literature

The Successors: Chapter 7

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The town where Blue Moon and Summer Sun lived as fillies was a relatively small one, but it had more than enough families with foals to require a school.  The schoolhouse was a humble wooden building, painted a pleasant shade of strawberry and situated on a quiet, tree-shaded lane with a sunny playground on the hillside just behind it.  The place had a fine atmosphere and the teacher did a good job of making the lessons interesting, but Blue Moon, being something of a bookworm, often found herself rather bored; most of the subjects that they studied were things she had already read about.  Summer was more enthusiastic, drinking up information from every lecture, talking with her sister all afternoon about what she’d learned, and promptly forgetting most of it before the following day.  Blue, in the mean time, got most of her actual learning done at lunch.

At the edge of the playground stood a row of low wooden picnic tables where Blue, Summer, and their few friends usually sat to eat lunch.  While Summer engaged in friendly chatter, Blue sat at the end of the furthest table with her nose buried in a book – usually one of her beloved atlases or geography texts.  After a time she began bringing her cartographical tools as well, making sketches of the school grounds and surrounding area as practice exercises.  Occasionally Summer would look over her shoulder while she worked, drawing the attention of the other fillies and colts who were always wowed by Blue’s mapmaking skills.  Blue didn’t much enjoy this; she would’ve preferred to work in peace.

One cool, blustery lunch hour in early autumn, Blue was sitting in her usual place with a small stack of maps and charts spread out before her when Picture Perfect walked up.  Picture was a green earth pony with a stylishly swept-back blue mane which she loved to brag about.  Even at her young age she had already earned a cutie mark in high fashion modeling, which she also loved to brag about.  Picture was one of the few ponies Blue couldn’t stand to be around, the sort of pony who took every opportunity to mock, belittle, and generally pick on anyone she thought was beneath her, which was pretty much everyone.

“Working on those maps again, are we?” she asked, her voice dripping with obvious contempt.

“Yes,” muttered Blue, not even bothering to look at her.  “And I don’t need any comments from you, okay?”

“Why not?  By the look of things, I would think you’d appreciate any advice you could get.”  She eyed Blue’s sketches as if they were pitiable pieces of trash.  “It’s not as if the stuff you’ve got now is any good.  I mean, what’s that blob?  Is that the schoolhouse?  That’s pathetic.”

Blue ignored her, taking a pencil in her mouth and continuing to sketch.  She had to hold down the edges of the chart with her hooves; the stiff autumn winds threatened to blow it away.

“Honestly, I don’t know why you even bother with all this,” Picture continued.  “If you were any good at mapmaking, don’t you think you’d have a cutie mark for it?  Instead of that weird one you’ve got now, I mean.  What’s it even supposed to be, anyway?  A cookie?”

Blue spat out the pencil.  “It’s not a cookie!” she cried.  “It’s the moo – ”

“Stop it, Pix,” said a blue pegasus filly from across the table.  It was Whirlwind, one of Blue and Summer’s closest friends.  “Leave her alone.  It’s not funny to anypony but you.”

Saying nothing, Picture Perfect fixed an angry glare on Whirlwind, filling her eyes with all the scorn she could muster.  When the other filly made no response, she turned to walk away with an exaggerated movement of her hips, brushing her tail across the table and scattering Blue’s stack of papers into the wind.  “Oops,” she said, loudly and with obvious sarcasm.

Picture might well have gotten away with this stunt had the teacher not been watching closely.  She interceded to reprimand Picture and escort her to a different table while Summer and Whirlwind chased after Blue’s loose maps and charts, which by now were fluttering in the breeze some distance down the hillside.

After a few minutes all of the maps had been recovered, but by that time the lunch break had ended, and the foals were slowly filing back into the schoolhouse.  Blue stuffed the papers back into her notebook, frowning and grumbling under her breath as she did so.  Concerned, Summer threw a comforting foreleg around her shoulder, pulling her into a friendly side-hug.  “It’s okay, Blue.  Picture Perfect is just a big meanie-pants.  You don’t have to listen to her.”

