A Mirror into the Soul
Thoughts have been passing through my mind; thoughts that I can no longer ignore, and I must express. Many a pony have passed through here, and many have ruled here before me. Ponies that have roamed these halls, sat in this throne, who ruled over the ponies here in this city, and this great land. Many of those ponies willing to fight, move forward for the greatness of Equestria. Those ponies I am in league with, and I might humbly add to whom I am above. I reign over these lands with the will of a kind soul, and the efficiency of a battalion of soldiers. To, at least my people, I am supreme.
To the ponies I am their lord, as to I they are my wards. Unfortunately for my case, I am just a vassal serving under my own rule.
No ponies might have noticed. To correct myself some might have noticed, but ignored the stained glass on the walls. The ever updating book of Equestrian history, a physical and beautiful rendering of the days before next, a history that my powerful sun shines through on every passing day, and Luna's beautiful night. To the wards, these windows are merely a decoration, a simple expression. To you I report a very shocking and to some a very revolutionary view.
The land of Equestria, is in fact not my sole rule. To put simply, I am merely an instrument of something else's will. Allow me to clarify why I said 'something', as opposed to the more popular dubbing, 'somepony'.
You see, the land of Equestria lives. She (a personal substitute for the lack of being able to ponify this kind of spirit) lives, in the core of this world. The centre, buried deep beneth the stones, the grass, the soil and the sky. She breathes, she moves, she manipulates and destroys. She is the thing that allows us to live over her, to live on the world that she has created. She speaks to myself, to my sister, forcing her will upon us. To some ponies they might be shocked, be in denial of this very new information. However by my own will and image I tell you that what I say is true, that I myself am not the true ruler of this land.
For, I am only following direction. Neigh guidance or simple request, but hard orders from our lady Equestria. The festivals, the public events, the kingdom. Our lives created by her, our history written by her, carried out by our rulers, like me.
To this great power who lives above our very souls has the plan. The plan that we are to follow to the letter, and the stroke of each. For one of us to deviate, would bring severe consequence. I bring you, an example of just that. For I made the terrible mistake that you must heed the warning from.
Centuries ago, I made a grave decision. One that would sidetrack all of Equestria to this day. I decided to change the system. Change Equestria to have a more efficient, and more suitable trading system. To be rid of the simple Bit that we all have come to know and use, to favour a more dynamic system of favours and helpfulness. That all ponies would use to barter with eachother, are acts of kindness. No longer shall one have to purchase the time of another to help them, but they shall be reimbursed for their helpfulness with nothing but helpfulness. Let us say that one pony needs to put up a new home for their family. Ponies would pitch in to help, and in return, the family could help with something the ponies who helped them put up their house needed to be done. It was a simple system, one that each pony would learn to appreciate.
A currency of kindness.
However, to mother Equestria, this was not to be so. In retribution, she did something that nopony else would dare to even think about.
She took my sister.
She stole her very being, her mind, her body, her soul. She shrouded it with a cloud of darkness, and cast it into the great unknown. To the lunar frontier she trapped my sister. She sent her to the very thing that she had been shown to control over the last couple years. A punishment for me, that she had to suffer for.
Her entire being was imprisoned with ideals of favouritism, sibling hate, and dishonesty. She was lead to believe that I of all ponies was the root of the problem. That it was my sunny day that caused all the ponies to sleep through her night, to ignore her, to send her memory into the dust once the beautiful morning rises. For a thousand years my sister, the one pony who I loved and trusted, who helped me keep going in the darkest of times, was trapped inside a prison I was forced to look into every passing day.
Those years were horrid, filled with guilt and regret, something that I was forced to ignore through every passing day to be able to keep order and peace in the land that I partially ruled over.
I digress, to the stained glass windows.
These transparent beauties are something that I have grown to enjoy, to see the lives of the ponies writing their own history in their eyes. To see the glimmer in the souls of the ponies as they live through their personal stories, and have them written on the walls of my palace.
For these things are the expression of Equestria. One thing I have no control over.
The stained glass in my palace reflect on past events, show what is currently happening, and when I am alone and nopony is observing them, they show the future. They are controlled by Equestria, the visual prompt to me personally, that I am either doing something right, wrong, or not good enough.
The six ponies I have come to love and care for so much in the last few years, commonly occupy these windows. They are shown as saviours, as leaders of our civilization, something I am instructed to put upon them.
These ponies are not greater than the rest. All ponies show the qualities that they represent. These ponies are engineered to be embodiments of these characteristics, to be the role model among the common folk, to be something more tangible than I or my sister could ever be to them. To show them the pathway to being good ponies.
I write this to you, fair reader, to share my experiences. In hope that we might be able to retrieve our freedom to live proper lives.
“What is that you are writing my queen?” a female voice echoes through my mind.
“It is nothing of concern. A mere telegram to an acquaintance of mine.” I said, ceasing to write on the piece of parchment held before me by my magical aura.
“I wouldn't think so my lovely queen. I believe, that there is something else going on. Something that you might be hiding from me. Something treasonous, and evil.”
“I would never think of such a thing, your great. I will always stand under you, my rule, is your will.” I chanted back monotonously, scrolling up the parchment and hiding it under my wing.
“My queen please do not lie to me. You know better than to disobey me. Need I punish you again for such a low and insignificant breach of my instruction. I would hate to see you go through another thousand years of torment.”
I stood up calmly, kneeling on the stone floor. “I would never consider to be anything but loyal to you. The mere imagining of disobeying you is treason against my own self.”
“Well lets be realistic my queen, you have been increasingly reluctant to follow my commands.”
“I would think nothing of it. It was merely my own misjudgement, a quality of being mortal.”
“Nay my Queen, a pony like yourself is nothing close to mortal. You must realize this by now.”
“I seek nothing more than serving under your greatness.”
“Celestia, open your right wing, please read to me what you have written to your dear friend.”
I did not move from my position for a few seconds. I did not know what to do. I couldn't lie anymore. She knew what I wrote.
I opened my wing, and grasped the scroll with my magic, unraveling it and holding it before me.
“Thoughts have been passing through my mind; thoughts that I can no longer ignore, and I must express. Many a pony have passed through here, and many have ruled here before me. Ponies that have roamed these halls, sat in this throne, who ruled over the ponies here in this city, and this great land.” I recited from my writing.
“Please, stop Celestia, I have heard enough. For this, there is no punishment worthy of such treachery. I will not have my queen disobey my word, disobey the land that she lives under.”
“Please, your great. I will destroy this document. Nothing will be heard of it. I just wanted to voice my feelings, and my thoughts.”
“Through I'm afraid the possibly making it public the lovely relationship that we share would be blasphemous. This is unacceptable.” She said, with a scarily mischievous tone.”
“Y-yes... your greatness.”
“Let it be known throughout Equestria, that you are no longer in rule. That you have stepped down from your throne.”
“Yes... your greatness.” I said, grabbing another piece of parchment.
I started writing.
To my dearest subjects, I bring you grave news.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I must leave you all as my queen. My time occupying the throne of Equestria has drawn to a close. As your Princess, I bring you the last request on my behalf, that Luna, be treated now as your monarch forevermore.
With much love,
Princess Celestia
I finished writing, setting down the quill on the stone below me, and wrapping up the parchment to set it just beside.
“It is done my greatness.”
“Thank you my Queen. Now, to be off with you.” She said, just as an aura of white dust starts forming around me. I felt my body being lifted off the ground, to hover in the air. I closed my eyes, and wished aloud in my mind.
Please, let the ponies some day be free.