//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: Predicted Tragedy 
// Story: Elements of Honor 
// by SpitFlame 
//------------------------------//

"Are you sure you won't need my help?" said Discord.

"Yes, I'm sure," sighed Fluttershy, wandering to her round front door. "All I'm going to do is visit Manehattan for the next week—to help Rarity pick a different path for her fashion career."

Discord cast a glance to the outside view, tapping a finger to his chin. "Well, if you really don't need my draconequus-esque sense of judgement, then I bid thee farewell." He bowed and snapped his claws, making an over-sized sun hat fall to Fluttershy's mane. "Have fun!"

"Um... right," she said, tilting her head. "Please behave yourself, Discord. Last time you tried to help me, you caused weather distortions in the sky. It took the pegasi months to figure out the problem."

"Yes, yes, that is why it is better for me to stay. Bon voyage!" he laughed. "I'll be—err, here the whole time."

"Goodbye then." Fluttershy made her way through the door. Turning back and smiling she said: "Maybe next week we can have a tea party with angel bunny?"

"Sounds lovely. Goodbye!" said Discord while chuckling, waving faster than before. He waited to no longer see the pegasus' shape, then yelled: "Yes! Alone again." He fell onto a nearby couch and, with a snap of his claws, flashed a stretched piece of marshmallow stabbed by a stick in his paw. "Now to relax and heat up some inanimate nature."

"Now that does sound fun to do."

Discord's ears perked; and he quickly shifted his head round the couch, grimacing while dropping the marshmallow and stick. "O-Outsider?"

"Normally I would say: 'it has been long'—but I do not have much time to spare," said The Outsider. "For my schedule, anyway."

Discord's face straightened. He hummed in thought and eyed the pale being with careful eyes. "Last time I saw you, well, you were at that slumber party hosted by Cerberus' master."

"Yes, indeed I was!" laughed The Outsider. "It was three and a thousand years ago. I remember you left for you could never get the tail on the mythological creature."

"Hey, that wasn't fair!" said Discord in defense, creasing his brow. "That game was rigged and you know it."

"Well, whatever. I am here to give you a very simple message."

"Boy, Outsider, you sure have gotten archaic these past few millennia." Discord chuckled and walked about the room. "If only you stayed with the group after that event. Too bad you ditched the other guys. You're no real spirit of chaos."

"I am not a spirit of chaos," said The Outsider. "I am a spirit of observation. You all were boring, and I needed something very fascinating to pass the time."

"Whatever!" Discord hunched his back against the couch and yawned. "What do you need to tell, just to come to me after all these years?"

"I need you to leave."

Discord raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? You need me to leave?"

"I have a very special friend coming in about a week from now. He requested to have you removed for his plans."

"What plans? Are you attempting to surprise me with a long-over-due prank?"

"I cannot say." The Outsider's eyes turned very grey; and sticking both of his hands outwards he said: "Just go away from Equestria—and do not come back—for two or three months."

An awkward silence hung in the air. Then Discord fell from his couch in laughter, the high-pitched tone causing The Outsider's black eyes to twitch. "Y-you want me to l-leave?" said he, laughing once again. "Oh, please, has something hit your poor little head to think you could ever, in any conceivable way, make me move from where I am?"

But The Outsider chuckled cold and quietly to himself. "You have made many friends," he added, "and you have become much more lighthearted. It is an appalling shame that you are disobeying my asking. Say, what it not be a shame if this Fluttershy of yours were to suffer so greatly from your own choosing?"

The grin on Discord's face instantly altered into that of an aghast expression. "Wait, what are you saying?" he asked.

"If you do not do as I wish—for my friend to come to Equestria and for my own entertainment—then I shall, let us say, 'punish' the life of your best friend: Fluttershy."

"How dare you ever come to that conclusion!" said Discord, his eyes red as steam blew from his ears. He grabbed The Outsider by the shoulders and lowered him to meet his glance.

Yet The Outsider was very calm, smiling and looking back with soft eyes. "It is simple," said he: "leave Equestria for three months total to see Fluttershy live past ten minutes from now."

"How could you be so cruel?" said Discord in a broken voice, backing away slowly with his eyebrows outwardly lowered. "You'll never be a true spirit of chaos with such a personality."

