For our once-fearful hero, it's been a long time coming. Eleven years. Well, like, maybe a year or two for us, but for him, it's been a long time of eleven years. I'd do a big foreshadow driven speech, but I'm sort of still trying to wake up. I missed this morning's episode, and now I'm pretty well bored and about to eat 'breakfast', play Jade Empire, then spend a few hours writing for something (Not yet sure what). And with that said, here we go.
Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
…
"Okay, now it's just waiting for another few weeks, and it'll be cider season." I said. I marked my calendar with a small smile. I turned and walked into the kitchen to get a drink, but as I opened my fridge, the front door opened and I saw Spike running in.
"Ace, read, the letter!" He panted. "Gotta, get to, the train!" He set the letter on the counter and ran out while I went to it.
"Thanks!" I called as he ran outside. I looked at the letter. "Why send a letter through Spike?" I opened it with my magic and adjusted my glasses. "Now then… What have we here…" My eyes widened slightly at the sight of the seals on the sides. "It's summer already… That means…" I leaned in. "Dear Ace Stormrider, you are cordially invited to attend the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza…" I read silently before getting near the end. "Your attendance is requested early, one week in advance, to assist in the planning of the wedding itself. You will be responsible for assisting Twilight Sparkle in making sure everything is going according to the schedule, but you will have a secondary task that will be explained when you arrive in Canterlot…" I stared at the letter. "I'll have to fly to catch up." I quickly turned and flew up to my room, getting my travel pack. Luckily I kept it pre-packed with a spare cloak, my circus mask, and a few other things to hide my identity around Canterlot. 'Let's see, wedding… If Twilight's involved in keeping everything on schedule, I imagine the others are working in their respective roles, so Rarity is likely going to be working on the dresses, and quite possibly suits for the groomstallions. But just in case…' I turned and opened my trunk and removed my silver suit from it, along with the silver masks, the full and the half ones. I looked them over briefly before carefully packing them. "Okay, with that, I also have this, cape she made…" A silver cape designed go with it, heavy enough on the edges to keep it from moving in a breeze, but also light enough to not impede me when I deployed my wings. 'What else, I'm missing, something…' I shook my head. 'No, nothing. Guess it's time to go.' I put my case onto my saddle before putting on the circus mask and trotting downstairs. I pulled on my salamander cloak before walking out and locking the door.
"Hey, Ace, why do ya have your mask?" Applebloom asked. I looked at her and smiled before removing it.
"I've been invited to a royal wedding." I said. "And apparently I'm going to be helping somehow, as well." She reared up.
"That's the coolest thing I've ever heard of!" She said. "What are ya helpin' with?"
"I'm not sure, I'll find out when I get there, apparently." I said as I put the mask back on.
"Well, bring back pictures, and a souvenir if you can." She said.
"I'll get everything tripled for Scoots and Sweetie." I said as I turned.
"Bye." She said. I nodded before taking off toward Canterlot. I saw the train already starting, so I smiled.
'If I were as confident as Sky or Rainbow Dash, I'd try to beat the train to the station.' I thought. 'Yeah, let's give it a shot. I'll beat the train to the station, and meet them there.' I flapped harder and gained altitude before flying around. 'Better land at the station.' I spun once before speeding up. 'This one's for you, Sky.'
…
"Hey, you made it." A familiar voice said. I turned from the guard to see Shining Armor walking over. I saw the look that he expected I was going to bow, and he'd then say I didn't have to, so as he got closer, I held my hoof up.
"Yeah, I'd have been here later, but I didn't catch the train." I said. "Had to beat it here." He laughed as he bumped my hoof with his. "So, in about a week, you're getting married. I hadn't heard a thing."
"Well, I know you saw the barrier." He said. "There's a threat to Equestria, and they're right outside that barrier. I, don't know who they are, but we know they're dangerous." He put his hoof to his forehead, under his horn. "It's my job to keep the barrier up for as long as possible, but, the royal wedding is still going through, to give hope to the citizens of Canterlot. It, it's helping to keep their minds off of the danger." I nodded.