“But she’s right, isn’t she?”  Blue’s voice was low and solemn.  “I like to pretend I’m a good mapmaker, but I’m really not.  I just make these silly little drawings that don’t look anything like real maps.”  She took a random page in her hoof, looking down sadly at her rudimentary sketchwork.  “They’re no good.”

“Yes they are!” Summer objected.  “They’re awesome!  And it’s really cool that you’re able to make them all by yourself.  I bet nopony else in our class can draw maps as good as yours.”

“Well, I guess that’s true,” Blue admitted reluctantly.

“Besides,” Summer went on, “it doesn’t really matter.  You could be the best mapmaker in the whole world and it wouldn’t make any difference.  I’d still love you the same no matter what.”  She released Blue from the hug and started trotting back towards the school building.  “Now c’mon, class is about to start again.  Don’t wanna be late, right?”

Smiling just a little, Blue followed her sister back inside.  It had done her a world of good being reminded what was really important.


Day dawned slowly that morning.  Aurora and Corona were both still exhausted from the night’s events, and what little rest they had gotten before dawn didn’t do them much good.  Working together with great effort they managed to haul the sun over the horizon, spilling daylight across Equestria in a breathtaking spectacle that they were both too tired to appreciate; and afterwards, the sunrise left them so magically drained that there was nothing they could do but to return to bed.  Aurora was nearly asleep even before her head hit the pillow, unable to remember the last time she had felt so worn out.  Her slumber was deep and dreamless.

She awoke just before noon, mostly well-rested, but still under the weight of some lingering drowsiness.  Gentle daylight filtered through her curtains, but Aurora kept her eyes shut to it, hoping to grab a little more rest before she actually got out of bed.  She breathed deeply, savoring the softness of her pillow and the cool white sheets and wondering why she couldn’t just stay there all day, peaceful and content.  Unfortunately, a loud knock at the door abruptly ended that line of thought.

Heaving a weary sigh, she rose in her bed to face the door.  “Come in.”

The door opened, and in stepped a teal-coated unicorn, pulling a cart of janitorial supplies behind her.  “Good morning, your highness!” she said in a cheery young voice.  Aurora thought she recognized her: it was one of the Holly sisters, the maids in charge of upkeep in the princesses’ chambers.  With the sleep still in her eyes, Aurora couldn’t quite tell which one it was; they always looked and sounded so similar.

“Um, now’s normally the time of day when I come in and clean,” said the maid, “but since you’ve slept in a little later than usual – well, please pardon me for barging in – ”

“No, no,” Aurora said.  “It’s quite all right.”  She rolled out of bed and stood, blinking tiredly and shaking her wavy black mane out of her face.  With her vision thus cleared, she could see that the maid was Holly Ribbon, identifiable by her red-and-white striped mane, which hung down on her shoulders in two thick braids.  She and her sister Sprigg had joined the palace staff just in time for Aurora and Corona’s ascent, and it hadn’t taken them long to earn a reputation for their efficiency.  Already Ribbon was set about her task, levitating a feather duster and brushing clean every object she came across with a noticeable air of urgency.

Aurora plodded across the carpeted floor to her dresser, giving Ribbon a moment to dust it off before beginning to don her regalia.  “Do you know if my sister is out of bed yet?” she asked.

“Er – yes,” said Ribbon, still dusting hastily.  Now she had moved to Aurora’s tall bookshelf, working her way across the round wall.  “She got up about ten minutes ago…which gave Sprigg a ten-minute head start on her room.  Oh!  Let me make the bed for you.”  Quickly she rushed over and pulled up the covers, taking a moment to magically smooth them out and fluff the pillows.  “There!  Yes, Princess Corona is up.  She went downstairs to the throne room to speak with Glass Eye about… oh, about something.  I’m sure you know better than I, your highness.”

“Yes, I have a pretty good idea.”  Aurora finished dressing, finally setting her tiara atop her head.  She looked at herself in the mirror: the lightweight silver crown looked strange in her reflection, as if it didn’t belong there, and seemed to weigh unusually heavy on her brow.  Frowning, she took it off and set it on the dresser again – no need to wear it as long as she didn’t leave the palace grounds.

