Destiny Denied

[Mairzy Doats]

It was Tuesday morning, and the ponies of Canterlot were moving at a brisk pace- moving carts of goods from her to there and reporting to work. The unicorn and the pegasus moved at a slightly slower pace, as their destinies did not require them to make the same sort of deadlines as, say, a hair salon pony. They were engaging in a fairly regular pastime of complaining about their jobs.

"You just don't get the brunt of it, Star." Said the cloud white unicorn. Her eyes were an intelligent magenta, and her mane and tail were long and wavy without being curly. It was a carnation pink, and at the moment it was done up in a business bun. Her cutie mark depicted a horn, the tip of which was touching a pink question mark. "I'm the one who has to come upon the parents unannounced. I'm the one who has to cast the spell."

"Yeah, but when it's an LT, I'm the one who has to carry the babies away. And then who do they hate? Me. All me." The pegasus stallion put in. He had an off-white coat, the color of parchment, poofy red hair and bright green eyes.

Celestia was a Cutie Mark Conjurer- a CMC. It was her job to visit all the parents who had just brought a young foal into the world and choose that foal's destiny. This was her own destiny, as chosen by another CMC years ago. The pegasus was named Starburst, and with his sturdy frame and shield cutie mark, he was her body guard. CMCs weren't exactly well liked in some of the towns and cities of Equestria, and Starburst was there to make sure Celestia didn't run into trouble. But when the time came, he was also much welcome pair of wings to ferry some foal out right away.

There were three levels of career training as designated by the cutie marks. AT stood for Adult Training. This was a pony who was assigned to work, say, at the local bank or at the food market. Though just as needed in the land, the requirements of their destinies did not demand that they start until they had reached adulthood. YT, or Youth Training, stood right in the middle. These were destinies that required stiffer training, but for which baby foals weren't quite ready to undertake. This included many jobs that necessitated the ability to fly, such as the air force or the weather team. Farm ponies were also Youth Trained, as well as politicians.

LT ponies were the rarest of the three groups. LT stood for lifetime training. These were destinies that Princess Twilight felt were best served being trained nearly from birth, never being distracted by family or one's hometown. These included the Princess's royal guard, as they were supposed to be loyal to the princess only. Ponies in the military were also LT- becoming Equestria's vigilant fighters without any distractions. And finally Celestia's own destiny. CMCs were Lifetime Trained because, as Princess Twilight believed it, foals who never got to know their parents would not be morally conflicted about separating the next generation away from their parents when it needed to happen.

"It's not all you." Celestia said, rolling her light magenta eyes. "Somepony is stuck on the ground to face the parents wrath."

"Oh come on, Tia," Starburst said, fluttering a little "You told me just the other day that you didn't fear anypony."

Well, this was true. Celestia wasn't afraid of any angry parent, any grouchy grandmother pony, any inspector stopping in to see she was fulfilling her destiny correctly. A farm pony leading a cart of carrots passed them, her farm tool cutie mark stark on her blue flank. She eyed the pony as she passed by without making eye contact. The earth pony was about her age- maybe a couple years older. Celestia wondered who had marked her, and where that CMC was right now.

"You know...they have a point. They all have a point."

Starburst rolled his bright green eyes. "This again."

Celestia glared at him, but let out a breath. "It causes fear, anger, stress and boredom- this thing I do with my horn everyday." She shook her head "Equestria shouldn't be like that. Ponies should be free. Or at least, they should believe that they are free."

"That's an interesting opinion you have there." The voice was magically amplified, and resonated with authority. It came from behind them. Unicorn and pegasus looked over their shoulder to see a sea of ponies parting to either side. A lavender pony with unusual proportions came striding toward them. She was twice as tall as either of them, very slender, with a mane like a field of stars in an indigo sky. She had both wings and a horn, intelligent purple eyes and cutie mark depicting an orange sun. The ponies bowed as she came within reach of them, and so did Starburst and Celestia.

