Lazarus

Solaris’ message completely caught me off guard, but I couldn’t very well ignore a summons from the King of Equestria. As much as it pained me to do so, I had to leave Celestia to practice alone so I could prepare. Looking back at it now, Lady Cadenza ripping off my arm was a blessing. Had she not caused that commotion, Celestia might have grown suspicious of my sudden need to depart.

I returned to the Bethany Manor with a flash of light, standing before one of its many closets. When I pulled open the door, I wished for the first time that I had taken better care of the place. The only dress clothes I had were tattered and full of moth-holes, and were probably too small for me. I thought it might have been rude to attend an important summit between leaders of at least two different countries in my normal attire.

Then I thought about my record for being polite, decided not to give a toss, and took a long nap. It was odd, the King summoning me to this summit, on the day it’s meant to happen. Shockingly disorganized for the ruler of the biggest nation in all directions. When I awoke from my nap, and the sun was significantly lower in the sky, I drained a jug of wine, and went to find my jewelry before I departed.

“Rings, rings, rings,” I said to myself. I scampered through my manor, dumping out some dressers in search of my ring box. I finally found it (in the attic, of course), and pulled on my four golden rings, one on each index and middle finger. I only ever wore them for special occasions, meaning I’ve worn them only once or twice. I sighed, lit up my horn, and teleported out of my home.

I appeared in front of the massive golden throne room, where two sentinels stood waiting for me, their golden armor shining and their halberds crossed in front of the door. They were an odd pair, both far too scrawny to be a guard, in my eyes. The one of the right was a pitch black pegasus, with steel grey eyes and a bit of his snow white hair (not unlike my own) hanging from beneath his helmet. The other was shining white unicorn (also like me), but with emerald eyes and a mane of fire.

“Alright, what’s your name?” I asked, pointing to the pegasus.

“Silver Rift, sir,” he said, saluting slightly. “How may I help you?”

“Alright, Silver. I’m supposed to be appearing at a summit tonight,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “I’m probably late. Is the King cross about that?” Silver thought about it, then shrugged his shoulders.

“King Solaris is always cross about one thing or the other,” he said. “Whether he’s pissed at your or not remains to be seen. Suppose you’d have to find out on your own.” He and his companion moved their weapons, and I proceeded. I pushed open the great chamber doors and stepped in.

The throne was gone, replaced with a large, round table. Sitting at the “head” of the table was the King, in his typical robe and crown. To his left was a purple unicorn in similarly purple robes, which I imagined must’ve been Twilight Sparkle. To his right was something that truly caught my eye. I’d never seen a draconequus in person before, only pictures in my Almanac. This one was different than my sketches, however. He was wearing a brown vest with golden buttons, and twin-colored pants, one leg of beige and one of green. He also had a patched grey tophat.

“Ah, so he arrives!” said the draconequus. “The great Lord Lazarus of House Bethany! We’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

“Apologies for my tardiness,” I said, at least partly genuinely. “Now, what have you called me here for? How may I assist you on this day?”

“You can start by having a seat,” said Twilight Sparkle. I looked at the seat before me, and shook my head.

“I’ll pass, thank you very much,” I said. “Last time I sat in a room with no idea why I was summoned, I ended up in prison for a month.”

“No point in loligagging,” said the King. He rose to his hooves. “We’re here to talk about Celestia.” I snickered, in the way I always do when I know something that the others don’t. Luckily, nobody caught on to it.

“Yet I’m noticing a shocking lack of Celestia herself,” I said. “Why isn’t she here, if this summit is all about her.”

“You know how Celestia can be,” said Twilight. “She takes any attempts to help her as hostile, and we simply do not have time for her foolishness tonight.”

“Wise words, as to be expected from you, Miss Sparkle,” I said. “Such a young archmage. You must be no older than a quarter-century. Doesn’t this castle have some sort of age restriction for that position?” Twilight smiled slightly, but didn’t lower her guard at all.

“You flatter me, Lazarus,” she said. “I turn thirty-five this year. Half a decade away from being of age to take the archmage trials. But this isn’t about me.”

“It’s about my lovely niece, stubborn as she is,” said the draconequus, who I reasoned must have been that Uncle Discord that Celestia spoke of. “We’re all here because we care about her.”

“But why am I here?” I asked. “I don’t see my purpose at this summit.” Solaris began to pace around the room, likely to gather his thoughts.