Just then a voice rang out from the hallway.  “DONE!  Take that, Ribbon!”  Seconds later, Holly Sprigg thrust her head into the room, smirking.  She looked almost identical to her sister, save for the green-and-white striped mane tied into a single braid.  She spoke in a loud brash voice, smug with triumph.  “Furniture dusted, floor swept, bed made – all under ten minutes!  How’s that for efficiency?”

“What?  How did….” Ribbon growled, and glanced at the clock she had just finished dusting.  “Oh, horsefeathers.  Well look, I’ve still got eight minutes to beat your time.  Just you wait….”  She seized her duster and set about her task again, working even more hurriedly than before, muttering angrily to herself all the while.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long,” Sprigg jeered, which only spurred Ribbon to work even faster.

For a moment Aurora contemplated stepping in and explaining that not everything had to be a competition – but then, their competitive attitudes were what made the Holly sisters so efficient in the first place.  Shaking her head, she moved on down the hallway, leaving the two bickering maids behind her.

She descended the tower stairs and arrived at the throne room.  It was mostly empty (as it usually was these days), but several ponies stood just before the royal dais at the far end of the wide hall.  Coming closer, Aurora spotted her sister, who smiled in cheerful greeting at her approach.  The changeling stood at her side, keeping as close to Corona as she could, leaning her little body against one of the sun princess’s legs.  Glass Eye stood just across from her.  Aurora was about to smile in return when she saw who else was with them.

At Glass Eye’s side stood a handsome white unicorn.  He was very tall, almost at eye level with the princesses, and very sturdily built.  A thick, curly yellow mane fell about his neck, a perfect match for the elegant purple cape draped around his shoulders.  He looked at Aurora with cool blue eyes that brimmed with authority, and his lips were curled lightly into a smug half-grin that filled her with the urge to wheel around and buck him in the chin every time she saw it.  “Good morning, your highness,” he said.  “Or rather, good afternoon.  How lovely to finally see you up and about.”  His voice was smooth and cool.

“Lord Stargazer,” Aurora greeted him evenly, keeping her resentment beneath the surface.

“It is good to see you awake, Princess,” said Glass Eye.  “We had thought about sending for you, but Princess Corona was most insistent that you be allowed to rest.”

“I figured you were probably as tired as I was,” Corona explained.  “Hope you didn’t mind, sis.”

“Yes, well,” Glass Eye interrupted gently.  “We were just discussing what to do about our… our new friend here.  Princess Corona is also most insistent that it – ”

“That she,” Corona corrected him.

“Yes, my apologies.  That she be kept here in the palace and taken care of, at least for the time being.”

The changeling stepped out from Corona’s side and looked up at the other princess, smiling faintly in recognition.  “Friend?” she said.  Her voice was scratchy and high-pitched, but it was far from the dreadful shrieking that had so frightened Aurora in the swamp.  Now she looked small and harmless, perhaps even innocent.  At any rate, this was clearly a different creature than the crazed, half-starved monster that had attacked them the previous night.

Upon seeing her again, Aurora felt a sudden stab of remorse.  “Yes, about the changeling,” she said.  “I’m afraid I made one bad decision last night after another.  I asked the mayor not to mention our discovery to anyone, but there are ponies in Ponyville who are suffering from some kind of illness – from having their fear drained time and again by this… well, by her.  I had hoped that, if we brought her back here, there might be somepony who knew how to handle it….”

“Of course, of course,” Glass Eye interjected as Aurora trailed off.  “I brought that matter to Lord Stargazer just after you and Princess Corona retired last night.  Given that he has had all night to think, I am certain that he has a solution.”

“Indeed I have,” said Stargazer.  “Though of course, it certainly didn’t take me all night to arrive at it.  The mechanics of changeling magic are well-known to any magical scholar worth his salt, and we’ve got more than a few at our University.  Now, as for this… this delightful little creature….”  He smiled, perhaps a bit sardonically, down at the changeling.  “The fact that she fed on ponies’ fear, rather than their love, is no great discovery.  Changelings have been documented feeding on all manner of emotions – guilt, joy, nostalgia, what-have-you – in cases of dire need.  It’s nothing new.”

