"I know that look, Luna. The answer is still no."
The two sisters were seated at the table in the dining room of the elder's living quarters, ostensibly eating breakfast. For Luna it was more like dinner; her sleep schedule never really matched up with Celestia's since she despised the sun. Growling lowly, the younger Princess used her telekinesis to pilfer an omelette. "Why not? I keep telling you it would help me to see her."
Celestia's brow furrowed, both at the reply and at the fact that she'd wanted that omelette herself. "You know exactly why. She'd start asking questions none of us can answer without...problems."
"No, that is the problem. You have serious trust issues, sister." Luna smirked at her sister's regal glare, letting the expression slide past. "Glower all you like. Your distrust of Twilight is what got us into this mess in the first place." She concluded her statement with a series of painful-sounding coughs.
"Are you all r-" The elder Princess fell silent as Luna waved her off, then composed herself and sat straight. "Good. I have a heart attack whenever you cough."
"Remember how bad it used to be?" They both fell silent and gazed at each other, wrangling with a shared memory too painful to manifest in words. "I'm fine. Relax."
"Hmm." After some time had passed, Celestia regarded her sister with a pointed look. "Why are you so keen to see Winter?"
She was legitimately taken aback and folded her arms. "I cannot believe you are even asking me such a thing. You know exactly why."
"I don't think it would help." Celestia chomped down on a piece of toast out of annoyance.
"Stop being obstinate. She needs the truth and I need the closure." Luna glared at her sister's stony visage and pounded her fist on the table. "Winter has the right to know!"
Celestia didn't even bother to raise her voice. "Winter has enough to deal with at the moment, don't you think?" She punctuated her words with a sip of tea from her magically suspended cup.
"You can't hide it forever. If she finds out on her own, the outcome will be so much worse than if we just confess. And what about Twilight? How do you think she will react?"
She tried to feign anger but lacked the strength; Luna was right, but Celestia knew no other way than to keep hiding the secret. "Leave her out of this, and none of them will find out. I have no intention of keeping my promise to Winter. Any part of the truth is too dangerous a thing to allow her."
Luna leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and loosed a dark snarl. "The depths of your paranoia continue to astound me. You were terrified of Twilight; she turned out fine. I believe Winter will too, if we give her the entire picture."
"I am not being paranoid!" she snapped in reply, glaring wide-eyed. "I have a country to run, a people to protect. Winter is a potential weapon of mass destruction! I dare not give her such information. Who can say what her mental state would become?"
"If she qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction, so do I. So do you."
Luna's logic cut Celestia straight to the bone. Helpless, she stared at her plate for several seconds before screwing up her resolve and looking at her sister. "That is beside the point. She is incredibly dangerous and I have no wish to set her off."
"If you choose to label her actions as dangerous, well, I have no idea how to even respond to that." They shared another series of unhappy looks before Luna pressed on. "She has twice risked her life to save people she barely knew. And by the way, I've told you repeatedly how Twilight and her friends have closed around her. This wouldn't be something she'd have to handle alone."
"No. Twilight will get curious and I can't answer her questions either. Let it go. This is how it has to be." Celestia blinked at the sudden sadness that marked Luna's face. "Wh-"
She was very close to crying out of sheer frustration. "Give me something, damn it."
It was a dagger to Celestia's heart. "What? What can I give you that won't backfire on us?"
Luna hid her eyes and slumped over. "Just let me see her in person. Just once. Is that so much to ask?"
"Why?" Her tone was so gentle now as to be almost inaudible.
"We built her. She's...she's like our child. I feel responsible for her."
While she'd heard this before, to see it affect her sister so deeply troubled Celestia to no end. For several moments, only the quiet sound of the younger Princess' crying filled the air until, finally, she could bear the noise no more. "Very well. I will need some reason to bring her here without arousing suspicion."
Luna's mood brightened instantly. She got up and threw herself at her sister in a tight hug. "About time," she sniffled, smirking weakly.
Celestia laughed, patting her lightly on the back. "You're as stubborn as any mule. I still need to come up with some reason for her to make the trip."
"I'm sure you'll think of one." Exhausted, Luna pulled away and wiped her face with the sleeve of her hoodie.
She smiled wryly and nodded. "Of course. Just be sure not to sleep through it. You'll only get this one chance."
Her face went sour, but she relented to the condition and shrugged. "Very well. At least I finally got you to budge on something."
Celestia rose with a sigh and walked past. "You know I can't stand to see you cry. Well, I'd better get to work. Where are you off to?"
