her son could be near her. She tried not to think about it lest she lose control. Twilight closed her eyes and pulled herself together before she spoke again. Lately she had been debating on whether to make the choice, but teaching Dawning Sun in Canterlot while trying to manage her portion of Equestria was exhausting-and with Dawning being so brash the responsible answer was obvious. It was time. “Dawning, I can’t have you putting Canterlot in danger. We already have enough trouble outside. As of tomorrow I will be relocating you and Carly to Ponyville, and I will send you the details on a new project.”
“What?” He exclaimed, “But….Princess – I’m sorry…I swear I won’t do it again.”
“My answer is final. For now you two can get yourselves patched up and Dawning can write me an essay about the importance of self control.” With a heavy heart, she turned making her way back to her study.
“Princess Sparkle-“Twilight heard Carly say. She didn’t answer, she needed alone time.
****
The two were quiet as the nurses at the clinic patched up their wounds. Carly figured that Dawning was still in shock. He had been scolded before and bounced back, so it was strange to see him like this. It was what she liked about him, and it worried her to see him like this. ‘Maybe’ Carly thought, ‘maybe he just needs space’. She wasn’t going to deny, Dawning really messed up that time. She supposed at least it was good that he realized it. Dawning wasn’t a bad pony by any stretch of the imagination, but he was bold and tended to act thoughtlessly.
She also thought about the Princess. Something about Princess Sparkle just didn’t seem right, from the moment they came in. It wasn’t that she never panicked or worried. Carly had known Princess Sparkle for a long time and knew that she had her moments of losing her cool. When Carly was young she had been the least mature of the other dragons in her village. She was raised by her uncle , who was always quick to assure her there was nothing wrong with her, but his actions spoke louder than his words because he never spoke about his brother, her father. He refused to tell her much of anything about him, even when she asked what he had done so wrong when she overheard a mother saying that she didn’t want her hatchlings trained alongside ‘his daughter’. When a fellow dragon in her hatch jokingly –and innocently-called her a pony, her uncle attacked him.
It was after the fallout of that when he decided that it was better for her to leave the dragon clan, and he brought her to Canterlot one summer night. Her uncle had never liked ponies, so it was very strange. He met with the youngest of the Princesses asking about some ‘her’. The two had a heated argument and his uncle left, after giving her an empty “I love you” and the word no child –pony or dragon likes to hear-“it’s for your own good.”
The Princess actually gave her more answers about her father. That his name had been Spike and that he had been a hero to Equestria and like a brother to her. When she asked what he did that her uncle was so upset about the Princess told her that it was complicated and she would explain when she was older. She did say that ponies-and dragons –were foalish about it all.
After that Carly was raised on the stories of the Elements of Harmony and the legends of the Princesses. When she first learned all that the Elements had done it made her cringe remembering how amongst Dragons being called a “pony” equated to an insult and there were jokes about how ponies had magic as a “consolation prize” for their weakness. The Princess, as Carly knew her, was never weak, although she was more capable of being nurturing than Carly’s uncle had ever been. She earned the young dragon’s respect and gratitude.
The Princess’s bouts of panic were usually about something not going according to plan or disaster that could happen, like the time Lightning did something dangerous or Dawning had a test given by the High Princess of the Sun. This seemed a little different from those. Carly wondered what would have happened to make her want to send Dawning off somewhere, she was usually relishing in the role of being Dawning’s teacher over some of the duller parts of being a Princess, or when Lightning was away for long periods of time.
Dawning didn’t answer or show any of his usual exasperation when the nurse warned him to be careful, but rather nodded like a prisoner accepting his fate. When they were released Carly tried once again to talk to him.
“Hey…Don?” she asked gently, “…a-are you alright?” He gulped and nodded still keeping his head down.
“I wonder…who the Princess will choose ...you know or her next student” he muttered with a sniff.
“What?” Carly shook her head. “Dawning you’re her student”
“For now.” He said, “but she’ll need a new one. Once I leave.”
“Didn’t you listen; she said she was giving you a new project.” Dawning snorted.
“Come on. You know that will just be to keep me busy. “he said.
“Princess Sparkle doesn’t lie” Carly said firmly, if she’s giving you a project it’s for a reason.” He didn’t answer. The trip back to Dawning’s house was silent and thoroughly miserable. Carly didn’t try to talk to him for awhile, but she got the feeling he didn’t believe her words of assurance. She knew the Princess wouldn’t lie to them, but still what was she doing?
****
Twilight rested in the privacy of her library reading to take her mind off the weights on her heart. It was hard to get lost into her books with so much on her mind. Every so often she looked at the clock or outside, waiting to hear the news of the fallen pegasus. Somehow, she wasn’t sure how, she faded into sleep.
“Mom….Mom are you there?” Twilight groggily shook herself awake at the sound of Lightning’s voice.
“Lightning!” the young stallion was shocked when his mother leapt forward and held him close as if he had been gone for a year. “Oh thank the heaven’s you’re allright!”
“Are you okay , Mom.” Lightning asked, “You look like you’ve had a rough night”
“A bit. I was worried about you.” She said. Then with a wince she added, “And there was an incident with Dawning.” Lightning rolled his eyes.
“What did he do now?” he said. “Have you considered telling him …about …it again? Sounds like he could use a refresher.” Even though he was a pegasus, Lightning knew about how unicorns foals were often told a warning tale about unicorns who had abused their powers. Dawning was affected when he first heard them, but it had worn off all too soon (honestly though Carly seemed more shaken than Dawning, and she didn’t even have much power in the bursts that came from the horn in the middle of her forehead.).
“No. Scare stories are useless after they become teenagers. You know how they can be.” Twilight shook her head, “But, I did do something. I decided that it’s time for him to start preparing, so I sent him and Carly to Ponyville for independent study.”
‘and it nearly broke my heart to do it’ she thought.
