Post by Derpy on May 18, 2015 17:22:37 GMT -5
Back into dreamland, folks. This time, we're delving into the mind of a royal champion...
The dream is played by Mare Crisium, who is played by Berry Punch.
Crystal Palace
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The Foyer of the Crystal Palace is a large hall. White marble walls are punctuated at regular intervals by vertical shafts of raw blue crystal that extend up to the vaulted ceiling. To compliment this, long purple drapes are used to frame the doors along the length of the hall.
A large round room, dominates one end of the hall: a multi-levelled rotunda that seems to have some neo-gothic inspiration in the design. At the other end of the hall is the Throne Room, typically used for ceremonial occasions and celebrations. Side doors along the hall in between lead into a ballroom, a dining room and other function spaces.
High above, skylights in the vaulted ceiling let natural light pour into the space. Radiating out from each of the skylights above, a design is carved into the dark marble, and inlaid with white crystal. In stark contrast to the typical angular designs, this pattern is more organic; flowing in whorls and spirals out to each of the blue crystal pillars.
The snowflake motif, the symbol of the Crystal Empire, is the design at in the centre of the floor, situated right above where the Crystal Heart spins. For a moment your gaze is captured, following the intricate detail, until you look away. A glance back reveals that something has changed. It is a subtle change, yet it is almost as if the pattern itself were like a real snowflake: never the same pattern twice.
To one side of the hall, two sets of stairs lead up to private chambers and other rooms of the Palace, while sets of stairs down lead out into the Crystal Plaza below. Another set of stairs lead out to the Sky Bridge and down to the Crystal Arena.
The opposite side of the hall, an alcove lined with seating surrounds a set of large glass doors that lead out to the grand balcony above the Crystal Plaza.
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Virga wasn't aware of it, but he was in fact dreaming about walking the halls of the Crystal Palace. For him, it was a regular visit, a thing he did often after the journey he shared with Cadance. His hooves lightly clapped against the floor in the evening sunlight in pink and blue hues, though against the sheer blackness if Virga they amounted to mere toning in his fur. He'd arrived not long ago on the train, that dreaded contraption he still didn't trust, and had yet to meet with the Princess. His Princess. Although Luna was technically, and factually, his Princess, Cadance 'was' the Princess of the Empire and it counted for much too.
The corridor seems to be going on for an awfully long distance. The sound of voices comes from around the corner of a small side passage with moldings framing it like a mitre-shaped portal. Businesslike low speech, then laughter. Ahead, the main hallway in all its huge grandeur turns, with mirror-like crystals reflecting its next twist. It definitely shouldn't be going on this long, should it?
Virga didn't remember the corridor being so long, though Cadance may have had alterations made to the Palace structure since the last time they met. His ears perked, listening. Typical speech, typical laughter. And where were the Guards? Normally, they'd be patrolling or standing at checkpoints. On second thought, Cadance rarely needed the protection of other Princesses, and whenever he was about the Guards were often sent to rest.
But then, she doesn't know he's about, does she? The palace is mostly quiet--really, the only sounds are his own hoofsteps and heartbeat, a quiet tinkling from windchimes hung high next to slitted windows open to the evening breeze, and the pocket of speech around the corner. Changing shades of green and violet and primorse light play over the mottled white-silver floor with its many commingled reflections as the hanging crystals turn. The sun was setting when he disembarked from the train, wasn't it? And it's still setting now. How long has it been sunset?
Virga stopped. The angle of the sun hadn't changed since he stepped off the train and that only meant one thing. Yet, Celestia was not disturbed. He'd know. If something happened to her, he'd be among the first that would..feel..it. The pegasus eyed the chimes above and then floor. Had Cadance tasked a unicorn to create an illusion of the sun not setting so fast to preserve the atmosphere? It was a lovely atmosphere.
Indeed, Virga feels no disturbance relating to Celestia, or Luna. But as soon as he thinks that thought, he hears the unmistakable sound of Celestia's ringing, melodic laughter. Bouncing off the walls, up ahead. And the clinking of glassware, or some such. Followed by more tinkling of the chimes.
Celestia? What was she doing in the Palace? As far as he knew, she was back in Canterlot, tending to a local celebration with foreign dignitaries. Virga quietly hoofed down the corridor, curious to know. What was it? A toast. Over some...thing. He breathed once and shifted his wings. At times, Celestia had her moments of strangeness.
