It took a short while for the three to catch their breath again. It certainly felt good to laugh though, and Twilight felt the tension between herself and her guard vanish. They weren’t some faceless ponies that were there to see to her beck and call: they were ponies with lives and habits beyond their duty, and Twilight felt herself warming to them as friends as the conversation continued.

It had hiccuped with Wingsong asking Twilight about one of the many rumours that seemed to follow the six Elements around. His answer came in the form of Twilight giving an immediate and emphatic ‘no’, and Glitter Shine swatting him one upside the head hard enough to make his helmet ring. It was a rather personal question, Twilight thought, and one he should have known better than to ask his princess...

But, well, she had been questioning it herself as of late, and it left and ache in her heart just thinking of the girls she had grown so close to...

Was she going to stay and live in Canterlot?

It would mean leaving the quaint little library in the valley, would mean hardly ever getting to see her first real friends; the ponies who had stuck with her through thick and thin, and who had not only saved Equestria half a dozen times now, but had made her what she was today. Without them, she’d have failed everybody...

“You just have no way of keeping that tongue in check, do you?” hissed Shine to her companion, her face a frown. “You should staple your yap shut sometimes.”

“It was a genuine question,” Wingsong muttered, straightening his helmet, “I meant no disrespect, Princess, truly. I just wanted to know if I would have to move my family...”

“It’s alright. I’m honestly... not sure just yet.” Twilight knocked her forehooves together a moment, staring at the polished tabletop in front of her. Could she leave her friends, just like that, just because she got a new pair of wings? Certainly, visiting one another would be easy enough, but having to go for days, or even weeks, without a Pinkie Party? Not listening to Rainbow Dash boast about her successes at the flight academy? Missing out on tea with Fluttershy and spa days with Rarity, and the regular helping with the organization at Sweet Apple Acres...

It was unthinkable, but, well... Twilight had new responsibilities, and it seemed like she would have to stay. It was a painful thought.

“Well done. You broke her.”

“No, I’m fine.” Twilight took a breath and straightened, trying on a brave face. “It’s just not a question I can really answer yet.” She thought a moment, then nodded to Wingsong, “You have a family?”

The pegasus’ chest swelled at the mention, his face breaking into a broad smile. “Indeed I do; a missus and two foals. One of each, twice over.”

The last comment made Twilight blink. Wingsong chuckled, “Missus is a unicorn, filly is a pegasus, and my colt happened to be an earth pony. One of each, twice over.” He managed to puff out his chest just that little bit more, “Could say I am rather lucky.”

“Four whole horseshoes must be buried up your arse,” said Shine, laconically.

“The missus is not shy about letting her displeasure be known, true.”

“Keep being a twit and I may add to that number.”

“Love you too, Sputters. Just don’t let Ivy Glass know.”

Twilight giggled at their easy banter. “Hold old are your foals, Wingsong?”

“Oh, Raindance just turned six and is already making short branchings, I might add.” Twilight was fairly certain that if the pegasus managed to puff himself anymore with pride, he’d actually burst.

“Wait, branchings?” asked Glitter Shine.

“Short flights,” explained Twilight, who had heard pretty much everything there is to know about flying from Rainbow Dash, and that was before Twilight had gotten her own wings. It may have been the first time in her life where Twilight thought she had been learning too much. “Little hops and glides when they first start out.”

Wingsong nodded, “Five whole yards on her own, last night.” Twilight waited for the expected ‘pop’, but it didn’t happen. “Tumbledown will be five in a few months time.”

“Moving with two foals that young would make for a challenge,” Twilight admitted. Wingsong held up both his hooves.

“Don’t you worry about it, Princess. It comes with my duty, and Ivy Glass knows what it means. We can handle a change in scenery.”

“I’m really not sure just what I’m going to do yet... and I really never even gave thought to you having to follow me, much less with a family in tow.” Twilight glance to Glitter Shine, who shrugged a shoulder.

“My parents live in the city, my sister has her family over in Manehattan. I’ve lived in the barracks since I left home, and I just moved into the Cohorts quarters down the hall. I’d just need time to pack my books.”

“Well, don’t start making plans. I really don’t know what will happen, but I’ll give you plenty of time to make arrangements if some have to be made.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

“Now then,” Twilight clapped her forehooves together with a grin, “It has been great to get to know the two of you, and I think we should do this again, but just now I am feeling the need to research.”