“But he doesn’t even have his Cutie Mark yet” Lightning protested. As exasperated as he was with Dawning’s bold antics, he still cared about the little colt that his mother took on as a student. After all they had at least one thing in common - no father in their lives. “He’s younger than you were!”
“Not by much” Twilight said. “Ponyville will keep him safe until he figures out the Elements. We’re going to need them soon, Lightning.” The stallion nodded still reluctant.
“How’s he taking it?”
“I-I don’t know….I should talk with hi-“
“Princess Sparkle!” They both nearly jumped out of their skin when somepony pounded on the door. “There’s an important meeting-“
“Can’t you lugnuts do that without scaring us?” Lightning snapped. Twilight sighed and smiled.
“It’s all right. I’ll see you later. Try to get some rest.” She leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead. Many years ago she probably would have had to stand on the tips of her hooves to reach, things have certainly changed. If only she still had her friends around to endure the changes together.
Author's Note
A/N: Some credit goes to my friend Futuramakid/Dani Phandom for some of the story ideas and the characters of Rose Blossom and Dawning Sun. He gave me a lot of advice and suggestions on this .
Author's Note
Heya everyone.
I’m balancing all my fics and trying to get a job at the moment. I’m also working on an original project of mine, so if I'm a little late, well yeah. This chapter and the next will get you a sneak peek at the other Elements as Dawning and Carly get used to their new surroundings.
1-3 Ponyville
Much to his surprise Carly picked up the slack on their side of the conversation. She rushed forward excitedly.
“ROSE! “ The mare’s eye’s brightened.
“CARLY!” The two of them embraced with some caution on Rose’s part.
“Oh Celestia, I haven’t seen you for ages! What are you doing here? You have to tell me everything!” Rose laughed.
“Oh it’s not that exciting. Mum got tired of the city, you know. She always fancied the countryside, much quieter, not so many sirens to wake up to.” Rose said. As he studied her the memory hit him abruptly. When he was young he was always a bit shy about meeting new people. His father, Switchgear was sympathetic but often would gently encourage him to make friends, introducing him to the children of his work friends.
One of those had been the filly of an old marefriend of his. She was a pink earth pony filly with a light yellow mane Rose Blossom. She and Dawning talked a little bit and gradually developed something of a friendship. Having at least one friend helped him. When Twilight chose him as her student the uproar from tradition-bound Canterlot nobles shocked him, threatening to send him retreating into his shell again. Rose Blossom boldly declared, in the face of teasing schoolmates that she believed the Princess made the right choice. They didn’t see each other much anymore, though Dawning looked for her when he had free time. He never did see her again, and by that time his father was oversees on a trip he would never return from so he couldn’t ask him. (He wasn’t dead, the militia team he worked for was ordered to stay in the Crystal Empire for safety reasons).
He spent years thinking she had moved because of him for whatever reason. That maybe the teasing she got for sticking up for him made her move. He shuffled his feet awkwardly. It was after that he decided that a single best friend was enough. Friends, like fathers and mothers apparently, came and went- and took part of you with them if you let yourself get close.
“Hey Rose.” He said quietly.
“Dawning….” Rose looked at him concerned while he avoided looking at her. He couldn’t even remember her name after all that. He could feel the heat on his face. Bittersweet memories came up in his mind. She still had the same Canterlot and Trottingham accent. “Dawning?”
“Are you all right?”
“Uh yeah….I hasn’t gotten that much sleep. Rough night.” He said.
“Oh I’m sorry. How has it been in Canterlot. Did the Princess send you?” Rose asked.
“I….”
“Yes! He was sent here for independent study.” Carly said. Rose’s eyes brightened.
‘Oh! That’s great! See Dawning, I knew you’d go far.” The well intentioned compliment felt like a buck to the gut.
‘What will say when she learns that I screwed up?’
After all good students got sent to independent study because they aced a test, not because they destroyed a courtyard.
*****
Dawning Sun never knew he could sleep that long. It felt like he had been out for at least a couple days, maybe a week. Emotional exhaustion was a real kick in the flank. He could feel the light from the sun in his eyes and felt himself yawn.
“I hate mornings.” He heard Carly chuckle a bit.
“Actually its mid afternoon, sleepyhead” He shot up and looked out the window. It looked somewhere between three and five in the afternoon.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Since yesterday morning. “ He groaned and rubbed his head.
“Great. Anything come for me?” He hopefully to Carly waiting for her to shake her head. He didn’t think he would get anything.
“Actually, yes, here!” She handed him a curled up piece of parchment with a “told ya so” grin. He eagerly unrolled it curious and dreading what it would contain inside.
Dear Dawning Sun,
I hope you are doing well, and enjoying the new surroundings. I hoped to get ahold of you before I left, but there was an urgent meeting.
I ‘m sorry that the last time I spoke to you was in such a harsh manner. You are my faithful student and that will never change. I only wished you would understand the gravity of the situation. Everypony makes mistakes, but it’s important not to give up hope. Mistakes do not mean the end, but a chance to learn.
You have advanced very far in your studies and I am incredibly proud of you. You’ve reached a point where there’s not much more that can I can teach you in the confines of a castle. Many years ago my own mentor told me the same thing I’m about to tell you. The world is much bigger than a library or a classroom. In order to truly learn everything you can about the world you need to experience it. Live your life. Your new assignment is to study friendship.
This is not an assignment that you can learn from a book or a lesson plan. Get to know some other ponies. A single pony, even a brilliant one cannot get by on their own. That’s why I’ve asked Carly to make sure you go out and get sunshine. I’ve arranged a place for you to get a side job, there’s a performing hall on the west parts of town and they’re looking for someone to provide technical assistance and special effects. Go and talk to them and try going out on the town.
I know you’re probably not thinking much of this project right now. But stick to it. This will be the most important thing you’ve ever studied.
With Love,
Princess Twilight.
PS: I’m not kidding about what I told Carly. You’re not going to just lock yourself away, young stallion.
Don reread the letter several times.