It's several twists and turn more before, suddenly, sooner than expected, the laugh returns from another one of those little framed portals to the left. This one is small--no taller than Virga at its pointed apex. Celestia migt have fit through her, but she would have had to duck and crouch. Then the sound of Cadance's voice spills out, too quiet for the words to be heard, but clearly animated. There is a further sound of furnature shifting, and the smell of sandalwood sconces.
The portals were new. The Palace didn't have many or rather, any, the first time he visited in his life. Virga stood before the portal, listening to the indistinguishable mumbles he couldn't make out. Slowly he stepped forward, not wanting to announce his presence so suddenly as to startle either of them. Hah! Startle Celestia? She knew where he was no matter where he went...
Colorful dots and lines of light drift across the walls as the Crystal heart outside rotates slowly on its pedastal.
A servant carrying a tray of canapes and mango lemonade comes up behind Virga in the entrance. She pauses, surprised by his presence there and unsure how to proceed, as he is blocking the way in.
Virga blinked and slowly moved inwards, away from the servant and further into the portal. Best not to keep the servant from serving. That was bad form, but he wasn't about to back into her either.
The passageway is narrow, though. Thelight-green-coated, pink-haired serving mare seems wide-eyed and uncomfortable about this. The sconces threaten to bang Virga's head if he isn't careful, and the scent of sweet and savory things growns stronger the further along the way he goes. It's not obvious how the servant can get past him, but she's afraid to ask.
Virga ducked down and continued through. Exactly how long was this passage? It was abnormal. And the servant was right behind him. The only way was forward. Whatever she was uncomfortable about...he stopped and peered back at her. "Is something wrong?"
Colorful dots and lines of light drift across the walls as the Crystal heart outside rotates slowly on its pedastal.
This side passage isn't very long, really, but it's low and angular and awkward, as well as being very shiny and reflecting a million colors and very nicely scented with sandalwood... The servant hesitates, clearly afraid. "Well... it's just there's no way through, sir. Are you on your way in to see their highnesses, or did I trap you in here?" She cringes a little at this second possibility. Another laugh of Celestia's echoes down the passage.
"I am trying to see the Princesses, yes," Virga answered. He blinked. This servant was awfully skiddish. Even newbies didn't act that way. "Why are you so...unsettled?" One of his ears turned to the sound of Celestia's laughter. He should go on, but the servant's odd behavior had one too many red flags.
She composes herself and nods. "Just worried I'd made a bungle of things," she explains humbly. "I'll be right in after you then, sir."
"You haven't," Virga answered. He turned and continued through the entrance. Perhaps he was being too suspicious of a new servant. Not every pony handled their first days well.
Just as it seems this passage leads to nowhere but wherever the princesses are, it branches off a couple of side rooms--bedrooms or sitting rooms, it seems, in bright lime green, cornflower pink, soft purple and bronze. The bright colors are broken by a blue carpet and soft chair in one. Then comes the room where they sit, dining and drinking and laughing and talking. Princess Cadance, Princess Celestia, and even Princess Luna. The room is cramped for thee of their size, but they don't seem to mind. Luna is in an alcove whose surfaces are all polished mirrors, featuring little sparkling lights that go on and off now and then. She's backed up tightly, sipping from a teacup and looking merry. Cadance is naked, her regalia piled in a little corner, crumbs on her face as she eats cucumber sandwiches. Celestia is wearing an afghan dress and drinking from a pitcher.
Three Princesses under one roof, with one missing. Virga stepped aside to let the servant through, and couldn't help but gaze at...Cadance. If he was prone to nosebleeds, which he was not, then he surely would have had one. Why was she undressed and the other Princesses not? And where was Armor? Or was this Armor's idea? Luna being cramed into an alcove was nothing unusual, nor was Celestia wearing foreign clothing. The pegasus, however, couldn't figure out what exactly happened here. He tried to form words to say, but they simply wouldn't come.
The three stop their lively conversation, magically set down the things in their grasp, and turn to look at Virga. All are staring. Luna's stare is concerned and surprised, Celestia's is guilty but still delighted, and Cadance's is just pure amazement. The only sound is the breeze from far away.