It was Princess Twilight, in the flesh. Some royal guard in their golden armor made a wide circle around her, forcing the ponies in the street to back away even more. The royal guard had cutie marks similar to Starburst's, but theirs were gold shields instead of silver ones. Starburst and Celestia got their feet.

"That was you, editorializing about the cutie mark process, correct?" Princess Twlight asked with narrowed eyes, glaring at Celestia. The unicorn nodded, and the princess looked around her body at the symbol on her flank "Ironic words from a Cutie Mark Conjurer. What is your name?"

"Celestia, your majesty."

There was the oddest change on the princess's face- a look of surprise and worry. But it faded after less than a second and she looked even more severe. But her feminine voice was even as she asked "Is this really how you feel?"

Celestia took a few seconds to think before she started to speak "I just wonder, Princess. Should we really be choosing the futures for all of these foals?"

The princesses expression was even. She turned her flank to the two mortal ponies and started to walk a slow circle around them. "Almost five hundred years ago," she said, her eyes distant. "Griffons invaded Equestria from the east. Our armies held them off for as long as they could, but their forces were two great, a majority of ponies back then didn't know combat. We were overcome. The griffin emperor took over Canterlot. He made slaves of us, and he and demanded meat in exchange for not pillaging the low lands." Starburst gasped at this. Twilight was behind them at this point. "Yes," the princess said,close to his ear "they are carnivores, after all.

"We would still be enslaved to the griffon race if I had not discovered the so called branding spell. The next generation had a willingness to fight and the ability to learn- all because I changed their cutie marks. We won because of that spell. The very spell," she had come around to the front, and she brought her head low- level with Celestia's "that you perform in your everyday duties. So you may feel sad because you are choosing another pony's future, but thanks to Cutie Mark Conjurers like you and Equestria's large army, at least they will have a future."

***

"I still can't believe you weren't afraid at all." Starburst exclaimed "I mean, this was the Princess we're talking about! She has the power to make you into a small, wiggling worm."

They were on the Friendship Express now and, through the window, the two ponies could see the mountain Canterlot sat on growing smaller as they entered hilly land. Celestia had seated herself on a cot on the south side of the car, and Starburst was across the way from her.

"I don't think she would do that." Celestia said. "She might make me a miner, but I doubt that. It's like I've committed any greater crime than dissatisfaction," she said, almost boredly.

Princess Twilight's railroad system was vast and well structured, but the engines ran on coal. Coal was only found in Rambling Rock Ridge, and in the base of Smokey Mountain. All the surface coal had been harvested and used years past, so there were deep mines into the blackness. Of all the destinies in Equestria, mining for coal was considered the lowliest but, thankfully, no foal was ever given the mining cutie mark. Ponies committed acts of violence and treason, and ponies who utterly failed at their first destinies were the only ones whose marks were changed to that of a lighted helmet and a pickaxe. It was an awful job- one in which a pony could go for days, or weeks even without seeing the sky. Ponies were naturally creatures of the wide open plains, and so to be trapped underground was indeed very stress inducing.

"Do you think she would?" Starburst asked, his green eyes growing wide "If you don't do as she says?" At the end of their conversation, Princess Twilight had given Celestia the instructions to give the next five foals in good health she saw military cutie marks.

"She didn't say she would. But she could put a word in the CMC High Mare, and she might give me paperwork for a month." Celestia shrugged.

"Wow. So you're really not afraid of her." Starburst noted, and Celestia shook her head.

"In all honesty...I feel sorry for her."

"Sorry?" Starburst blinked "Sorry for the most magically powerful being in the world? Of the High Ruler of all Equestria?"

Celestia shrugged "I don't know where it comes from." She admitted, for she herself realized how silly that had sounded "She just seems like a pony who's...given up."

Starburst shook his head "You have some strange ideas, Celestia...but that takes the cake I think!" Starburst rolled off the cot and put his hooves on the floor. "I'm going to go to the snack car. Do you want anything while I'm there?"

"Hmm, I wouldn't mind a slice of cake if they have some."