“Studying friendship?” He exclaimed, “How old does she think I am? He huffed and magically levitated the letter into a drawer.
“Well she has a point; you can’t just spend your entire life with only one friend!” Carly said. “Besides what were you going to do otherwise, sleep?”
“I thought she’d have me doing something for Equestria! “Don snapped back. “I can make friends while I do a mission that’s actually important! Like…like sniffing out moles and changelings!”
“This is important for Equestria!” Carly said, “It’s like she said, this is the most important thing you can learn. Remember the stories she told us about the Elements of Harmony? Do you think they just knocked on her door and asked her to join? Did you honestly think she was going to make you a spy after you demolished the courtyard?” He winced and then lay back on the bed.
“Thanks for the reminder.” She slapped a claw to her face.
“I-“
“Just get out!” he magically pulled the covers over himself.
“Don- come on!” He continued to ignore her. For a moment she wanted to rip the covers and drag him out. But she took a few deep breaths. “Look I’ll give you a break but when I come back –“
“Yeah whatever. Get going.” She left, slamming the door behind her before she started growing. Dragons by their nature always had a struggle with one of seven old ‘sins’. When they let the trait take over them they grew into a huge ferocious monster dominated by their fatal flaw, or in some views greatest asset. Greed, pride and wrath were some of the most common. Carly’s was wrath, and as such she had a terrible temper problem. True, due to something in her background, it took a lot of anger to get her growing but she could also be extremely dangerous because of her horn. Which was why Princess Twilight often warned her to watch her temper and taught her ways to keep it under control. She went down and sat at the small bar in the inn where Rose Blossom was serving drinks with two other mares.
“Still sleeping?” Rose asked.
“More like sulking.” Carly said, “He expected an assignment a bit more lofty than the one he got.”
“I see….”Rose handed her a drink. “So how’s Canterlot?”
“Oh still getting worse every time we think it’ll get better. The Dissenters haven’t let it slip who their leader is. A whole branch of the militia is still in the Crystal Empire.”
“…his father too huh?” Rose said with a sympathetic look. Carly sighed, her anger dissipating on the spot.
“Yeah. I think he is trying so hard so he can rescue his father….it’s hard on him.”
“Poor thing. Well, everybody wants to see this war end. We’ll get there.” Rose reached out and gave Carly’s claw a pat. They drifted into a conversation about matters of politics and popular celebrities. It gave Carly’s temper ample time to cool down.
“Dusky Romance is still writing?” Rose snorted, “Seriously? Even Vanity Press told him his writing was crap.”
“He has an excuse for everypony who complains about him and always says the critics don’t understand him. And what kind of schmutz refers to himself as a ‘Misunderstood Genius of Literature.’? “ Carly finished her drink. They both turned when they heard a male voice.
“I think he should listen to that one. Vanity Press knows crap.” Don gave a lopsided grin.
“Dawning? You feeling better?” Rose asked.
“I’m allright. I don’t think I’m going get any more well rested. “He sat down with a small yawn. “So what’s on the menu?”
“Well we have a lot of cider, some tea, lemonade…and water.”
“I’ll take some cider.” Rose slid a mug of cider at him. He took a long sip from it a little surprised by the fresh taste. A lot of food in Canterlot was being rationed for the war. Rose chuckled.
“We have our very own Sweet Apple Acres right here in town.” She said.
“Oh….” He took a few more gulps, savoring the sweet taste. Maybe this was something he could get used to.
“So where you headed?”
“Well first we have to go by the stage on the edge of town; we heard they had an opening.” Carly said. Don shifted but didn’t say anything. “And then…well I don’t really know I suppose we’ll just explore town.”
“Ohh well, I’d recommend Carousel Boutique. It’s always been pretty nice but since Goldie started taking over things, it’s gotten more of that original flavor it had from back in the old days, at least that’s what Mum said. Goldie really takes after her Great Aunt Rarity.” Something in Carly’s mind pinged recognition from the statement. Rarity. She nodded, deciding that they would certainly hit the Boutique.
When they finished their drink they said goodbye to Rose and went on their way. Don wasn’t’ crazy about being stuck here in a little town like Ponyville, but he had to admit he might as well give this ‘studying friendship’ thing a try. He did kind of owe it to the Princess anyway. The job she arranged for him sounded interesting, he wasn’t exactly an actor but special effects didn’t sound too hard. Princess Twilight had remarked that –when showing her what he learned-he had a flair for the dramatics. As they walked Carly pointed out a few of the sights in town. An energetic yellow salesfilly stood by a stand selling Apples, jams and preserves while a shy-looking brown and white spotted filly hid herself behind the sign. Don could sympathize with the little filly, and not just because of his current predicament.
The sound of hooves could be heard on the cobblestone roads of the town. The rays of sunset reflected off of the tin roofs of some of the buildings. In the many years that passed straw roofs had gone out of style, a few still had them but they were a definite minority. Many houses were now made of wood or brick. There was one place that was even built into a tree-it looked like the oldest building there. It was odd to see so much open sky. Canterlot had been filled with tall castles and buildings.
There were multiple spots in town where they something poking out of the ground with a doorway, probably leading to a shelter underground.
“Well, they’re well equipped.” Don said.
“Did you expect them not to be?” Carly asked. He shrugged but didn’t say anything, not wanting to get himself in any trouble. He hadn’t meant anything by the comment but there was no point in continuing such a conversation.
The stage was in one corner of town, a large and impressive piece of architecture. There were ponies on stage in little groups. Two ponies sat in the audience watching and working on something, one had a pencil precariously tucked behind his ear and the other had an outfit that reminded him of the couture of Canterlot. She had intricate earrings on both ears and a barrette in her mane that looked like an ornate butterfly. Carly whistled.