Wingsong smiled pleasantly and nodded to the long-necked bottle, “If it includes another taste of that, I’ll be here with bells on, Princess.”

“Likewise,” said Glitter Shine.

“Then we’ll make an evening of it.” The three walked back to the hallway. “Glitter Shine; could I get your help, please? I think you might be just the pony I need to find something down in the archives.”

“Uh, Shine is off duty, Princess,” Wingsong started, but Glitter Shine just waved a hoof airily.

“I’d be happy to help. Anyways, this will involve books. Booooks,” she stretched out the word, like she was speaking to a particularly slow child, “Those things made of paper, with ink on them.”

“I will have you know that I am, in fact, literate.”

Glitter Shine stopped and stared at Wingsong, putting on a face of wide-eyed incredulity. “You can read?”

Wingsong strutted, just a bit, and polished a hoof against his peytral. “Indeed. I have even been known to recite the alphabet on occasion, and get it right, two tries in three!”

“Are you two always like this?” Twilight asked, forcing down a giggle.

“Only on days that end in ‘y’, Princess.”

“Well,” Twilight led the way out into the sunny hallway, Wingsong shutting and locking the door behind them. “There is no rush for it, so if you want to take care of it later is fine. What I need is information on Podarkes.”

“The planet, or the captain, Princess?”

“The captain, definitely. Old records, journals; whatever we have.”

Glitter Shine tilted her head back a bit, her eyes scanning the air before her as if reading from an invisible book. “I know I read some things about her, but there wasn’t much. I don’t think there’d be anything particularly new in the archives, Princess. Most anything you’d have found in the history books would have come from them...”

“Ahem.” Twilight and Shine glanced to Wingsong, who was trying on a very smug air. “I know where you can find information that is not in general circulation.”

“Your drunken friends are veritable fonts of things no one else could have possibly thought of, Wing, but I don’t see how-”

“Ahem. I will say though, that this information comes with a price, beggin’ your pardon, Princess.”

That was certainly not the kind of thing a guard was supposed to do with their superiors, let alone a princess, but Twilight hardly thought of herself as a superior let alone as a princess yet, so she was quite happy to play along. She sat back, giving the pegasus one of her most studious looks; the sort that felt not unlike being measured by an undertaker, albeit a pretty one with a smile on.

“Leave it to a sergeant to try and barter with a princess,” Shine muttered.

“Everyone will come out happy from this, though,” Wingsong said, his basso voice relaxing. He glanced up and down the empty hall, then pulled the golden helmet from his head. His white mane was short and slicked back along his head. It looked to be thinning at the front. “What I need is a day off.”

Wingsong glanced between the expressions on the two mares and huffed. “What? You’re looking at me like you were expecting me to ask for a date or something.” A beat of silence, then Wingsong threw up his hooves. “Oh come on; I’m a married stallion!”

They had to laugh, but Twilight could see that the pegasus was on the tired side, and extrapolating from this new information about his young family, it was easy to discern the reason for his offer. “Not enough time for your family?”

Wingsong winced slightly and half-shrugged one shoulder, “Ivy is as patient as you could imagine a pony to be-”

“Not surprised, given who she married...”

“Ah haaaa, Shine. Ivy is a wonderful mother, but she’s been pretty much taking care of things on her own for over a week now. Two foals, no time off, and a hubby who is only good for doing anything for about two or three hours in the day; it wears a pony down. I’d like to give her the day off and, well, have a chance to play with my kids.”

The sentiment was moving, and Twilight had to smile. “You two have been sharing the day all this time?”

“Twelve hours each, Princess.”

“Twelve hours? Straight?”

“Mmn.”

Twilight was taken aback. “That’s a horrid schedule!”

“Well, with a full complement among your Cohorts, we’d do eight hour turns, so that is easy enough.”

“Yes, but we don’t have that yet! You should have told me...”

“Not our place, Princess.”

Twilight frowned at that familiar response. Respecting a rank was one thing, but being foolish was another. “Well, I am going to set my hoof down about something right this moment. Neither of you are slaves to my whims, nor should you ever just do something you might have worries over just because no one has told you otherwise.” Twilight stood up now, looking between Glitter Shine and Wingsong. “If you are going to be my Guard Cohorts then you have to be able to think for yourselves, and you shouldn’t be shy about letting me know if you have a better idea about something. The same goes for every other member that will join you. I’m still new to everything here and I need help, not ponies who only do what I say...” A thought struck Twilight now, and she found herself grinning.

