Concerns
I am so sorry I didn't update last weekend, was busy and suffering from my first ever writer's block. But I'm back and ready to tackle this! The raptors worry about Jade and Riley while Celestia reflects on her memories.
Tyra, Raven, Lapis and Fern wandered around the castle grounds, not really having anything to do since Jade and Riley hours ago. The beta raptor snorted and gazed out at the horizon beyond the Everfree Forest, hoping to see a familiar black dragon fly in, but she saw nothing. "They will be fine." the beta raptor turned her head to gaze at her youngest sister. Fern stared back at her with yellow eyes as the forest green raptor chittered softly to her beta and older sister.
She was worried for her alpha and sister too, but she needed to remain calm otherwise she would start going crazy with worry and might snap at her sisters. "I know, but I can't help but worry for them."
"We're all worried for them, but there is not much we can do since Jade told us to remain here." Raven chirped softly. The sun was beginning to set in the sky, telling the raptors that two hours from now, it would turn dark and they would be fed their dinner. Thanks to the magic in this world, they had an endless supply of different meat like, deer, badger, fox, and cow stored in a shed away from the castle near the small wooded area!
(I apologize for the confusion about the shed and that I didn't mention it in the previous chapters. The shed was built when Jade, Riley, the raptors and Shadow first arrived in Equestria and the two alicorn sisters cast protection spells on the shed to protect it against bad weather, odor spells to stop the meat from smelling and a strong restocking spell so that whenever the raptors, Jade and Riley, when they were in raptor form, went to grab a slab of meat, it would always restock so they never ran out. Again, sorry for the confusion.)
"What if Riley gets hurt? What if Jade and Shadow don't get to her in time?" Lapis chirped worriedly. Tyra turned her head and hissed softly at her younger sister. "Enough! Riley is safe with Jade and Shadow, neither of them would let Riley out of their sight. Like I said, there is nothing we can do since we are not there."
Deciding to ignore the gloomy feelings of their alpha and sister possibly in trouble, the raptors thought of the time Jade and Lara found them and Riley in that alley 5 years ago "It feels like it was just yesterday that Jade found us and brought us to her home. We can't thank her enough for accepting us into her home." Raven chittered, looking at her sisters.
"I know, she has taken very good care of us and the best we can do is remain here and look out for her mother and Aunt while Jade and Riley are away." Fern chirped. "Yes, we will protect them with our lives." Tyra snorted softly to her sisters.
Footsteps could be heard coming their way and the raptors all turned their heads towards the source, it was Luna in human form, making her way over to them. The raptors jogged over to the Moon Princess and saw that she had been crying due to her red eyes and flushed cheek, Tyra chittered softly in concern and nuzzled Luna's cheek. The Moon Princess wasted no time in patting each raptors head comfortingly, knowing that they were worried for their pack members. "I am fine, you four. And I worry too." Luna murmured softly as the beta raptor shoved her head into her arms, purring softly.
Due to being raised by Jade since they were babies, the raptors possessed empathy, sympathy and loyalty to those they cared about and showed affection. They saw Celestia and Luna as pack just as much as Jade and Riley. They loved the two Princesses dearly and were fiercely protective of them and would lay down their lives to keep them safe!
Luna stared at the horizon as the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky. She knew there was no point in trying to convince Celestia to go looking for Jade and Riley now as it would be dark in two hours. She sat down on the grass to watch the sunset as the four raptors curled around her, all of them watching the setting sun for an half an hour till it started to get dark by 5:15 and Luna raised the moon into the sky as the sun went to sleep for the night.
Four pieces of deer meat appeared in front of the raptors and they dragged the meat away towards the wooded area to eat so they didn't disturb any ponies that might walk by and see them eating raw meat. It was another bit of the magic cast on the shed.
Once the raptors had eaten their dinner, Luna entered the castle with them walking beside her, she enjoyed their company just as much as she enjoyed her niece and grand-niece's company. As she walked past the hallway where hers and Celestia's bedrooms were, she stopped and stared at the sun painted door, debating on whether or not to check on her sister. As much as she was angry with her sister and herself, Luna knew that Celestia could easily forget to feed herself when she was upset or angry, and so Luna decided to go to the kitchen and grab herself and her sister some dinner.