“Fancy”
“I’ll say…” They slowly began down the rows of seats to approach the two. Two more ponies came from behind the stage, one being a dark-maned mare with a single ring around her horn and some interesting clothing. Tall boots and a brown vest. Next to her was a young mare with a hot pink mane, a quill cutie mark on her flank and a colorful quill behind her ear enthusiastically nodding and chatting. Don felt a stab of insecurity. She didn’t look that much older than him and she had a cutie mark. He shifted his cape a bit to cover his flank.
“Thanks, Spotlight. I’ll come up with somethin’ for you” She gave a salute and dashed off. One of the directors in the audience chuckled.
“I don’t doubt she will, but it would be a good idea to give her time. “
“Or sassperila” the director with the pencil said. Spotlight walked over to meet them.
“Can we help you?” The elegantly dressed director asked them.
“Oh…” Don said “I’m here about a job.”
“Are you now? I have to say with style like that you’ll fit right in here” He shifted his cape a bit. “My name is Dawning Sun and –“
“OH!… …well come on then” the fancy director got up and beckoned for Dawning to follow. “I-we’ve been expecting you.” Spotlight and the director with the pencil rolled their eyes.
Their guide led them to a building behind the stage to her office, which was filled with framed articles relating to celebrities and the stage.
“I’m Crystal Dahlia, my dear and it’s a pleasure to have you on board.” She said shaking his hoof.
“Uh…what?” He shook his head, “I mean…thanks…I appreciate it.” Just like that?
“You’re very welcome. We’ve been looking for someone to do effects….the last one was a bit too fond of pyrotechnics and set the stage on fire.” She said, “I can imagine you, with your very special training, will be able to give us just the flair we need. “
“Thanks…I’ll do my best.” So that’s it…he was hired? Wow that was easy. He and Carly exchanged looks.
“ The backstage is Spotlight’s area of expertise she’s more of a big picture pony than I am, I admit. If you can come in for a bit tomorrow, she and Quick can give you a little tour. The building here is usually where we have practice and meetings if we’re not doing it onstage. We also use the bunkers every now and then. “She gave a thorough explanation of how things worked. Right now it seemed they were holding drama camp. The theatre troupe here operated like a big team with three leaders who took different portions of the job.
“It’s far more efficient than just one, after all, sharing the load allows us to get things done without someone getting overwhelmed and everything falling to pieces “Crystal said. The bitterness with which she said those words hinted that she had a bad experience before.
“Has that happened before?” Carly asked.
“Yes…my last troupe just fell to pieces.” She said with a sigh. “It was my first time as a director, and I was young and wanted all the glory of being the lead. “ She looked a bit sheepish. “But I learned from it. I had to start over though; a lot of my fellow performers became a bit disenchanted with me. Spotlight was one of the few who stuck around. “
“I’m sorry,” Don said.
“It’s fine…” Crystal gave him a smile. “While we’re still off topic, how do you like Ponyville?”
“It’s nice….” Don shrugged. “I just got here. I’ve been staying at the inn and-“
“Well, you are completely free to stay here; when we’re not cramming every-pony in the bunkers they make a nice temporary living space.”
“Oh uh…thanks” Don didn’t mind staying at the inn but he felt guilty that Rose was letting him off of pay. He didn’t want to take up room and put her out forever. “Much appreciated.”
“Oh good”
After they left the theater Don found himself with mixed feelings. On the one hand he was rather happy he found a job. Or…he should be. Really, he found it nerve wracking. He was with a bunch of older ponies and it was only a matter of time before they found he had no cutie mark. Then what? Crystal Dahlia had told him that the troupe was like a family but that didn’t assure him he wouldn’t be teased.
“Well they were very nice” Carly said, “It looks like a fun place to work.”
“Yeah…I guess…” Don shrugged, “Where do you wanna go next?”
“Oh I wanted to take a look at the Boutique, if you don’t mind.” Carly said. “If Crystal’s style is anything to go by, this place has got to have some interesting stuff.” Don groaned and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, It won’t kill you”
“Sure…” Carly shook her head but just continued along the path. As he looked around, Don took in the surroundings. There was something about this place that was a little different from Canterlot with its sirens, castles and soldiers. There weren’t any sirens at night and there wasn’t an atmosphere like a ticking time bomb always looming. When in Canterlot the reminders of war were obvious, nopony could forget that there was war. That there was a threat in the distance who wanted to destroy everything. Nopony could forget that they had loved ones far away in the Crystal Empire.
Loved ones who might not come home.
But in Ponyville , everyone seemed so happy. They weren’t waiting for the next threat or looking through the obituaries of the Evening News. On the one hand it made him wonder how everyone could be so calm. But at the same time it was nice. Was this what peace was like?
“Here’s the place” Carly said. It was a round building that resembled a very ornate carousel. Dawning raised an eyebrow.
“Since when do you like this kind-ow!”
“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t let you finish that sentence.” She said. She led them into the building, which made a ‘ding’ sound as the door opened. The shop was fully of mannequins with some very interesting dresses and saddles. The dresses were quite fancy like the ones in Canterlot. Many of them had an unusual quirk; they involved gold jewelry chains or utilized jewelry, beads and such in some manner. They walked around looking at the outfits, Don looking only in mild disinterest.
He spotted a display case of jewelry to the far right side of the building and wandered over. There was an abundance of cleverly designed rings and ornate necklaces. With all the emphasis this place seemed to have on jewelry in its creations clearly whoever ran this place had a talent more geared toward jewelry creation. He imagined that the whole reason she was running this place was to carry on her great aunt’s business. He wondered, did she choose or was she pushed into it?
“Oh! I didn’t see you come in, I’m so sorry” A gold unicorn with a pink and dark lavender mane full of waves and curls came in. Carly looked away from a dress she had been examining. “I’m Golden Pendant but most people just call me Goldie.”
“You did all this? Carly said, “You are really talented. These are gorgeous.”
“You really think so? Oh, thank you!” Don was surprised by how insecure Goldie seemed. He had expected the store’s proprietor to be someone who knew she was a fashion genius. He didn’t know why though, perhaps it was an unfair judgment to make. “I really liked these, but a few of the critics weren’t so impressed. They’re more my own individual style. It seems like my style isn’t what people want.”