"Oh, please, I would kill all of the guys back at home if I could. They bored me to figurative death."

Discord sighed and looked to the ground. "So you want me to leave for a little while? That is all?"

The Outsider gave an exaggerated groan. "You take so much time!" he said. "It seems I will have to slay Fluttershy after all!"

"No! No! No! No!" Discord panicked frantically. "Here! I'm gone! Make sure to inform the others, though!" And with a snap of his paw the draconequus vanished.

"Hmph! What a crybaby," said The Outsider, rolling his eyes. "I will have to make sure, however."


* * *


Corvo wandered to a leant chair of hardened wood, amid the many crystal pillars within the study room. Celestia herself lain in a much nicer looking chair of soft fabric; and when he sat down, between them was a wide stool, bearing a kettle and two teacups.

"I feel as if these meetings of ours are getting repetitive," said Celestia, looking to the glowing hearth and back. "At night time and a fireplace, too."

"It is a favorite of mine," said Corvo. "But putting that aside, I am actually quite surprised."

"Surprised about what?"

"Equestria has returned to normal, and we have found all the stones, yet we still do not know who has done it."

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea as to who the culprit could be." She cast a glance to his left hand, and said: "I already noticed that you gained your powers back."

"Yes, of course." Corvo sighed and smiled. "I am relieved, too, for I never thought to have them returned to me."

"In fact, I have a very strange feeling that we will uncover the entity behind all of this tomorrow."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is." She levitated the kettle, pouring hot tea into the two cups. "Please answer me this, Corvo: why do you think there were windigos when you first came here?"

"I am as clueless as you are," he said, bringing a fist under his chin. "I read that windigos are an extinct species; and they would freeze their victims based on fighting and hatred. Those two facts have been broken, apparently."

"That tells us that this entity must have full knowledge on Equestria, or at the very least, enough to know about its creatures. And it was powerful enough to change these rules."

"What are you getting at?"

"I think that whoever has done this is not alone. In fact, there must be two entities in the workings."

Corvo sat straighter in his chair. "Two? However did you deduce that?"

"We know this correlates to your Mark in some way, yet there were elements implying that these actions were accomplished based off of knowledge of Equestria. And since your world and ours are not connected in any way, there must be two masterminds: one from your world, and one who has been to Equestria and knows the facts. The latter of which may even be from your place, yet he is aware of Equestria, no matter how many years ago it may be."

You sure talk a lot, Celestia, thought Corvo. You draw closer to the truth after all, so I must be wary in these conversations.

"There are also the timberwolves from Canterlot," she continued, "so that should add weight to my deduction."

She would only draw closer to uncovering me if I were to be oblivious to these ideas. "It would be interesting if these two people were working together," said Corvo. "I think one is more powerful than the other, so maybe the two planned an attack in advance."

Trying to throw off suspicion, Corvo? thought Celestia. Typical. "But why come at all? My guess is that they come for some other pony, rather than this country as a whole. Like I have said before, this entire tree was a distraction for the background."

"If whomever created these events are so powerful, then there is naught you can do?"

"There was someone in particular." She sighed in unison with the moans of the flame. "There was a creature named Discord. He was powerful enough to stop these occurrences. He even knew your world better than I—for he had been there before—yet he disappeared."

Corvo gasped beneath his breath and widened his eyes. "There was someone who could have stopped this?" he said. "But... how can that be? What can that imply?"

"There can only be one possible explanation to this," said Celestia, her voice clear and thick. "One of the entities probably knew Discord to get him to leave. Now that I think on it, it is the most probable option to go by. And since he would be connected to your world, there can only be one person responsible for this: The Outsider."

How does Celestia know of The Outsider? he thought. If she knows this much, then she was right before: she will figure out it is me by today or tomorrow. Should I deny that I know anything concerning The Outsider? While that could rule me out of her list of suspects for I would not know him, that can also be used against me. Celestia must expect me to say I know nothing of him, just to block her suspicion of my doings. That means she would know I would be trying to not get caught, thus being an even bigger target for her; for she must know of his Mark then. And while I am glad to have this Discord out of my way, I never even considered the possibility that she would bear knowledge of The Outsider. "Yes, I know of The Outsider. He is the one who gave me my Mark in the first place."