In her bedroom, Celestia had stopped crying by now and was sitting on her bed, head bowed in shame. Her eyes were red from crying and her face flushed. She could remember the day Jade had asked about her father for the first time and how it ended.
A five year old Jade giggled as she used her ice magic to create statues and an ice rink over the small pond in the garden. Celestia, on a break from her duties, came out to see her daughter playing with her magic and having fun. She smiled, watching the scene with pride. Spotting her mother, Jade raced for the Sun Princess, who quickly changed into human form, something she did often and caught her excited child. "Hello, my darling!" she greeted, holding Jade in her arms. "Hi mummy."
"What have you been up to?" Celestia questioned gently. "I made some statues and a snowman. Look!" Jade gushed excitedly. Celestia chuckled softly as she gently put her five year old down. "Really?"
Jade nodded, a large smile lighting up her face. She gently pulled her mother over to the snowman she had built and Celestia gasped at how detailed it looked. "Have you given him a name?" she asked.
"I'll name him…Glitterpuff." Jade said proudly. Celestia laughed at the name, but she was happy her child was enjoying using her powers.
The sight melted Celestia's heart and she knelt down, wrapping her child in her arms. "Mummy?" Jade asked softly. Celestia drew back, eyeing Jade as she continued. "Do I have a daddy?"
The question was an innocent one, asked by many children who lived with only one parent. Often if they lived with their mother, they would ask about their fathers. Celestia froze as she heard the question, not sure exactly how to answer that. "Um..." for once, the Princess of the Sun was at a loss.
"I-I can't answer that, my gem." Celestia answered, her heart clenching with sadness her mind went back to the only person she'd ever loved long ago! "But why, mummy?" Jade asked, becoming more persistent. It was normal for a child her age to ask questions about her other parent, but for Celestia, it brought back terrible memories of how she had to leave her lover forever to rule Equestria with Luna, it decision left her heartbroken and for weeks after she had often found herself alone in her room, the room her lover shared with her. But she soon found out that she was pregnant with Jade and had to compose herself in order to be the mother her daughter wanted her to be.
"Because I said so!" Celestia snapped, her pain and sadness converting into anger, an emotion she never used upon Jade, but now was broken. The five year old stared at her mother, open-mouthed with tears brimming in her green eyes. "Now please stop asking me?"
Jade let a sob slip past and Celestia's face lost its anger, replaced by horror that she had just yelled at her child for the first time in her life. "Jade...I..." she reached out a hand to her daughter, but the five year old turned and ran from her mother and into the castle, holding back sobs until she got to her bedroom, throwing herself onto her bed and crying into her pillow. Celestia stayed where she was, horrified and angry with herself that she had upset Jade by yelling at her over a simple question. A question she was not yet ready to answer truthfully!
Celestia sighed softly. She would forever regret that day, she had raised her voice to Jade all because she wanted to know if she had a father. Celestia didn't want to answer that due to the pain still being fresh despite the years that had passed since she sent Volaris, Firo and Aydia away from the castle. It had only been a few weeks since she sent them away when she found out that she was pregnant again, this time with Jade and she had remained in her pony form this time for her pregnancy, her daughter had been born an alicorn baby with her father's eyes and hair, something that had caused Celestia's heart to break due to the strong resemblance Jade had to Volaris. But she'd also been born with elemental magic, ice magic to be exact and knowing her child might have trouble controlling her magic as an alicorn, Celestia had permanently changed Jade into a human so she could better control her powers and was able to see her first steps, her first word and first smile, something she hadn't been able to see with Firo and Aydia.
Then when Jade was five years old, she had been sleeping in her bedroom, unaware that a dragon black as night had landed on the balcony attached to her bedroom and snuck inside without making a sound, and stolen Jade from her bed. Luna had gone to check on Jade and once she found the bed empty with no sign of her niece, she teleported herself to her sister's bedroom and woken her up, the two sisters raced to the bedroom and Celestia screamed in horror and pain upon seeing her child was no where to be found. She collapsed to the ground and started to cry. Luna tried a tracking spell to locate Jade and when she couldn't locate her missing niece, her eyes filled with tears and both sisters cried over the loss of Jade.