"I, can understand that." I said. "And, on that, the letter said that I'd find out what my part will be once I got here, or, sooner or later after I arrived." He nodded and gestured for me to follow him.
"It's not a completely vital part, but it's important to the princesses." He said. I stared as we walked. "Yeah, both Celestia and Luna consider this very important. And it's all thanks to Twily, really. She's the one that came up with this, and she figured out how to get it done."
"I, hope I don't disappoint." I said. "What is it I'm to do?"
"There's an important former student of Princess Celestia's living here in Canterlot." He said. "I didn't even know until she told me to tell you to get her. It's amazing, because she came up with some powerful spells, and amazing theories." I felt strange right then, something settling heavily in the pit of my stomach, slowing me down. "It's… It's amazing, she's Twily's idol, my idol, heck, the idol of any Unicorn that's serious about magic."
"All of a sudden, I'm regretting a promise I made." I said quietly.
"Why?" He asked.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here." I said. "And I'm going to make a wild guess." We stopped at an overlook by the garden. "I'm being asked, for some reason or another, to, invite, Kerrigan Lightstrider."
"Yeah, how'd you know?" He asked. I sighed heavily and sat down. "What is it?"
"I, asked Princess Celestia to tell Twilight and the others, about my parents, their names." I said. "I made a promise that the next chance I had, I'd come to Canterlot… Technically that was last time, but this was the specific time Princess Celestia wanted me here."
"Why do you regret that?" He asked.
"Kerrigan Lightstrider is, my mother." I said, making sure he heard it, but still somewhat quiet. He just stared, but I nodded. "Yeah, big surprise. I'm a Pegasus, she's a Unicorn."
"Y-yeah…" He said.
"My father is a Pegasus, Blitz Stormrider." I said.
"Hey, I know him." He said. "I see him every year at the Grand Galloping Gala." I nodded.
"So did I, last year." I said. "It, had been ten years up to that point, that I'd last seen him…"
"Wait, you're their son, the son that…" He started.
"Ran away to join the circus." I finished. He was silent.
"I think there's more here, than you want to share right now." He said.
"Ask Twilight, tell her I told you it's okay." I said. "She'll tell you why I ran away…" I took a breath and sighed. "Do I have to go without the mask, or…"
"Well, yeah, that's how Princess Celestia wanted you to." He said. "She said, don't try to hide who you are. Be honest and, up front… I didn't understand that at first, but now it makes sense."
"Context makes a lot of things make sense." I said. After a moment, I stood up. "So, no real limit on time, just, invite her before the end of the week?" He nodded silently and I just stood there. "Well, I, will ask the girls to put aside some time, and, maybe they can help me. With their help, well, look how far I've come already. If they're with me, then, there's not much I can't do." He smiled a little.
"Oh, here, before I forget, here's a key to your room." He said. "I say a key because, you're sharing the room with Rainbow Dash. We uh, sort of ran out of guest rooms."
"I doubt we'll have any problems." I said. "We get along well enough." He nodded as he put the key in my pack. "I guess I'll head up and start planning this out, maybe brainstorm something to give Rarity an idea for a tuxedo, if she wants to make one for me, and knowing her as I do, she will." He laughed but stopped at my expression. "I'm not kidding, she sees me as something of a model for her stallion's clothing line. I have a silver suit she made because she wanted me to be in a fashion show." After a moment we both laughed as we started walking.
…
I rolled the scroll a little while the door opened, and I looked over as all of the girls walked in, and they seemed surprised when I raised my other hoof.
"Hey, sorry I didn't meet you at the station." I said. "Had a, lot on my mind." They walked in, greeting me, and I rolled the scroll open. "So, I heard what's going on, so I kind of did a little writing for a few speeches, crossed out a lot."
"Why?" Twilight asked. "You're usually pretty good with words."
