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// A Kingdom in Peril 
// Story: Hearth's Chilling Eve 
// by WritingPony 
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"Almost.... almost...!"

She had done this for as long as she could remember, and yet Princess Celestia had still never quite mastered the art of placing the star atop a Hearth’s Warming tree. It was always either lopsided, unstable, or would just somehow look odd.

."..almost.... yes!" she exclaimed, trotting her hoof against the floor as an unspoken hoof-bump to luck... before watching in horror as the hoof-bump caused the star to fall, landing with a clink on the tiled floor of the Throne Room. The star stared back at her, silently mocking her lack of grace. She motioned her magic to pick up the star from the floor, to re-attempt what she was almost convinced was a fluke of luck, when the door at the front of the room opened abruptly. Her eyes immediately caught her somewhat-panicked sister running straight for her. With mere feet to spare, Princess Luna came to a well-controlled stop before her big sister. "Sister! I must speak with you at once!"

"Calm down, my dear Luna. Tell me what it is that has you so flustered."

The slightly-smaller of the two sisters looked away briefly, taking the time to carefully compose her answer, and take in a large breath of air, before turning her gaze direct at her co-ruler, "I had a... a vision. It was... disturbing. Sister, I saw our kingdom fall!"

Her words fell on what can only be described as disbelief, mixed with unassailable confidence that Equestria would endure. "Sister, it was just a dream. I have... had dreams like that sometimes. I know it must have been troubling for you to see, but have faith. Twilight and her friends have done much to protect Equestria, and I am confident that they can meet any challenge the world throws at them."

Princess Luna looked down at the floor, pawing at the shiny, well-polished surface with a hoof, her eyes now avoiding her sister’s gaze, "That was just it, sister... in my vision, her friends were not beside her. I saw her... give her life for us, sister." Her train of thought had been interrupted; she did not want to imagine a world without Twilight Sparkle, and the thought of that alone weighed heavily on her flank, as her eyes once again affixed themselves to her sister’s. “I know this vision will eventually come to pass." Princess Celestia could not help but notice the tears in her sister’s eyes. She approached her darker-skinned sister, and with her neck down, held her in a tight embrace.

It was several minutes before anypony had the constitution to break the reassuring sisterly intimacy, with Princess Celestia making the first move, .".. how do you know these events will play out as you saw."

The words, while entirely expected, still caused Princess Luna to have to think how she’d have to break the news to her. She pulled back from the cuddle, and looked away again, "I, um... I paid a visit to the Undergallery. I was looking forward to seeing my favourite painting, to spend a while basking in it’s magnificence and majesty. On the way out, one of my hoof-shoes dislodged itself, and I was caught off-balance. I... accidentally fell into the stone pedestal."

Her sister sharply recoiled from her, and suddenly looked quite distressed, her left eye visibly twitching as her brain struggled to catch up with the panic further down in her consciousness. “You.. you didn’t..."

"It’s not like I had a choice, sister! I banged my head on the floor in the chaos. When I came to, it was right next to me. I have no idea how that thing is even capable of moving."

"Sister, you do know what that stone is, right? What it does?"

Princess Luna looked away momentarily, and reflexively swallowed, "Yes, I do. It’s the Stone of Insight; Starswirl the Bearded’s last great work."

Princess Celestia walked carefully towards one of the windows, the vista below offering a splendid view of their kingdom. "We know what the stone is capable of, but I don’t think I ever told you how I came to be in possession of it."

Princess Luna tentatively sat next to her, her eyes looking up pensively at her older sibling, "You’ve... always avoided talking about him."

Princess Celestia nodded in agreement, "It was... painful to watch. When he first showed me the stone, he showed me the next wheat crop failing in Ponyville. I immediately instigated a programme of agricultural maintenance and investment. When we next consulted the stone, it showed a bumper crop harvest. We thought we had something special, something wondrous..."

.".. and yet, all was not as it seemed. Am I correct, sister?"

"Indeed you are. As he continued to use the stone, he grew agitated and paranoid. He barely ate, his alchemical concoctions became more and more unstable, and his magical control became more erratic with each passing week. I remember one particular argument in the throne room where he revealed another troubling secret. He accused me of colluding with the Gryphons in establishing a new world order. What he’d done was use another of the stone’s powers, to look into the past. He’d seen shadows, and outlines of past events, and constructed a fiction to justify what he’d seen. Had he not been so exhausted, he would have been able to see the images with far more clarity."

Princess Celestia shifted her body, getting slightly more comfortable, "After I calmed him down, he agreed to return home for the night. It was then that I ordered the Stone of Insight to be seized, and sealed off in the Undergallery below the castle, forbidden for anypony to access."

The elder princess got up, and slowly trotted in the direction of the throne. Finding a nearby step, she sat down, and looked back at Princess Luna, "The ability to see into the future is a power not meant for anypony, for it is something that, while it may be beneficial in the short term, is very capable of causing pain and suffering in the long-term. I worry for you, Luna. You’ve looked into the stone, you have seen what you should not have seen... and as we both know, Starswirl the Bearded was never the same after his involvement with the stone."

"And like I said, I had no choice in the matter, sister! The stone seems to now be able to move. It sat there, hovering just above the ground, squatting in front of me with impunity, as I was powerless to move or struggle against its magical forces. It... tunnelled into my head, Celestia! It showed me my greatest fears, and showed me that they are destined to occur! But, it also revealed something I don’t think it intended to. I-"

"My dearest Luna... it is a stone. You are talking like it is alive..."

"Oh, my dear sister... I think that it is. However, in showing me events yet to come to pass, I think the stone unwittingly showed me what I need to do to prevent this from happening."

"But what of the stone itself? If what you say is true, it could be capable of far greater damage than it proved for Starswirl the Bearded."

"Do not worry, sister, for I have encased the stone in an anti-magic shield; nothing can get in, and nothing can get out... for now, at least. I pray that it will be enough. I swear, ‘Tia, I will do whatever it takes to save Equestria, and... to save Twilight Sparkle."

Princess Celestia trotted toward to her younger sibling and softly asked, “I trust that your intentions are pure, and that your judgement remains clear. With that in mind, I must ask you: what do you plan to do?”

“I will explain. Walk with me, sister. I require your aid, and the aid of another. Equestria and Twilight Sparkle will endure!”