Shuffling after her, Luna scratched at her hair and groaned. "I believe it's just about my bedtime. See you at dusk."
"Good...night, Luna."
They exchanged another hug before the younger Princess departed and began wandering down the hall. Her face shifted into a hard gaze just as soon as she confirmed that no one was within sight. "One chance, is it? I only need one chance to set this right." She stalked to her bedroom and quickly went to grab her smartphone off the nightstand. Her fingers flew over the screen as she sent a message to Trixie.
Do you know if she's read the files yet?
So interested in the response was she that she actually counted off the seconds in her head while waiting for one to arrive. Exactly seventy-six of those ticks later, one did appear on the screen.
No I don't. I haven't seen her today.
"Damn it." Luna sucked in an angry breath through her clenched teeth before typing again.
Find out. Discreetly. I need proof that she hasn't gone off the deep end.
The conversation was over, at least as far as she was concerned, but before she could toss her phone away a reply arrived.
With all due respect, if she had we'd probably be dead by now.
Applejack requested the help of her friends around noon, but by the time Twilight and Fuyu arrived at the orchard the rest of them were already there. This was mostly the dawdling librarian's fault; Fuyu had flown them in from town, attracting a series of oohs and ahs as they landed by the old red truck.
"Sorry we're late," Twilight apologized, trying to shake off the tingles. "I couldn't decide which shoes to wear."
"Sounds like somebody I know." Rainbow nudged Rarity in the side and cackled, only to yelp when she received a disgruntled slap to the back of her head. "Ow!"
"Shoes are an extremely important decision, I'll have you know." The dressmaker, still fuming, walked over and smiled at the pale woman. "I didn't know you could carry people. Rainbow Dash must be so jealous."
"Oh, shut up!"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "All right, all right, we're gonna have enough of a time gettin' these apples down without y'all bein' testy." She doffed her hat and gazed out over the hills. "This is gonna be the last harvest of the year. Need all the fruit I can get so we can keep money in the bank."
"How many trees do we have to get to?" Fluttershy asked. Applejack spread her arms wide, indicating virtually everything in sight. "Oh...oh my."
Rarity nodded and sighed. "Exactly. We'd better get to it if we don't want to sleep out here."
"Ooh! That would be fun! A big sleepover in the orchard with everyone!" Pinkie lagged behind the group as they started to move. "I didn't bring my sleeping bag. I hope the grass is soft."
Twilight and Fuyu moved up to walk with the blonde. "Where is your family?" the latter asked, glancing around.
She glowered ahead as the thought annoyed her. "Apple Bloom's got the flu, which is why I called y'all off yesterday. Granny and Big Mac went west again. They weren't quite done when they had ta come back 'cause of the tornado, and my idiot cousin is about as good at growin' apples as I am playin' the violin."
"I see." Fuyu watched Rarity and Rainbow continue to jaw with each other, while an extremely hyper Pinkie Pie orbited Fluttershy and waved her arms. She was speaking much too fast for any of them to understand. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to use my full power to do this. It'll go faster."
Twilight looked across and blinked. "Full power? What does that mean?"
An angry grin bent Fuyu's thin lips. "Let's find out."
"Whoa." Applejack withdrew at her tone and poked Twilight. "What's goin' on here? Did y'all have another talk?"
"Oh, I don't know. Fuyu's really mad at something, but she can't tell me what." The librarian exchanged glances with the pale woman and sighed. "That's why she wanted to come. I think she wants to vent."
Applejack swallowed loudly and tugged at her ponytail. "Oh, crap. Fu, please don't level my livelihood."
"I won't." She cracked her knuckles as if preparing for a fight. "Did you see how they all looked at me this time, Twilight?"
Shrugging, she jumped when Applejack broke away to stop a slowly escalating argument between Rarity and her girlfriend. "I wasn't really paying attention. Not the biggest fan of heights. Especially not going as fast as we were."
"It was different." Fuyu was still cracking her knuckles; the noises eventually got so sharp they made Twilight cringe. "Pinkie was right. They need to see as much of me as I can show them. That way they'll have no reason to be afraid."
Twilight looked down at the grass with uncertainty. "Maybe so." The group came to a staggered halt as Applejack cleared her throat.
"All right. Gonna do this hill we're on, and that one across the stream," she said, pointing first around and then across the water. "Gotta get at least these done by evenin' so we can get 'em in the crates and outta here by tomorrow mornin'."