"Yes, I figured that much," said Celestia. "I have never met him before; but according to historical records, Discord once knew of an Outsider three-some-thousand years ago. We already know that the latter must be working with someone."

Corvo grinned nervously and said: "What outcome are you straying to?"

Looking very hard at him, Celestia said: "The second person is of only where The Outsider is from; and the second person must have a motivation for coming back again. Corvo, you attacked on your initial visit; and while I appreciate your attempt at redemption, this all points to you. I am now ninety-nine-percent sure you are the culprit."

"With all due respect, Celestia, you are jumping to conclusions," said Corvo hotly. "I know that I am not here to kill you. I would never try and do that a second time. The first time involved problematic occurrences and nothing more. But by seeing what I did wrong, I came back and asked for forgiveness. That is all you can know."

Celestia chuckled to herself, and her eyes narrowed. "I never said I knew it was you—only that I was ninety-nine-percent sure. Nothing more and nothing less."

"I... see." Corvo rubbed his temple and looked to the flickering flames. "I promise that I only want to help you, Celestia. By tomorrow we will solve this case, like you said."

"Right. Anyway, I would like your definition of honor."

Corvo raised an eyebrow. "My definition of honor?"

"Yes. That is all I need."

Is this a trap? he thought. No, too open, yet absurdly random. I see nothing wrong with the question. "Honor is to have the courage to do what is right. It can be shown through great respect, or to accomplish a promise or an agreement."

"And you have done that," said Celestia, smiling. "You have fulfilled your promise to save Equestria. So far, you have done what I would deem to be right, and you have shown great respect for my sister and I."

"We can always discuss justice as well," he said. "Actually, maybe there is an analogy with justice and the entity who has decided to come here. Have you ever considered that what he has done so far is justice—to him, at the very least?"

Celestia hummed in thought, looking about the room. "No, I never considered that. Well, whatever 'justice' this entity thinks he is doing, it is clearly evil. We can all agree upon that."

"Yes, Celestia, he is evil. I do hope to catch him, to prove to you that I am not him."

"Oh?"

"Yes! How do you think it feels to be accused of being a murderer in Equestria?" Corvo leaned in and furrowed his brow. "All I want is to save you—if that is necessary—and to save Equestria. If an entity truly lurks in the shadows, then I would do anything to stop him."

Gritting her teeth beneath her frown, Celestia thought: He's lying through his teeth! There's no one to catch on your part, Corvo. You are the one who is behind all of this. I suppose it is time to bring this case to a final close. "Well, I do hope that that shall happen." She levitated her cup and brought its curved lid to her mouth. "Let us enjoy some tea before heading off to bed."

"Of course," said Corvo quietly. He picked up his cup and drained the tea from within, sighing heavily afterwards. "In all honesty, this conversation has been a little bit depressing tonight."

"I'm sorry you think that." Celestia made her way to the door. Without looking back she said: "I can guess how this will end, Corvo." And she was gone.


* * *


Corvo felt heavy when he rose from his seat. This was most likely due to the hefty engine roaring at the full stop, and his rib still hurt from the vibrations. He paid no mind; for he supported himself forth by the seats, stretching his back and looking out the window. Despite it being mid-noon, many clouds spread across the grey-blue sky, dimming the sunlight. It was also raining—very heavily. Each rapid drop felt like miniature hammers, vainly slapping the glass. A thunderstorm, too, snapped through the wind every few minutes.

I wonder how the planning of weather works in Equestria, he thought, wandering to the exit door. Well, I shall think about that later. Now, I need to solely focus on eliminating the princesses. The time is almost here.

"I hope you don't mind the rain," said Luna. Corvo looked at her from within the train, as her wet mane hung loosely over her left eye. Luna's gaze was cold and still, seemingly oblivious to the pouring water running down her body.

Yet Corvo remained staring at her, bearing a grey shadow over his face. "Why are you letting yourself become soaked?" he asked. "Do you not have some sort of magic to block the rain?"

"Well, I personally don't care if I get wet in a little rain," she said, spitting water from her mouth. "Come. We should head inside the castle. I can hardly make a word you're saying due to this loud storm."

