• Published 16th Apr 2012
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Hooves, Plush, and Magic: The Untold Tales - Harry Leferts



This is the place for side stories, origin tales and plot bunnies for my fic: "The Wizard and the Lonely Princess". So come on in,

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Celestia's Story Part Five

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling.

'Dearest Luna...' - Celestia's writing translated from Early Modern Equish
"HAVE AT THEE!" -Traditional Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice.


As she stood at the windows of her quarters in Canterlot, Celestia sighed as she looked up at the moon, far above as she raised it. Part of her could feel the anger, hate, regret, despair and so many other emotions of the prisoner on it. One tear slowly dripped down her cheek though she did not bother to attempt to wipe it away. Another soon joined it on the other side. For here, in her sanctuary, there was no need to hide.

No need to close herself off from the world behind a mask.

Her face wet, Celestia did not take her eyes from where there was the image of a mare imprinted upon the lunar surface. "Sister... dearest sister, We are most sorry for what We did... and while We do not believe Ourselves to be worthy of such, We still wish for thy forgiveness."

Several minutes passed before she kissed a hoof and placed it against the window in her nightly ritual as she began to sing a lullaby...


Dearest Journal, it has been a century and a half since I have banished my sister to the moon. I dare not think of what her exile must feel like, for I feel much the same. Why, you must ask? Because even though I see ponies around myself, I feel alone. I know each and every one of them by name that work in the castle. I have seen ponies born, grow into adults, have foals of their own, grow old, and, finally... die and journey to the Summerlands. All the while I live almost immobile in the sea of time...

And that is why I feel so alone.

I will see each and every one of them taken to the grave while I am still vigorous with youth. None of them could possibly understand just how alone one with a lifespan such as my own can feel. Only dragons and two others could understand how it feels. And for the dragons, even they know that they live but a few thousand years. Of the other two though, only my sister could truly understand as the other would not care about beings he considered "Toys".

My sister... which brings me to what I have to say next.

I have created my own version of the clone spell that I have used to create Sunny Days Skies. This spell uses some of the water from the "Mirror Pool" as a reagent of sorts which is consumed in the spell's casting. In return, it creates a perfect clone of myself which has my abilities and knowledge. A clone which later I can dismiss and, in doing so, gain whatever memories it may have created during it's existence as it's magic returns to me. I do not know the length of time that the clone can last, it may be but a few days or weeks, or possibly into years and decades. Mayhap it would be even permanent.

But that is but one part of my plan. For you see, dearest journal, it gives me the ability to leave with none the wiser. I shall create a clone and leave it in my place as I go on a journey. Once I leave the castle, I shall head for my sister's prison and speak with her after so long. My heart truly aches to hear her voice, even if the words from it are spoken of in hate and anger. I shall let her know how sorry I am and give what comfort that I can in telling her that I shall visit her time and again.

Perhaps, I shall in time break through her anger and darkness to the beloved Princess that I know lay within...


Placing the flask in front of her, Celestia uncorked it and created a small cut on her fetlock that she allowed to drip blood into it. After a moment, she healed the cut and pulled away before her horn started to glow. Inside, the liquid began to glow before it flowed from the flask and formed a puddle which laid there.

Then there was a gasp and a dimple formed. Slowly, the dimple formed into a open muzzle that rose from the liquid as what could be recognized as two long forelegs grew from the edge of the puddle. The strange, pony-like being pulled itself from the puddle that shrank as it formed into it's body. Finally, a version of Celestia made of reddish water stood in front of Celestia before it seemed to solidify. A flash of light nearly blinked the Princess of the Day and when it dissipated, she smiled as she saw an exact copy of herself there. "Ah, so it worked!"

For a moment, the other Celestia watched her as it looked around. It then smiled as it looked at it's creator. "So it seems to have indeed. We are most impressed!"

Her eyebrows climbing, the original Celestia could only nod. "Thy voice seems correct.." With an intrigued look, she circled around the false mare. "And thy body seems indistinguishable from Our own... Speak! Sing! And move so that We can observe thee and make sure that thou shalt pass for Our ownselves!"

Several minutes passed as Celestia made sure that her copy could in fact and did copy everything about her. Finally, with a mental command, the clone stopped and turned to it's creator. "Have We passed all the tests?"

Slowly, Celestia nodded as she spread her wings. "Verily! Thou hast passed each one with flying colors!" She then looked toward the sky nearby. "Now... Thou shalt stand in Our stead for Our little ponies. We shall however begin our journey." After she received a nod, her horn lit up and she teleported. Moments later, she arrived above where a pegasus could safely fly and looked toward the moon. 'We are coming for thee, sister dearest! Please, hold on!'