“And that will be the first thing both of you should help me with! A list... a list of ponies you think stand out and would be worth inducting into the Cohorts.”

“Er, that really isn’t our pla-”

“And if you ever tell me that something ‘isn’t your place’ again, I’ll- I’ll...” What would a princess threaten her personal guard with? Twilight couldn’t imagine Celestia ever doing such a thing, and neither could she see it with Cadence. Luna? Her guard were practically family to her... Twilight fell back on the only real punishment she could think of.

“I’ll shut you up in a small room with Pinkie Pie for an hour, after winding her up on candy floss and a book of very dumb jokes.”

Wingsong and Shine shared a curious look with one another. Neither actually knew much about Pinkie Pie other than vague rumours, and those weren’t enough to stir any kind of fear... but there was something about Twilight’s threat that echoed down through eternity, that got into the very bone and resonated with some barely-conscious part of the soul. It made a nameless dread settle in the pit of the stomach like a lead weight, causing the one hearing this threat to know that this was not something they would wish upon their worst enemy.

Or their pancreas.

“Er, fair enough, Princess.”

“And I will get back to you about this whole ‘Princess’ appellation. Celestia might be used to it, but I’m not, and I have it on good ground that Cadence’s guard only use it half the time, and Luna’s ponies only refer to her as ‘mistress’.”

Twilight found herself pacing back and forth before her two guards, who had in turn found themselves standing straight and tall, much like ponies being berated by a general for slacking off. Calm, quiet, and bookish Twilight might be, but that is only until she found something that needed re-organizing, at which point others might think fondly back to those memories of a drill sergeant shrieking in their ears.

Okay, so Twilight at her most neurotic was still miles better than a drill sergeant, but you get the idea, yeah?

“Er, yes, Princess...” said Shine, stunned.

“So...” started Wingsong.

Twilight came back to the here and now, ceasing her pacing and grinning to the two. “So. You both have the rest of today and all of tomorrow off, and I’ll not hear a word otherwise. There are enough guards here that I am in no danger, and I had to do most things myself while I lived here so it’s not like I am going to starve to death or get hopelessly lost without you.” She clapped her hooves together a few times, looking quite cheerful. “And when you come back, I’ll have a new schedule drawn up that splits the time fairly while giving you both more free time!”

It took a moment for the two Cohorts to sort their brains out, as both had the uncanny feeling of having been transported back through time to grade school.

“Ah, thank you, Princess?”

“Someone should be guarding you...” Shine essayed, but her attempt at reasonable worry was rebuffed outright.

“The last thing I need is for two talented ponies to be standing around for hours on end staring at nothing for my benefit. That is so inefficient I can’t even think of something to compare it to.” Twilight rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “Which gives me a second idea that I will get back to you about, but I think we should expand those lists I want you to do to include ponies that aren’t guards as well - talented ponies in magic, architecture, literature...”

“Princess, please..." Shine looked pained, "The Cohorts are sworn to protect you with their lives; you can’t expect just any pony be willing, or able, to do that.”

Twilight leveled a look on Glitter Shine. There was a frown in it. “I have two capable soldiers in my Guard now, that should be suita-”

“No, Princess. I do beg your pardon,” said Wingsong, shaking his head vehemently, “This is one thing you cannot command us to do. Our duty, over all things, is to keep you safe. We can, and will, disregard any order you give if we think it is in your best interest, and this is one of those times.”

Glitter Shine nodded solemnly, “I think I see what you are striving for, Princess, but first and foremost the Cohorts must be soldiers.”

Twilight’s frowned deepened, but she could tell by their expressions that they were not going to budge an inch on this. She let out a pent-up breath, “Ahh... okay then. Well. You two will both take your time off, and I will see to it there are two palace guards in my company during that time.” She pointed a hoof at the two somewhat sheepish-looking Cohorts. “But during that time I want a list of at least ten ponies from each of you, and ones with notable skills outside of being good soldiers.”

Shine and Wingsong glanced to one another for a moment, then nodded in unison, “We can do that, Princess.”

“Good. And Wingsong, you are going to have that information for me when you get back as well, yes?”

“Should be simple enough.”