"What!" said Corvo upon the flash of thunder.

"Exactly my point!" Luna gestured for him to follow her, and the two wandered down a garden path. "It is very dark, Corvo. What do you make of that?"

"Other than being fully assaulted by water, I cannot guess." He lifted his shoulders and kept an arm over his head. "Why such a woeful storm?"

"You mean why have the pegasi scheduled this? I suppose that's the way things are."

"I see then." Corvo let his eyes shift about the castle exterior to their right, hardly able to descry the pointed roofs, blocked by the heavy clouds. "Why are we here again?"

"Celestia and I were to have a word with you!" said Luna loudly. "We think you're going to leave today or tomorrow. There's not much else in Equestria for you, Corvo."

The two reached the main double door; and entering the foyer Corvo lowered his arms and rubbed the water off his face. "Yes, I think I am leaving quite soon," he said. "So... what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, since we're alone," started Luna, "I think we'll wait in my room for now. I suspect my sister to be there eventually."

Oh, is that so?

"Please, allow me to dry us off." Luna lit her horn, did what seemed to be a quick scan about her and Corvo, and the two were fully dry.

"Thank you." Corvo bowed his head for a second, then said: "Where is Celestia at the moment, if I may ask?"

"Probably in her room—as usual—sorting stuff out."

"What sort of stuff?"

"Important stuff." Luna walked down the left hallway, much faster than was necessary, with Corvo behind her.

"Well, that is a tad vague," he said, lowering an eyebrow. "Ah, I will not question. Just tell me what you want to discuss."

Luna smirked beneath the shadow of her eyes, remaining very silent. After many minutes of walking round the castle the two reached a wide room of blue walls. Looking about Corvo glanced at the many darkened pillars and white arches above.

"This is a nice room," he said.

"Now, Corvo"— Luna turned to him —"what do you think will happen now? Be truthful and precise with your answer."

"Err... okay?" Corvo noticed how Luna's eyes cast a glance past him every few seconds. Walking in he had noticed the clock above the door and its time: twelve-forty-one. "I think that nothing will happen now. Whomever is responsible for the tree, we are much too far away and not with enough evidence to catch him."

"However, we can be sure that we will catch 'him' today. I am not waiting for anything but that."

Please do not fool yourself, Luna, thought Corvo. I can easily tell how you continuously glance over the clock behind me. What can that mean? You are awaiting something specific in this very room, for you seem to require specific time. If not this room, why not use any other clock round this castle? I have a very good idea as to what she may be expecting. "You keep looking towards the time, Luna. What are you waiting for?"

Luna groaned and tightened her jaw. Acting so calm? Something has to happen now. "No, nothing at all. I am just wondering the time."

"Whatever you may say," said Corvo, chuckling quietly. "If you do not want to tell me anything, do you want to remain staring at each other?"

"Yes, of course—while my guard is down."

The sound of rain numbed behind the long windows. Many minutes later and the ticking clock echoed about them with every movement of the seconds-arrow. The alicorn and the assassin were alone, a very black shadow stretching to them.

And then a guard, panting in his golden armor, swung the main door open, crying: "Princess Luna, I bring you grim news! Something has, well, happened to Princess Celestia." His face was aghast, is if he were chased to the very room by a ghost.

"What?" said Corvo. "Something has happened to Princess Celestia?" He turned to Luna.

"Yes!" said the guard, sounding very out of breath. "Please follow me!" He hurried down the hallway.

"We will have to inspect the situation," said Corvo, running after the armored pony.

"Of course!" said Luna, galloping behind him.

When the two reached to where the horrified guard had lead them to, they too were horrified; for there lay Celestia, amid many medical ponies and detectives, and many other castle guards. Corvo was silent, slowly walking to where the princess was. Luna herself watched from afar, her face very dark.

"Celestia?" said Corvo quietly, kneeling to her. Her body rested on a platform of foam, with doctors preparing portable beds at the door. However, the assassin's jaw twitched as he stared with an outwardly lowered brow. "Please, Celestia, can you even talk? Please talk. Can you do that?"

"C-Corvo?" said Luna by his side, her eyes seemingly bloodshot. "Tia? Oh... no."

