Chapter 24-For Their Own Good
It was meant to be a surprise.
The best night ever was meant to go as planned. Starting off would be the citizens of Canterlot finally meeting Equestria’s first extraterrestrial visitors. First impressions would have gone off without a hitch. Then, once the Grand Galloping Gala had reached its conclusion for the night, Twilight and her closest companions would lead those visitors straight into the Canterlot Archives, straight to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, where their surprise was waiting for them.
It was just meant to be a surprise.
Now, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were faced with the demolished Gala, a multitude of civilian casualties, and a stripped library with great loss of their research. The morning had not gone as well as they had hoped. Especially since…
It was gone.
The spell was gone.
One of Star Swirl’s ancient texts, lost in its own transcription, along with plenty of other notes and scrolls had vanished. All that was left was a torn library with a gaping hole in the center of the room. The hole in the ground held stairs leading straight into the darkness below. Not even the Princesses could stop the Avengers or Twilight and her friends from entering.
And how could they?
The evidence was plainly clear that the library was ransacked—presumably by Ultron and Starlight Glimmer—and they had discovered something the two Alicorns had hoped to have been long since forgotten. A memory far too deep and dark that they dared not to remember the ancient times. Lost beneath the archives held Equestria’s history…
Princess Celestia’s horn lit up a brilliant golden light.
Slowly, she and her younger sister led the group straight into the darkness, her horn dying once the magical torches brightened upon their arrival. Following Luna was Princess Twilight and her closest friends. Applejack and Rainbow helped to guide a weary Rarity down the steps and onto the cold stone beneath their hooves. Pinkie and Fluttershy trailed right behind Twilight and Spike. All remaining guests and plus ones were sent back to their respected homes, not a word to be said for the evening.
And behind them were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes appearing anything but mighty.
Rarity’s suits were completely trashed and torn. Adorning these battle scars were Tony Stark, his armor performing numerous flybys around Canterlot while in sentry mode. Thor and Clint Barton also wore tattered suits, the God of Thunder gripping onto his hammer with his braid somehow forgotten, leaving his golden hair to flow as it normally has.
Steve Rogers was bleeding all over. He had enough bandages. Despite the suit he wore, ripped and burnt, he held onto his shield tightly, refusing to let go for even a second. Standing far behind the group were Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner. The pale doctor held a towel around his chest and body, quivering with every footstep he took. Natasha was with him the entire way, her dress destroyed but not seeming to care.
None of them cared about how they looked. All they cared about was the spell, the state of the civilian casualties, and just what the two Royal Sisters brought them to.
The spell was gone. There were enough casualties to fill a small cemetery.
“Princess…” the unmistakable voice of Twilight Sparkle began, “what is all of this?”
The two looked at each other, sighed as equals, then turned to face the carvings, the paintings, and the ancient writing forever scrawled on the earth wall in front of them. The illuminating glow of the torch lights flickered across the stone’s surface, but it was all legible, all visible. Every painstaking image. Every brushstroke. Clear as day.
“She asked you a question.”
It was as if the power of thunder had traversed under the earth, embracing Thor’s vocal strength and enhancing it so all could hear the weight in his tone. And all did. Everypony, everyone turned his way, all wondering, some frightened, some startled. Celestia and Luna were part of the latter.
With his hammer, Thor pointed towards the wall, towards the blood-colored paintings.
“What is all of this?” he asked, tone as harsh as before.
There was no hiding it any longer. Deep down, despite the strongest of efforts, both sisters knew the day would come when the history would be told, not the one they imagined. It was right there, staring them all straight in the face, the sisters in the hearts. And young Princess Twilight never looked more confused, more worried as her eyes glazed across the rough edges of the cavern paintings.
There was simply no hiding it.
With a sigh, Celestia finally answered.
“Equestria’s history,” she exclaimed loud enough for all to hear. “It seems…Ultron and Starlight Glimmer dug a little bit deeper than we imagined them to. They have discovered what was behind the walls of deceit for all of these years. What was hidden away…so long ago. It appears that there is no use hiding it any longer.”