"I'll check," Starburst said, walking up the aisle. The door slid behind him as he left the passenger car. Now Celestia was mostly on her own. The car was fairly full of ponies young and old, traveling for business or pleasure. The unicorn wondered why this was, and after a few moments recalled that the Summer Sun Celebration would be taking place in less than a week. Unusual for the Sun Princess, Twilight had not yet announced the location from which the sun would be raised.

Celestia wasn't too concerned. All the towns did something to celebrate the solstice, even if it wasn't the lavish event when the Sun Princess was present. The unicorn traveled quite a bit, and had seen a lot of Equestria already. Too, she had grown quite used to the feeling of a train car on the tracks. Her body was relaxing already. She stretched on her cot and laid her round head on her hooves. Forty winks wouldn't hurt...

[Irean]

Luna yawned as she stretched on a cloud, a loud beeping from a nearby clock awakening her. Her wings stretched out as she rolled onto her hooves, before neatly folding on her sides. She reaches a blue hoof out, pushing a button and turning off the ringing. With another yawn, she walks across her cloudy floor, to get ready for the morning.

After about ten minutes she walked down a set of stairs to the solid lower level of her house. After another few minutes she is happily munching on a small stack of pancakes. Today she needed to clear a slight fog. Living this close to the Everfree did make her job a little harder, but it was hardly new work to her. She had lived in ponyville for the past 7 years afterall. She picked up her plate, quickly washing the few dishes she used. There was a sharp knock on the door. The mayor no doubt, as she rarely gets visitors.

Luna quickly trots to the door, opening it. She immediately saw the mayor, a red stallion with a bright orange mane. "Hello mayor Macintosh, how can I help you?"

He smiles at her, nodding. "Yes you can, miss Luna." He says. "We have a slight rescheduling to do. We have a lot of setting up for the summer sun celebration. I'm sure you understand?"

"Alright, but the farmers need a rain." She says. "I can't delay it another week for the celebration."

He nods. "Of course. Can it be aranged for today?" A question, but behind it was an order.

"Of course."

***

Later that day, Luna and the other pegesi weather patrole are seen as mere blurs across the sky, as they position the clouds, and a small group disperses the fog. The rumble of thunder is heard as several of the clouds react, preparing for the downpour.

Luna stops as a loud bell is heard. She waves over the others before they head to lunch. "Lets get the clouds here started, before lunch." They nod, and with a brief jump over the clouds, several farms quickly find themselves being pelted with rain. A few of them split off into groups, to share lunch with a friend. Shs turns towards an old cafe.

She sits down, ordering a daisy sandwich, an old favorite. The town and nearest farms had not gotten rain yet, leaving the town to be sunny, and warm. Not that it would last long, she mused as she munched on her sandwich.

[Mairzy Doats]

Celestia felt tired, being awake so late that the sky had turned a dark purple and stars winked on its surface. She watched the sky anxiously, looking for the sign. Her heart was mostly confident, but there was a hint of doubt. Her student might fail.

A change, suddenly. Three bands of colored light suddenly danced across the dark sky, illuminating it. Celestia's wings unfurled and she raised a hoof in surprise. Not that it had been done, but at the beauty of the sight. 'I knew you could do it.' She thought.

Magenta eyes turned to the pony she had been sharing a space with. She smiled warmly at the shorter equine and touched her horn with hers.

A high, sharp trill ululated through the train car, waking Celestia, then turned into a low, bluesy moan. The unicorn looked about the car, taking stock of the windows, the cots, and the ponies on top of them. Across the aisle from her, Starburst stretched. The train whistle continuing to cry out, imitating the pleas of a heartbroken lover. Celestia smiled. The engineer pony was a mare named Octavia. She always got to her destination on time, but the impromptu performances with the train whistle were always the best part of the trip.