"Princess Celestia!" said Corvo again, much louder than was necessary. "No. No, no, no. No! Wake yourself, Princess Celestia. You must!"

"Please stand by, Your Highness and Mister Corvo," said a pale-blue unicorn, bearing a white hat with a red cross upon his mane. "Clear!" Many more medical ponies intervened, carrying her figure onto a portable bed.

"We recommend you to stay in the castle while we look over the Princess," said a guard to Luna, bowing then quickly jogging down the hallway.

Both Luna and Corvo were alone, bewildered and aghast in a lonely room where they both found Celestia's still body.

"Luna," said Corvo, his tone very somber, "what do you think caused this?"

"I... I cannot know," she said, gazing over to him with a frozen stare. "Whatever just happened to my sister, it was not an accident."

"Of course it was not," said Corvo, bending low to his knees. He tapped a finger against the slabbed floor, narrowing his eyes. "Not hollow. There are no openings in here other than that door. This may imply something."

"And—and what would that be?"

Corvo rose, quickly shifting his head about, saying: "There must have been an attempted murder."

Luna ground her teeth and looked down. "No, no, that can't be it. My sister wouldn't just let someone kill her. In fact, no one is powerful enough to do that; and I'm sure she's alive right now."

"By process of elimination," started Corvo, "this could mean that someone may of gotten to her through an indirect plan. She may have been poisoned."

"P-poison?" stammered Luna.

"That idea is very slim, however." Corvo stared at Luna with grey eyes and sighed. "Whoever would even think of doing this, their motivation must be connected to ours of collecting those cursed stones."

"How can you know that?" said Luna in haste. "Are you saying that whoever did this is also the entity for placing the tree?"

"I... I do not know." Corvo rested his back upon a wall, bearing a hand upon his forehead. "We just saved Equestria, and now this! That should be a correlation too sudden to be dismissed as a coincidence. But why would it come to this?"

"We'll figure this out." Luna slowly made her way to the door. "I must get going, Corvo. My sister"— she breathed in —"my sister needs me."


* * *


"What do you think will happen now?" he asked.

"Many tears and farewells, I would guess," she replied.

Corvo rested his shoulders onto a stone balcony's sill, letting his eyes wander over the sea of ponies—mostly donned in black attires—across the Canterlot garden. To his left and under a roof, held together by white pillars, were the main six, who continued to weep in sorrow. To his right was Luna, her face much too still and focused. He would not say, but Corvo knew how depressed she must have felt.

"Hearty goodbyes is what I call them," she said again.

"It only took one day to come to the conclusion that Princess Celestia was slain by a person—or maybe a pony—and another day to form a funeral," he said, casting a glance to a great coffin, its glossy black exterior gleaming in response to the darkened sun. An arch of white flowers decorated the field; and many ponies, each sad and cold, sat round the center.

A line of guards marched forth, blowing into golden trumpets, emitting a fair and soothing tune. Several mares, clad in white robes, sang a song of sadness and sorrow, their voices carrying the crowd into a state of darkness.

Funerals here are very different to the ones back at home, thought Corvo.

Luna sighed long but quietly to herself, biting her lip. "It has been two days since we have figured this out," she said. "Twilight and her friends took the news the worst."

"I would imagine." Corvo closed his eyes. "I will talk to them tomorrow. They may need a little bit of cheering up. But other than that, I still cannot believe something like this has happened."

Luna did not respond for the moment, letting her mind wander throughout the past few hours.

"Hmm, Luna?" Corvo re-opened his eyes and looked to her.

"The doctors confirmed that the cause was indeed poison," said Luna at last. "Your deduction was correct, as usual. This could only mean that somepony probably had access to such a substance."

"What was the poison?"

"I doubt you'll be familiar with it, unless you have been studying Equestrian geography as of lately. Anyway, the poison used is a rare plant: Unexplained Opium. Are you familiar with it?"

If I say 'no' then she may think I am trying to hide something, thought Corvo. "Yes, Twilight and I actually bumped into a field of them at one point."

"Those plants only ever appeared near that forest, when you guys were searching for a stone. And since you and the Elements of Harmony were the only ones ever there—well, what do you think I am getting at? Did you ever take a plant with you?"