“Well it’s very cool and…quirky…in a good way. I’m Carly, and that brooder over there is Dawning Sun.” Don shot her a look.
“Very funny.” He grumbled. Goldie giggled a bit behind her hoof. “I was going to ask anyway, he’s cute.” Don could have sworn he didn’t hear her properly. Cute? He shifted his cape a bit making sure that it properly covered both blanks. She looked a little out of his league. Now who was the insecure one? He opened his mouth but quickly shut it unsure of what was the right thing to say in a moment like this. “H-hi”
Goldie looked away quite flustered as well and she went back to talking with Carly. At some point he blurted. “Your stuff is pretty cool.” They both looked surprised.
“Well thank you very much.” After they left Carly was smirking.
“It’s not that funny…”
“You’re adorable” she put an arm around his neck.
“I’m the same age as you.”
“Nah I’m pretty sure I’m older.” But Carly stopped teasing him about it. They walked around town.
“Looks like places are shutting down….” Don pointed out.
“There’s a few still open…besides we can just admire the view. “ So they walked around town as the sun set and the sky slowly turned to dark. Ponyville was a bit bigger and wider then he realized. As they walked around they noticed a cluster of ponies heading in one direction. The sky was getting pretty dark. “I wonder where they’re all going?” As they kept watching, the ponies were all collecting in one corner of the town.
“I highly doubt that they all live in one place.”Don said.
“Wanna check it out?” Carly looked at him half-pleadingly. She wanted to go very, very badly.
“Where I come from we call that gatecrashing.” He pointed out.
“Oh I just want to see.” Carly said, “come on, live a little.”
“I didn’t’ say no…let’s just look.” He and Carly weaved their way around the crowd to the source of the excitement. There was a party starting on a farmyard. The same apple-stand pony – a yellow earth pony mare- from earlier was out greeting guests. Her green mane was in two braids with ribbon weaved in with a pink and a pastel orange cowgirl hat with lace around it on top. Her orange and yellow dress was reminiscent of a sunset. An orange stallion was chatting with a couple of mares by the fence.
“OH HEY!” Don heard a voice that was familiar to him for some reason but he couldn’t put his hoof on it. It drove him crazy trying to figure it out until he saw a pair of pink eyes in his personal bubble. It was the unicorn from the theatre who had been talking to spotlight. Her pink mane – as pink as her eyes- was mussed a bit by a brown newsboy cap and a pair of goggles. She wasn’t wearing a dress like some of the other mares but just a jacket and some boots.
She backed up a little bit, thankfully.
“Hey there, I noticed you earlier but I didn’t catch your name. You a new actor?”
“Wha-..actor…no.” he said “I’m the special effects guy.”
“Oh…cool.” She offered a hoof, “Nice to meetcha , special effects guy. You got a name? Mine’s Hazy Dreams. Writer for hire.”
“Dawning Sun…and that’s Carly. We just got here from Canterlot.”
“You lived in Canterlot?” Hazy leaned in interested. A few other ponies looked their way.
“Uh yeah. “ Don wasn’t sure he was comfortable with too many ponies finding out who he was.
“What was it like?” Hm, seemed Hazy was more interested in Canterlot than him.
“Tense….loud, always busy. Everybody talked about war.” Carly said bluntly. A few ponies looked away and Hazy’s face fell a bit. She looked a little embarrassed. Dawning shot Carly an impatient look. She responded with a shrug as if to say “what? It’s true.”
“O-oh” she said quietly. She backed up a little bit. “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“You didn’t bother –“But she was already gone. The orange stallion by the gate grinned and waved them over.
“C’mon in ‘an enjoy yerselves a lil. Maybe you could get ta know some ponies” he said. That was as good of an invitation as any. The two of them came in and walked around. Before the night was through they encountered more ponies than Don could remember. There was a dark grey pegasus with a multicolored mane and bandaged wings who seemed a little more reluctant than even them to be here but once he got started talking about his job he was talking a mile a minute.
After him they chatted with a pair of unicorn twins from Manehattan , a mare and a stallion who aside from build and minimal gender differences appeared nearly identical. Both had cream colored bodies and a caramel brown and dark brown mane.
“You two are city folk, aren’t ya”
“Uh..well we came from the city” Don started. Carly sighed in annoyance.
“We knew it when you walked in the room. We’re from Manehatten , so we know what to keep an eye out for. “the mare said, “The countryside is a nice change a pace ain’t it?” She gave them a mischievous smile. “I’m Vanilla Candy and this is my dear cousin Chocolate Fudge.”
“Uh yeah, it’s nice-“
“Free air and fresh grass everywhere. Good place to slow down from the unforgiving concrete jungle, eh?” Chocolate Fudge pulled Carly over with an identical smirk.
“Are you trying to sell us something?” Carly asked, put off by their manner. Both of them exchanged looks and snickers.
“You’ll know when we’re trying to sell you something.” Vanilla Candy patted Don on the shoulder and then both of them backed up a little. “Enjoying the party?”
“uh yeah….”
“A bit surprised we got in, since we don’t know many ponies here.” Carly said.
“Heh . Well, if the Apple family is anything, they’re warm, friendly and downright hospitable.” Chocolate said. “you can bet that if they have a party, they must have everyone there.”
“Everyone that will come that is” Vanilla added somewhat bitterly. Chocolate groaned. “Just a friendly tip watch out for some of the Wannabe Elite “
“Nilla-“
“They’re vipers.”
“Vanilla!”
“What ….they deserve a warning from those snakes, don’t they?”
“Well you know Spiced Apple and Lemon Cookie don’t want trouble. Can’t you lay a grudge aside for one night?”
“Who’s the Wannabe Elite?” Don asked.