Celestia and Starburst got their saddlebags together and stepped out onto the platform. Celestia took some papers from her bags, noting their assignment. Ponyville had had a bit of a baby boom lately. "Four unmarked foals in this town alone. I suppose we should get started," she said, rolling up and scroll and storing it away with her horn. She glanced about the town. In all her travels, this one town she hadn't visited yet. It was not unpleasant, with a stone arch bridge spanning a stream, thatch roof houses and a statue made of some rose colored stone. Suddenly the unicorn's stomach made an angry growl, and Starburst's ears perked.

"Celestia? When is the last time you ate?"

Celestia opened her mouth and, just before she spoke noticed the crumbs on her colleague's muzzle: cake crumbs. She smirked smirked inwardly, and said "Oh, I don't know...I was planning on getting a bite to eat on the train but I must have dozed off before that happened..."

"Oh," Starburst blinked, put and put his hoof to his muzzle, guiltily. Celestia was sure he had eaten the cake slice he had brought for her when he had found her sleeping on her cot. "Oh, well um...jee, Tia, that's really unfortunate." She was certain now, and she grinned widely. Seeing this, Starburst put his ears down "Oh Tia...can't get nothing past you," he said, wiping a few more crumbs off his muzzle.

Celestia laughed. She did like making ponies sweat sometimes, but she wasn't the least upset with her colleague. "Well," Starburst continued "there's a cafe over there," he reached into Celestia's saddlebag with his hoof "how about you get something to eat, and I'll scout on ahead?"

"Oh well if you insist!" Celestia said with a playful smile, giving Starburst a pat on the shoulder. She trotted over to the outdoor cafe. She found a table with a menu already on it, and her eyes searched through some of the entries. Suddenly something drew her eyes away. She put her menu down. There was a blue pegasus at the across from her. The pony from her dream!

But...no. That wasn't correct. The pony in her dream had had a horn, and this mare certainly didn't. And besides, why would she be seeing dream ponies in the real world? She shook her head. Perhaps my hunger is getting to me. Celestia put her menu back up and continued to read. But she flipped the corner of it with her horn, glancing the blue pegasus again. She couldn't shake the feeling that she knew this pony from somewhere. From school perhaps? But that's ridiculous- she has a weather mark! We would not have gone to the same institution!

[Irean]

Luna smiled happily as she ate her sandwich. She glanced over at the ponys sitting in the cafe before her vision hovered over one of them. A white unicorn with pink hair. She looks so familiar, but I know I never met her before. déjà vu I guess. Just as she finished her sandwich she heard an altogether to loud, and far too long rumble of thunder. She frowned and her ears drooped. There go my plans for a brief work day.

She stands up, unfolding her wings and taking to the sky. After a minute of flight, she arives above the apple farm where the majority of the lightning seems to originate from. Several other pegesi fly nearby, bucking at the clouds spewing the most lightning. If the activation ingrediant is mixed wrong in Cloudsdale, then the clouds turn violent. This was a very poorly mixed batch it would seem.

The rest of the pegesi on the weather team were now flying towards the clouds. Luna flew to a nearby cloud, before turning and introducing it to her back hooves. A loud thunderclap is heard right beside her, though the cloud disperses. A dispersed cloud. That was her cutie mark, a pair of pale blue hooves, and a cloud during dispersement, the brief flash of vapor in a puff when you kick a cloud hard enough.

The others arived, and the situation quickly became less of a problem, as the once near continuous thunder vanishes. Luna flys to one of the landing clouds, light and fluffy. She nearly collapsed, curling up on the cloud. Her legs hurt, and she was sure walking would be a pain for the next few days. She and several others, most actually, stopped to rest. After a few minutes she groaned, knowing she had to get up and finish the days work. The fog had cleared up, but they still had about half the land area to water, with faulty clouds.

Today was supposed to be easy, then we needed to reschedule. I want a nap. While her thoughts drifted to going to bed early, she slowly stood up, before quickly taking to her wings, as her legs were to sore to stand around on. She started pushing clouds around, setting up a downpour for the next part of the city. With so many clouds disperesed, it would take at least two more rounds of rain to cover the place. While contemplating a nap between cloud set ups she came upon a realization. The mare was from my dream! Or rather, she looks like her.

it was night. She was on some kind of tower, yelling at someone. She had her usual wings, though larger, she was almost twice as tall. She could tell, becaus nearby a guard was curled up hiding. Hiding from her, she realized. She also had a horn, she could tell because she had some kind of headache there. Her wings were flared, and something brushed her face. It almost looked like the night sky, but it felt like hair.