Her large wings beat at the now no longer there atmosphere as she rose above where she could see the curvature of the planet below her. All that sustained the majestic alicorn was the magic from the star that she was connected to. However, Celestia did not let the view distract her as she headed toward her goal with a single-mindedness. Eventually she was stopped though as the four stars that was always around the moon moved and came to a stop in front of her.

Then they pulsed and in a moment, she was facing with four different and yet familiar beings. One had the form of an creature that had the upper body of a earth pony, but from the waist was a massive snake. The next one took the form of a wolfish diamond dog, massive in his armor and with a war hammer at his side. Beside him, a giant hippogriff observed the alicorn with his eagle eyes. And in front of the three stood a half-dragon mare who had smoke that leaked from her nostrils before she spoke with a cold tone. "Your majesty."

Surprised, it took a few minutes for words to form for Celestia before she shook it off. "Typhoon? Juniper? Chrys? Talon? What are thou here? We had believed thee to be dead!" A thought then occurred to her as she remembered what she had seen. "The stars! Thou are the stars!"

With a sigh, Juniper nodded. "Yes, it is our punishment for having failed our Princess. For we shalt watch over and guard her prison until the day that she returns, never aging nor dying. We need no water or food to sustain us any longer, though we may wish for such but be unable to have any."

Saddened, Celestia nodded at the four. "We are most sorry to hear of such, thou were the most loyal of Our sister's followers and do not deserve such." She then turned toward the moon and frowned. "But while We wish that We could converse more with thee, We must continue on our journey." The alicorn made to move forward, but suddenly found a spear point touching her peytral. Celestia then looked up with anger as she noted the four former Generals moving into attack stances. "And what is this!?"

A pained look crossed Typhoon's face before she answered. "As we said, our duty is to guard the prison of our Princess... even from those wishing to just to visit, your Highness. Such is what the Elements of Harmony force upon us..." There was a regretful expression on all their faces. "Just as it is thy punishment."

That caused Celestia to start and speak in the Traditional Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice in her anger. "WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS THAT THOU SPEAKS OF?!"

Now it was Talon's turn to speak. "Your Highness, our Princess' imprisonment is not just her punishment, but thine as well. The Elements wish to keep thou both separated from each other. Thou shalt feel a similar loneliness to thy sister as thou shalt be unable to contact our Princess. A bond was shattered and thou shalt feel it until the day thy sister returns to thee." His spear now pointed toward her. "Do not force us, your Highness for the Elements will not allow thee to defeat us."

However, all Celestia could see was red as white hot anger filled her veins before she charged. "WE SHALL SEE ABOUT THAT!"


Pain... dearest journal, all that my body can feel right now is pure, unending agony. It feels as if my body was not some giant bruise, but rather one giant welt. But even worse then that, is the feelings of failure and shame. I had failed in my mission to see my sister in her prison upon the moon. There has never been a time when I felt so defeated...

Currently, I lay in what had been my sister's old lab within our former castle in what is now called the Everfree recovering from my ordeal. It's out of the way and still stocked due to my own studies with food and drink. And I had summoned you from my quarters as I am unable to move from this spot... though the agony that each small movement puts me though rather points that out.

Still... the pain does not beat out my shame, defeat, grief, and hate... among other emotions. Part of me feels that way toward Luna's former Generals, but a greater degree is toward the Elements themselves. They wish to punish me by stopping my from seeing my dearly beloved sister. To leave her to her loneliness upon what must be the desolate surface of the moon. It was them that empowered and forced the duty of the Generals and allowed them to defeat me...

That may be where most of the shame of defeat comes from. I was defeated... I, the Unconquered Sun. I, who have faced the likes of Discord, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and so many others... Who have always come out victorious have been laid low. And not just laid low, no... It was the way it happened. To them, it was easy as taking down a angry foal for myself. When I awoke, it was in a smoking crater upon the ground.

And that hurts.

It seems that my pride has been laid low by such. But I will not give up, no! I shall continue to fight until I can go no more. There must be a way... there must!


It has been a century since I first attempted to leave this world for the moon in order to talk with my sister. But despite all my attempts, each has ended in failure. Each time, it has taken me longer and longer to recover from such attempts due to each time becoming more injured. Finally, Typhoon came to me as I recovered in what I can only describe as a being in a ghost form. She asked that I stop because not only did they dislike having to prevent me from reaching my sister, but it could also make Equestria suffer if something was to happen to me.

I am saddened to admit that she may have had a point... But that shall not stop me.

Though I shall no longer attempt to get past them via just flying, I noted that whenever I teleported, that it took time for them to arrive where I went to. But I was simply unable to make enough distance to get away. I am sure though that if I was to use some way of teleporting from the surface to the moon, I should have time to speak with Luna and tell her all that I feel before they arrive. Such a spell might well exhaust me to the point that I could not speak. To that end, I shall have to do much research into teleportation. Both to increase the distance and make it so that it would not be as exhausting.