“This quest of hers has to stop,” said Twilight, taking over for the King. “You’re her friend and she admires you, even if she won’t admit it. You could be the one to convince her to give up her crusade for the Elements of Harmony.” I cackled madly, throwing my head back with mirth.

“And here I was thinking you were smart, Twilight Sparkle,” I chuckled. “First of all, I am not Celestia’s friend. Celestia does not see me as a friend. To her, I am a means to an end. She requires me, and she will converse with me only until she does not. Her quest allows her no time for friendship”

“I don’t think you’re being fair,” said Discord. “Celestia is not as cold as she’d like you to believe.”

“Even still, she won’t listen to me,” I scoffed. “Have you met the girl? More stubborn than her father, and that’s saying something.” That seemed to be enough to snap his royal highness out of his stupor.

“I have half a mind to execute you right now!” he roared.

“Please do,” I taunted. “I can think of nothing I’d enjoy more than you attempting to kill me!” I used my horn to manufacture a knife that I then used to slit my own throat. “Execute me! Do it!”

Silence reigned supreme, and it was soon evident that I rattled their cage a bit more than I intended. I banished my knife, closed my wound, and cleaned up my blood with a wave of my hand.

“Apologies,” I said, clearing my throat. “I haven’t significantly hurt myself lately, and I’ve become rather pent up.”

“Fascinating,” said Discord, somehow appearing just to my right. He ran a finger across my wound, a finger that resembled an eagle’s talon. “Not only immortal, but a masochist.”

“Do not call me a masochist,” I growled. “Never trust a man whose title ends in -ist.”

“Rapist, terrorist, psychiatrist,” supplied Twilight. I looked to her with bemusement. “Were you under the impression that only you and the princesses have learned from Starswirl the Bearded? There’s a reason I call myself a potions master rather than an alchemist.”

“We seem to be straying further and further from the point.” growled Solaris angrily. “And I believe that may be Bethany’s entire purpose of speaking.”

“You want to get down to business?” I asked. I approached the table, dropped into the seat, and kicked my hooves onto the table’s surface. “Fine. Let us discuss Celestia. Now, I thought I was doing enough of your dirty work, keeping an eye on her as I have been.”

“It is not enough,” said Twilight. “Celestia is getting closer and closer to leaving the castle and, if she does, there’s no guarantee that she will return. Equestria cannot afford to lose the beloved Princess of the Sun.” I ran a hand through my ivory mane, trying to wrap my head around the whole situation.

“I don’t understand what you want me to do about it,” I said. “Celestia wants to go, and I couldn’t stop her if I wanted to.” Solaris made his way back to his seat and lowered himself into his chair.

“It is simple, Lazarus,” said Solaris. “All you must do is cease your lessons with Celestia. I won’t have you go uncompensated, of course. I am willing to pay you a large sum of gold to vanish until Celestia gains some sense.”

“It is likely the best course of action,” said Discord, somehow back in his seat. I threw my hands up in disbelief. I truly didn’t understand these people.

“How does Equestria function if every single person who runs it is so…” I struggled for a moment to find the right word. “So daft? Stupid, every single one of you.”

“Watch yourself, Lazarus,” warned Twilight. I refused to hear it this time.

“No! I will not watch myself!” I shouted. “I will not watch myself, because what I’ve said is true! Stupid, the lot of you! You’ve all known Celestia for far longer than me, yet I am the only one who understands her?”

Solaris pounded his fist onto the table, with enough force to slightly crack the stone. A gesture that would frighten a man who could be harmed.

“Do not pretend to know my daughter better than I do!” bellowed the King. “What do you understand about Celestia that I don’t?!”

“That she will search for the Elements until she finds them or dies,” I said. “Whichever comes first. I don’t even know what she wants the Elements for! I don’t care to know, either. What I do know is that Celestia is angry and bitter, and she believes that the Elements of Harmony will be her one shot at happiness.” I rose to my hooves, a sudden passion gripping me. “There are some dangerous things outside of your walls that Celestia is going to have to brave, whether I teach her the necessary skills or not. You can either learn to accept that your daughter will do whatever the hell it is she wants, and help her plan accordingly, or continue, foolishly, I might add, to protect her from the world, and crippling her growth.”

Solaris heard my words and let them stew for a spell. I could almost see him thinking, and it was clear that he wasn’t used to things not going his way. It explains a lot about Celestia’s behavior.