“See, Blue?” said Corona.  “She wasn’t a monster.  She was just starving.”

Aurora nodded, but she grimaced subtly at Stargazer’s tone of voice, which seemed to have an edge of condescension.  Clearly he enjoyed letting her know how much she still had to learn.

“Simple folk remedies for ‘changeling drain’ have existed for centuries,” he went on, “soups and herbs and potions, dreadful things – but of course, we can’t rely on those silly old superstitions.  Fortunately, one of the experts at the University – under my supervision, of course – has been working on a proper cure for some time.  I’ve a great faith in her abilities, and in her credentials.  After all,” he laughed haughtily, “she was one of my pupils.  Perhaps you’ve heard of a Professor Somnambula?”

At this announcement, Glass Eye’s one visible eye widened.  “Wait – you mean – ”

“I do,” said Stargazer to Glass Eye.  “None other than your granddaughter, old friend – a splendid intellectual, as I’m sure you already know.  I sent for her this morning.”

“Ah, good, good,” said Glass Eye, nodding.  Somnambula was the eldest of his three granddaughters, and the first to follow in his hoofsteps and graduate from the Arcane University.  He hadn’t spoken with her in some time, and was clearly happy at the thought of meeting her again.

“Yes, quite,” Stargazer continued.  “I’ve given her a magic history course to teach from eleven-thirty to one, so I expect she’ll arrive in, oh, a little over an hour.  In the mean time – Princess Corona, since you seem to have developed something of a rapport with our changeling friend, perhaps you’d care to get her settled in for however long she’ll be staying here.”

“Sure thing!” Corona turned to walk away, nudging the little changeling to follow her.  “Come on, Ghost!”

“Ghost?” Aurora echoed.  “You named her Ghost?”

“Uh huh!” Corona nodded.  “That’s kind of what we’ve been calling her this whole time, isn’t it?  The ‘ghost?’  And she lived in a ghost town, so why not?”  She leaned in closer to Aurora and spoke in a low voice, too low for little Ghost to hear.  “I tried talking with her, Blue – she doesn’t have a name of her own.  Nopony has ever really taken care of her at all.  She used to be part of a hive, but for some reason they left Equestria and never came back for her.  She wouldn’t say anything else.”

“Keep talking with her,” Aurora answered quietly.  “Maybe we can learn more.  I’m sure Professor Somnambula will want to know everything.”

Corona nodded agreement, and together she and Ghost trotted from the throne room.

“Well then,” said Stargazer, “if this matter is settled, I’d best be on my way.  I’ve classes to teach, ponies to instruct, research to oversee – a busy day, as I’m sure you can imagine.  Enough to tax even my mental faculties.”  He began moving towards the door, but stopped short after a few steps and turned back to look at Aurora.  “Ah, before I go, your highness,” he said, “I nearly forgot to mention how terribly surprised I was when I read your report of last night’s events, particularly that fascinating bit about how you defeated the changeling.  I must say, I hadn’t expected you to grasp defensive magic so quickly.”

For a moment Aurora stared back in surprise.  She rarely got praise of any kind from her instructor, though something in his tone suggested that it might come with a disclaimer.  “It… it wasn’t entirely intentional,” she admitted.  “I was angry, and I had to protect my sister.  That was all I thought about.  The magic just happened.”

“Of course it did.”  Stargazer’s smug grin vanished.  He looked fixedly at Aurora, who blenched under his stern gaze.  All the haughtiness had gone from his voice; now there was nothing but cold, biting disapproval, the same disapproval Aurora had heard in every training session every night for the past two months.  “And given your track record, I should have suspected that such was the case.  I had hoped that you were making progress, but this only goes to show how little progress you’ve actually made.”

“What?” she protested.  “But I was able to – ”

“What you were ‘able to do,’ you accomplished only because you lost your temper.  Hurling wild bolts of lightning in a sudden fit of rage isn’t the same as progress.  All it demonstrates is a lack of control.  Perhaps when you’re ready to apply your mind to the task of magic, then we can resume your training.  Until then, your highness, I do hope that you enjoy your days off.”