Well, this wasn't awkward at all. Was he not meant to come here after taking the train? His weight verily shifted onto his back legs; he was unsure how to take their silent stares. And where was Twilight? Was she not Princess enough for this soiree? "...I..didn't expect to find all three Majesties present," he said, immediately posturing into a spread-winged bow.
Cadence is the first to speak, her astonished look quickly growing dismayed. She doesn't answer Virga, though--she faces Celestia. "Please," she begs, her tone urgent with a hint of panic. Luna hesitates, then folds her wings and rises smoothly, nearly bumping her head but not quite. She stares at Virga still. Celestia's smile grown wan, then broad again. "Oh, well!" she says. "At least he'll be reunited with his beloved. He hasn't really been the same since then." Cadance's face takes on a look of terror.
Virga's ears perked. The distress in her voice, he hated it. Every time she worried over something he felt responsible for calming it. She had done much for him in ways Luna and Celestia couldn't. He kept his posture as he'd not been told to rise, but it nagged him. He dared move his eyes, first to Celestia, then Luna, then Cadance. "I don't understand," he said, though he had a feeling of what those words meant. Cadance's reaction gave it away.
No one seems to know what to say. The servant takes advantage of the lull to hurry in, deposit her tray of food and drink, and scurry off, her hoofsteps the only sound apart from the breeze. "I need him," Cadance presses, her voice strained and fearful. "He's a trove of lore, and loyal, and powerful, and--" Celestia straightens herself in her seated position, coolly eying Cadance. But it's Luna who speaks. "He has seen us here. Thou knowest the terms. If thou failed to place guards and prevent this, it is thy responsibility." But her eyes remain on Virga, and she steps forward toward him. "Rise, champion."
Virga slowly rose upon his hooves and collapsed his wings. Those words. Cadance needed him. Celestia's unspoken stiffness was unsettling for she was only that way when displeased. Luna's voice took precedence, however, as she was his proper Princess to serve. Virga kept still as the Night approached. The first day he swore himself entirely to her, as Firefly had, and what was to be he would abide. And what would he abide? He couldn't read Celestia's intentions, and Luna spoke to him as she normally did. It was Cadance who gave him the hints. "Princess Luna?"
"Virga. Thou hast seen us in a state of compromise. I know not what you overheard as you came along the hall, but these meetings of ours are forbidden to outsiders. The serving staff should have kept thee out." She bows her head in regret. "I apologize that they did not. It grieves us to inform you that thy life is forfeit." Celestia's cold look warms up a little, and she bears a small smile as she relaxes back. "It is a tragedy, really." It isn't clear to whom she's speaking. "Forgive me. I know I should be dismayed. It's just that after how Firefly died, this is almost too funny." Cadance, now on her feet and standing fully, doesn't seem to find it that way.
Surely this was a joke, a cruel one for which they hadn't let in Cadance. Virga's legs tensed, and instinct begged otherwise. This wasn't a joke, and it made no sense. He held some of the most sensitive secrets about the Princesses, and alicorns, the kingdom. To bar him from a hidden meeting, with all that in mind, was a vote of no confidence. The most sensitive secrets, he thought again, about them, their kind, and the kingdom. What better excuse to execute some pony? It shut mouths, and stopped letters. "Grieves you...humors you...", he muttered, stepping back by one hoof. "Is Cadance the only one here who wouldn't so whimsically turn on me?"
Luna's serious expression is cut with sorrow. "If thou think us whimsical, then know this. There is no other I would retain than thee. If I could, I would exchange thy life for any other in this matter... perhaps even my own." Celestia knocks a hoof against the crystal table, and Luna meets her eyes for a split second. "Nay, not my own. But that of my steward or my great great grandson, or even my Night Errant." She falls silent. "I am truly grieved by this turn of things." "Then \make\ an \exception,\" pleads Cadance. "We can't," says Celestia. "Quite simply, there is no room for exceptions here. We all agreed upon it when we began, and our trust in each other is more important than any... other life." She stifles a chuckle and manages to grow serious again. "Even an immortal one."
A pair of visiting ponies enter from the Skybridge. "Oh, this IS lovely!"
<OOC> Virga says, "hahah, that ambient spoof x3"
<OOC> Berry_Punch waves to them. "Carry on, you two! You saw nothing."