The other pony was white, with a mane like a rainbow, or the aurora borealis, a rather pink aurora borealis. This mare also had wings, folded by her side, and a horn. This mare was also quite tall. She looked calm, or perhaps sad.

Luna could hear herself yelling. Feel herself yelling. But these words were not hers, she had never spoken them. "We will no longer be ignored, sister! You are worshiped, you could have changed this. Now we will change it for you." She felt herself turn, to face a rising sun. Then it stopped, the sun began to sink. The headache by her horn increased, then faded with the dream.

((To be clear, this is a dream from last night for Luna.))

[Mairzy Doats]

By the time Celestia got to the farm, thunderclouds were dotting the skies, and farm ponies were running for shelter. The unicorn considered hanging back, but then she spotted Starburst, high above the stormclouds, sitting on a puffy cloud that he had secured from the weather ponies before all this mess began. He waved and winked to Celestia and the unicorn gave him a glare. Starburst shrugged and pretended to sleep on his puffy cloud. Oh, this isn't over. Celestia thought, considering how her next prank on the pegasus would pan out.

She made a run for it, galloping headlong into the rain. She caught up with a couple of fillies who had gotten a head start on her, but were still slower than she do to the shortness of their legs. Celestia slowed down her gate to match them and, without thinking of it, crafted a barrier of white/golden magic over herself and the young fillies.

One of them, a dark gray filly with a lighter mane, looked over while still running "Hey, thanks!"

The other filly was pink in color. Her pale purple mane had a white streak through it. She glanced at the mare who had joined them and cast temporary shelter "Say, you're the CMC, from Canterlot, aren't you? Are you here to choose my new brother's destiny?"

"Seems that way," Celestia said with a nod.

"I think my new brother High Budget would be a good trash pony. Or a factory pony!" She teased "I think you'll agree with me when you see him!" She teased.

The gray filly gasped "Diamond Tiara! Don't say that! She might listen to you!"

"Silver Spoon, did I give you permission to talk?" Celestia raised an eyebrow at this odd exchange, and the one referred to as Diamond Tiara said to the unicorn "I'm joking. Of course I'm joking. My brother is going to grow up to be a farm pony like me." She said with confidence.

Celestia kept her face expressionless, giving young Diamond Tiara no indication of whether she was right or wrong. The three ponies finally crossed the distance across the yard to a big, red barn and Celestia made her rain shield disappear as they entered a side door. They walked into what felt like a homey kitchen, and Celestia smiled at the little touches around the room. Diamond Tiara went running off into the other rooms of the house "Hey Mom! Dad! The CMC is here!"

"Yee-ah!" Silver Spoon chimed in, coming after her. Celestia had a few moments to settle in, so she glanced at the pictures on the wall. What she saw was a happy family- mare, stallion and foal, all with the same three apple cutie marks on their flanks. This was the Rich family, or so Celestia's notes had told her. It was actually pretty rare for a foal to get the same destiny as her parents, but then again, there were a lot of farmers in Equestria.

Celestia heard the sound of rushing hooves on wood, and two of the earth ponies from the photographs appeared in front of her. "Oh, Miss!" Exclaimed the light brown stallion "Allow my wife and I to apologize."

"We expected your visit tomorrow," explained the mare, who had the same coloring as her daughter.

"But that doesn't mean you're not perfectly welcome today!" Mr. Rich stated.

"Of course!" Said Mrs. Rich. "Make yourself perfectly comfortable. Here," she said, pulling a jar from on top of the counter "try one of my home baked cookies!"

"Oh no, I couldn't," Celestia said, shaking her head.

"No really, go ahead," the mare said, gesturing to the jar "you can have as many as you like."