“Speaking of that information, Wing,” Shine eyed the pegasus suspiciously, “Your source wouldn’t happen to involve a collection of records that are not supposed to ever leave the Solar Tower, does it?”

Wingsong strived to look innocent as can be, a look which did not suit him in any way, shape, or form. “Maybe.”

“And how do you propose to get them out of the sealed locker in the Solar Guard’s conservatory?”

“I was a sergeant, Sputters. If I can’t get my hooves on something, it’s because it doesn’t exist. Anyways, Cohort Sundance is my great aunt and the namesake of my daughter. Plus, I am on business for Princess Twilight, who is very well noted for her love and care of all things bookish. Frankly, they should be overjoyed that I am going to be pilfering them.”

“Borrow,” said Twilight, with emphasis. She didn’t much like the idea of stealing something, even if it was just temporary, but well... she had to know.

“Yeah, sure.”

“And if you could do it without getting anyone in trouble, it would probably be for the best,” Twilight added, hopefully. Wingsong shrugged a shoulder.

“Well, one way or another, hah.”

“Didn’t my brother suggest you for my guard when Celestia asked him?” Shining Armour seemed to have offered up a thief...

“Indeed,” Wingsong smirked, “As I recall, he said you’d need someone who could get things done. Given that I ‘motivated’ his flank back and forth across the training yard for the better part of a year, he could appreciate just how dedicated I am to getting said things done.”

That was news. “You’re ‘that blue-flanked bastard’?!”

Wingsong look proud, “That is one of my many titles, yes.”

“He complained so much about you when he was home!” Twilight laughed, “Generally from the depths of a hot bath.”

“Well, it did him good in the end.”

That was a fact that couldn’t be contested. The three ponies chatted for a few moments more before separating, though not before Wingsong whistled up a rather imposing stallion in armour and ordered him to keep Twilight safe. Further, she was made to promise that she would see to it there’d be additional guards about her until they returned.

After all was said and done, both Wingsong and Glitter Shine strode off, at least somewhat comforted that their charge wouldn’t be without help, albeit the more usual sort. Twilight had stolen back into her study quickly to scribble down a few notes for either pony, outlining a vague concept of what she thought might be suitable in additional Cohorts.

The two walked in silence for a while.

“Shine,” said Wingsong slowly as they descended a spiral stair. “Did we just get sent off with homework?”

The unicorn was quiet for a moment. She lifted Twilight’s note from her pocket with an effort of will and examined it carefully. It was a very orderly list, with bullets.

There was a smiley face drawn at the bottom.

“Yes... yes, we did.”

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Twilight spent the rest of her afternoon working out the details of a schedule that would work comfortably for two guards, one with a family. Since this only took her some fifteen minutes, she decided to make drafts of schedules of three, four and five guard complements as well, just in case she didn’t fill all the places at once. To this, Twilight also attached an appendix that made time allowances for family ponies, should there be more in such circumstances.

Once this was done to her satisfaction, the preternaturally prepared pony went on to write some vague notes about just what kind of duties her guard could have other than just standing around and staring at nothing. It wasn’t so hard to think on what Glitter Shine could do, so long as Twilight got permission from Celestia first, though Wingsong was a bit trickier. Sergeant’ing wasn’t an occupation much in demand per say, and dedicating him to the grey-area occupation of Quarter Master wasn’t really in the cards; Twilight had everything she needed, and there wasn’t that much to sort.

By the time the shadows were starting to grow long, Twilight had run out of steam and parchment, and so had decided to call it a day. She carefully cleaned the tall black quill and set it in its holder, shut the caps on her collection of ink bottles, gave her eyes a brief rub with the back of her hooves, then ventured out from her study.

The sunlight streaming through the hallway’s arched windows had that slightly deeper golden feel of light preparing to close the day. It still had the delicious warmth that made one just want to sit and bathe in the glow, but this was a softer radiance than the energetic heat of the noon-day sun. Twilight stood there in the hall for a moment, just letting the light warm her hide for one blessed moment before turning and venturing down the hall, hooves sounding softly on the marble, soon echoed by the steps of a pair of the stoic stallions she had promised to keep in place.

They were tall, imposing figures, one white and one smokey grey, armoured all in gold and helmeted, each carrying the same bland expression that betrayed no emotion other than dutiful alertness. Twilight had tried to coax something other than a ‘yes, Princess,’ out of them, but neither seemed inclined to talk and both became somewhat nervous by her attempts, so Twilight had eventually given up to work on the schedules.