Those old survival instincts, his days fleeing from Sombra, frothed between Virga's ears. Back then he couldn't rely on any pony except himself. This time there was Cadance, who needed him. Habit said to save himself, but he couldn't leave Cadance here. She saw and heard their words. Celestia and Luna would control her, blackmail her into cooperating. The Princess of Hearts would never let this go unspoken. "That you now show me your true selves means one thing. Just one," Virga muttered. "Do you know what is in your centuries long wisdom?"
Celestia and Luna look to each other. Cadance takes a single jerky step forward, her attention flitting like a hummingbird from Virga to them, back, forth. Scared on multiple levels. Finally, Luna says: "We could give many answers, but I would like to hear the one thou intend. What lies in our accumulated wisdom?"
Virga's wings subtly arched as he stared into Luna's face. In those ten centuries since the oppression, the world had stayed unwaveringly mad. He had one chance to pull this off and no idea if it would even work. Pink static flickered betwixt his feathers. "Something thou art not prepared to hear," he answered, raising his head mere inches from Luna's.
Purple-blue magic pulses through and around the dark princess, as if preparing herself for battle. "Our time for hearing things from thy mouth is limited, champion," she says.
"Only one Princess claims my heart and wings," Virga snorted. "And she is among two false idols." His wings snapped opened with a bright flash of vengeful, pink lightning. The pegasus launched from where he stood, diving for the scared Cadance instead of Luna. He had to take her from this place, keep her safe. If Luna didn't strike him down there, he'd clutch the Princess of Hearts like a speeding shield and tear through the windows. They may call it abduction. He would call it sanctity.
For whatever reason, Virga succeeds. Celestia is standing in her ridiculous dress, magic building from her horn, and she fires, but misses. Luna turns to watch, and if she acts, it is after Virga's attention is elsewhere. The window shatters and Cadance is grabbed, shocked, and the two are through the window and in the royal courtyard before she knows what's happening. When she realizes, her eyes go wide and she flails. "No... no!!" she shouts.
"You're not safe!" Virga shouted as his wings beat strong though her flailing enforced him to briefly stop long enough to look into her face. "They'll silence you, control you, and Shining Armor. This way, Princess!"
"You have it WRONG!" shouts Cadance, wriggling and trying to fight free. Somehow, though she's a powerful princess, she fails to do so, and the palace guards assemble below. Luna and Celestia step forward and take aim.
Virga conceded, releasing Cadance upon that singular word. Wrong. He quickly spotted Luna and Celestia, and instead moved to shield her from their magic. One of them had, in fact missed hitting him and he didn't want them hitting Cadance. "What is wrong?"
Again there comes an onslaught of damaging magic--some of it strikes Virga, but not enough to incapacitate him, yet. Cadance falls to her knees, then stands again, thinking better of it. "The three of us will grow together, forever! I \can't\ become their enemy, Virga! Countries will rise and fall..." She falls again to her knees and starts to cry. "The only constant will be us. Ourselves, together. I \need\ their friendship. You should fly--go! Escape! But I can't go with you, or I'll be doomed to live forever alone!" The look of her eyes indicates that this, is, indeed, her greatest fear.
Virga's feathers tore from his wings, and magical bolts sliced through his ears, but he didn't move. "They live, I live," he shouted over the ruckus. "As long as Celestia lives, I live. We are bound. Even not, I will live long. This is madness!"
Cadance finds herself unanswered. She hesitates, then plants a kiss on Virga's lips, then before he can react, she flies up, and back toward the tiny courtyard window. The bolts continue to fly... and then cease. With a word, Celestia dismisses the corps of unicorn guards. The elder princesses are no longer attacking. "Come back, Virga!" shouts Celestia in fine fettle. "We were kidding! I'll have Cadance look at that ear--it doesn't look good." Luna takes to the air and flies closer, not firing or employing any magic.
The kiss numbed Virga to everything else, all the guards and anything Celestia said. He heard it, but didn't. As the guards dispersed, he turned about on his hooves and stared across the courtyard at Celestia, then Luna. What was he supposed to believe? Hoof by hoof he backed himself beneath into the shade of a gazeebo, faint arctic mist plumming from his hocks.