“You cannot continue to teach Celestia,” said Solaris finally. “If you stop teaching her magic, she will not be able to leave.”

“How are you so thick?” I asked. “Did her ignorance stop her from leaving for the Frozen North? Or the Badlands before that? Or wherever she went before that? Face facts, your highness; Your little treasure of a daughter hates her life. It means next to nothing to her. If you take this away from her, she will wither away into nothing, hating you all the while.” The King slammed his fist on the table again, fury apparent in his eyes.

“She already hates me!” he roared. “If she needs to hate me to be safe, then so be it! You will not teach her anymore, and that is final!” I sighed and rose to my feet, biting my lower lip sharply. Soon, blood was dripping from my mouth, the pain doing little to alleviate my frustration.

“You don’t seem to understand Solaris,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t care what you say. You do not govern me.”

“I rule all of Equestria!” he shouted. “I am your king, and you shall yield to my will! Stop teaching Celestia at once!”

“You are not my king, and I shall do whatever it is I damn well please,” I said. “You see, teaching Celestia and, in turn, being taught by Celestia, is immensely entertaining to me. Have you not seen how much she’s grown? Her pyromancy is holding up, she’s understanding the principles of magic. Last week, she couldn’t keep up an invisibility spell! Just look at her now!” Nobody reacted, which put a grin on my face. Twilight, Discord, and Solaris all had similar looks of confusion and annoyance.

“We’re not denying her growth,” said Twilight. “I just haven’t seen enough to say that she will ever grow enough. No matter how much you teach her she may never be ready.” I laughed derisively, my grin growing in both size and smugness.

“No, Archmage Sparkle, you misunderstand me,” I said. “I mean, literally, look at her now.” My horn lit up, grabbing the air to my right. The air shimmered and shook, eventually melting into the formerly invisible Sun Princess.

“Now, last week, Celestia couldn’t make herself semi-translucent” I said, draping my arm around her. “Tell me again how she’ll never be ready?”

Celestia

That smug bastard knew I was there the whole time and didn’t bother saying anything until he could milk it for every laugh he could. He made me sick, the way he toyed with me. As soon as he revealed my presence, I attempted to teleport away, only to have Twilight block my magic with a casual wave.

“Really, Lazarus?” said Twilight. “I understand that you really want to continue teaching Celestia, but was it necessary to stage this whole affair?”

“Stage? Oh, no, this is entirely incidental,” said Lazarus, squeezing me slightly. “I had no idea she’d be here, until, well, I heard her walk in.”

“Which was at what point?” asked Uncle Discord, who seemed to be the only one as amused as Lazarus.

“Just before he asked why I wasn’t invited,” I snarled. “Which is a fantastic question, by the way.” Lazarus, the prick he is, planted a small kiss on my forehead and rustled my hair, as f he was my father or uncle or older brother.

“Please, Sun Princess, let the adults speak for a moment,” said Lazarus. “It’s far past your bedtime, anyway.” Unsurprisingly, Solaris was the next to give his two cents. Also unsurprisingly, he didn’t intend to come to my defence.

“Twilight, I’m sure you have business to attend to with your Court of Centurions,” said Father. “And Discord, I promised Mia that I would let you go so the two of you could have the sweets you discussed.”

“Oh, of course!” said Uncle Discord, jumping to his feet. “Nearly forgot. I have a castle of sweet rolls to construct and consume with my daughter! Farewell!” He snapped his fingers and vanished in a pop of white light. Twilight decided nothing more needed saying, and she escorted herself out of the room. Now, I was left in a room with the two men in my life I despised the most.

“So, you have summits just to conspire against me now,” I said, freeing myself from Lazarus’ grasp. “You try to sabotage me at every turn, you make plans to have me stopped behind my back, and you wonder why I hate you? Why I don’t trust you? Because of this, Father.”

“Celestia, you don’t understand,” said Solaris. I don’t know what came over me, but I snapped. In an instant, my wand was in my grasp. Aiming at Solaris, I did the motions: Up, right, neutral, down-left, up, neutral, flick. A great orb of fire burst from my wand, rocketing at great speed towards my father. He barely flinched, summoning his staff from nowhere and dissipating my fire with a wave.

“Do not do something you’ll regret,” said Solaris. “You truly do not want to attack me, daughter.”

“Do not tell me what I want, or what I don’t understand!” I shouted, launching another orb of flame. Solaris blocked it similarly, and did the same for my next blast, and the next, and the next after that. He aimed his staff at me, the two gems glowing, when something truly spectacular happened.