“They’re some fancy folks from the upper class who came down here to get away…but brought their attitude with ‘em. They don’t come to these parties much and when they do they always complain. They think they’re better than a lot of people here.” Vanilla explained. “and they want everyone to treat ‘em like royalty. They’ll probably try to pull you to their side if they find out you’re from the city. “Chocolate rolled his eyes.
“Nobody pays much mind to them….”
“Except when they grab it.”
“Let’s go get some cider and talk to Sugar Apple….” He said pulling his sister, “Was real nice meeting ya” As they walked away Carly whistled.
“Seems like someone has a grudge.” She said. She suspected may have just met a pony who could match her own temper. They continued to chat with ponies. Don kept an eye out for the orange unicorn mare, hoping to talk to her more. He never did find her, and eventually forgot his quest when he got his hooves on some Hard Apple Cider while Carly was talking to Golden Pendant again.
******
“….Don do you know what hard apple cider is?”
“Uh…..dunno…didn’t taste very hard to me….” The two of them were lying in a barn on a few stacks of hay. Dawning had collapsed after tripping over his own hooves.
“It’s alcohol….you just drank alcohol” She sighed and covered him up with something. “Just stay here and try to snooze it off a bit…you’re a little unsteady on your feet.”
“But I’m not-“ *hiccup*.
“Just trust me…”
“I’m sorry Carly…”
“Don’t sweat it, could have happened to anybody.”
“Not that “
“So you aren’t sorry you got yourself plastered?” Carly laughed.
“…stop it, you’re making my head hurt.”
“No, that’s the cider.” His body became heavier until he shut his eyes and the world faded away just for a night.
*****
“Are ya allright there, sugarcube?” Don heard an unfamiliar voice. He couldn’t remember much of what happened last night. Just something about a party..and some delicious…apple….something or other. He opened his eyes and found a green maned mare with bandanna around her neck smiling down at him. “I’m awful sorry ya got it so bad. I told Orange we shoulda kept a closer eye on the hard apple cider.”
Hard Apple Cider……
Alcohol
The memories came back and Don slapped a hoof to his face. He had been here all night. He saw his cape on floor in realized that he had been without it at some point…making him even more nervous. He quickly grubbed it up and fastened it around his neck. The thought of using magic made his head hurt more.
“I am so…so sorry” He hastily and dizzily got up to his feet but was brought back down by the pounding of his head. “Ow…”
“Aw it’s nothin’ honey. Now let’s getcha some water.”
“Where’s Carly?”
“Oh yer friend, she came inside already. She’s a real sweet friend, helpin ya out like that. You two know each other long?”
“Since we were kids, yeah.” The mare helped him into to a water pump where a few ponies and Carly were all talking.
“Morning!” Carly said.
Don gave her a small smile.
“Hey….” The stallion…who seemed to be the Orange the mare had been talking about pumped out some water and laid a bucket at his feet. He looked down at it surprised.
“Trust me…you shouldn’t try an’ use yer magic right now” With the pain he was already feeling in his head he took their word for it and took a few drinks. “Yer head’s hurtin’ cause yer dehydrated. Hard drinkin’ will do that to ya. I take it you never had anythin’ real hard before.”
“Nope. “
“Never drank once.” Carly added. He drank until he had his fill and the headache seemed to ease a bit. A slightly older mare came over.
“So who’s your new friend here?” she asked.
“Dawning” he wiped his muzzle with a front leg feeling a bit embarrassed. “Dawning Sun. Your cider is really good.” The cinnamon brown mare smiled a bit.
“Well our light Apple Cider is just as good, with a lil’ less of the headache.” Don looked down sheepishly noting the ever so subtle tone of sternness in her voice.
“ehehe…noted.” He said. “Thanks ... for everything.”
“Aw it’s not problem honey” The younger yellow mare said. “My name’s Citrus by the way. Citrus Seed.”
“Nice to meet you. Thanks for your amazing hospitality.” Carly came over and put an arm around Don. She supported him a little bit as they left the farm. As he walked away he had noticed that a little brown and white filly had been watching him the whole time. It made him feel a little more sheepish, and he hoped he hadn’t been a bad influence on her.
“I can’t believe I got drunk. “ he muttered as they walked away.
“Well…at least now you know the consequences of drinking too much hard cider.” She said. “and the importance of reading labels. Now come on….we gotta get your stuff from the inn. “For the first hour that they were out Don couldn’t look anyone in the eye. But no one seemed to say anything about it- though he was sure he saw a few people whispering. The wheels of the paranoia train were set into motion. They made their way over to the stage where a few young actors and actresses were chatting in groups.
He heard some of them talking about the party and he tried to move around without being noticed. Carly looked like she would scratch out the eyeballs of anyone who dared give him trouble in a moment of vulnerability. She was the sort of friend who believed “no one gets to mess with him but me” and even then she knew her limits. A few ponies waved but mostly they minded their own business.
Nobody seemed to bother them though, a few ponies smiled as he passed and waved at him. He continued magically levitating his things until he got to the room they had secured. Once the door was closed he collapsed rubbing the spot next to his horn. “urgh….I swear I’m never going to drink, even when I’m older.”
“Sure, that’s what they all say after their first hangover” Carly chuckled. She spread a sheet over one of the cots they had been provided.
“I’m serious” he said.
“Ease up , I’m just kidding.” She said. As they days went on Carly tried to encourage him to talk more with the other ponies. Whereas Don just wanted to focus on doing his job and staying out of people’s way. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with spending so much time socializing as Carly did.
For his first day of work, Dawning was brought backstage by Quickpen and showed around. For the first day he started easy, asking Dawning to produce colored lights.
“We‘re going to start slow, and small, because we don’t want to tire you out on practicing. We just need to make sure you can do the basics for now before you move on to bigger things.”
“Allright.” Quick called out for spotlights of different colors. As Dawning conjured them, he was reminded of when he was home and the Princess tested him on his spells, she would hold a book and say the name of a spell, and Dawning would cast it. They practiced in a room in the castle that was large and bare. The very first time she brought him there after he was made her student, the room felt so much bigger, as he had been very small when he started. He wanted so badly to impress her, and the first time he conjured the spells it hadn’t seemed like good enough.