"Of course not." Corvo rested his chin upon his arm. "Maybe someone went there, unnoticed, and took an Unexplained Opium."

"It is a possibility. However, the likelihood of that happening is quite low. Besides, Unexplained Opium plants existed before this—outside of Equestria, that is. I think that the one responsible for this murder must be from this country."

Is that statement a deliberate set up? Corvo looked very hard at Luna from the side of his eye, as she remained gazing forth. What she just said clears me of suspicion, for I am not of Equestria. But maybe she wants me to agree, thus having that saying used against me, as if I were trying to avoid getting caught. A valiant yet vain effort to lure me into this said trap. "No, that cannot be. If we are sure that the killer is connected to the tree, we know that he is not of Equestria."

I practically cleared Corvo, yet he disagreed and admitted that it is someone from his world; and that further implies that it could be him, thought Luna. No, he knew what I was trying to do, and effortlessly avoided it, making me unable to have anything against him other than old news. "I guess you are. Still, I very much doubt it was you."

"Why would you come to such a conclusion?" Corvo raised an eyebrow, stretching his back. "You and Celestia were so adamant that I was the one before, so why change such a chased-for hypothesis?"

"Because I am tired of trying to catch you when it is clear that you are innocent," said Luna, nearly aloud. "We have been on your tail since the first day of your arrival, yet it has all been to no avail. We need to work together, Corvo, to truly reach the bottom of this woeful case."

Oh, I see, he thought. So you suddenly do not suspect me anymore. Such a thin disguise, Luna; for you are trying to make me feel more secure round you, causing me to drop my guard. Princess Celestia would be so disappointed. "Thank you." He turned back to face the black coffin and weeping ponies; and he creased his eyebrows outwardly. "Give me a moment now."

Many more hours passed by; and many more songs of heartfelt love and tears flowed through time. By the moment each and everypony there bowed and said their farewell—to the one and only princess of the sun they knew of—the field was green and empty, a black coffin yet remained in the center of it all, borne upon a stool of white marble.

Corvo approached Celestia's casket, which towered over him, midst the short stairs. "Is Princess Celestia really in there?" he said.

"There are two coffins," said Luna coldly. "One is underground right now, and the other is out in the open. It is a tradition of royalty."

He wandered forth and looked down to the sign, graven in white stone; and it read:


PRINCESS CELESTIA
RAISER OF THE SUN
MOST BELOVED IN EQUESTRIA
BCE 2150 – CE 5*


"We already know that this was done by someone," said Corvo, turning to Luna. "Why would anyone do this in the first place?"

"I... don't know," she said, her voice broken and low.

Corvo looked back upon the black coffin, his eyes twitched in fear and anger. "Whomever is responsible, I swear to my soul I will uncover the truth. I promise you that," he ended with a whisper. Yet Luna was crying, silently, with her head bowed. She sighed beneath her breath and turned away and left. To Corvo he could not have felt anything else. Closing his eyes he chanted softly:


When the world was hopeless and grey,
her voice was known and heard;
But now it seems she has went away,
and without a single word.

Her horn glowed golden and magic of light,
to the aid of those in need;
and there lies that ever, long and bright,
for we must now heed.

Oh, Celestia, why are you now lost,
to where we weep in sadness?
All will now turn and toss,
only to be faced with madness?

From Canterlot we saw you leap,
and your eyes were sharp, as arrows from strings;
but now you dive into nightshade deep,
bound by your white wings


From afar Luna's cold stare remained locked on the assassin, studying him very carefully. She exhaled sharply, thought for a moment, and turned away and into the castle.

This has been all according to plan, thought Corvo, smiling underneath the shadow of his eyes. It is only a matter of time before my business here is complete. Prepare yourself, Luna, for your end shall be next.

However, back to where Luna was, the princess could only be relieved and awaiting Corvo's next move; for she thought: Now it is over for you, Corvo. With Celestia's plan in motion, we will truly uncover your intentions. It is only a matter of time before you try to attack me as well—and my sister and I shall be ready.


* * *


"Luna, we must speak of Corvo," said Celestia.

"Oh? What may that be?" said Luna.

The two princesses stood face-to-face in the castle's main foyer, in between a row of pillars and the rest of the room. The front door remained opened, letting dim light wander through the air, yet the place was very silent.