"That's at least two hundred trees!" Rarity exclaimed with horror. "We will be here until midnight!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes at the drama. "Oh, calm down. We've got three magic users, Shy and I can just fly around and knock them off, Applejack can kick them down and Pinkie can...whatever it is she does."
"Yeah! I can..." The baker's face went blank. "Do that thing. You know, that thing I do."
A clamor of voices, save Fuyu, Fluttershy and Twilight, erupted as the other four began to plan out loud how best to tackle the enormous task ahead. Pinkie wasn't so much offering ideas as she was agreeing with every single thing said, making the planning session impossible to follow. Twilight groaned with frustration and nudged the pale woman.
"We better save them from themselves," she said, smiling.
The shy woman, who had moved over to stand with the quieter pair when the commotion broke out, let loose a tiny giggle. "Yes, otherwise they might be here for a week."
After glancing between the two, Fuyu nodded and stepped away. "Okay." Lifting off into the air, she darted to a hover about fifty feet up, peering at the multitude of apples in the branches. Below her, everyone fell silent.
"Have I mentioned how odd it is to see someone fly without wings?" Rarity breathed while staring up.
"No kidding," Rainbow agreed lowly. Unconsciously, she stood next to Applejack and watched Fuyu gain height. In a few seconds, the pale woman was a sharp silhouette against the gray sky. "What is she even doing?"
What she was doing was murmuring lowly to herself while glaring at her palms. "If I'm really wielding the magic of four thousand people, this should be easy." She pointed her right hand at the hill below and her left at the hill across the stream, and for the first time since facing Trixie she let herself off the figurative leash. Two strands of black fired out of her palms and split into an uncountable number of thin tendrils, which, guided by her magic, shot through the air and entered the leafy branches. The goo was able to travel a much farther distance than she was used to, and connected to her senses via the telekinesis, it was like having dozens upon dozens of cilia at her command. These poked about and gently detached the fruit. Apples fell like rain around the six women, who huddled together – only partly to avoid fruit. The display was at once mesmerizing and terrifying; black constructs writhed all through the air, some approaching very close. At its crescendo, Fuyu appeared to be the stunted trunk of a squirming black tree with innumerable branches. Abruptly she recalled all of the tendrils, whose travel back into her palms came with a metallic noise that made everyone but her wince. Finished, she alighted on the grass and folded her arms.
"That felt nice," she said. Her eyebrows raised at the looks on their faces. "What?"
Applejack was, after a few seconds, the first able to voice her emotion. "Damn!" After detaching herself from Rainbow and walking away, she stared at the layer of apples covering the grass around each trunk and couldn't help but repeat herself. "Damn!"
Fuyu smirked. "I guess it worked."
"No, really?" Twilight, slack-jawed, was also looking around at the results of Fuyu's magic. "How in the world did you do this?"
She shrugged in response. "I just did." A frown came when she saw the looks on Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy's faces; shock smashed together with amazement and awe whose foundation was some vague form of fear. Even Pinkie was struck silent with the expression. "Should I have not done that?"
"No, darling, it's not that." Rarity's attempt to regain her composure failed as she also took in the sight. "It's just, how did you even manage to do such a thing?"
"Like you do. But bigger." She lifted a hand and looked at the black jewel in her palm. "Hmm."
"How in the hell are we gonna load all these before night?" Rainbow suddenly exclaimed. They all looked around again at the clumps of fruit huddling near tree trunks. "There's gotta be a billion apples on the ground."
"Maybe we should get a shovel!" Pinkie bounced about as the mood lightened up. "Or a front-end loader. Fufu really brought down the house on this one."
Twilight's hands lit up as she levitated some of the apples over. "It should be easy for Rarity and I to pick them up. Where do you want them?"
"Load the truck. I'm takin' 'em ta the barn. One of you magicky girls wanna help me crate 'em?" she asked, looking between Twilight and Rarity. She blinked when Fuyu waved for attention.
"Take them both. I can load these."
"Are you sure?" Rarity smiled at the nod she got. "Of course. Go on, I want to see this."
When Fuyu lifted her hand this time, a swarm of fruit began to roll, then take off and float toward the group. In a few seconds all the apples in their sight, save those across the stream, were daintily entering the truck bed. Twilight and Rarity were awestruck again, but their friends couldn't quite figure out why.
The librarian explained – it was sheer amazement that forced her words out. "I could never track and manipulate this many objects at once," she breathed. "Look at many she's got!"
Rarity folded her arms and watched as hundreds of apples wafted by. "I am incredibly jealous right now."