She heard a knock at her bedroom door and Luna's voice was heard. "Celestia, I have brought dinner for you." the door was opened with dark blue magic to reveal Luna, levitating a tray with a plate of roast and veggies plus a cup of tea in front of her as she entered her sister's bedroom. Luna brought the tray over to Celestia's bedside table and put it down. Celestia glanced at the tray and looked away. "Celestia, you must eat." Luna insisted. "I'm not hungry." Celestia answered. But her stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, protesting about it being empty.
"I beg to differ." Luna said with a smirk and Celestia sighed, grabbing the plate with her magic and beginning to eat the food while sipping on her tea. She did admit that she felt better after eating, but still felt so ashamed about lying to Jade. "I understand you feel ashamed, Celestia, but you can't sit here and feel sorry for yourself. You must go out and find your daughter and granddaughter first thing in the morning." Luna told her sister firmly.
Celestia looked over at Luna, before she nodded. Luna was right, she couldn't sit here and feel sorry for herself. She needed to find Jade and Riley first thing in the morning. "Thank you for bringing my dinner to me, Luna." she thanked her younger sister, who gave her a smile and hug before leaving the bedroom with the now empty plate and cup, taking the tray back to the kitchen.
Celestia got up and walked over to her balcony doors, opening with a flick of her magic and stepped out into the warm night air. She looked down as tears leaked from her eyes as her thoughts went to the man she loved. Oh how she missed him dearly and her twins, how she longed to see them again.
(I do not own this song, it belongs to it's rightful owners. I am just using it for this chapter, I hope that's okay.)
And what if I never kiss your lips again
Or feel the touch of your sweet embrace
How would I ever go on
Without you there's no place to belong
As she sang, she spread her wings and lifted from the ground, flying up towards the clouds as she shifted into her human form and conjured up an illusion of Volaris, his smiling face, handsome face and loving green eyes that Jade had inherited from him. The illusion held out a hand to her and she took it with a sad smile, continuing to sing as the two danced in the clouds.
Well, someday love is gonna lead you back to me
But 'till it does I'll have an empty heart
So I'll just have to believe
Somewhere out there you're thinking of me
Until the day I let you go
Until we say our next hello
It's not good-bye
'Till I see you again
I'll be right here rememberin' when
And if time is on our side
There'll be no tears to cry
On down the road
There is one thing I can't deny
It's not good-bye
You'd think I'd be strong enough to make it through
And rise above when the rain falls down
But it's so hard to be strong
When you've been missin' somebody so long
It's just a matter of time I'm sure
But time takes time and I can't hold on
So won't you try as hard as you can
To put my broken heart together again
Until the day I let you go
Until we say our next hello
It's not good-bye
'Till I see you again
I'll be right here rememberin' when
And if time is on our side
There'll be no tears to cry
On down the road
There is one thing I can't deny
It's not good-bye
She reached out to him as she finished the song and he disappeared in a shimmer of gold magic. Celestia hung her head as more tears fell from her eyes and she returned to her bedroom, shutting her balcony doors and drawing the curtains shut before she took off her crown, necklace and slippers, sliding into her bed and falling asleep thinking of her family.
It was early the next morning as Celestia, awake and having eaten her breakfast, headed out to the gardens of the castle. "Celestia?!" she stopped and turned to find Luna walking over with the raptors behind her. The two sisters embraced each other tightly. "Bring them back and be safe, Celestia." Luna said, worried for her older sister. Celestia smiled gently. "I will, you be safe too, Luna."
The Moon Princess chuckled. "I will be with them around." she gestured to the raptor pack that stood beside her. Tyra chittered and snorted, tail swaying behind her as she regarded Celestia with red, concerned eyes. "I will be fine, Tyra. You protect Luna when I cannot." she asked and the beta raptor stepped forward to nuzzle Celestia's cheek. "Be careful out there."
Celestia smiled at her sister and the raptors before she opened her wings and lifted into the sky, flying away and outside the borders of Equestria to search for her daughter and granddaughter, and return them to Canterlot safe and sound.
Finally done with this chapter. Again, I am so sorry about the late update as writer's block was being a bitch to me! I hope you all like this chapter.