"Well, it's…" I said. "It's kind of, something I wasn't totally ready for." I looked at her. "Is there any chance, you, sent a letter to the princess, regarding my family?" They all suddenly looked away, as if they'd each spotted something interesting, and I saw that Applejack was just about ready to give in right away. "I'm not mad or anything, just, curious."
"I, I'm sorry." Twilight said. "But, when you asked her to send us the letter with their names, we wanted to know more. She didn't send anything back, but we, sort of, mentioned, that we hoped that we could help you, patch things up." They all looked nervous, but I just looked at the scroll with my ideas on it.
"Well, it's good you want to help, because, I'm going to need it." I said. I looked at them. "I was hoping we could find some time to visit them so I wouldn't have to go it alone. I'd rather be confident when I go home so I can just, apologize for leaving so abruptly without even trying to talk it out."
"Of course we'll help." Rainbow said. "Who do you think we are?"
"I know how important family is, so I'll be there." Applejack said.
"Me too, and, instead of a big party, I'll just bring a camera for a reunion picture." Pinkie said. They all agreed, and I smiled before looking at the scroll as they walked over. "So-o-o, what's this?" She leaned over and read it before wincing. "Wow, this is what you were thinking about talking about with your dad?"
"It's been a long time." I said. "And I crossed almost all of it out." Rainbow walked over and put her foreleg over my shoulder.
"Ace, this kind of thing won't work if you plan for it like this." She said. "Just, walk up to the door, knock, and go from there. You're smart enough that you can think on your hooves, and I bet you'll know just what to say to help your dad understand."
"And we won't let Twi or Rainbow go all loopy just 'cause they're fans o' your parents." Applejack said. Twilight and Rainbow blushed and laughed as I smiled.
"We just need to decide when to go." Twilight said.
"I think, the best day would be tomorrow before lunch." I said thoughtfully. "That way, we'd get it done early, and, possibly do so while eating." They all laughed, so I smiled a little. "Sort of, cross two things off the list for the day so we could get back to the wedding preparation without losing any serious time." They nodded.
"Sounds good." Twilight said. "We'll meet you by their house. Just write down the address and I'll copy it, and we'll all do our best to be there. If something comes up, then I'll come and let you know and, we can plan from there?" I nodded and they all smiled.
"So, uh, with that, what else are you going to do?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, if I can help in any way, just let me know." I said. "Otherwise, I'll just try to help where I can elsewhere, decorations and such, maybe help Shining Armor decide on his outfit? Sort of, get a stallion's sense in." Rarity nodded.
"Yes, you do have a good eye for fashion." She said.
"Not like yours, Rarity, but yeah, he's pretty good at, just about anything, really." Twilight said. I looked at the paper and adjusted my glasses before rolling up the paper.
"Hey, I just thought o' somethin'." AJ said. We looked at her. "Ace, it's been a long time, so maybe you could bring some pictures of the things we've done together, and we can all tell a few stories about what you've done to help us, sort of tell your father that even though he made ya run, it led to this, makin' great friends an' findin' a place to call home." I put my hoof to my chin. "After all, most ponies leave home to find their place in the world, and you got a head start, and got to see a lot of Equestria, so you experienced a lot of the world. I'm sure your pa's got to respect that."
"And he basically pushed me to do it." I said. "Yeah… I think, that could…"
"I think I have an idea." Twilight said. "Instead of just going home and saying it was because of Princess Celestia, you could spend the week with them. I'm sure we can get by on our own, but this is important to you." I nodded, looking at the paper again. "I think that after we leave, you should stay there, and talk about all that's happened in your life since you've left, the good and the bad, and all the amazing sights you must have seen…"
"Well, I, have seen a lot of incredible things." I said, raising my head as I fixed my glasses again. "Rainbow Sand Beach, Peachwater Falls, I've even been to Manehatten and Las Pegasus, two of the most amazing cities in the world… For a nine year old, that's pretty impressive to cross off of a list of things to see."