This will take time and effort, but then... time is something that I have much of at the moment. And I am no stranger to effort. I will see my sister, no matter what...


Dearest Journal, as I noted before, I have been working on a project for long range teleportation which should carry me to the moon, where Luna is. I have been working on it for more then thirty years. However, I am sad to report that other things have grabbed my attention. It is a situation that I am all to familiar with, where I wish that Luna was still here at my side. We... are are currently at war with the griffins to the northeast.

And it is all my fault.

You see, I had been had been in negotiations with several of their clan chiefs when they held a banquet during them. A banquet which had meat as dishes. While I can stomach and even enjoy fish, I cannot do so with the flesh of another animal. Even some of the smells made me nauseous. So I ate only the more vegetarian dishes and avoided the meat ones...

That was my mistake.

Griffins are proud creatures and me having turned down their non-herbivorian delicacies angered and insulted them. When I explained that I am unable to eat meat besides fish, it only made matters worse. To that end, they told us that they would wait until we were outside of their territories plus a few hours and then they would attack. As I said, it was all my fault and I dismissed some items that Luna had told me regarding the griffins. After all, who would believe that one could go to war over a pony not wishing to eat some dishes that their patrons know the pony would find unappetizing?

Well, apparently the griffins would...


The war has ended, though inconclusively, between our nations. While Equestria still stands with all of its territories, so too, do the griffins. I have no doubt that relations between us and them shall be strained as there are bitter feelings on both sides. When the peace treaty was signed, I had to force myself to eat meat at the banquet as it was obvious that the griffins would have used such as another excuse to go back into war. Most infuriating was their expressions as they could see how I did not enjoy eating such.

It is times such as this that I wish Luna was here. They still know of her and respect her you know. The griffins that is. While most of Equestria has forgotten as many records from that time were lost in the Century of Strife, with others locked away until her return, the griffins have told tales. They call her the 'Lonely Princess', an apt title considering her last few years before her... before the Nightmare took her from me. My little ponies were surprised at tales and legends around another princess. I told them that it was a subject which I did not truly wish to speak of and they stopped asking.

However, since the war is now over, I can return to my previous studies and research to find a way to teleport to my sister...


Taking a step back, Celestia wiped her brow as she looked over her work. On top of what had been one of the guard towers of the old castle, the Princess of the Day had worked to inscribe a massive and highly complicated array into the very stone. At various points of the array, she had placed crystals like those of her peytral. Each one having had become highly energized with her magic.

Celestia stood there with a smile upon her face. Part of her was nervous with what she had been doing. 'Nearly three hundred years...' The alicorn tilted her head back to observe the orb far above her that had the image of a mare's shadow upon it. 'Nearly three hundred years without you, sister... First the Nightmare took you from me and then the Elements did.'

For a moment, she considered the thought to tap into the sun, to use it's energies to fuel the spell needed. Then, Celestia dismissed it. 'No... much too noticeable...' However, she did spare a look around the castle to where she could see the storm clouds gathered in the area around. But a clear spot of sky had been kept above the array. That, plus the other spells and arrays would keep leakage down and prevent ponies from wondering what had happened.

Just as she had been about to start, the spell, there was a flash of movement nearby and she looked. Only silence met her as her eyes scanned the area. 'I wish that I had your senses, sister...' Having dismissed it, her horn lit up as Celestia began to cast the highly complicated spell. "I'm coming Luna! Please, wait for me!"

Beneath her, the array glowed brighter and brighter until with a flash, she vanished. To Celestia's perspective, everything seemed to glow as she shot upwards at a tremendous speed. It was like how the world seemed to tunnel when she flew at high speeds. 'Hmm... so this is how the channel created by teleporting looks from the inside... interesting. Must be due to staying so long in the channel that my mind can observe it...'

Only a part of her mind was focused on her observations thought. The far greater portion was focused on how she was getting closer and closer to the moon as the orb loomed every larger. If she had not been wrapped in her magic and as near to a being of pure energy and thought as was possible, Celestia would have smiled. As it was, her metaphorical eyes widened. 'Yes! Yes! YES! LUNA-'

Suddenly she slammed into something that surrounded the moon just a few hundred feet above it. There was a moment of nothing as she felt the energies of the Elements of Harmony. Her spell struggled against the shield, but it had been created by magical items who had sealed away a reality warper. No matter her spell's power, it could no more break the shield as Celestia herself could turn back time to when her sister fell and prevent it. For the briefest of moments, she could feel the power of the Elements of Harmony as it pressed in on her. There was a feeling that they were highly displeased when suddenly her world became pure, unadulterated agony as the shield reflected her spell. For Celestia felt as if her body was ripped apart and put back together as the planet below grew larger unseen by her.