Twilight and all of her friends joined together, eyes wide and jaws dropped. The weariness vanished from Rarity’s gaze the moment Celestia returned to take command of the conversation, of the explanation, of the story. Spike clung on to Twilight’s foreleg, gazing worriedly at the first painting.
It depicted ponies of every race stepping off hundreds of ships, observing the mountains and sunlight with painted eyes of wonder, with smiles of blood red. Celestia held out her hoof to said painting. Tony Stark crossed his arms, barely lifting his chin. Banner stopped quivering.
Barely gracing the image, Celestia began, “Thousands of years ago, what we now call today as the Pre-Classical Era, hundreds of thousands of ponies from across the globe immigrated to the new land with dreams of riches and escape plaguing their thoughts. Escaped from the hardships of their home countries, they were not the only ones.”
She moved at a slow sidestep, Luna joining her, the watchful crowd leaning towards the next painting. Twilight and her friends followed the two sisters, the young Alicorn remaining silent for the entire duration.
Luna continued on the story. Her shadow-colored hoof slid across the carvings and strokes of the next painting. The large image showcased several noble-like kings and queens sitting together along a conjoined table, all seeming to be discussing. The blood red paint was evident in every stroke up, in every stroke down. Thousands of years and it still told the tale in bloody detail.
The Princess of the Night said, “The rule of the Royal Sisters, of Discord, of the three pony tribes came later…for the first central government of the Pre-Classical Era was ruled by those wishing to accommodate the land and make peace with all species that wanted to settle. Very noble. Very kind. An ideal we all embrace to this very day. Unfortunately, those ideals were for naught, for the events that followed haunt these lands even as we speak.”
And us.
And us, Celestia replied telepathically.
The group moved onwards to the next painting.
Everypony gasped. Fluttershy’s hooves shot up to her mouth, tears boiling in her shielded gaze. Steve Rogers’ frown deepened far more than any other in the room. His right fist clenched, his other gripping onto the shield. Just as he feared. Thor shared his feelings, his jaw falling, knuckles clenched so tight many could see white in the darkness.
Twilight shook her head, refusing to believe.
“No…” she whispered. “No, you… Princess,” she shifted her head over to Celestia, the Alicorn’s eyes set on the image. With a simple step forward, Twilight’s eyes pleaded, yet her voice strained with: “This can’t be true, it… It doesn’t fit in. Celestia…Luna?”
The two sisters, both refusing to answer currently, eyed the painting with sullenness in their eyes, with clouds over their hearts. Morose was their temperament, lost in the silence and whimpers of the poor ponies behind them. Yet the building fury in a soldier’s heart would not be contained, nor from a god.
Celestia laid her hoof over the bloody remains of a dead pony, his head gone and lying in a pool of red. The red was everywhere, not just for the paint, but for the detail. Every detail. Every cut, every wound, every flame, every toppled city and family.
It was everywhere.
Dragons divided the skies, griffons and ponies slit each other’s throats, zebras and minotaurs trampled one another, stabbed one another, decapitated the armies all painted differently. The dragons of black, the ponies of red, griffons of green, zebras of white and black, and minotaurs of blue and brown. All the colors swirled, ending only in a red pool amongst the masses.
“As the grand old tale goes…diplomacy failed,” Celestia muttered. She sighed heavily, eyes closing as her hoof slid down the painting. “We were just young princesses. Our father, our mother, they hid us away as the skies burned with ash and fire. Beyond the castle walls we hid from the world, Luna and I, as years washed away. Sometimes we wait all night by the fire’s dance, wait for father and mother to return. They rarely did. And as the dawn fell on the sixth year…so did they.”
Clint leaned back against the wall, his gaze falling.
Luna closed her eyelids tight.
Feeling the hardened and weakened stares from behind, a few sniffles from the mares, and of course Twilight’s shallow breathing, Celestia continued. She knew fully well that Luna wouldn’t be able to finish the story from where they reached. Not before, not now, not yet.