She already missed the banter and playful bickering.

The halls were quiet now, the usual bustle even in the usual government areas faded to no more than a few busy groundskeepers and a few overly-dedicated workers gathered together in a small group and discussing the day’s work. Their soft murmurs were a susurration that gave the world an empty, somehow tired feeling; like the air itself was reflecting the exhaustion of a day’s work. It reminded Twilight of those late nights when she was much younger, busily hurrying through the deserted hallways of her school to reach the library before it shut. Nothing felt quite so empty as a school with no students, and there was an echo of that feeling here, though softer. Perhaps it was something to do with the cheers and cries of foals at play rather than the murmur of adults at business. That vibrant energy of young life, filling every inch of space...

Taken away, it left a hollow: like the building was crying out silently for that energy to fill it again.

Twilight found herself following her hooves, drifting down corridors with no particular goal in mind. She only half-saw the grand pillars and vaulted ceilings, barely registered the view of Canterlot from the arched windows, was only vaguely aware of the tiled mosaic on the walls. Her mind was wandering back through time, listening to the ghost sounds from her childhood; breathless laughs and bright cries, here and there the needless tears over some silly thing that didn’t deserve crying over, yet was somehow capable of shattering a young foal’s world, at least for a few moments.

It was funny, looking back on all that now and seeing herself there during recess, sitting quietly in a little corner she had picked out. She had been a point of stillness in all that play, a little dot of silence amidst the raucous chaos, and as much as the pandemonium had gotten on her nerves back then, she found herself missing it now.

Someone had said her name. Twilight realised she had stopped. She blinked away the mists of time from her eyes and glanced about, gathering her bearings.

The crest upon the heavy door was a crescent moon, an unmistakable emblem, made all the more clear by the pair of tall ponies standing guard before it; their eyes were slitted amber rather than soft and round, and leathery wings were folded tight to their dark-armoured sides. They were looking at Twilight expectantly.

“I’m sorry; I was miles away,” said Twilight, giving her head a slight shake. “Is Luna busy?”

“Not that I am aware, Princess,” said the leftmost night-pony, whom Twilight recognized as Buttercream. It was not the sort of name one expected of bat-winged ponies, but then, it was silly to expect them all to have dark, edgy names just because they now had the look. “Would you like me to see if she is taking visitors?”

“I would appreciate it, thank you,” Twilight nodded to the stallion as he bowed and disappeared behind the grandly carved portal. The other guard Twilight recognized immediately by the slightly smug grin. “Hello Racing Star.”

“Princess,” said Racing Star, bowing politely.

The two eyed one another.

“Queen Pawn four,” said Twilight.

Racing Star’s eyes glittered. “Knight to Bishop six.”

“King Pawn three.”

“Knight to King four.”

Cautious salvoes were exchanged, each player testing the other’s strategy with probing attacks. The two palace guards that had been following Twilight took a rare moment to break their stoic stare and glance at one another. It certainly wasn’t every day one saw two ponies playing chess without a board or pieces.

Buttercream returned before any serious plan of attack could be enacted, though. “She would be happy to receive you, Princess.”

“Ah, thank you,” said Twilight. She glanced back to the two armoured stallions, “And thank you as well, gentlecolts. I’ll likely be here for awhile, so you can return to your normal duties.”

The two bowed in unison as Twilight passed through the portal into Luna’s chambers.

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“Pleasant afternoon to you, Twilight.

“And to you, Princess Luna.”

It was easy to imagine that Luna’s chambers would be dark and cloistered. Maybe it would be a grand, round room with a vaulted ceiling, the walls hung with mystic-themed tapestries or dark cloth that blotted out every trace of sunlight, leaving only two or three magic-fueled ghost lanterns. Those would shed an eerie blue or sickly green glow that barely lit anything, though the runes etched across the cold stone floor would gleam with the ancient and terrible power of the night...

It was a relief then to know that Luna’s chambers were actually quite bright and airy.