It was a minute later that the top of the tower that she had teleported from flashed with light before a scream that was composed of mostly pain and agony, but with aspects of anger and hate rang through the night. Those ponies near the outskirts of the forest despite the storms heard it and ran, their stories only adding to the cursed reputation of the wood...


Slowly, Celestia came to only to writhe in pure agony as a cloth had stopped where it had brushed against her coat. "Ah... you're awake your Highness..."

A hiss of pain escaped from Celestia's mouth as she cracked open her eye some to see a shadow before her. The feeling of a warm cloth against her fur a moment later caused her to spasm before it stopped and a female voice spoke up. "We art most sorry, Princess, but we must clean thy wounds."

Minutes passed as the cloth rubbed against what seemed like raw wounds before Celestia finally spoke. "Wa... water, please..." She gratefully drank from the goblet that was handed to her before she sighed. "Thank... you..." It took a while longer, but she was finally able to see who, or rather what, it was that had been taking care of her. "A... Night Guard...?"

The slit pupiled unicorn nodded his dark furred head as he pulled out a package of herbs and mixed it with some water. "Yes, your Highness. We are Night Guard and before your Highness asks, we have been watching thee as our duty. Please, remain calm as you are most injured at the moment."

When he rubbed the poultice onto her side and began to wrap it, Celestia nearly bucked her back legs from the sheer agony that ripped through her body. Then with a grunt, Celestia was about to move her head when the female voice from before spoke up. "Please... don't move and aggravate thy injuries..." This time, a bat winged mare walked into sight. "Here, allow me."

From within a bag, she pulled out what looked like a metal sheet, polished to a reflective surface and held it far enough away from the Princess of the Day, that she could see her body. After a moment, her eyes widened. While enough of her body was covered with bandages that had bloodstains that seeped through them, she could see patches of skin and fur. Said patches looked as if the alicorn's hide had been stretched out and then violently twisted in many directions. "'Tis... similar to... some failed teleportation... backlash wounds..."

Slowly, the doctor nodded as he rolled out some more bandages. "Indeed... though I have never seen ones such as these, or as deep." At the expression on Celestia's face, he hurried to explain. "It goes much deeper then the surface, some of thy wounds have also torn the muscles. In fact, if I suspect that if thou were not an alicorn..."

What he had left unsaid nonetheless echoed through said alicorn's mind. 'Thou would be dead...' Moments later, Celestia shook off her shock before she laid back and closed her eyes. After all, if they had wanted to kill her, they would have when she had been unconscious. "We thank thee for thy service. 'Tis most appreciated..." The two ponies continued their work as something tickled at the back of Celestia's mind. Suddenly, her eyes opened as she realized what it was. "May We ask thee a question?" At their nods, she frowned. "How hast thee continued to spell Our sister's enchantment?"

Both the doctor and the mare stopped and frowned as they turned to each other before the stallion spoke up. "Enchantments, your highness?"

While she grunted from another flash of pain, Celestia nodded. "Indeed, thy appearance is a sign of the enchantment that Our sister placed upon her Guard before her..." Swallowing thickly, she continued. "After her incident. We were under the thought that only Our sister and I could create such enchantments."

Through their confusion, Celestia could see the truth in their next statements, not that it shocked her any less. "Your highness, we are not under any such enchantments. We... Night Ponies, as some have come to call us, are born this way and have been for many generations now."

Her eyes wide, Celestia's mind raced as it used the chance to try and take her attention off her body's pains. Then a thought occurred to her. "Did thy ancestors, the ones who fled Our generals foul actions against Our orders take off their Guard enchantments when they were with foal?"

Now confused, the doctor frowned but before he could answer, there was a chuckle and another similarly odd, though much older, unicorn stepped into view. "No, Princess." At the looks, she motioned with a hoof. "I just heard thy questions and can answer them." Her eyes closed as she thought back. "My grandsire told me the stories. Apparently, our ancestors could not be sure if they could replace the spells put on them by our Princess, so they never cancelled them. Even when they were with foal. So, when the first of those in hiding gave birth, their foals had the same form as them. Because they were perfect for our new existence in the shadows, they became known as Luna's Blessed. For they carried the gift of our Princess."

A thoughtful Celestia slowly nodded. "And such traits have bred true then?" At the nod, she smiled as she felt sleepy. "Then we are glad, for Our Sister has left behind a truly great legacy in the world..."

And then her exhaustion and pain caught up and Celestia found herself having drifted off to blissful unconsciousness once more...

Author's Note:

Part one of a triple update. Hope you all enjoy! :twilightsmile: