Chapters
Ponies live, and ponies die. But changelings... changelings only ever die.
Avery M. glanced up at the door to the restaurant and frowned. Entering the building were a half-dozen miniature horses, without harnesses of any sort, and one bemused-looking young man. Avery grunted in disgust and moved to intercept. "I'm sorry, but--"
"Hey," a high-pitched, take-charge voice interrupted. Avery found himself face-to-face with one of the horses, which had somehow put its front hooves on the counter. "We hear this is the best place to get a meat-free bite to eat this side of whatever 'pond' is being referred to. Is that true?"
"Ah." Avery's brain stalled and went to full auto. "Well, yes, we specia-- wait a m--"
"Great," said the horse, dropping back to the ground, "we'll take a table for seven." The horses took to arranging themselves on the waiting benches. Avery shot a quizzical glance at the human who'd come in with them.
"Don't ask," said the young man. "Explaining would take longer than seating them anyways."
Avery decided to risk a question. "Are you going to need anything, special chairs, an alternative to forks...?" They looked over at where two of the horses seemed to be discussing finer points of an existing customer's dress.
"You know, I don't think it's going to be an issue," said the young man.
[sup]superscript test[/sup]
[super]alternate superscript test[/super]
[sub]subscript test[/sub]
[h1]Header test #one[/h1]
[H1]Header test #two[/H1]
[h2]Header size test #2[h2]
[mono]Monospaced test one[/mono]
[monospace]monospaced test two[/monospace]
[courier]courier test for completeness[/courier]
fourteen-point
twenty-point
two-em
'right'-tag testing
Of course, plain right tag slides to the right.
But what if
you only surround
part of the line?
insertbox-inside-quotebox test
Doing some testing
multi-insert box test
one insert box inside another
multi-box test
Apparently, you need quite a lot of text to force an insert box to stay where you want it. I wonder how much? Just as much? Twice as much?
An extra line to force stuff to stay up.
Stacked insertbox testing:
Luna sat in what had once been the hallway of The Old Castle, staring through the nonexistant doorway and out the decrepit window. She heard Celestia walk up behind her, but she didn't feel like fleeing any more.
Celestia didn't say anything. She simply sat down. Carefully, precisely, like so much she did. Probably doing it just to bug her. Luna wasn't about to let it get to her.
"There used to be a flag out there, you know," she said instead.
"I know," said Celestia.
"It was kinda old, of course," continued Luna. "Battered, beat up, and torn, dirty and grimmy, nothing like its former glory."
"Flapping in the breeze like the tatters of our history," suggested Celestia.
Luna's head drooped. "Yes," she said, "That. Like the tatters of our history." The two sat there, thinking about where the flag had been.
Finally, Luna had had enough. She raised her head and turned to glare at her sister. "What do you want, Celestia?"
Celestia paused, but only for the briefest of moments. "What do I want? If at all possible, I'd like my sister back."
Luna looked up as she recognized her sister. She was still recuperating from the summer solstice, and her ears only came up to Celestia's chin when they both stood straight. "Celly?" she said agian. "What's the matter?"
"Luna," said Celestia. "May I c-- no, that was rude, I shouldn't have said that." She shifted weight to her other side. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, no, come in," said Luna, opening the door. "I just-- What brings you up here?"
Celestia hesitated in the doorway. "Well, I was hoping-- that is, I was wondering--" She noticed Luna looking at her from over near the closet, and rushed through the rest. "Would you like to go flying with me?"
Luna's expression brightened momentarily. "Oh, I would love to.-- But don't you have things you need to do today?"
Celestia smiled wanly. "I've cleared my schedule for today. We can spend all day together, if you like."
/stacked insertbox testing
Results: insertbox breaks cannot be used as a section separater effectively. I mean, they could, but... results would be weird. The breaks would move around relative to the other column.
Now testing [hr]s
Good news: they will politely stay inside their box (column).
Author's warning: as of this writing, no readability tests have been done on the colored text in this fic. The color itself is a bonus, however, and you will loose nothing relevant if you disregard it.
There's a flare of red light and a strange-looking thing come over the horizon. Bulbous, unaerodynamic, and ugly, insectlike gold-plated legs seem to try to trail behind it as it sits atop a pillar of fire. It continues forward for many seconds, then, apparently satisfied, drifts downward. The legs suddenly thrust outward and make contact with the ground, just as the fire disappears.
Silence reigns for several more seconds. Then, a burst of communication: "Houston, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed."
Another source --voice?-- comes. "We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."
More communication. Lots of arcane technical terms. Eventually, a hatch opens on the side, and a bulky figure climbs out. It's got four limbs, but apparently it walks upright, based on the ladder it's using. The forward limbs end in what seem to be primary manipulators. A bubble at the top has a different appearance, presumably, this is the location of the head.
There's another burst of chatter as it jumps off the ladder. Perhaps the big one is a craft of some sort for smaller independent actors. I creep closer as it sets up some sort of tripod. I've no intention of making contact, of course, but I am curious what they could want.
The first figure is shortly joined by another, and they hop about, placing various contraptions here and there around the landing site. I probe the original craft when it seems they're not looking, and there aren't any more of them inside. I circle around, and when they head off in the opposite direction I dart in to investigate.
I laugh at the simplicity of some of the stuff. A few of the large ones, for example, appear to be nothing more than very fine mirrors. Others are less clear. One box gives off a glow that I simply avoid. Another item is obviously a flag, but why would they bother bringing that?
The craft is most ingenious, however. It's in two portions. The upper portion is capable of sealing itself, with tanks of numerous substances for both propulsion and reasons unknown. Various linkages show that it provides controls for the lower portion, and radiative communications devices stick out at odd angles. It even contains a machine capable of its own arithmetic! The lower portion is coated with the same golden matériel as the legs, and contains as-yet-unused equipment and emptied tanks.
Also on the lower portion is an engraved sheet of metal. Numerous symbols are arranged, clearly to give some sort of message. Also are stylized marks, seemingly similar to an artist's identifying mark but different in design. Most interesting, however, are a pair of circular diagrams, looking much as a globe might if you took a picture of it. I look up, and sure enough, a distant marble displays green patterns that would match the diagrams.
I'm so engrossed in wondering where this unknown planet came from that I don't register the change in message tone until one distant biped leaves what it's doing to join its companion. I cast back, trying to determine what I missed. "Buzz, you might want to come see this." I glance at the other, wondering what it may have found. I double-take when I see where it is. Stupid, stupid! Of course they would have found that! The dust here will retain impressions until they're removed!
I quickly sweep every area around the ladder where I've walked. It's too late to prevent discovery, but maybe I can prevent them from discovering that I know about them. I continue erasing my tracks as I trace my path back away from the landing zone. It's bad enough that I'm too late to prevent them from sharing the discovery--
"Houston, I don't think we're alone out here."
They spend quite a bit of time out there, circling around, evidently investigating. I take advantage of the extra time to eradicate more evidence and leave a false trail leading off in the other direction. With luck, they'll decide the trail is too old to be worth following. I suspect I could defeat them both easily, but I don't bear them any particular ill will and I'd regardless rather not test it. Still, the unintelligible scrap of signal echoes through my head: "Document, but do not pursue".
Finally, the two return to the area of their craft. I continue to lurk, terrified that they might detect me yet. But they only gather more samples before clambering back aboard. An assortment of equipment gets tossed out, however, and they show no signs of re-emerging. After the longest span since they arrived, more chatter, and the upper portion of the craft warms up, clearly intended to return them to where they came from.
After a moment, things begin to get worrisome. It's taking longer than I would have expected, or than they expected either. I sigh, and reach out to investigate. The fault becomes readily apparent when I find one of the creatures using an improvised tool to probe a control. I toggle it myself. They seem to accept that as normal, and proceed. The upper portion of the craft separates and lifts off, knocking over their carefully placed flag. I briefly consider putting it back up for them later, then decide against it. After all, they may return.
As the strange craft disappears over the horizon, I wander back to the lower portion again. They don't know it -- they may never know it -- but no matter how easily I may be able to take over their world, they are in no danger from me. It's not home, for one thing, but it's not them I want to rule over anyways.
I eventually head to the rim of the small west crater. For some reason, I want to look at exactly what caused all this trouble, even though I already know. It's largely undisturbed -- apart from the prints, they haven't left anything behind, and there's no indication that they took anything from here with them, apart perhaps from photographs. I walk down the slope, careful not to step where they did -- that would be hard to clean up -- momentarily obsessed with the idea of seeing it myself.
There, at the bottom of the crater, surrounded by treadlike patterns, is a perfect set of my hoofprints.
Lightning Dust sat in the corner of the playground around her, looking out at all of the other ponies as they played. Leaning down and resting her head against the dusty ground below her, she didn't see a pair of white hooves come near her until their bearer's magic was putting a scarf around her neck.
"Hello," she said as Lighting looked up to see her. "I just thought you looked a little cold... and maybe a little lonely.
Lightning didn't say anything.
"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Rarity. And you?"
Lightning didn't say anything.
"Ah... well, I guess it was good seeing you. And... for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what... happened. It must be hard."
"Ah, don't sweat it. My name's Lightning by the way."
Rarity smiled, out of happiness or just practiced hospitality she wasn't sure anymore. It was true that she liked to be as calm as absolutely possible under stressful situations such as these, as a lady knew that she was only a lady if she could keep her composure, but this was just too much for her to handle. There were several dress orders piling up, practically smothering her at this point of the day, and while she should have put up the "closed for business" sign hours ago, and shouldn't have been answering the door in the first place in order to work and not risk her sanity anymore, she found herself doing it. And with a smile on her face. She couldn't understand what compelled her to do it.
Maybe it was because because she recognized the way the pony on the other side knocked, or maybe because the voice that belonged to that pony should've been listened to years before. She wasn't sure.
The only thing that she was sure of, was that Lightning Dust was now flittering around in her doorway, smiling at her, a hoof held out for a bump. And really, even though she was sure of that fact, she didn't exactly understand it.
"Hey, Rare. I figured you'd be here -- thought I'd drop by if you were. How's it been hangin'? You know, other than the whole Academy thing."
She didn't understand anything, to be honest. Except for why she was then stepping aside and letting Lightning Dust into her home. That made sense. She had a reason for that.
***
Lightning "Dusty" Dust buzzed her tiny wings as hard as she could. Her eyes brightened as she lifted into the air slightly before her wings popped and ached, and she was sent crashing back into the tall grass, her face red and sweaty. She stayed there for a few seconds, puffing and panting, before her expression turned into a determined frown and she forced herself back up, pounding a hoof to the ground.
She had to get this right.
Lightning winced as she lifted her wings again, like she had for the last hour or so, and screwed her face up in pain as she started to flap them weakly. They were stiff, barely moving up and down no matter how much she tried; even when she started to lift up from the ground, they were still mechanical and odd-looking, like they belonged on a robot pony. Still, Lightning kept pushing, getting higher and higher up in the air, biting her bottom lip as she went.
She wasn't crying, though. Dusty never cried; she couldn't give everypony in town that satisfaction. Just because she was born on the ground didn't mean that she was a ground pegasus, and she intended to show Ponyville her stuff.
... After she learned to fly, of course.
Lightning's wings cramped up, but she still flapped them; she was actually hovering! Now just to move a bit forward...
She hadn't even lifted up a hoof before her wings locked up in their place and her body was being bounced up from the ground. Again. Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries...
She looked to the ground, putting a green hoof to her aching wings while her face stretched to a frown. For what felt like days on end, she had been doing this: hovering, trying to move, failing. Hovering, trying to move, failing. Over and over again. Many times she had gotten close, bobbing in the air with a grin before earning herself another bruise, but she never quite got it right. Every time, she ended up with her flank on the ground, frowning to herself. It was becoming a routine, really.
Only, this time, she smiled while her wings stung, and decided it was time to put her latest idea into action. Lightning looked back up to the edge of the Everfree Forest around her, scanning her eyes over the tree line until she saw a nearby one which looked like it had somewhat sturdy branches. She had seen the local birds; if this wasn't working, she would just have to go up to maximum and trust her natural instincts to kick in at the right moment.
Dusty arched her back, stiffly pulling herself up from the ground and brushing the dirt off of her forelegs. Trotting over to the tree, she put a hoof to the bark, buzzing her wings a little and pushing herself up to the lowest branch. Once she was on, Lightning kept climbing, one hoof after another, until she was as close to the top of the thing as she could manage, looking down to the ground which suddenly looked much farther away.
Her smile got bigger despite how much her wings hurt, and she opened them up while she balanced her way to the end of the branch. Looking away from the grassy ground she was about to be headed towards, and instead to the clouds in the sky, she took a deep breath...
And walked off.
At first, it was beautiful. She was floating through the sky, feeling free, the taste of sky on her tongue. She could even see the birds' nests littered around in all of the trees nearby. In fact, it wasn't until she had fell about halfway that she started to get scared; her wings were flapping, but she wasn't slowing down in the slightest. Everything slowed as the ground zoomed towards her, Dusty no longer remembering why she had walked off in the first place; all she knew now was that she was plummeting from a tall tree, the drop getting shorter and shorter, nothing she was doing working, nopony around to help her... she was going to get hurt badly, or land on her neck and die...
Her hooves shot out, flapping around wildly like her wings were at her sides. She let out a scream and clenched her eyes shut, her body doing flips in the air not of her own accord. Dusty couldn't tell which way she was falling anymore. Dusty couldn't tell where up was. She was scared. Somepony had to catch her. Anypony had to catch her.
She had to catch herself.
Lightning's front hooves skimmed the tree behind her, the sensation a tingle through her spine and forelegs. In return, Lightning gasped, her face turning up into a smile. Dusty flipped over as quickly as she could, flapping her stubby wings and shoving her body forcefully upwards and forwards as much as possible. This had to work. Had to. Nopony went near Everfree; if this didn't work, she would die. She would die, and die alone. This had to work.
Her hooves snapped backwards against the wood. There was a resounding, tiny 'thud' as the kick sent her a couple of feet ahead...
And then a few more...
... and then, suddenly... she was in the air, soaring off of the ground, a trail of lightning blazing behind her. And she had a smirk on her face.
***
Rarity also understood why, as soon as Lightning Dust had made her way through her boutique and had sat at her table before a glass of white wine, Rarity stared unwaveringly into her eyes, and fought off the urge to cry. It was such a long time ago, that memory, and yet it still pained her whenever she thought about it, and Rarity suspected that it hurt Lightning Dust as well.
Which was why, instead of going straight for the problem at hoof, she decided to beat around the bush, just a tiny bit, and fix the problem Lightning Dust was currently having. Rarity could easily see the way she slammed the drink set in front of her, her eyes showing a bit of disgust or dissatisfaction. It practically radiated off of her posture. It was expected, a bit, and this Rarity also understood why. This was an act of a bad hostess, and like giving Rainbow Dash juice instead of cider. It wasn't right.
"Would you like something a bit... harder, darling?" she asked, knowing full well what answer was to come.
Lightning Dust raised both eyebrows, a sly grin slipping onto her face. "Harder? Honestly Rare, I didn't peg you the type to keep hard liquor sitting around."
"You do realize, dear, that I am friends with not only Rainbow Dash, but a party animal as well? I need to be prepared for when the salt doesn't cut it."
Rarity allowed the thoughts of Lightning Dust to disappear from her mind as she then stood from her place at the table, once again, for not the first time just this very month, trotted to the back, to where Pinkie's stash was hidden. It worried her a bit, knowing that Pinkie often kept these things, but she knew fully well that her word stash actually meant her stash, and was meant only for the biggest of occasions. Maybe Pinkie would be angry for breaking into it, or for not wanting to explain why, which was understandable, but to her, this was a big occasion. This would be the only chance she got.
When Rarity got back to her table and began to fill Lightning Dust's glass with Pinkie's finest, she wasn't exactly surprised to see that her guest was gone. Not gone, though, as much Rarity could see her tail poking from another room, Lightning Dust looking into an unlocked box of gems.
"You still messing around with gems, Rare? ... Oh, you remember that one time Berry Punch or whatever was betting you couldn't find gems, so you did, right in front of her face? Gotta' admit, still pretty awesome." She said this while poking a hoof through the box in front of her, and while a shiver went up her spine, Rarity said nothing about it. The gems could always be cleaned later. Lightning Dust could not be talked to later.
"Yes, I suppose so," Rarity said, trying to approach the idea from Lightning Dust's level. "Though... I still do regret it. I made a mistake, digging those gems up directly below her, and she could have easily been hurt worse than she already was."
Lightning Dust looked up from the box, and walked over before taking her glass once again into her hoof. "Why would you regret it? She only twisted her hoof when she fell, and honestly, I think she deserved it. She shouldn't have dished out insults if she wasn't prepared to get hurt. She had to learn sometime or another."
Rarity didn't agree. She didn't wish to start an argument, however, and instead mumbled a muted "I see." before taking a sip from her own glass. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter anyway; this is not about me, it is about you. So, dear... how have you been? I know you've been doing flight shows by yourself since... what happened."
Lightning Dust smiled, taking a drink herself, before closing her eyes. Rarity didn't know exactly why she closed them, perhaps to hide something or maybe because she was lying, but she did all the same. Rarity then found herself staring into her eyes once again, though now they looked cocky and smug. Believable.
"Yeah, I've been doin' shows here lately. Some time back, though, I managed to get a team together. They're not all that great, but -- hey -- they'll do good enough. We're doin' a show in Trottingham next; we're going to try a four-pony buccaneer blitz."
Rarity took a moment to imagine that, four ponies side by side, fire and lightning bursting off of them before trailing behind in a thick line. It could have easily caused a sort of fire if they got too low, and Rarity imagined that anypony unlucky enough to fall apart and into the blaze behind them would surely be scarred.
"Isn't that a little... dangerous, dear?"
"Well, yeah. So? It will also be awesome and wow the crowd. Besides, if any of the ponies on my team want to have a chance of getting into the Wonderbolts, they gotta be able to recover and fly in a team. Really, I'm helping them, and if they can't do it... well, why are they trying in the first place? It would be their fault."
Dusty smiled, her chest puffed out and her head tilted back haughtily as she trotted towards a small group of pegasus colts, all of them half-way through a game of knock-out. Only four ponies still buzzed around in line, most notably being Hoops, a stubby pegasus with basketballs as a Cutie Mark. Always Hoops. Hoops always won.
Lightning stepped forward when nopony was looking, snatching an airball between her hooves before the colt could get it back, and doing the same as Hoops' ball fell through the net above, effectively stopping their game; she couldn't hope to get a word in otherwise, as Hoops didn't have time for ground pegasi.
Unless, of course, it was a ground pegasus who got in his way and had earned their daily insults.
Hoops zoomed forward, his hooves clopping on the ground with a loud thud as he shoved his snout against Lightning's. She stared back at his icy glare, knowing she had a cocky, smug little smile on her face, and knowing that she deserved to wear it. Ground pegasus? Not anymore.
"What's wrong, Lightning Dirt," he cackled, the group of colts around him drawing closer and starting to form a tight circle. "Don't you know that only real pegasi are allowed to play with us?"
There was a resounding, echoing laugh from all sides. Dusty just shoved it off, still feeling the smirk tugging at her lips.
"Yep," she answered, pushing her snout forward and shoving Hoops slightly away in the process. "Wanna see what I got?"
Hoops pulled back from her touch, an eyebrow raised and his expression planted into a very confused, almost disgusted one. "What, you? I bet you can't even float, Lightning Dirt!"
At that, the smug little smile on Lightning's face finally exploded into a cocky laugh. She buzzed her wings as fast as possible, despite how much they ached and how tired her limbs were from climbing the tree earlier that day. Her hooves lifted from the ground, Dusty watching as Hoops' face turned from confusion to surprise before she looked to the sky. The clouds seemed to lower from their places in the blue above, and the wind picked up from under her wings while she slowly got higher and higher in the air. Once she thought she was high enough, and had decided that to prove herself, she had to do much more, she lifted her back hooves, pushing against the air and shooting forward, flying a straight line before stopping to(unknown to her), clumsily turn around. After doing this same thing a few times above the group of pegasi, not once looking down, she planted down in the very spot she had started in. Dusty was proud of herself.
Lightning looked around, but mainly at Hoops. For a second, everything was in stunned silence, nopony saying a word while Hoops slowly raised another eyebrow to match the first.
And then his lower lip quivered, and everypony in the tight circle burst out laughing.
"Y-You call that flying, Lightning Dirt?" Hoops gasped through laughs. "You can barely move in a straight line! I guess you are a ground pegasus, after all!"
Lightning's mouth and eyes popped open, her jaw nearly touching the ground and her ears flattening against her cheeks. She flew! She flew! What was the problem?!
Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries...
"Yeah," she heard a pegasus shout somewhere in the tiny crowd. "Any pegasus could do that!"
"What?" another pegasus shot back. "Any dead pegasus could do that. I bet she can't even stand on a cloud!"
Hoops didn't even push her down or offer anymore insults, too busy rolling around wildly on the ground. Lightning scowled at them, not that they were looking or particularly cared, pounding a frustrated hoof. Pushing out her chest as much as possible, she was fully prepared to prove to them that she could and give them a full show of her abilities, or even pummel Hoops into a bloody pulp. Anything to make him stop laughing. But she would never get the chance.
"C-Come on," Hoops stuttered, still chuckling. "Let's leave the ground pegasus where she belongs."
"How dare you!" Rarity hissed, her eyes staring menacingly into Hoops'. "Just because she was born some place other than you does not, and I mean does not mean that she has any less potential. Where exactly were you born, anyway?"
"Only Cloudsdale," Hoops answered. "Home of the Wonderbolts. Not that you would know, growing up in this little poor town."
"Oh?" Rarity said, feigning surprise and planting venom into her voice. She stomped a hoof. "Then I suppose you would know that Dusty's father was also a Wonderbolt?"
"What dad? Oh, yeah, he used to be. Forgot Lightning Dirt's dad isn't around anymore."
And then they all flew away.
***
Rarity had let the earlier comment go, as she was not yet prepared to approach the subject at hoof, and had instead retired to sharing stories. She and Lightning Dust sat at the table, reliving days they had been through in the past and retelling the random misadventures they had had when the other wasn't present. It was nice, and Rarity suspected that Lightning Dust was enjoying herself, though when the time came, and everything fell into an awkward silence, she knew it was time to say something.
"Lightning, darling... why do you push yourself so hard?"
Lightning Dust gave her a confused look and a, "What do you mean?" in return.
"You have to push yourself so hard to impress an audience that you're willing to put their lives in danger. Why is that?" Rarity didn't mean to make it sound as if there were a hidden venom in her voice, but she could have understood if Lightning Dust thought so. She would have to lower her voice a bit, compose herself, act like a lady should. She didn't want to ruin her one chance.
"Well, you don't have to add all of those gems to your outfits, do you? I'm just doing what you do. I don't see what the problem is."
"Yes, well, when I add gems to my dresses, I don't endanger the lives of anypony and everypony around me."
Rarity knew that she had messed up horribly when Lightning Dust placed her glass back onto the table with a light clatter, and let it wobble dangerously back and forth before placing a hoof on it to steady it. She especially knew she had when she looked into the icy glare she was receiving.
"Listen, Rare, I have my own way of doing things, and you have yours. Alright? I don't know why my way of doing things is so horrible to everypony, but it shouldn't be. It's none of your -- their -- business."
It was too late.
"I wouldn't see why it wouldn't be my business, seeing as, because of your actions, I was nearly a beautiful little splat on the street."
She had to be hurtful. She had to get the point across.
Lightning Dust placed a frustrated scowl on her face, tired of hearing this same conversation yet again. Rarity could feel the guilt spreading in her chest and up to her eyes, but she knew very well that this talk had to be had again with her, personally, as she was the only one who knew. She was the only one who could see it. She could see it now, in fact, in her eyes. Amongst the anger and frustration, it was hiding, floating along in her irises and into her pupils.
"Didn't we just have this talk? You could've gotten hurt, but you didn't," Lightning Dust said, her voice a shout. "I don't get what's so wrong! I'm just pushing myself like any athlete would, and sometimes, ponies get in my way and I have to step on a few hooves to keep going. It's nothing personal... I just... what is it you want from me?! Why do you care?!"
She had to tell the truth.
Rarity was silent. She stared into Lightning Dust's angry eyes.
"I'm proud of you, Dusty," she muttered quietly, as to let it sink in. She saw Lightning Dust's eyes soften around the edges, the steam that had appeared there just a second prior disappearing to let in confusion and some hidden emotion in the back. And then decided that was her cue to continue. One chance. "When you were younger, dear, the only pegasus in your life who could ever teach you how to fly passed away, and after that point, nopony gave you the benefit of doubt. Critics were thrown your way, and you stood up to them, not letting their words get to you -- better than I've done at points, I'll admit. When ponies believed you wouldn't fly, you stood up to prove yourself to them. That is a quality of not only a good flyer, but also a good fashionista, and the lesson you learned should be known by anypony wanting to make a name of themselves. You are a relatively good pony -- while I will say your table manners need a bit of work, and you could do with being a bit less... brash -- despite what was given to you, and I am happy to say I am one of your friends... and I am proud of you. And I do not want to see you harm yourself."
Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries...
Dusty buzzed through Rarity's house after being let in by her mother, mechanically going through hallway after hallway as if it was burned into her memory, before stopping in front of the door to Rarity's bedroom. It was firmly shut and locked, with a small sign with the word 'busy' elegantly painted on it hanging from her doorknob. Dusty tilted her head to the side, never having seen the sign before.
And decided to ignore it.
Lifting a hoof, she brought it down on the door, letting Rarity know she was there.
"Hey Rares, guess what?"
There was a moment of silence, just a faint buzz coming from the other side of the door, and then Dusty was tapping her hoof impatiently. Thinking that Rarity hadn't heard her, she lifted her hoof and knocked again, louder this time. Again. And again.
And again.
Sighing, but putting on her famous wry smile, Lightning decided that Rarity was going to need a bit of persuasion in order to say hello for the day. Ignoring the sign and the fact that Rarity hadn't let her in, she nudged the door open, buzzing her wings and stiffly flying into the room; Rarity sat in the middle of it, at a table which she had pulled in from her "work room". Pieces of fabric floated around her, covered in a shimmering blue light, and a box filled with gems sat to her right.
Lightning Dust raised her eyebrows in surprise(Rarity never worked in her room... and where did those gems come from?) and stopped in her tracks for a second, before continuing on her way. Rarity could afford a quick break, couldn't she? This was a big day for Lightning, and it looked like Rarity had been working for a while anyway.
"Rare, did you hear me?" she asked, hovering in front of Rarity. "Check it out -- flying!" She stuck out her hoof for a quick bump.
Rarity stared past her, tilting her head wildly from side to side, trying to look at her fabric, and her fabric alone. "Yes, yes, that's good. Ah... Dusty, do you mind moving a little to the right? I can't quite see."
Lightning's ears folded back against her skull, and she pulled her hoof back. With Hoops and his gang, she could easily understand their response, but Rarity? She couldn't believe it -- sure, she had been engrossed in her work before, but usually Rarity would easily be drawn out by Lightning just saying hello. Did she not care? Did it not matter? Did she--
Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries, Dusty never cries...
Rarity was just busy. Just like the sign. Dusty just had to try harder to get her attention; she was entirely caught up in her work right now, that was all.
Lightning Dust smiled and placed her hooves on Rarity's cheeks. Squeezing them a bit and moving her hooves up and down, she said, "Hello? Rare? Flying? Me? Are you seeing this?"
Rarity flinched away from Lightning's touch, wiggling her head out of the way of her hooves before once again looking past her. "Yes, yes, wonderful," Rarity hissed, starting to get frustrated. She lifted a hoof and gently pushed Dusty to the side, once again sorting through the fabric and gems levitating before her eyes. "But the school play is tonight, and I have to get these costumes finished before it starts."
Lightning frowned, dragging a hoof over her own shoulder. She guessed Rarity wasn't happy to see her flying after a--
Turning her eyes to the costumes and dresses littering the room, she let that frown on her face turn into a confused one.
"Finished? Don't you think these look good enough? Pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself."
Rarity went rigid, her hair standing on end, finally noticing that Lightning was in the room. Lightning saw Rarity's eyes shrink into pinpricks from the side, before her head whipped around, her face sending Dusty a surprised, somewhat angry look. "Good enough? Good enough?! They can't be just good enough! What famous painting or sculpture do you know of got into the Louvre just because it happened to be good enough?!" Rarity smashed her snout against Lightning's, causing the pegasus to flinch. "No, they have to be fabulous! They must! They must!"
Lightning Dust held Rarity's gaze for a second, both of them just staring into each others eyes. Dusty fidgeted, her eyes darting around into the other's pupils. Rarity didn't look as much angry as she did frustrated, disappointed, and expectant... but Dusty could tell when she wasn't wanted. They still stayed in the same position... but eventually, Lightning put her eyes to the floor.
In turn, Rarity turned around, leaving Lightning sad and wondering why Rarity hadn't noticed she was a bit taller.
Dusty opened her mouth, ready to say something else, get Rare's attention... but decided not to. It wouldn't end well. She just lowered her eyes, her face stuck in a saddened frown; she touched down on Rarity's floor... and walked out of the room. She didn't dare slam the door behind her.
***
Rarity expected, and perhaps, understood what she knew was to come. There were several things which could have happened then, all of them noted on a personal list in Rarity's head, and while Rarity didn't exactly like any of the possibilities... she was ready for anything.
Anything other than what happened next.
Lighting Dust didn't say anything.
But Dusty cried.
Once outside, Lightning slumped down on the door, sighed, and immediately knew she wouldn't be going back in. Not for a few days anyway. Maybe Rarity would want to see her later on -- they were friends, sort of, after all -- but she wouldn't want to see her flying again the way it was now. And that was understandable, really; her flying wasn't all that great. Maybe it was horrible... it probably was, like Hoops and the others had said. She thought that it was pretty good at first, but she knew now that it wasn't. It wasn't good enough.
Because like Rarity said, artwork never got into the Louvre, and ponies never got into the Wonderbolts, because they were good enough. They had to be fabulous.
They had to be the best of the best. Better than all of their competition.
...
So Lightning Dust smiled down at the floor and picked herself up off of it... because she decided that she would be. She would be better. She would be the best...
"You want fabulous, Rarity?" she asked, a smirk pulling at her mouth. "I'll show you fabulous."
...She would be fabulous.
She didn't even look down to see the Cutie Mark she knew had appeared.
'Flight' draft 1 - view 1
Celestia stood outside the door, fidgeting. This wasn't going to get any easier, and the longer she waited the more likely Luna would be asleep. The sun was already almost all the way up as it was.
Taking a deep breath, Celestia reached forward with one wing and knocked on the door. "Luna?" she called -- but not too loud, it would be terrible to wake her by mistake. "Are you awake still?"
A single large thump came from the door, followed by quick hoofsteps as it eased open. Luna stuck her head out the small opening, cautiously, almost as if she might be attacked any moment.
"Celestia?" she said.
Celestia winced internally. It's been too long already,
Luna looked up as she recognized her sister. She was still recuperating from the summer solstice, and her ears only came up to Celestia's chin when they both stood straight. "Celly?" she said agian. "What's the matter?"
"Luna," said Celestia. "May I c-- no, that was rude, I shouldn't have said that." She shifted weight to her other side. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, no, come in," said Luna, opening the door. "I just-- What brings you up here?"
Celestia hesitated in the doorway. "Well, I was hoping-- that is, I was wondering--" She noticed Luna looking at her from over near the closet, and rushed through the rest. "Would you like to go flying with me?"
Luna's expression brightened momentarily. "Oh, I would love to.-- But don't you have things you need to do today?"
Celestia smiled wanly. "I've cleared my schedule for today. We can spend all day together, if you like."
Celestia soared over some of the lower mountains on Equestria's southren boarder. Several wing-lengths away, Luna was doing a triple corkscrew. Celestia marveled at her ability. It had been a while since Celestia had last managed to find time for just flying, and she certainly didn't feel she was up to even a single corkscrew.
Luna swooped under Celestia, then climbed steeply and did a barrel roll above her, coming down just to her right. "So were are we going?" asked Luna.
"There's a beautiful little spring I discovered up here," said Celestia. "There's a nice cave, and the surrounding area still untouched for probably hours in any direction. I thought it would be a nice place to stop and rest, perhaps get a drink and return to throughout the day."
"That sounds wonderful, Celestia," said Luna. She dropped slightly, moving under Celestia and letting her mane brush along Celestia's forelegs in their old aerial approximation of a nuzzle. "And I don't think you could have chosen a better day."
Celestia felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Luna, thank you ." She dipped slightly as a sob threatened to burst out. Suddenly Luna was there, trying to catch her without hurting her or messing up her flying any further. "Celly?" said Luna. "Are you alright?"
"No, I'm fine, Luna," said Celestia. "I just-- it hadn't-- I didn't realize you cared."
Luna laughed once, quickly. "Celly, what-- Whyever not?"
"Well" --Celestia drooped slightly, the memories flooding back-- "it's just that the last time I saw you -- before last week, I mean, before then -- we were trying to kill each other."
`I thought I HAD killed you` , she didn't say.
View Online
Flight I: a more beautiful day (for AugieDog)
Celestia stood outside the door, fidgeting. Putting this off another day wasn't going to make it any easier, and the longer she waited the more likely Luna would be asleep. The sun was already almost all the way up as it was.
Taking a deep breath, Celestia reached forward with one wing and knocked on the door. "Luna?" she called -- but not too loud, it would be terrible to wake her by mistake. "Are you awake still?"
A single large thump came from the door, followed by quick hoofsteps as it eased open. Luna stuck her head out the small opening, cautiously, almost as if she might be attacked any moment.
"Celestia?" she said.
Celestia winced internally. It had been too long already.
Luna looked up as she recognized her sister. She was still recuperating from the summer solstice, and her ears only came up to Celestia's chin when they both stood straight. "Celly?" she said again. "What's the matter?"
"Luna," said Celestia. "May I c-- no, that was rude, I shouldn't have said that." She shifted weight to her other side. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, no, come in," said Luna, opening the door. "I just-- What brings you up here?"
Celestia hesitated in the doorway. "Well, I was hoping-- that is, I was wondering--" She noticed Luna looking at her from over near the closet, and rushed through the rest. "Would you like to go flying with me?"
Luna's expression brightened momentarily. "Oh, I would love to. --But don't you have things you need to do today?"
Celestia smiled wanly. "I've cleared my schedule for today. We can spend all day together, if you like."
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
Celestia soared over the southern fields of Equestria. Several lengths below and ahead of her, Luna did a triple corkscrew before finding a budding thermal and rising to join her. Celestia marveled at her ability. She hadn't practiced recently herself, and she rather doubted that she would be up to even a double corkscrew.
As they neared each other, Luna did a wing-over-wing flip and leveled out just above Celestia. Their wings never touched in the process. A cheeky grin spread across Luna's face, and with a sudden drop her hoof came just barely into contact with Celestia's head. "Tag!" she shouted, and dove away.
"Wha-- Luna!" Celestia wheeled and chased after her. Luna laughed, and juked towards the mountains that formed the southern border. Celestia poured on the speed, but wasn't able to catch her before she reached the mountains. Instead, Celestia found herself in a rather cat-and-mouse chase game through the mountain peaks. Luna had always been a slightly better aerial tactician, but she wasn't playing it to her fullest advantage, rather darting behind various outcroppings and dashing away only when Celestia got close.
Celestia finally caught her by chasing her under an overhang, then doubling back and painstakingly picking a route up to the top of it. Luna was above it too, but she was facing the other way, crouched over the edge in anticipation. Celestia walked carefully up behind her, settled her hoof gently in the back of Luna's tail, and whispered "Tag."
"Ahh!" Luna started. "Celly! Don't do that!" She tried to put on a pouty face, but fell over laughing instead. Celestia joined in.
"You know..." Celestia said finally, "I don't think... I've had that much fun... in a very long time."
Luna thumped her on the shoulder. "That's because I've been away, silly."