Clearing her throat of any unwanted strains, Celestia said, “And so came a time where different species, the same Equestria’s first ponies welcomed with open hooves, fought against one another. These…wretched battles were fought for the new land, for farming, for colonization, for years to come. Millions of lives…lost for profit.”
“Oh, my…” Rarity murmured, hoof rising to cover her mouth.
Celestia breathed in. “In the end, the combined forces of the three tribes; Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies, were all able to thwart the enemy armies and push them out of the land from whence they came. With aid from the great Star Swirl the Bearded, this effort was accomplished, and the grand wizard went into hiding, traumatized.”
“The first government had collapsed, and the tribes began their trade,” Luna carried on, finally composing herself after a much-required silence. “The Pre-Classical Era ended with the rise of the Equestrian flag, the birth of a nation with two leaders to rule it all in peace and harmony. For many years to come…”
Luna’s hoof draped across the tribes’ symbols, followed by the Equestrian flag, forever painted blood red into the stone wall. The images continued, showcasing the further history of Equestria. Discord’s reign, the enslavement of an entire nation, to King Sombra and his vile rule in the Crystal Empire. Tirek and his brother seeking to dominate the land, ending only at the fall of Nightmare Moon several yards down the dark hallway.
“And everypony was happy.”
Twilight turned back to the image that made her stomach churn.
Her mind was reeling, innards wheezy after having experienced just what was hidden away for so long in full, bloody detail. The open mouths, eyes widened, blood flowing from every opening and not a sound to be heard. It was as if the paintings cried out to them, lost in the gurgle of crimson liquid. From the settlements to the rise of the Equestrian flag, Twilight and the others watched on in silence, in study of the history of Equestria.
And like a student she once was, Twilight only had one question.
“Why?”
The two sisters finally turned around, their faces almost as crestfallen as the mares in front of them. Almost. They lowered their necks to the violet Alicorn, noting how questioning gaze, lingering fire hidden in the irises.
She asked again. “Why weren’t we ever told of this? Why hasn’t anypony ever been told about this?”
They actually had an answer for that.
“The dark ages were not a proud moment in Equestria’s early history,” Luna replied, stepping forward past her sister. “Once we came to power, we sought to keep it hidden from the ponies of Equestria. We…hoped that the joining of friendship from different tribes would enforce the idea of harmony between those so unwilling to work together. There is no harmony in war, young Sparkle, and we never wanted our little ponies to know that’s the only way Equestria could ever have been founded…”
“Over the bodies of millions of lives,” Celestia whispered, still keeping her gaze lowered. That fear didn’t last, as the elder sister raised her head, eyes as hard as near stone. The rejecting glances she received was enough, the confronting stares just added the finishing touches.
She said, “Tormented for years, my sister and I were…of these events. Not one day goes by wishing we could have done something more…something different. Tampering with time, even now with all that we have achieved…we fear for the worst. The past is the past. We rebuild from there, hide the evil, and show Equestria what love we are truly capable of.”
Celestia almost chuckled, though it was dry and breathless. “You thought of us as ponies you could trust. Can you still see that now…of all times? Can we…to you?”
No response. Just silent stares.
So, she finished. “You must believe that what we have done was for the best of intentions. We despise the act of lie, but what more can we do? What more can you do? I pray you all understand.”
If one could call it an answer.
Twilight and her friends tried to.
The Avengers refused to.
From Clint Barton to Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanoff to Tony Stark, the four held their stares elsewhere, anywhere except where the two sisters stood. The silence was somewhat new to them, especially Barton and Romanoff, but for Banner and Stark…it was all so familiar. So deploring. They both felt the silence before, Banner from when he was being made into a human hunt—all the years he spent in solitude—and Stark from Coulson’s supposed death.
It was unnerving to keep Stark silent for so long.
So he wasn’t.
“We have nothing to hide.”
As for Thor and Rogers…
They couldn’t stop staring at them, at the sisters, at the rulers of Equestria.