As time went on he worked harder at it, not only casting the spell but giving it a dramatic flair. As a child he was inspired by a unicorn that used to come to his kindergarten class and do a magic show. When Don as a young colt mustered up the courage to ask the unicorn how he made his magic look so cool, the unicorn had said, “magic is an art”. Magic was an art. That had stayed with Dawning, and the more confident he got in his training the more he became confident enough to give his magic a little flair.
“Brilliant!” Quick Pen said, as Dawning gave a bow after his ‘performance.’ When Dawning rose up again he noticed a few other ponies in the audience. He recognized a few as some of the actors and acting students.
“Hey can you give us some thunder?”
“Yeahh! Thunder!”
“Guys, come on it’s his first day.” Quick Pen said. But Dawning felt, at that moment like he was floating. He found himself forgetting why he had been so reluctant to be around them. Their clopping at the ground and hoots and shouts were getting to his head.
“No, its fine” Dawning said, “I-I can do thunder.” He backed up, taking a moment to focus and then summoned up his strength to release huge crack. There were a few shrieks in the audience; one pony was knocked backwards, not expecting the volume. Quick Pen held two hooves over his ears.
“Whoa”
The actors made a few more requests, before Quick and Spotlight reined them back in. His first production and the audience was literally out of control.
“Man, that’s awesome! Is that his mark? “
“Nah, I don’t think he had one. Should be though.”
“This guy doesn’t have one…are you kidding me?” All at once, when he heard that, Don felt everything in his body plummet. His breath caught in his throat. He remembered what some of his old classmates said when he met them again and saw that he had yet to get a Cutie mark. “Wow, he doesn’t even have his mark yet? “ “How sad is that?””What kind of pathetic pony doesn’t have a mark yet?” Those voices and the sound of laughter filled his mind driving out any other noise. He was so distracted that he tripped over the last step on the stage. He picked himself up and ran even faster, wanting to get out as soon as possible. He didn’t want to hear what was said after that.
“Whoa,” Carly said when she caught sight of him coming in to their living quarters. She had been out around the city that afternoon and was just coming in after him. “What’s up with you?”
“First day was a disaster” he said.
“….really, because….from where I was standing you were having a damn good time and they were eating it up.” She raised an eyebrow.
“Well…..I..I just don’t want to talk about it.” He said. “I’ll be fine.” Carly sighed. She probably knew what this was about.
“You can’t shut down every time someone mentions it.” She said, “You remember what the Princess said? It will come.” Dawning nodded and pulled his cape around him.
1-2 When One Door Closes,Another Opens
Chapter 2
Where One Door Closes, Another Opens
In the early hours of the morning Princess Twilight Sparkle was fretting about her choice. All the doubts her mind could concoct were stirring in her mind. After a long night of sleep doubts started creeping in and she was thinking that Lightning had a point. What if it was too early? What if she had been too harsh? Back when she was a student as little as a harsh tone from Celestia had been enough to make her feel like an utter failure. In that light her words to Dawning sounded as cold as the North ice caps. She needed to get to him and make sure he knew that she still wanted him as her student. That she still cared for him. Important meetings however had awful timing and so she sat, listening vaguely to the royal guard ponies, and trying to look like she wasn’t distracted. Her mind went over the things she had said, hoping for assurance that she hadn’t been too hard.
But the more she thought about it, the more she felt like she had. The guard ponies talked about ‘moles’, however and that got her attention.
“Moles…as in dissenter spies?” she asked.
“Yes” one of the guards said. “We’ve rooted out one, but he was two steps ahead of us. He’s been MIA since last month. I think he realized his cover had been blown.”
“They’re like changelings” another said. Everyone paused for a moment. “You don’t think they have changelings on their side, do you?” Many ponies looked down at the mention of this and some whispered to their neighbors in worry. Memories of the Hive Pact went through everyone’s minds. After the Dissenters’ original rebellion the Changelings started taking the place of important ponies and causing havoc, due to information they had been given by Blueblood.
It had been a difficult time and afterwards ponies didn’t know who to trust. There had been a few incidents where ponies actually killed ponies they knew thinking they were changeling imposters. A dull roar of whispers rose up and a few ponies began to panic.
“That’s enough” Celestia declared, “We do not actually know if they are changelings or just dedicated imposters. We can’t’ afford to lose our heads over a possibility. If they are changelings, we are more prepared than last time. “ Twilight strained her memory to recall her first experience with the Changelings. After that she and her friends devised a test- a way to figure out if someone was being impersonated by a changeling. It relied on confusing the changeling with increasingly difficult and personal questions, asking them to recount incidents that happened to their “self” in detail.
She also reminded herself to talk to Shining. Sometimes his memories before his ascension were a tad fuzzy but it was hard to forget your wife being revealed as a changeling on your wedding day. He had also interrogated a fair few changelings during the Changeling Panic, sending them running back to their queen.
“I-I think we can handle Changelings” Twilight said. “If we survived last time we’ll get by this time.”
“Indeed.” Luna agreed. They moved on to another topic and Twilight sat back and listened, putting ‘write a letter to Shining Armor and Cadence’ on her mental list of ‘to-dos’. But only if this changeling thing came of anything. She didn’t want to get Shining all worked up over changelings for nothing.
Nothing else stuck out after that, it was the same old worries and talk of raids and Dissenter scare tactics. Twilight had her mind so full it took a few moments to remember what she was originally fretting about. Dawning. Last night, in her mood, she had told the airship captain to take Dawning and Carly to Ponyville thinking it better to just get it over with. But now she wanted to kick herself, she needed to get word to him before he left, to mend the bridge she nearly burned. Once the meeting was over she set off for the Airship docks.