Applejack shook herself back to work and moved to the truck. Her hand snapped up and waved to signal Fuyu to stop loading. "All right, that's enough. Twi, Rare, you ready to go?"
"Sure." Twilight moved past the pale woman, as did the dressmaker, to get in. "Fuyu, that was amazing. You really are a Princess!"
None of the assembled understood why she slapped her hand over her mouth after saying that, nor the anxiousness in her eyes. Fuyu folded her arms and stared. "I'm a what?"
"Nothing! Nothing." She was gone in a flash and in the truck before anyone could counter her weak assertion. The other women were forced to gaze curiously at Fuyu for clarification.
"Fufu, are you a Princess?" Pinkie asked, face glowing with an excitement that was ready to explode.
"Not that I know of..." Her eyes fell on Rainbow, who made a strange noise. "What?"
"That would explain all kinds of crap, though." The athlete grinned as a murmur of agreement came and went. "Besides your, uh, feeding habits."
The expression on Fuyu's face at the reminder of her history was enough to make Applejack step in. "Okay, okay. Come on, let's go so we can get done." She nodded at Rarity and they were both off. "Back in a second."
Fuyu hardly noticed their departure. Lost in a fog of thought, she turned her back on her friends and considered the possibility. Rainbow had a point; being a Princess would explain her extreme display of magical power, but she couldn't resolve that with what she had been before. Glaring through the trees silently, her concentration was only broken when someone tapped on her the shoulder.
"Are you all right?" It was Fluttershy, who squeaked when Fuyu glanced back. "S-sorry, you hadn't said anything for a couple of minutes."
"I was thinking." She was surprised to see everyone looking at her with equal concern as she turned fully around. "I'm fine."
"No you're not." Pinkie's attempt to be huffy was, like all her speech, cheerful. "What's eating you? Er, bad choice of words. Oopsie."
Pinkie's nervous giggle was ignored. "I am. I'm only considering what Twilight said. I certainly don't remember being a Princess."
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. "Hell, what do you remember? You haven't spent much time looking into your past, have you?"
"Now that you mention it, no. There are things I do know however, most of which I can't tell you." Fuyu looked up as something wet hit her; it was beginning to drizzle. The edge of the silence made her drop her gaze again. "I don't like it any more than you do," she added, replying to Rainbow's annoyed glower.
"Great, more confidential crap." She shrugged with a smile. "Oh well. I'm sure it's no big deal."
"Mm." The subject needed to be changed, and right now. Fuyu picked up an apple and examined it. "Who's buying all these apples? The market in town can't need so many."
"They're buying some, but most are getting put on a train to Canterlot," Fluttershy explained, nudging one gently away from her foot. "We help Applejack bring in the last harvest each year because, well, it's usually a lot of work."
"I see." Fuyu looked east, but couldn't find the city due to the clouds. A few loud crunches from Pinkie's direction made her turn.
"They really love these things up there!" she said, around a mouthful of fruit. Rainbow's unhappy visage went completely unnoticed. "You can get an apple cake from some fancy bakery place up there! An apple cake! How do they even do that?"
The athlete jabbed at her unhappily. "Stop eating the merchandise!"
Before they could start bickering too much, Applejack returned with the truck. Twilight was with her, but Rarity was not. They both got out. The librarian kept a fair distance and refused to make eye contact with Fuyu.
"Gimme another load, Fu," the blonde directed with a sweep of her arm.
"Very well." Apples began to fly again as she wielded her power. This time she pulled several from across the creek, which danced slowly through the tree trunks. Once the bed was full again, the blonde got back in the truck, but Twilight couldn't follow her without being intercepted. "We need to talk later," Fuyu said, lowly.
She cut her eyes up at the pale woman and frowned. "I know."
Even with Fuyu's help, the last harvest still took about three hours to finish. Most of this time was spent by Rarity and Twilight crating the apples. The pale woman had offered to see if she could lift and fly the truck back and forth to speed things up, but Applejack politely declined. The group broke up one woman at a time, until finally the blonde excused herself to go see to her ill sister.
Alone with Fuyu, Twilight felt incredibly awkward about her vocal slip, but felt the best way to deal with it was head-on. "So, do you want to talk now, or later?" she asked, preparing herself for liftoff.
"At home." Fuyu's hands lit up with black magic as she detached from the grass. "I won't go so high or fast this time."
Twilight yelped with surprise as she too began to hover. "Right. Thanks."