"In a few hours from now Corvo and I will be having tea together," Celestia continued. "It was requested by him; a 'small commemoration,' as he called it."

"Do you think he has something ready for you?"

"Of course!" Celestia leaned in closer, and almost whispered: "We have already collected all seven stones, and there is now nothing left for him here. I predict that he will poison the tea. It is the most silent way to go about things."

"You are certain?" Luna's eyes widened. "Then we will have to stop him. We can show the poisoned tea, attach it to him, and—"

"No, no, that would cause too many complications, and it can result in some ponies getting harmed," sighed Celestia. "I will be drinking the tea. There should be a kettle and two cups."

"Please tell me you intend to do something about this."

"I do," she assured. "I will be the one to levitate the kettle, where the poison should be. Upon doing that, I shall activate a clearing spell to vaporize any lethal substance within the drink. And the two of us shall take sips. The next day I shall die—in a fake manner, of course. I will inform several other ponies to be in on it, by secrecy, so they shall take me in and have a fake burial."

"But what is the point of all this?"

"I need to give Corvo the impression that he has beaten me. Only then will he go after you. Be wary and bear keen eyes, Luna. Once he tries to kill you, I shall be there."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "How will you know when to come?"

"I will be watching," said Celestia. "The day after my funeral, I will come to you—to confirm that I am indeed alive—at twelve o'clock in the afternoon."

"But what if there is no poison, and this is all wrong?"

"That is what I am trying to imply, Luna. I am certain that Corvo will try and kill me then; for that would be the best time for him. If we are right and he tries to attack you next, I will intervene, and that shall be enough evidence to incarcerate him and win. If we are wrong, however, then all we will owe is an apology for all this inconvenience."

"There is still a question to be answered: why would Corvo poison the tea in the kettle that he would be drinking from? Would he not be killing himself, too?"

"Corvo is immune to all poisons which are unique to Equestria and the lands about it. I have studied his kind before, and a human's anatomy has a very powerful resistance to lethal substances here. If he would know this, then my prediction should be correct."

"And what if he does not know this?"

"I'm not sure." Celestia yawned and half-closed her eyes. "I think the former is the correct one, though. It is what I think after observing him study Equestria for so long."

Luna nearly smiled, quite satisfied with her sister's words. "This is perfect then," she said. "If your prediction is correct—and I am sure it is—we will win!"

Celestia, however, remained frowning, with a grey shadow over her eyes. "There is a risk to all of this," she continued. "There is a chance that I may actually... die."

Luna gasped beneath her breath as her pupils shrunk. "No, no, that will not happen," she said. "It won't. Why would you even come to such a conclusion? You are far more intelligent than Corvo."

"That may be so, but I have all the disadvantages," ended Celestia with a low sigh. "Those disadvantages are my emotions towards you and the others."

"But how?" said Luna, outwardly creasing her brow.

"I constantly have to revise my plans, always making sure so none of you get hurt or killed. If I were to be convoluted enough, I would have won by now, but my previous plans would have resulted in a death or injury other than my own. I could never accept that. Corvo has managed to trap me in a position where I have to slowly approach him, and to block you other ponies out of our way."

"We have to tell Twilight and Cadence if that is the case. If Corvo is after them as well, not informing them on this matter would only cause them harm."

"No, he is only after you and I," said Celestia dryly. "In his initial visit he only ever went after us. He would not go after Twilight, for he seems to regularly avoid her; and not Cadence for she will now remain in the Crystal Empire. If Corvo is to strike now and willing to go back to Canterlot, it would not make sense to leave out a target so far away, with time to prepare against him. Thus, I know that Corvo will only try to kill the two of us."

"I see," said Luna quietly, her eyes half-closed. "I can only add that you would have even less time to think things through, for you are always attending work; meanwhile, Corvo is always free."

But Celestia smiled and her face brightened. "Do not feel so down, dear sister," she said. "What we have is friendship, something Corvo will never have. We will beat him, one way or another."

Luna, too, smiled and nodded her head. "Alright then. I guess we shall begin soon."


* * *


*BCE stands for 'Before Classical Era,' as where CE stands for 'Classical Era'; the latter of which began after Nightmare Moon's second defeat