…
I stood before the large white wood door, and I checked the nearby clock on a stand. It was almost time, and still I had no signs of the girls. But as I was about to give up, I heard panting and familiar footfalls. I looked to see Spike as he panted, leaning over and holding up a scroll.
"Ace, Twilight, sent me to, give you this…" He said, breathing hard. I got down onto my knees and gestured.
"Set it down and climb on." I said. He nodded and set the scroll down before climbing onto my cloak, leaning to rest.
"I, uh, well, just read it." He said. "Man, this town is a lot bigger than I remember." I unrolled the scroll and looked it over.
'Dear Ace, it seems Princess Cadenza doesn't approve of anything.' I read silently. 'So none of us could make it. Applejack needs to fine tune her recipe, Pinkie's working to make the reception a little more age appropriate, Rarity has to adjust the dresses with a little more frill, Fluttershy needs to get one of the birds in tune, and I have to make sure they all do it as fast as possible. Rainbow Dash is the only one exempt since practicing her Rainboom would make it seem less special if she did it twenty times a day for a week. We're so sorry, but we promise, we'll make it up somehow. In the meantime, I hope Spike can help you. We're all with you in spirit, good luck.'
"You know, this Fire Salamander leather is good enough to take a nap on." Spike said. I laughed quietly as I put the scroll away and stood up. "So, ready to go in, or, should we wait for tomorrow?"
"I think, it's been too long already." I said. I started walking. "The girls are so confident that I can do this, I, think I owe it to them, to be brave enough to make things right with my parents." I stopped at the door and raised my hoof. "Here goes nothing, but eleven years of nerves, and I'm not about to let that come back to me." He nodded and I knocked a few times before setting my hoof down. After a moment, the door opened and I saw my father.
"Ah, I expect this is about the royal wedding." He said.
"Kind of." I said.
"Invitations?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah, yeah there is an invitation, but…" I started.
"Well, come in, I'll let my wife know you're here to invite her." He said. He walked in and I looked at Spike.
"Think we should have led off with our names?" He asked.
"Yeah, that would have been a smarter approach." I said. I looked in and walked, closing the door as Spike looked around.
"Wow, it's a lot more, humble, than I thought it'd be." Spike said.
"Most couriers say so." Father said. "Can I see the invitation?"
"Actually, I just, need to say something." I said.
"Ah, implied…" He started.
"No, it's not about the invitation." I said quickly. "It's, about me."
"Oh?" He asked. "Oh, a tip, of course, we always…"
"Mr. Stormrider, this isn't a courier thing." Spike said. "It's about, him, this guy." He jumped down. "This has been a long time coming, so, just, let him say what he needs to say."
"Oh?" Father asked. "Well, if that's what you're here for." I sighed and adjusted my glasses, but as I looked at him, his expression changed. At my stare, he shook his head. "Sorry, you, reminded me of someone… Someone I haven't seen in a long time…"
"I, suppose I should." I said. "After all, I think I am that someone." His eyes widened slightly. "It's been, a while, dad." He stared for a moment, but as I went to speak, he settled on his knees, his eyes watering profusely. "D-dad?"
"It, you can't be…" He said. "Eleven years… I, I thought, I knew, I'd never…" He shook his head. "No, this is… Just, leave. I'm not about to listen to someone pretending to be my son. My son ran away, and I've been hoping, and praying that I'd get a chance to see him one time, to apologize." He pointed at the door as he stood up. "I'm not about to let some young colt waltz in and try to…" I opened my wings as Spike shifted to hide behind my front leg, and my father stopped cold, staring.
"I'm not pretending to be me, dad." I said shakily. "It's really me. I'm, I came here, to talk to you, and mom." Without warning, he just slumped to the ground, visibly passed out. "Dad?" We walked over to him and I knelt as Spike leaned in.
"He's still breathing." He said. "I think he was just, overwhelmed."