Luna lands nearby. "I know your trust in us is eroded. But we will build it again. If necessary, champion, we will imprison thee in such a way that it is clear we could kill thee if we wished, but then we will not." She falls silent, and in th ebackground comes Cadance: "You were \kidding?!\ It's was a joke? Are you \serious??\" Celestia rises. "Not entirely, my dear niece. We were not kidding, precisely--we were testing you. We had to know whether your commitment to us was absolute. And so we contrived the most heinous, callously cruel act we could conceive, and made sure your guards weren't there to impede Virga." She breathes deeply. "And you, happily, passed the test. Even when we turned into monsters and he tried to carry you away, you chose us over him."
"You call this eroded?" Virga spat, snapping his wings open. "Listen to her! The both of you just emotionally traumatized Cadance for the sake of testing commitment. She's your niece, she's Cadance! What reason would she have not to commit to you?" He turned his attention to Celestia, whose words were not the words of the kindly leader that he'd come to know since the night he crashed on her balcony. "And you, forcing Cadance to choose between friends, family, and eternity. What would Princess Twilight say about that? I was ready to protect her from the monsters you became, and this is how you explain your actions? A joke, a test?" Virga growled. "Had I been either of you, I'd have already trusted Cadance for who she is instead of questioning it."
Celestia and Luna both walk up quietly. Cadance steams behind, following in silent anger, her nostrils flared. But she says nothing. Celestia's voice is gentle now, her expression neutral and somewhat sad. "What reason would we have to doubt her commitment?" she repeats. "I think you can answer that, Virga. She is, after all, the princess of love." Both elder princesses watch Virga carefully. Cadance stands crying now, without sobs, but with a hunched back.
Virga kept himself facing both elder alicorns as he side-ways hoofed about, trying to close the distance between himself and Cadance. "Love that you just beat and took advantage of," he said, the mist ever billowing from his hocks. "Equestria does not rule the Empire. Each Princess is separate, except for you two. Frateternities among royalties generally lead to this." His wing pointed at Cadance. "She never deserved this, and now it'll remain with her for eternity...how you tested her loyalty. No matter how she hardens from it, this moment will always hurt her."
"Every moment has the potential to stay with us always," says Luna. "Unless we choose to let it go." She regards Virga more softly now. "I know you think our actions today terrible. But even if you do not believe it, this test \was\ necessary." She turns and walks away. Celestia looks over and flies closer to add just two words. "To you," she says, before turning away as well.
Virga watched the two elder Princesses simply turn and walk away. 'To you'. Was that a meaning that he was to take this as a test for himself as much as Cadance? Oh, yes, he believed in testing other ponies...but not like that. The pegasus then faced Cadance. Were they just going to leave her there like that?
Oddly, they do. They walk away, and Cadance is left crying. Standing, but shaking, her wings half furled, in a bad, confused state. Her magic washes over her, trying to straighten her, but she draws breath and cries further. At last, the sun slips away and dusk falls.
Virga spat. Fine. Let the Sisters walk. He dared turn his back to them and calmly approached Cadance despite his own agitated state. The way she shook, breathed, cried, and vainly tried to magic herself better--she needed Shining Armor, but the stallion was nowhere to be found. Virga stood over the Princess of Hearts and slowly sat, arching his wings around her the way neither Celestia or Luna had shown themselves capable. He said nothing as nothing he could say could, at the moment ease her pain. The only thing he could be was simply there.
There is there, and as the stars slowly come out, it remins there. The pink princess grows softer, less worried, less agitated, less distraught. Her breathing is quiet now, her muscles no longer shaky. Her wing is over Virga's back. The wind is cold but her body is warm, and finally she speaks. "They know," she murmurs quietly. "They know that I love you more."
Virga had let his mind partly wander as he awaited Cadance's words, if there were to be any. And there were. His wings subtly tightened about the alicorn, pulling her closer to him. First, and foremost, he was a protector for her sake and Shining's. Her admission filled him with the same warmth her magic did in the days they spent together on their journey, but she was married after all. "Who you love is your business, and no pony else's," he whispered into her ear. "They may be the most powerful alicorns today, but there have been greater, and will be greater. One such alicorn I'm whispering to now."