It was indeed a grand, round room, but the light-blotting curtains were actually breezy blue silk that were drawn aside from the tall windows which were themselves open to let in the warm summer breeze, scented faintly with the perfume of the castle garden. Sunlight lit the deep blue rug that covered much of the floor, the tiny stars picked out on it in silver glittering like the night sky it was meant to echo. The perimeter of the room was a collection of shelves, pedestals, paintings and long chairs, all set between the even spaces of the tall windows. At the very center of the room, a winding stairwell wrought of black iron circled a broad marble pillar, climbing upwards into the heart of Luna’s tower to her private quarters.

Luna herself was reclined on a collection of cushions set in the sunlight before an open window, a picture of relaxation, her tall horn lit with a faint nimbus as she manipulated a brush. She was painting.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” asked Luna, glancing away from her easel for a moment, brush drifting to the pallette resting on the stand beside it.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I was just walking and I found myself here,” said Twilight, striding across the room to join the princess, leaning a bit to steal a glance at the face of the canvas. It was an abstract piece, all blues and oranges and yellows mixed in drifting lines, here and there highlighted by a soft pink swirl. Reaching upwards from the bottom of the canvas were black lines, thin and spindly and slightly feathered.

“A sunset?” asked Twilight, settling on some offered cushions.

“Or a sunrise; I’m not entirely certain myself. It was an image in my head that I felt the need to put to canvas.”

A comfortable silence descended as Luna gave the brush a quick clean, the selected a different one from the collection resting on the tray. A deft effort of will had it picking a drop of dark blue oil paint followed by a larger dollop of snowy white, then mixed them together briefly on the palette. Twilight’s eyes followed the brush as Luna added pale lines just there and again there. It was such a simple addition, yet those little lines drew the shapes of the faint clouds into sudden focus, painted with the fading (or building,) light of the sun on the very edge of the horizon.

“Perhaps,” Twilight started, a slow thought bubbling to the surface of her mind, “Perhaps it’s both?”

“Mmn?”

“A sunset in one place is a sunrise for another, so...”

Luna lifted the brush away and regarded the canvas anew, head tilting a little to one side. A smile, “An attractive thought. I think you may have it, Twilight.”

Brush met canvas again, bringing with it a warm silence that folded over the two ponies as the colours mixed and marked just so, bringing out more detail in the vague shapes, though never quite bringing the whole of the piece into focus. Moments passed in companionable quiet, disturbed here and there with the knock of a brush handle on the palette or a shift in weight by either of the two upon their respective cushions.

Time was passing in no great rush, though Twilight could feel a second question coming to her mind, and it was one she had been wanting to ask for many days now.

“Luna...”

“Mmn?”

“The other day in the garden, you said I could ask you... about the ponies Celestia knew.”

Luna hesitated a moment before answering, “Yes, of course.”

“Would you have some time just now?”

A last bit of paint was put to the canvas, then the brush set down. Luna regarded what she had created with quiet eyes.

“I can, and would, though I would like to ask you a question first, Twilight.”

“Okay...”

Luna turned her head and considered the smaller princess, her expression soft and somber. “Tell me, Twilight; why do you want to delve into these memories?”

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but found herself hesitating. A frown creased her brow as her thoughts collided. Knowledge? Was it really such a simple and callous thing that drove her in this? No... curiosity had kindled the fire, but the emotions those names had driven out of Celestia with the mere mention, the way she had cried that night...

“Because I love her... She has been a great mentor, idol and friend to me, I’d like to do what I can for her in return. I need to know who she is, and who she was, and those ponies that had shaped her to be who she is now...”

The silence weighed heavily now. Twilight looked down to her hooves, touching them together a few times. Eventually, Luna broke the quiet.

“Remember then, that by sharing this I am placing a burden on you, and taking a promise. My sister is Celestia; regent of the sun and Princess of all Equestria, but beneath the white armour she wears, she is weary and vulnerable. You must take care of her, Twilight. Be careful with this knowledge.”

Twilight bit her lip, but nodded, “I understand.”

The world went on for a few moments without them, the two receding into their own private worlds, steadying themselves for what was to be asked.

Twilight cleared her throat and looked up.

“Tell me about Konabos...”

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Author's Notes:

Huzzah! A bit slow, but here it is.

It was actually supposed to be all about Konabos, but the characters ended up running away with the story and I didn't want to break the flow, so the next chapter will in fact be the 'proper' story of some Celestia history.

Like the other three; this is not perfect. I kept writing (and re-writing in this case,) until I was done, then I did one quick editing pass for the most glaring of errors before posting it. It is what it is, and I make no excuses. :)