The sisters found their heated stares from afar, meeting them all the way and taking it all. With Twilight still trying to convert all of the information into a logical reason, the other mares found the new conflict building around them. Rainbow Dash eyed Captain America cautiously, finding his hardened stare as sharp as the strongest blade. The others watched Thor…
They watched him spin around and leave without another word.
The two princesses watched as the Asgardian exited with a frown on his face, with his palm gripping the hammer so hard that it trembled. A few footsteps echoed across the ground’s walls, capturing the attention of everypony and everyone around him. Even Twilight stopped and spun her neck around.
Steve Rogers just stared at them, mouth a single line, shield gripped in his left forearm.
For seconds on end the three held that stare, the sisters regrettably, and Rogers frustratingly. In those darkened irises held a tale of war, loss, so much from a soldier’s perspective on the front lines. So much that the sisters had yet to experience it for themselves. The evils of mankind, the gifts they create, the worst they accomplish, all seen in just a span of seven seconds.
And then he told them something.
Told them something a soldier with his experience could ever know.
“If you’re not willing to embrace your past…then you’re doomed to repeat it.”
He turned and left, the remaining Avengers following suit. Tony stared at the floor the entire way out, up the stairs, and back into the library.
Several seconds ticked away. It was Rainbow Dash who led the escape, but not before sending a questioning glare to the two princesses before leaving with a mental scoff. Soon enough, the only ones left in the darkened hallways were just Twilight, Spike, Celestia, and Luna. Even then, Twilight couldn’t force herself to look at them.
Not now.
Now…she needed to think.
And she and Spike left together.
And the two siblings remained in the halls of history, their past lingering over them like a constant demon, like the one that never left.
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And here is where I drop off because I fucking called it. Secret is out and now nobody trusts them. Of fucking course.
"Everytime someone tries to win a war before it even begins, innocent people die...everytime!" _Captain America
Looks like Equestria's past history is not all sunshine and rainbows as everypony thought it would be. The Mane 6 are now putting their faith in Celestia in question after learning a dark secret that was kept from them, even the Avengers who already know the feeling of having one of their own keep a secret from them which in turn backfired completely are starting to lose their trust in Celestia.
And the Captain is right as history is now inevitably about to repeat itself now that Ultron now knows how much violent Equestrians are as humans are.
For Celestia and Luna to hold on to a secret this huge could really change everypony. It certainly changed the Mane 6's and Avengers' viewpoints of the two sisters.
6819890
Dude, when you stop being a part of the RariDash group, then you can talk about tropes and their overuse into cliche, alright.
6820428 Sure. We can also talk when you have more good stories aside from one. This is my final comment to you about this story. Good bye.
6820497
Awww... what? Is the little baby still upset about all those downvotes your first comment that illogically and hypocritically dissed the direction this story went got?
Grow up, man. By this point in human history, EVERY trope is cliche and, if we're all being honest, there are only stories that irk us less because of this. This is obviously true for you, considering the cliches you're willing to swallow from the romance genre in general (the most cliched genre out there) and the homosexual romance genre (which is only slightly less cliche than the transsexual were-weasel romance genre) in particular.
At least finding out that Equestria's history is really bloody and that the twin sisters kept a conspiracy going to keep that fact from becoming common knowledge adds on to the conflict in this story, which is already at a boiling point due to the story's previously established context.
Tell me, what passes for 'conflict' in the RariDash story folder? Oh no! Will Dash fall in love with Rarity, or will Rarity fall in love with Dash!? Oh, the suspense and tension for future events and the ramifications for Equestrian society as a whole!
There's something very wrong with me that I enjoy the idea of a great pony war. But try all you might heroes, Ultron has already struck the most devastating blow of this war.
i am confused as to why and how this history was kept secret and also why its such a big deal for humans such as the Avengers who in the movies at lest don't show much remorse for killing their enemies and are alien to this world, plus why would this upset the mane six its just history really ancient history that you could ask any non-pony for more info?