Instead of shooting straight up and off as they had on the trip here, Fuyu lead them on a high-speed float through the trees, searching for the dirt road that lead to the highway. Once they were following the asphalt back to town, she looked back at the librarian. "How's this?"
Twilight laughed with nervousness. Her knees were bent to prevent her shoes from catching the ground, even though Fuyu had her suspended firmly. "You didn't have to go this low!"
She smirked. "Sorry. I have an ulterior motive for this."
"What?" Twilight directed her efforts to figuring out what that was, but didn't have a chance before they entered the town. The persistent drizzle hadn't stopped many from completing their errands; the sidewalks were laden with people, especially in downtown. They all turned to stare as Fuyu and Twilight came hovering along.
"Watch their faces," the pale woman whispered.
She did, intently, and was surprised with what she saw. There were still pockets of disdain, but that feeling had been mostly replaced by something softer, something almost reverent in nature. As they went the people on the sidewalks parted, some of which waved, and most of which were smiling. Almost everyone said hello.
"Wow." Twilight grunted with the landing as Fuyu dismissed her power. "Uh...guys? What's going on here?"
"You should have just told us she was a lost Princess," someone in the crowd said.
"Where did you hear that?" Twilight's brow furrowed; she already knew the answer.
Bon Bon pushed through the throng with Lyra on her arm. "From the Mayor's office!"
"Uh..." Backing away, her eyes landed on Fuyu's. The questioning look made her even more nervous. "Now, listen. It's not a confirmed fact, just a theory."
"Oh, you. We'll keep it on the down low," Lyra winked. "Seriously, though! You should have just told us!" She pointed a finger at Fuyu.
The pale woman blinked and went about deflecting. "I was...trying to be discreet."
Twilight hid her eyes as a cheerful clamor erupted. "Oh boy. Fuyu, let's just go home."
"Yes, that's a good idea." The crowd scattered as they took to the air.
The moment they had gotten insde the library, Twilight lost control of her mouth. "I can't believe she said anything! After I specifically told her not..." she trailed off, swallowing when she saw Fuyu.
Her stance was more imposing then usual, even as she leaned on a support pillar. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Fuyu, I swear it's just a theory." She sat down in a chair nearby and slumped over. "Your crystals have the metal trim of royalty. No one else bears it. The amulet gave them to you and I don't know why."
Almost automatically, Fuyu began to pace. Her mind drifted back to what Trixie had said yesterday about her possible relation to Celestia and Luna, despite the latter's denial. "Everyone certainly seems to think I'm a Princess."
"Your power...only three women I know have ever been able to do things on that scale." Twilight raised up and groaned. "This is the Mayor's fault. I asked her to keep quiet."
Words failed them until Fuyu ceased her meandering and placed her hands on her hips. "Hmm. I had an interesting exchange about my past with Rainbow earlier. How little I've looked into it since I came here."
"Huh?" Twilight couldn't look away when their eyes met. "And?"
"I think it's time I start looking."
The librarian nodded gravely. "We need to go to Canterlot...but how can we avoid attracting attention?"
A frigid smile twisted Fuyu's lips. "There is no need to rush in. I am endlessly patient. Let's allow a reason to come to us."
Like most of Ponyville, Trixie had heard the rumors about Fuyu's supposed royal blood. She had also been part of the group that had met her and Twilight in town that afternoon, but the magician had taken great pains to avoid drawing attention.
Now back in her apartment, she immediately fired off a message to Luna; after all, she had been drafted to be her eyes and ears.
There's a rumor in town that Fuyu is a Princess. I just thought you should know.
Not intending to have a conversation, she set her phone aside and began to ruminate. "I wonder if that's what was in the documents." It didn't fit with Fuyu's reaction, though, so she tossed the notion aside. "Why would that make her angry? I'd be thrilled to find out I were a royal."
Sighing, she dismissed the whole train of thought and turned on her TV. "I don't even know why I care. I'm just happy to be-" Her phone emitted a chime. "-alive. Ahem." She picked it up and looked at the screen.
Where did this rumor originate?
Trixie tilted her head and started to type. I heard it was from the Mayor's office.
The phone wasn't even fully out of her hand when a reply came. That woman needs to be put in her place.
"Whoa. I've hit a nerve." Against her better judgment, she got curious again and sent a message back. Why?
Stop asking questions, Trixie.
A cold pit formed in her stomach. After tossing the phone away, she hugged herself and glanced about. "One of these days, Princess, I'll actually take that advice."