This was becoming uncomfortable fast. They clearly thought that if they treated Celestia well enough, she would be swayed in her decision. "All of this is nice...but I really should see the foal," Celestia said, looking out the window.

The parents exchanged glances.

"Have you eaten?" Mr. Rich attempted "My wife has the best celery casserole recipe..."

"Actually, I have," Celestia said, and looked at the clock on the wall "and I'm on a schedule," she lied "so, the foal..."

"Yes," the mare said "of course. Rich, would you-"

"Certainly," the brown stallion said, moving out of the room with a stiff gate. Celestia watched him go. "We really are a good family," the mare was saying, looking Celestia in my eye "Ponyville Acres pillar of the community, and my husband does everything to make it profitable. Our daughter Diamond is so clever as well. And baby Budget is going to get all his father's smarts; I can tell." Celestia's eyes went back to the pictures on the wall.

Without thinking about it, she picked up a cooking with her hoof and began to chew. "Oatmeal!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, yes," the mare explained "health is one of my passions. I want my family eating healthy, even their desserts. It's an all organic recipe, and it uses honey instead of sugar."

"Really?" Celestia looked at the cookie. "It's delicious!" But she put it back down on the table, realizing that she had just broken a rule, however minor, of the CMCs: never accept gifts, because gifts can be seen as bribes. Why hadn't the unicorn stopped herself earlier? She chided herself as the stallion came into the room, a bouncing baby colt balancing on his back. Light blue eyes looked back at Celestia and the colt giggled. Celestia couldn't help but smile.

The baby was set loose on the table, and he crawled across to the unicorn. Celestia picked him up with her magic and he baby cooed and made baby noises. He had the same coloring as his father. "Let me see," she said, feeling him with her magic "healthy heart, strong jaw, a good constitution, energetic."

"Yep! Our son is perfect farmpony material." Said Mr. Rich.

"But he's smart too. I can just tell by looking in his eyes," Mrs. Rich said "he could work in a hospital."

"Or he might be a business pony!" The stallion said excitedly.

Celestia smiled at the parents, and noticed that Diamond Tiara had joined them, on the edge of the room, with her friend. Both fillies were now looking at Celestia hopefully. She cast a smile her way as well and, for the third time, her eyes went to the picture on the wall. How happy they all looked together- one cohesive family unit. Would it be so wrong to let this colt grow up knowing his family?

There was a falling of hooves, and Starburst appeared in the outside doorway, smiling. The rain had cleared up, thanks to those clever pegasi. Celestia nodded to him and set the baby back down on the table, so that his right flank was facing her. She lowered her head and prepared the spell, first creating a barrier spell so that no blemishes could come through later in life. Then she thought long and hard about her spell.

She sighed sadly. In the end, it wasn't even a contest. Yes, this was a sweet, wonderful family, not made any less so by the fact that they had gotten to raise their own filly. But there were hundreds, thousands of other sweet, wonderful families out there. Celestia couldn't give them all what she wanted.

Besides, Princess Twilight was right. And Celestia wasn't just saying that because she was afraid of being stuck with a desk job, and she wasn't afraid of the mines of Smokey Mountain. Maybe ponies did deserve to choose their own destinies, but Twilight wasn't going to allow what happened with the griffin invasion to happen again. If it meant that some ponies never got to know their families, so be it, if the majority was safe and unharmed. Maybe it was possible there was a better way, but Celestia didn't know what it was.

She cast the spell the quickly. Because of the nature of the spell, the symbol appeared on both flanks at once, and the family on the other side of the table saw it appear. They let out dismayed gasps. Celestia opened her eyes. "The colt High Budget will be an army pony." There was no denying it now. The red shield crossed with a sword was bold on the baby's flank. Budget was marked. Only the Princess could change that mark now.

Before the family could react, Celestia levitated the baby off the table and into Starburst's saddle bag. The cream pegasus carried saddlebags that were deeper and wider than most, with holes for babies legs. There wasn't a lot of room for other things, but that wasn't the point. Celestia thanked the Riches, and enchanted the baby with a cloudwalking spell. Starburst flew off, baby in tow.