6819893 Loving the music choices. Keep it up, my friend. Thanks for the comment!
6820400 It's the beginning of events that will spiral into certain devastation for Equestria.
6821554 And it shall not be the last strike.
6822264 The war was kept secret because Celestia and Luna didn't want their little ponies to know that the only way Equestria could have been founded was over the bodies of millions of lives. Nopony else but Celestia and Luna know the history (maybe Discord, I guess), and I'll further explain into this for the next upcoming chapters.
6824153
You're welcome, JD! I always aim to look for the best and most fitting music tracks for the chapters. Keep up the good work!
Celestial, Luna, you have fucked up now.
6824184 Thanks! I'll get right on it!
6824153 thanks for the info, not gonna pretend i get why its a big deal but I'm still looking forward to the next chapter.
6819890 Good for you
6820497 Why are you involving this guy's story with the current topic? Very immature of you.
“If you’re not willing to embrace your past…then you’re doomed to repeat it.”
I am groot. (Best words I've heard all day.)
6829738 I am Groot. (Don't you just hate those kind of people.)
6819890 You will not be missed.
By the throne... So that's what happened...
6819890
*checks if this has Dark tag*
Yup.
This is humanity all over again.
Eh not sure what to think of this revelation.
I’m never gonna be able to watch Hearth’s Warming Eve the same ever again.
I don't know how to feel about this.
While the sisters had a line of reasoning for hiding the history, such things are often best laid bare.
I really don't know which side to stand on, so I'll stay neutral, but leave this one quote:
Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.
If you'd like the complete version:
Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. Those who do study history are doomed to watch other people repeat it.
Suffice to say, this is a matter that everyone can relate to whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Recent events claim the desire to make 'America Great Again', but has America always been that 'great' back then? I can say this much... No.
For thousands of years, long before we were born and long until America was properly funded, the land itself had issues. The land was already inhabited by a group of people who made use of the land and for the most part it was simple. But then others from faraway lands came along, some choosing to shoot first and ask questions later because the group they saw were 'savages', spreading disease that the latter hadn't the means to prepare for, and most of the land was dug up either for gold or to make buildings. And these issues would continue to grow whether it's the Revolutionary War, the slavery of different races, the World Wars that cost the lives of millions of people, the political battles, and the great divide... Name any generation that America has been in and there's always that ONE element that didn't make it so great. And yet... And yet we built upon the past, in the hopes that the next generation will get better for the good of the many yet try as we might the past of our sins will always come back to haunt them.
I suppose in a way, this is why the Princesses were hesitant about revealing much of their secrets to their people especially to the ponies. We may question their decisions on why things have to be done a certain way, but in the thousands of years since they ruled they've done things that 'had' to be accomplished in pursuit of a better future. The Mane Six and/or The Avengers may not be pleased with this discovery, but hopefully in time they'll understand why there was nothing more that could've been done back then... And instead what can be done here and now. But for the time being... They have every right to be angry at the rulers the ponies assumed they can trust or having doubts for that matter. It must especially be hard for Twilight Sparkle, considering how her loyalty to her teacher has been a strong factor throughout the entire series.
And years later, Thor would find out that Asgard pretty much did the same thing.
9602091
Earth did, too. Funny how the evils of man and man-like creatures comes up in a lot of literature. It’s almost as if that theme is drilled into our heads during English classes.
Although, the fact that we are a thriving species is proof that our capacity for good has currently outmatched our capacity for evil.
9619881
Yet we achieve that prosperity through bloodshed and the death of millions.
Honestly I don’t really see the big deal. It was the past, and yes it was bad they hid it, but it was still the past.
I’d be surprised, but I really wouldn’t give a damn outside of telling them not to hide history lol.
Reminds me of Asgard's origins
Secrets kept for the betterment of the nation. For the betterment of their kind. I agree with what they did, if they didn't....well Equestria would be worse off.
Some secrets, no matter how well kept, have a way of catching up with you at the worst possible time. Kinda funny that it tuned out being not so different from Asgard though, almost like the story predicted it.