//------------------------------// // The Ponyo and The Princess // Story: Repair Attempts // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// "And here we have our castle library. After Golden Oaks Library was razed in Tirek's attack, Princess Twilight opened this library to the public while the Ponyville Public Library was built to replace Golden Oaks, then she donated a third of the books she had to their shelves. What followed was her second largest book shopping spree since she moved to Ponyville." Spike announced as he lead the small tour through the east wing of the castle. Apogee had joined seven other ponies on a small late Saturday morning tour at the castle. They had covered both wings of the castle, stopping between wings for a lunch buffet in the dining room. "The room is large enough for all manner of magic duels, and I should note that with a combination of spells, our School of Friendship's guidance counselor can perform a complete re-shelving in 4.3 seconds." Spike added as they exited back to the hall and headed back to the main foyer, before turning down the central hallway and headed towards the rear of the castle to the set of large double doors. "And to conclude our tour, the most well known feature of the castle..." Spike began, pushing open the doors to reveal a very large, round table, with six thrones. "The throne room, containing the Map of Friendship." The table came to life as a holographic map of nearly the entire hemisphere came to life on the surface. "From here, the Tree, through frankly completely unknown means, identifies friendship problems that need addressing, and sends an Element of Harmony or other associated party to help remedy the issue. The first time, the map sent all six Elements to a village in eastern Equestria to help liberate it from dark, cutie-mark-affecting magic." The dragon gave the tour group a few moments to take a few pictures, then prepared to move on. "That concludes the castle portion of the tour. For those of you who would like a guided tour of the School of Friendship next door, that begins immediately. Miss Apogee, if you would like to remain here, Princess Twilight will be here in just a moment." "Thank you very much." Apogee replied, giving Spike an affirmative nod. As the rest of the group left the room, the pegasus was left alone to stare at the map. It was quite beautiful. She traced her way down from Ponyville down the tracks down to the small holographic skyline of Las Pegasus, and got an idea of how far she had come. She heard the door open behind her, and turned to see a purple pony come into the room. Her mane was a dark violet, with purple and raspberry streaks going down the middle of her mane and tail, and her cutie mark was a six-pointed pink star with five other smaller white stars surrounding it. When she saw the horn and wings, she immediately lowered herself into a respectful bow. "Oh, you don't need to do that, my little pony. You must be Apogee. I'm Twilight. Spike tells me you're visiting Ponyville, and wanted some one-on-one friendship advice. So what can I do for you, little filly?" Apogee fought the urge to roll her eyes in front of royalty. "I'm eighteen..." She grumbled. "And... Honestly? I wasn't quite sure exactly what I wanted to ask when I first came here, and, with what I've seen the past couple days... I'm still not sure. I came here because I felt I needed to get lost for a little bit, and I found a book about the Elements of Harmony in the library." "Well, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself, and then we can get an idea of why you wanted to talk. Sound good?" Twilight asked, walking over and sitting down at her throne, inviting her over. Apogee slowly nodded and made her way over to the small throne that was attached to the side of Twilight's throne, and took a seat, gazing out at the holographic map. "Well, my name's Apogee, suppose you already know that. I was born and raised in Las Pegasus. For as long as I can remember, my mom and dad never really seemed to get along. No matter what small things I tried to get them to do something together... A meteor shower, a birthday party, even something as simple as taking a picture together... They always seemed to be at each other's throats." "What do they do for a living?" Twilight asked. "My dad runs an aerospace engineering and supply company. My mom used to work with him on it, but they split up when I was four. Now she owns a junkyard, makes a fraction of the money my dad does." "And what do you want to do with your life?" The pegasus glanced up at the purple princess, before turning back to the map. "I want to go into space." She answered, looking up at the princess again. "I mean, I don't know how much you're involved with Celestia's propaganda, but I know we're gonna get there one day." "Propaganda?" Twilight asked, confused. Apogee gave her a quizzical look. "What, you don't know that Celestia has been downplaying and denying the advances that rocket science has made for the past three decades? That there are ponies dotted all around Equestria calling themselves 'Orbiters' because they don't believe Celestia and Luna raise the sun and moon, and that it's all an old mare's tale?" Twilight swallowed, trying to mentally prepare her answer as fast as possible. "Well, you seem like an awfully smart mare, and before I became the Princess of Friendship, I also dabbled in science and a bit of astrology. Even one of my friends, Rainbow Dash, came to our last Nightmare Night party dressed as an astronaut. But let me tell you, Apogee... The 'propaganda'? It's not to encourage ignorance or anything like that. It's to prevent panic." "What do you mean?" "Over a thousand years ago, a