A heart exists for a split second, passing through the non-existent distance between her and him. It reinforces and kindles the warmth in the storm pegasus. "I wish I'd never said yes," she whispers, her thoughts seeping out like breezes through branches of a treeline. She caresses Virga's flank, his shank, his belly with her feathers and her forehead. "I wish I'd waited."
The pegasus' fur stood on end, as did his feathers and mane. Virga's eyes half shut and he sighed, determined not to have his weight supported by her when she was at her weakest in a while. Though he was still in the mind of comfort and protection, her subtle magic slowly molded him into less-guard, more consort. His heartbeat raced and his nostrils strongly exhaled quiet surprise upon that wish. Even if she hadn't said yes, at that time he was with Firefly. He furled a wing so that his pinions brushed her cheek, and beneath her jaw. "You have something special with Shining, and I couldn't take it from him or you; my only wish is for your happiness and security."
She breaks away from him suddenly, and while it makes no noise, it's a sharp shock. The tearful purple eye of Cadance regards the storm pegasus urgently, with a heightened emotion that might be pain, desire, regret, love... or an amalgam of all. "I wish we could have our own world," she says quite softly. "I wish we could begin it all, all of it, over again. The sun, the sky, the cities... I would start it all over again, with you, if I could."
Virga eyed her, his face half-stoic and the other half concerned for her. Those wishes, that was how tragedy began. A creature wished for a restart, burned the world, and grew atop it one in their design, becoming an icon, a deity. He gently spread his wings and reached for her shoulders for the barest touch on the ends of his pinions. "It is very important, Cadance, that since you have spoken this to me that I say I would do the same if that brought you what you seek. But, tell me....tell me what prevents you from doing so." Briefly, he pressed one of those pinions to her nostrils, then lip. "Think hard, in mind and heart. Your sincere, honest answer is the real test of who you are, with no correct or incorrect answer--not that senselessness your Aunts put you through."
Agreeing to this, Cadance closes her eyes. When she does so, the sky grows dark--it is sheer night. Torches have been set on the corners of the walls--they light the courtyard now in orange and blue over the layer of deep black and the soft green grass. The princess takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. "What keeps from doing so... is not my husband." She pauses. "And it's not my need to keep my aunts as friends." She shudders slightly as she breathes again. "And it's not my love for Twilight, or for this empire, or for anyone who lives in it." One last pause. "It's not the fact that it's impossible, either. The only thing keeping me from remaking the world..." She blinks, and in that blink, the whole courtyard, torches, stars and all, wink out, and all that remains is Cadance's gleaming purple eye. "...is the fact that you don't want to do it," she concludes.
With that, the dream ends, and Virga wakes in darkness, feeling as though he were balanced on a precarious pinnacle.
Virga stared into the darkness, his entire body in a cold sweat despite already being colder than other ponies. It was too deep. His relations with Cadance had been deeper than any other soul except Shining Armor--that he knew of. It was a dream, yet was it? He wondered if Cadance had rendered him unconscious during their talk and had him carted to a room. Couldn't be. No, it was real. No, Virga, it wasn't. He clenched his teeth and curled tight in the bed, a bed of normal sheets not cloud. Where was he? When was he? The pegasus tumbled from the bed onto the hard floor and fumbled about in shock. Love. Betrayal. Trust. Devotion to Luna. Devotion to Cadance. Devotion to Celestia. To Firefly. She was gone, and he didn't any mare too close except the Princesses since. He tried to stand, only to hit his head on another hard thing. Why for did he rest in a place so dark that he couldn't see? Firefly. He was hers, only hers, even in death. How could he be with Cadance? End the world, rebuilt it. Burn it. Poof! Celestia's sunfire sparked from his feathers, blinding him. Burn. Destroy. Rebuild. No, he couldn't do that. Virga frantically backed into a wall and shook his head. He was a guardian, incapable of loving another in that way again. Other ponies had their special ones, their mares and stallions. Let 'them' be happy. Let 'them' live free without worry. They had no strings, no strings put on them like he did. Virga grunted and swayed on his hooves. He was Weapon. Intelligence. Fury. A single charge, he crashed through window shutters and lost control. Virga hit the grass and roofing tiles, slid to the edge and fell onto a cart of ingots in the main city square of Lytpa. It was night. And the local guard rushed to the broken pegasus.
But for all that, he could look back on that night later and say: I learned something. Couldn't he?