"Yes..." Celestia rolled over to look at her sister. "It's good to see you laughing again, Luna."
Luna's breath caught, and she turned away sourly. "Just that? Not 'at all', but laughing specifically?"
"At all, of course, but laughing especi..." Celestia's voice trailed off. "There's no possible way I could salvage that, is there."
"No," Luna agreed, "there really isn't." Her ears drooped, and she gazed off into the distance at a bloc of clouds being gathered north of Canterlot. "A shame, too. You were always good at that. Probably why you did so well with the government."
"Luna..." Celestia walked up next to her sister. "I'm sorry. I've just... I missed you, and it's good to have you back."
"I know," Luna said, leaning up against her big sister. "I know."
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
Luna sat alone in the ruins of the castle, gazing out what had once been a window--her window. How it had come to this she didn't know, but a lot of things she once thought made sense had stopped some time ago.
There was a faint shift to the whisper in the air, which told those with sharp ears and the training to hear some serious air power was landing. Luna had both those. She'd been practicing with the 'Bats for years now. Not that it had done them any good. Not that anything had done any good.
She was tired of running. Let them come.
From the stairs came the sounds of hooves. Only one set, not the many she had been expecting. It didn't matter. If she had wanted to, she could outfly, or better yet overpower, almost any force they could muster against her.
Almost. There was one.
Celestia walked unopposed through the empty doorframe and sat down next to her. Neither of them said anything, simply sat together in the silent moonlight.
Finally Celestia spoke: "Ordinarily I'd probably say that this had gone on long enough. But there's something else, isn't there?"
Luna didn't respond directly, instead gesturing out the window with her opposite wing. "There used to be a flag out there. Remember?"
Celestia grimaced. "Rather a nice one as I recall; in gold and blue with our seal in the middle. It looked rather elegant in the wind. Pity, really."
Luna turned away in a sulk. "I never really liked that flag."
"Whyever not? It seems to me you picked out that shade of blue, and chose the final design as well."
"The blue was used mainly for accents, leaving the gold and the seal to dominate the design. With you in the dominant position on the seal, might I add, I was never happy with that either. I only chose that design because I thought all the others were worse, and to do otherwise would be socially awkward." Luna sighed, her moment of fury expended. "A little thing to be upset about, I'm sure. But it was symptomatic of so much more."
Celestia looked around, then back at her. "Still. I have no doubt you can keep this up just about forever, but what about the others? Mortals still have to eat, you know. Stars, you and I probably still have to eat. I hadn't tried this in a while."
Luna rounded on her sister again. "What do you want, Celestia‽ A signed apology note? Me to swear fealty in public? What about a treaty, would that do it? You always were the rule-oriented one. I might even consider that last."
Celestia bristled. "What do I want? If at all possible, I'd like my sister back."
Luna sighed. "Oh Celestia. Don't you see?"
"Apparently, I don't," said Celestia snappishly. "I see dark out when it should be broad daylight. I see ponies we swore we'd protect in danger of slowly starving to death because they can't grow food. And I see you impersonating my sister. But whatever you want me to see, no."
"That's just it, Celestia. I'm still me," whispered Luna. "That's why we're having this problem."
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
It was around noon over the Sapsucker woods that they heard the growl. Celestia burst out laughing.
Luna was having none of it. "Celestia! Come on! We've got to find whatever that was, so we can make sure it doesn't hurt anypony!"
"It's lunchtime, Luna," said Celestia. "I haven't eaten anything all day. It's probably been quite a while since you ate, too."
Luna pulled forward to hover in front of her sister. "What's that got to do with it?" she demanded.
Celestia giggled. "I think that was my stomach."
"Oh." Luna whirled aside, then caught up with her sister. "So it's lunchtime, then." She grinned.
"Well, that's just it," said Celestia. "I hadn't considered how long we might be out when we left this morning. It didn't occur to me that we'd spend all day flying away from the castle."
"So?" said Luna.
"Luna, I didn't bring anything to eat."
Now Luna laughed. "Well, I guess we're roughing it, then." She bent her head to scrutinize the ground below. "How much has the watershed around here changed while I was away?"
Celestia blinked. "I have no idea. Honestly, I don't know if I've even been out this way unaccompanied before." She looked at Luna, then peered at the ground. "What are you looking for, anyway?"
"If there's a pond or stream or something, we can stop and get a drink, and often there's something edible growing nearby. I was thinking that if things hadn't changed too much, I might be able to recognize one by the landscape." Luna looked up and darted a hoof towards where two hills met. "See? I bet there's a creek running between those, and we'll find a nice pool somewhere along it."
Sure enough, overrunning a rocky elbow in the hill they found a small pool just deep enough for drinking and wading. Luna spotted a berry bush nearby, and Celestia came across a clearing full of wild dandelions. All in all, it was a rather nice meal, for roughing it.
Afterwards, Luna rolled on her back and looked at the sky. "Thank you, Celestia," she said. "I don't think you could possibly have chosen a more beautiful day."
Celestia gagged on a berry and went into a coughing fit. "Luna," she managed, "Thank you."
"Celly?" Luna scrambled to get up--no easy feat for a half-grown alicorn lying on her back. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"
Celestia waved her off and made a desperate grab for her own composure. She missed. "I'm fine, Luna. Just, I didn't-- I wasn't-- I hadn't realized you cared." Celestia swallowed, and discovered she was swallowing a sob.
"Celly..." Luna lay down across from her sister, so they could see each other while they talked. "Why-ever not?"
"Well," said Celestia, "the last time I saw you-- before last week, I mean, before then-- we were trying to kill each other."
Ordinarily, only an expert could hope to read the true emotions of the pony sisters. In the past thousand years, there had only been one, and she lived in Canterlot and wore the crown. So of course Celestia had gotten a teensy bit out of practice.
"You thought you had killed me," said Luna.
"I was terrified," said Celestia. "There wasn't anyone else I knew half as well, or knew me either. And we always took things on together. So with the Elements gone as well..."
"Shh," said Luna. "It's okay, we're together now. That's the important thing."
"Yes," said Celestia. "That's the important thing."
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
While cloudwatching after lunch, Luna realized there was something she never had done.