demigod with reality-warping powers found Equus and went on an uncontested rampage across our world, all for his own fun and amusement. It took Celestia's and Luna's combined magic, along with the Elements of Harmony, to ultimately stop him. But in some cases, there was no reversing the damage he had done. The two of them inherited a great burden from entire groups of powerful unicorns." "Burden?" "Celestia and Luna don't control the sun and moon. When you consider their sheer size, it is, of course, ludicrous. No. Their magic maintains and protects Equus' axial tilt." "Without them, the planet would stop turning?" Apogee asked, her eyes widening. "Well, without them, it would take entire groups of very talented unicorns again. But yes, because of the damage Discord did bending the laws of gravity and physics, it takes magic to keep Equus' axis intact. Without it, there's no telling what would precisely happen. Most likely, the planet would stop turning. One side would always be in the sunlight, the other, in complete darkness. Like that, the planet would be unable to support life." "Huh." Apogee replied. "With the advances of science, it's only a matter of time before more ponies start questioning that. It wouldn't surprise me if the two of them have a speech prepared for when the time comes to disclose it publicly. For now, I guess it's easier for ponies to believe they control night and day. So you're here about your mom and dad?" Twilight asked. "I... I guess. I turned eighteen a few days ago, and I asked my mom what had happened between the two of them. When the two of them started dating in college, she got a job offer from EQSA, and my dad took her out for some drinks to celebrate. One thing lead to another and..." Apogee trailed off for a moment, swallowing the tears that were approaching. "Four years later, he admitted that he got her pregnant with me to keep her around. They've been split up since." "That's... That's awful, I'm so sorry." Twilight said, listening intently. "I went home, confronted him with that information, and the way he reacted... I knew it was the truth. I haven't seen him since. I was going stir crazy at my mom's, so I went to the library, and I found a book about the Elements of Harmony. All my life, I've surrounded myself with solvable problems, subjects that could be approached scientifically, things my mom and dad were passionate about. But these past two-and-a-half days... I've seen things I can't explain. Like the Timberwolf in the Everfree Forest. Or what happens to the candy that the kids leave at the Nightmare Moon statue for Nightmare Night. Or... Or this." Apogee said, motioning a hoof to the table they were sitting at. "Has this thing ever sent anypony to Las Pegasus?" She asked. "Hm..." Twilight thought back, tapping a hoof to her chin. "I think so. I think it sent Applejack and Fluttershy to a resort to reveal how the owner was using all his performer's friendships against them." The Princess of Friendship told her. Something inside started to squeeze at Apogee's heart. "I... I see." She said, biting her lip. "So whatever powers this thing thought some ritzy resort needed better management, but a family under one roof wasn't as important?!" She said, her voice slowly climbing to a yell as she slammed her hooves down on the edge of the table. "Apogee..." Twilight began as tears began to run down the pegasus' face. "All this magic, all this omniscience, and this map couldn't send somepony to help my mom and dad?!" She asked incredulously as she lowered her head into her hooves as she began to cry. "If they love me so much why can't they love each other?" She whimpered. Twilight's heart began to ache for this poor young mare. The Princess of Friendship had been exposed to magic nearly since she was born, but for a pony who hadn't been, all of this could be a considerable system shock. Slowly, she put her right wing around Apogee's heaving shoulders. "You've clearly been through a lot," Twilight began softly. "More than any words could most likely justify. It's a wonderful thing when two ponies fall in love, and it can be heartbreaking when they fall out of love. You've been caught in the middle of this feud and all you've done is try to make things better, to no avail. I can absolutely understand how that can make you feel lost, or feel like a failure, but that's not the case." Apogee lifted her head and wiped her eyes, and she felt herself go weightless as Twilight lifted her up with her magic as she stood up, and set her on the table in front of her. With that, the pegasus and alicorn stood at equal height. "You know what I see? I see a troubled, flawed, bright young mare who's going to do great things for the future of Equestria. The circumstances of your birth doesn't make you any less of a pony, you understand? Ponies like me and my friends may spread the magic of friendship and fend off supernatural threats from time to time. But you..." Twilight paused, putting her hoof on Apogee's chest. "Ponies like you are going to reach the stars one day." Apogee sniffled, and managed a smile at the princess. "You're eighteen now, Apogee, an adult, your own pony. You have to look at the effort you've been putting into helping your mom and dad, and you're going to have to make the call on when it's no longer worth the effort. Because you're the only one with the experience necessary to make that decision. Maybe the pegasus in front of me isn't meant to be caged by their parents' fighting... Or maybe the reason the map didn't send anypony to help your parents is because they already have the pony they need." Apogee sniffled again, smiled, and threw her front hooves around Princess Twilight's neck. "Thank you, Princess."