“Please, please oh please sleep in, or something. Please be there” she pleaded as she made for the docks in a gallop that was probably not suited to a princess. Her wings flapped as she ran , picking up air and she was soon gliding up toward the dock. Once she landed she made straight for the office of the dock manager.
“Princess! A-are you allright?” The dock manager, a light blue pegasus mare, looked up with a start.
“I’m fine…” she said, “I just needed to get a message to Dawning Sun before he left.” The pegasus officer sighed and looked down.
“Oh. Well, I’m sorry, they’ve already left. “She shrugged. “I wish I could help.” Twilight’s heart sank.
“Oh….well thanks anyway Blue” she said. Blue Skies looked at her sympathetically.
“I’m sure I could find a pilot who can send you.” She offered.
“Thank you, but I can’t. I have a lot of work to do “The duties of a princess always came before anything else she had always been taught, and procrastination was not something that Twilight Sparkle believed in. She could send her apologies in the letter with the next appointment with assurances that he was still her student.
****
The skies were still dark as Dawning and Carly left that morning. They were lent one of the smaller Royal Zeppelins with someone driving for them, so they could relax. Carly would have welcomed a little chatting, to be distracted from the depressed lump that was Don right now. But the driver was deadly silent.
She stifled a yawn as she watched the buildings go past and looked up at the stars.
"Luna's really outdone herself tonight". She said.
"Mhmmm" Don still kept his nose pressed against the window. He looked at it annoyed as if it had said something to offend him. “Yeah. Guess its okay.”
“You know , you ought to be careful. You remember the legend of Nightmare Night don’t you? Luna doesn’t like people ignoring her sky.” Dawning snorted.
“That story’s like a hundred-thousand years old. Luna’s cooled off by now.” he said. ‘Great’ Carly thought. She was stuck with someone who was determined to be angry about everything.
“Are you just going to feel sorry for yourself the entire time?” She snapped. “Look I know you’re upset. But maybe this isn’t the end. Princess Sparkle wouldn't have chosen you just to give up when things got difficult, you know."
“Maybe she realized the ponies who didn’t want me to become her student were right.” He muttered bitterly.
“Oh, so a bunch of saddle-sore parents and narrow-minded nobles know better than the Princess of Harmony? Is that what you’re trying to say?” Carly demanded. Dawning’s eyes widened, “N-no…just…uh….”
He faltered for another reason or a justification for his doubt. “I’m not trying to tell you not to be sad. But it’s not the end. Try to look at the bright side; you’ve never been to Ponyville before. It’s a new experience.”
“I guess.” He said. He looked down at the sights as they passed them and wondered what he was going to do in this new place. He couldn’t just try spells all the time, could he? Or maybe the job Princess Sparkle was going to give him would be an important job. But knowing how he just bucked up that was a bit of a foolish thought. He would probably need a place to stay and some form of a job to get by. It wasn’t long until the craft landed, nestled in a landing pad by the forest right next to a small town-which Dawning could safely assume to be Ponyville.
It was still early morning and the sky had lightened up quite a bit. As the pony and dragon departed the craft they noted the biplanes surrounding them. A few ponies were out and about cleaning the planes. A couple heads were turned at the sight of a Royal Zeppelin in the small town. However their aircraft was gone as soon as the two got their stuff. Dawning felt as if it had taken a part of him when it left. It reminded him of the book he was assigned about the journal of a pony who was exiled for breaking the law. He felt like he was in exile too. He didn’t say this to Carly though; she would say he was being dramatic. Maybe he was.
But his home in Canterlot was important to him. In Canterlot he had something, a purpose. People knew who he was, and he had a place. Here, he was virtually nobody. Okay so sure, he was a Princesss’s student so he had that going for him, but that was no guarantee that no one would dare give him a hard time. He still remembered how some people hadn’t been happy that Princess Sparkle broke from the old Princess Tradition and chose a colt to be her student. He never understood why it was so important for the Princess line to keep going other than “it was always that way” and , as his teacher had told him, some people just don’t like change. He didn’t know who in this town would like him, and that scared him the most.
He checked to make sure that his cape was properly covering his flank and started with heavy hooves into the town. The buildings seemed to be made of a mixture of the old fashioned straw and metal. Some had switched completely to using a metal roof. The town looked like it had been a tad bit late in catching up with the times, but it had in due time. He recognized a few of the shelters –for civilians during a raid- located throughout the town. There was at least one factory, Canterlot had many.
“Oh, Don look!” Carly spoke up, pointing to an inn. “That looks like a nice place.” It certainly looked like a decent place. Dawning was hoping he wouldn’t find himself in a motel when he got there. “Maybe we could stay there let you get a little more rest you know?”
“I got sleep last night” Dawning said. Carly snorted.
“Not much. Look, trust me you need some sleep.” He had awoken twice, with nightmares she had guessed. He tried to be quiet about it, but she had good hearing. He sighed.
“All right.” The two of them headed into the inn and Dawning walked up to the mare at the counter to make reservation. She seemed to remind him of someone, but he couldn’t put his hoof on it. A pink Earth Pony mare with a light blonde mane. Where had he seen a pony like that before? “Hey, could the two of us get a roo-?”
“Dawning?” she asked , staring at him with wide eyes. Dawning chuckled nervously, “Oh my…wow, what are you doing here; last I heard you were Princess Sparkle’s student!” Dawning blinked, confused and very nervous. This mare knew him, but how, had they met before? More importantly what did he say?
Author's Note
So I tried to establish a sort of cycle for updates, to update in order of publication, but I don’t like writing within a set time period. Writing under pressure tends to stifle my work.
So I loosened it up a bit, I’ll have some kind of order , with this story or The Burden of Knowledge followed by Island Game, then the other one of the two depending on which one I feel like writing first. Also for those wondering about the identity of Dawning and Lightning’s dads, they shall be revealed in time. Though, I will tell you this, Lightning’s great grandparent was a Wonderbolt from the show. So I give you, the next chapter of In Hundred Years Passed.