With a contemptuous toss of his yellow mane he turned and strode crossly out of the room.

Aurora’s cold eyes followed him as he left.  “I can’t believe him,” she said at length.  “What in Equestria did he expect me to do?  What does he want from me?”  She sighed heavily and sat down, lowering her head and letting her dark mane spill in front of her face.  “Nothing I do is ever good enough for him.”

Silently, Aurora stared hard at the white stone floor as anger and discouragement swirled together inside her.  Even after months of devoted training, of burying her nose in books of theory, of putting up with Stargazer’s endless abuse, he still had no more respect for her than he had for the laziest of his students.  And as long as she remained under his tutelage, he could continue to treat her with as much or as little respect as he saw fit, royal status or no.  Of course, Aurora cared little for her status; what made her blood boil and her heart sink was his disregard for all her hard work, how all her efforts to earn the slightest bit of approval were met with nothing but contempt.

She hadn’t realized she was trembling until she felt Glass Eye put a steady, comforting hoof on her shoulder.

“You said the University board made a good decision making him my teacher,” she muttered bitterly without looking up.  “You said there was no finer magical scholar in all of Equestria.”

“If I may, your highness,” he said gently, “I believe I understand your frustration.  Lord Stargazer was once a student of mine, you know.  And even though he was the finest magician I ever instructed, he never had much respect for anypony besides himself.  I taught him many things, but compassion and humility are not lessons a pony can teach in a classroom.  Your dedication to your work is admirable – perhaps in time he will learn to see it.”

Aurora turned to her advisor.  His voice was warm and gentle, and his face had a kindly look about it; he seemed less like a butler, as he usually did, and more like a grandfather.  She took a few deeps breaths and calmed herself.  “It’s not his approval I really care about,” she said.  “It’s everypony’s.  All of Equestria’s.  If I can’t please one arrogant unicorn… how will this whole country ever respect us?  How will it ever love us the way it loved Celestia and Luna?”  She could feel her throat tightening, and tears welling up in her eyes.  “How can we ever possibly be good enough?”

“Come with me, your highness,” Glass Eye said.  “I’ve something to show you that you might find illuminating.”

Aurora rose to her hooves and followed him.  He led her from the throne room and down, down a flight of steps leading to a long, high-vaulted hall.  The floor was gray-and-white checkered stone, and a thin, luxuriant red rug stretched across it from the entrance to the towering gilded doorway at the far end, which Aurora recognized as the safe where the Elements of Harmony were kept when not in use.  Daylight streamed into the room through the elegant stained-glass windows that lined both walls, windows depicting notable events in Equestrian history.  It was a famous part of the Canterlot Palace and a popular tourist attraction, but Aurora failed to see what bearing it had on her situation.  Glass Eye led her to one of the last windows on the hall and looked up at it, waiting for her to do the same.

The princess directed her gaze at the window.  The gorgeous glasswork illustrated a scene that, by now, nearly every citizen of Equestria had permanently etched into their memory.  Two alicorns, one white and one dark blue, stood shining against a nighttime sky, hovering high over the emerald earth below.  Above them, a white arrow fell from the heavens with brilliant sparks flying in its wake.  Bolts of gold and silver lightning arced from the two alicorns, forming a multicolor magical barrier between the earth and the arrow.  It was a beautiful window, perhaps the most magnificent work of art on the entire hall, but at the sight of it a heavy silence fell on Aurora, and she looked away; the weight of remembering was too great for her heart to bear.

Glass Eye broke the silence.  “They never gave in,” he said solemnly.  “Not even when they had utterly exhausted their own power.  Not until they were certain that Equestria was safe.”

“This is what you wanted to show me?” Aurora snapped, a bit more harshly than she had intended.  “This… this is just another part of their legacy I can never live up to.  Another shadow I’ll always be living under.  I don’t have their kind of power.”