"Wait a minute! You can't do this!" Mrs. Rich exclaimed, running to the space that Starburst had just vacated. She tried to jump, as if she believed she could leap high enough to reach the cloud the pegasus that flown to. The cloud had been shaped into a crib with fluffy bars. Celestia tried to step around her, but the earth pony got in her way. "Bring my baby back!" She demanded "Bring him back, or- or-"

"Mrs. Rich, please go back inside," Celestia said, taking up a bureaucratic voice. She hated talking to ponies like this, but she had found, over the years, that it was the best way. Parents hated you, so they didn't care if you were apologizing to them for ruining the future of their only foal. It was best to appear as emotionless; a tool of the land. Celestia just should have been like this all along. Why had she let herself be swayed by those photographs, even for a second? "High Budget will become a vital player in the nation's security."

"A vital player?!? He's my son you monster!" She said, with a powerful buck to Celestia's face.

***

Starburst pushed the cloud crib with High Budget in it with the crown of his head, gently following Celestia to her next stop: a bake shopped own by a pony couple with the same cutie mark. Of course, Starburst couldn't resist laughing at her black eye. Celestia's mood was darker for the rest of the day, but she understood that what had happened at Ponyville Acres had only been her fault. She should not have shown weakness the way she did, almost giving in and giving High Budget a different cutie mark than he was meant to have.

She felt...distracted. She recalled the dream with the blue, horned pegasus often. For some reason, it reminded Celestia that she didn't know anything about her own family. And this wasn't new but, suddenly, she found herself missing somepony. Somepony that she didn't even know who they were! But, that was stupid. Letting these babies stay with their parents wouldn't help her find her family. If she wanted, she could go to the office and request that information, but that was neither here nor there.

The baby at the bake shop was marked with a with the red shield and sword, and then two more. In each instance, Celestia kept her distance, never giving in to sentimentality, and she certainly didn't accept any more baked goods. By the time Princess Twilight was lowering Equestria's sun, four giggling babies were in the cloud crib. Momentary, Starburst brought it to the ground in the fields outside Ponyville. Celestia walked up to him as he had his hooves over his eyes.

"Who's there? Peek-a-boo!" He said, removing his hooves. Four multicolored babies giggles. "Ahh, who's cute babies?" Starburst cooed. "Youse cute babies! Youse cute babies!"

Celestia cleared her throat "Don't forget, they're going to grow up to be killers." She said in complete seriousness.

"They's the cutest killers in Equestria! Aren't you babies? Huh? Aren't you babies?" He said, tickling one of them with a hoof. Celestia sighed.

"I think you've gotten attached, Starburst. You know you're not supposed to get attached."

"Awww," Starburst let out a moan.

"I can't let it go any further. Starburst, hurry up and get these babies to the Baltimare Training Base, and no more peek-a-boo."

"But-"

"I'm serious, Starburst. You have to develop a harder heart."

Starburst glared at Celestia "Maybe you need to soften up." He said harshly.

Celestia sighed. "Promise me you'll go strait to the base, and hoof the babies over to the training officer?"

Starburst said nothing, glaring at the sunset.

"Starburst!" Celestia demanded.

"Fine!" The pegasus said.

"Good. I'll meet you in Dodge City." With practiced carefulness, the pegasus lifted the cloud crib and the babies up into the air. Celestia made sure she had seen him leave before sighing and turning back to Ponyville. If she got there in the next twenty minutes, she could catch the last train of the day. Walking at a brisk pace, but not running, Celestia made for the town center.

"Twins! Twins, they're twins!"

Celestia raised an ear. Running up the lane was an unusually tall, skinny yellow earth pony. "I'm a Dad! I'm a Dad! Woo hoo!"

Other ponies smiled and waved to him, shouting "Congrats, Mr. Cake!" And "Way to go, Carrot!" Celestia thought she felt a headache coming on.