"Celestia," she called, "on the way back to Canterlot, remind me that there's something I want to show you."
"Of course," said Celestia. Then she looked up. "What is it?"
"I can't tell you, Celly," said Luna. "I need to show you."
"Are you sure it's between here and Canterlot?" said Celestia.
Luna thought about that one. "Or we could do it at Canterlot, I suppose," she said. "It's a when more than a where."
"A when not a where, between here and Canterlot, and you can't tell me," said Celestia. "What could you possibly want to show me?" She was joking, but Luna smiled anyways.
"I want to show you the sky like you've never remembered," she said.
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
"Luna," panted Celestia, struggling to maintain enough airspeed for lift in the thin air, "I don't know what you're planning for up here, but--"
"Shh." Luna held out a hoof for silence as she swooped past. "Look. Be."
Celestia decided to save her breath, and looked around. It certainly was beautiful from up here, anyways. The clouds below them reflected an array of incredible reds, Canterlot was laid out splendidly along the east face of the mountain range, and to the north of the Everfree she could just pick out the biggest tree in Ponyville. That was where Twilight was staying. Celestia idly noted that, not being in court today, she didn't really know whether today was Tuesday, and had no idea what she would do if Twilight sent her a report just then.
"Look at the stars." Celestia started as Luna's whisper took her by surprise. Stars? What stars? Granted, it was nearly dusk on the ground--in parts of Canterlot, it was already practically nighttime--but up here it was effectively still broad--oh .
Celestia's namesake had not yet reached the horizon in the west, but to the east the sky faded through shades of purple she hadn't even known existed---and in the darker patches, the brightest stars were already punching through the top of the sky.
Luna was above her then, gliding too, just close enough that they could talk. "I used to come up here all the time. You can see some downright incredible stuff from here," she said.
"It's beautiful," breathed Celestia.
Luna laughed briefly. "It is," she said. "But my favorite was always a couple of hours before dawn. You can see the dance of the stars really clearly then, with no ambient light to spoil the view, and then look down to see the lights in the world start their own dance."
"And all this time I never knew..."
"I know," said Luna sadly, "I never got a chance to show you, before."
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
Luna flapped hard as she came in for a landing in Canterlot palace. Nearby, on the other side of the platform, Celestia landed as well.
Luna walked over to her sister and gave her a nuzzle. "Thank you, Celestia," she said. "This was a wonderful day. But now I had better see to the stars."
"Yes." Celestia glanced away, showing the slightest hint of distraction. "I've left the sun just slightly too long, as well. Ah, do you--" --she faltered, briefly-- "do you need a hoof with the night?"
"I believe I can do it, but thank you," said Luna. "Though we may have to do without phases for a little while."
Celestia chuckled. "I don't think I ever quite got the hang of phases myself," she said. "I think we can manage without for a while longer." She turned to head towards her chambers. "Good night, Luna."
Luna paused at the edge of the balcony and watched over her shoulder as Celestia departed. "Good night, sister," she whispered. "Sleep well."
⁜※⁘⁙⁛ ⁛⁙⁘※⁜
Celestia dropped towards the western horizon as she walked towards her room. Today had been a fairly good day, all things considered. Maybe tomorrow, they could make some progress towards reconciliation.
* 2013-04-22
Factors:
- Bookplayer's blog post about love between the main 6 and the
Elements of Harmony
- Couple of weeks later, reading the fic [Hard Reset], in which
Twilight is gay
- This puts me in mind of an interesting idea for a RomCom...
The scheme:
- rest of the main six decide that Twi needs to get together with
some~one~pony.
- They decide to hook her up with a guy
- 'wacky hijinks' with each potential candidate
- Twilight discovers that the others are behind it -- "Aww, that's
sweet of you. But you do know I'm into mares, right?"
1) Problem: I'm not gay. In fact, I have _literally negative_
clue how to write a Twilight who is[1].
2) Problem: This puts a _whole new spin_ on Twi's interactions
with the rest of the main six. For example, the group hug at
the end of Cutie Mark Chronicles gets a whole new
interpretation if Twilight's gay. Where are the borderlines?
1. subproblem: I don't think I can write regular romance
stuff. WTH am I doing with this?
2. subproblem: How are the rest of the main six going to (re-)
interpret that hug in light of this new information?
- Somewhere in there, the idea of romantic relations between the
elements being a potential problem is brought up
- but it's okay because Twi's not interested in any of them like
that!
(This one doesn't really make sense to me)
- Who is she after then? I've no intention of turning this into
TwiLestia/TwiLuna. Twilight/Derpy?
- ???
[1] Not only am I not gay, as far as I can tell I'm asexual. I
can't say for sure that I am asexual, because I've never bothered to
actually check[2][3].
[2] Which is probably the strongest argument I have for me being
asexual.
[3] Funny, though, that that word comes up... In every other species
on the planet, bisexual and asexual are technical terms, relating to
what equipment a specimen has (I'm physically male). In humans,
they're used to refer to preferences. Not that I'm knocking on the
preferences[4], but it's odd.
[4] Because I'm not, as far as I can tell.
"Hello?"
"I'm here, Twilight."
"What is this place? It's... strange."
"Yes. It is. That is its... its Nature. Its Purpose."
"Where is Celestia?"
"She's dead, Twilight. She's been dead a long time. Only the Sun remains."
"She's-- Oh. Right. I remember that.
"Is Luna dead too?"
"Yes. They died within mere years of each other."
"A year is a long time."
"Not when you've spent a thousand years waiting, hoping, praying for even the slimmest chance to be together again."
A pause.
"Why am I here?"
"There is a disaster coming. It's always been coming, of course, and it's coming again. Only you can deal with it. And there are things you must know, things you need to avert it, things you can only learn here."
"Oh."
Another pause. A longer one, this time.
"How did you know Celestia?"
"Much the same way you did, Twilight. But oh-so-different."
"Oh.
"That... doesn't tell me anything."
"I remember so much, Twilight Sparkle. So, so much. From your first magic test, far, far back, all the way back to the first rays."
"But Celestia..."
"Celestia is dead. But for a while... I still cherish those memories, Twilight Sparkle. Those were the only two true friends I remember, of all the many, many years I can."