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were indeed powerful,” he explained, “but that is not why we honor them here, and it was never the reason they were so beloved.  I served as Princess Celestia’s chief advisor for many years, through many trials and disasters and rough patches, through times of doubt and weakness and hardship.  But the one thing that never wavered – the one thing on which we ponies could always rely – was her love for Equestria.  She and her sister both loved their subjects more dearly than their own lives.  The fact that we are alive today, able to look at this beautiful window and share in this conversation, is proof of that.”

Aurora looked at the window again.  Her eyes traced carefully over the shape of the white alicorn – Princess Celestia, her shining ideal, her role model since foalhood, her hero.  There was a long pause before Glass Eye spoke again.

“I know you worry about living up to Princess Celestia’s legacy,” he continued, “but it is my belief that you have nothing to fear.  Their legacy was not one of power or knowledge, but of love.  That is a legacy you are just as capable of building as the princesses who came before you – magic or no magic, training or no training, Stargazer or no Stargazer.  It is not something one can learn at university or acquire through hard work, but it is the most important quality expected of an Equestrian princess.”  He glanced down the hall, indicating the huge double doors that sealed the Elements of Harmony.  “And I believe you’ve already been given the tools you need to build such a legacy.”

Aurora turned to look at the doors as well.  Six gemstones were set into the golden frame, each one representing an Element: Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Magic.  She could feel the Elements’ power radiate through the heavy archway, even from this distance – and she knew that their power lived as much in her own heart at it did in the artifacts themselves.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.  “Thank you, Glass Eye.  That was quite illuminating.”

“Of course,” he said, slipping back into his prim and proper butler-ish tone, “that’s not to say the study of magic is not important, your highness.  On the contrary, it is quite vital.  I do hope that you take advantage of these days of rest to devote some time to your studies.”

“Of course,” Aurora agreed, smiling.  It gave her comfort to know that Glass Eye was still as stringent as he was wise.  She resolved to heed his advice: the next time she went to train with Stargazer, she would be ready to surprise him.  But for the time being, she felt she could finally relax.  It had done her a world of good being reminded what was really important.

Chapter 1: fav.me/d5bc4dq
Chapter 2: fav.me/d5bple7
Chapter 3: fav.me/d5e1wqe
Chapter 4: fav.me/d5g0o0r
Chapter 5: fav.me/d5onu3v
Chapter 6: fav.me/d65au8f
Chapter 7: You Are Here
Chapter 8: fav.me/d6d06nu
Chapter 9: fav.me/d6y4pjr
Chapter 10: fav.me/d76dow6
Chapter 11: fav.me/d7i8utc
Chapter 12: fav.me/d7jwg7k
Chapter 13: fav.me/d7ldtn8
Chapter 14: fav.me/d7mpyy4
Chapter 15: fav.me/d7pv0tp
Chapter 16: fav.me/d7u17yf
Chapter 17: The Successors: Chapter 17
Chapter 18: The Successors: Chapter 18

And here is the long-awaited seventh chapter. This is probably the most important installment so far, thematically speaking. That said, I feel I should apologize to Corona for only giving her a bit part here and spending so much time on her sister instead. To make up for it, I've promised to let her star in the soon-to-be-released eighth chapter.

In my personal headcanon, Lord Stargazer comes from a noble family that traces its lineage all the way back to the children of Prince Blueblood and Trixie Lulamoon. Explains a lot, doesn't it?
© 2013 - 2024 Portmeirion
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Valkyrie-Girl's avatar
OH MAN! Picture Perfect! And Whirlwind! And the Holly sisters! AAAAH! You got them all so perfect! *dances like Twilight Sparkle*

Seriously though, with every chapter you continue to amaze and delight me. You have this uncanny ability to get everything just as I imagined it and, more often, even better than I imagined. The scene with the stained glass window? I love it! It really gets to the heart of Aurora's feelings. And I don't mind at all if she steals the show for a little bit. It's gotta happen every now and then right? Corona will get her time to shine (pun intended).

There is one tiny thing. For the Holly sister's names? They're actually Holly Sprigg and Holly Ribbon not the other way around. I realize this is my fault though for not listing them as such.

And Lord Stargazer is a descendant of Blueblood and Trixie? That is not a pairing I would have thought of on my own but it actually makes so much sense. Well done!