Lazarus thrusted his right palm forward just as Father fired his spell. The jet of cerulean paused in midair, about a yard away from me. It just sat there, held in place by some outside force. Lazarus stepped forward, with fire in his eyes. He was furious, and I was a bit afraid as to what that could mean. My wand vanished from my hand, as did Solaris’ staff, reappearing in Lazarus’ left hand. Father’s spell (which I later learned would have only stunned me) then dissipated into vapor.

“That’s quite enough, I think,” he said curtly. “Now, I’ve lived alone for a very long time, so perhaps I’m mistaken. Please correct me if I’m wrong in thinking that, when you have a disagreement with family, you talk about it, rather than try to kill each other!”

“He is not family!” I shouted. I was about as shocked to hear the words as he was. But I couldn’t stop there. “He is not family! My family is all but gone because of that man!”

“Celestia, don’t-” began Solaris, but I didn’t let him finish.

“No! Stop telling me what to do!” I screamed. “Stop pretending as if you want to guide me, or that you care about me! We both know that you don’t! I’m nothing but a disappointment to you, aren’t I?”

“Celestia, you know I care about you,” lied Solaris. “Why else would I be trying so hard to protect you? I don’t make it a habit to keep my enemies out of harm’s way.”

“Because she told you to!” I snapped. “If it weren’t for Mother, you’d have me sent away, or imprisoned, or killed, and Luna would be heir, because that’s what you want! She should’ve been first-born!”

“Somehow, I think this is worse than the fighting,” said Lazarus sheepishly. “This got out of hand rather quickly, didn’t it?”

“Celestia, you are truly spouting nonsense now,” said Solaris. “Think about what you’re saying for a moment. Do you really believe I’d waste as much time and money on you as I did if I intended to send you away?” I tried to summon my wand back to me, but Lazarus would not loosen his grip. Momentarily, I considered casting a spell without my wand. I disregarded the idea shortly thereafter; It would probably blow up in my face, both literally and metaphorically.

“I believe that the only reason I am still Princess is because of Mother,” I said. “She made you keep me, didn’t she? I bet that, when you saw how feeble my magical pathways were, you’d have drowned me in a washtub had it not been for her.”

“Your mother has nothing to do with this,” he said, taking a well-measured step in my direction.

“Mother has everything to do with this,” I disagreed. “This is how you try to repay her, by keeping me in the castle.”

“You think me a failure,” said Solaris. “And you may very well be right.”

“You failed to protect her, so I’d say so,” I muttered under my breath.

“SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK!” roared the King. The anger, the rage in his eyes was chilling, freezing me in place. Solaris snapped his fingers, and a scroll of parchment appeared in his hand. He tossed it to me, the scroll bouncing off of my chest and onto the floor, where it remained for a moment until I bent over and picked it up. The scroll had a wax seal, in the shape of an inkwell and a raven quill. The Seal of Queen Faustia.

“Your mother wrote you a letter before she departed,” said Solaris, having apparently calmed himself down. “When we learned of her fate, I was to give it to you.”

“But you didn’t,” I snapped, even though everything about his tone said I should remain silent.

“I did. Can’t you recall? You were so distraught that you lost control of your magic,” said the King. “You burned it to ash, without even realizing it, you were so upset. Your mother, clever girl she is, wrote two, just in case.” I rolled the scroll over in my hand, unable to tear my gaze from it.

“Why did you give it to me?” I asked. Solaris’ horn began to glow, and his staff appeared in his hand.

“It belongs to you,” he said, turning for the exit to his chambers. “Read it, burn it, put it on a shelf. Whatever you wish. Just know that this letter is your only chance to understand a situation far too complex for you to unravel on your own.”

Before I could muster a reply, he was gone. I turned to release my rage onto Lazarus, who had also apparently evaporated. Must’ve teleported away in the confusion, dropping my wand onto the ground. I crouched to retrieve it, and fell on my rear in the process.

Then, I began to cry.

Author's Notes:

Ah, the last chapter written before the hiatus. It's been sitting in my docs for a couple of months now, and I was expecting to keep it there. However, I've decided to pic this story back up, and production has now resumed. Very slowly, but it has resumed nonetheless.

Remember to tell me why this story sucks, and why it doesn't suck, so that perhaps I may better please you dear readers in the future. Until the next one.