Déja Vu (XV)
i
...A brilliant white flash, and the sound of the instant-film camera whirring down.
“Surveillance camera.” A royal guard called, and when Shining Armor glanced over, he pointed it out with a hoof. The camera perched around the soldier’s neck spat out a glossy version, which was promptly deposited with the rest of its brethren within a thin disposable plastic bag.
Shining Armor had heard his hoofbeats echoing down the hall as he approached, but didn’t look up from the pile of discarded uniforms in the corner. Most were charred, with only the vaguest pieces of plastics visible from the ashen mess.
“And another, further down the hall. Above the door-way.” Shining Armor responded quickly. “There’s one on each floor. Facing the hallway across from the elevator. And two more in the chamber at the deepest point.”
“Y-you’ve been down already?” The guard looked… shaken. Shining Armor had seen the same expression when they’d first arrived at Neighchorage during the first summer before the Crystal War, peering out across the icefields at the rumbling towers of black snow clouds creeping between the far mountain peaks.
Shining nodded. “Uh huh. On my way back up, to check the top floor. Take it the rest of the boys are already up there?”
The royal guard gave a small shake of his head. “No sir. They’re waiting for you to finish up down here first. Sent me down to check on you, cause we don’t want to go ahead without you. B-but. It’s really her, isn’t it?”
Shining had seen the diaries and books already in their plastic evidence bags, set down gently on Celestia’s bed. Her regalia and crown had been placed right beside them. She’d made it easy on them--collecting them all on her writing desk in a mighty stack, with a note written in her trademark simple and legible cursive. ‘For Immediate Disposal, Glory to Flim Flam Industries Forever. -- Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia’
A joke. She’d always been the kind to ‘not go calmly into that good night’, or however that damn poem she used to say went.
“Unless you think it’s a very expensive practical joke, Private?” Shining gave him a small chuckle.
The guard laughed back, and frowned at the pile of ash and fabric in front of them. “What’s that? Linens maybe? From the room downstairs?”
Shining shook his head. “They’d be more burnt up. These are thicker… the sort of fabric medical uniforms are made from. Whoever torched it was in a hurry, and doesn’t look like anypony came by to finish the job.” His horn lit, and the dust and ash around the uniforms began to glow a pale blue. Closing his eyes in focus, he lifted several gnarled strips of plastic from the pile--about half a dozen in total, and levitated them over to the guard.
“Nametags,” Shining offered quietly, as the pegasus pony guard began opening a plastic bag for him to float them into with his wing. “Evening Flicker. Deep Blue. Somepony with a last name of Blossom. Occupations are listed, too. Orderly. Guard. Looks like our ‘Blossom’ was an EMT. Bet they’re halfway across Equestria by now. Or the same place our newly reborn Princess is.”
He nodded his head back towards the elevator at the end of the hall, and the guard followed. Red and yellow tape had been hastily spread across the freight elevator to the left of the passenger elevator, which looked not a lot larger than those in some of the lower-end hotels that he’d visited on the road.
“Where do the camera feeds lead to?” Shining asked, closing the door behind them and hitting the button for the roof. The elevator gave a gentle ding and the doors closed, a steady grinding sound seeping through the vibrating metallic walls as it slowly crept upwards.
“Camera feed leads to a surveillance room on the first floor.” The guard responded. “Reel to reel tape recording device is there. Along with monitors, all of which are offline. The cables were fitted along the same shaft that the elevator uses. It’s the only cavity beneath the rock, the earth ponies tell me. And Shallow Step seemed pretty confident about that.”
Shining nodded, listening to the elevator rattle. “How deep are we?”
“Ah, well. Shallow Step figures the cavity descends anywhere from one to three kilometres underground. That being at the deepest point. At the, uh. Bedroom.”
“A prison, Private. Call it as it is.” Shining gave him a patient frown. “The first floor has the majority of the facilities she would have required. The infirmary, the shower, the interrogation room. And the second has all of the facilities they would have required to keep her down here. Barracks, surveillance. Munitions.”
“A prison for Princess Celestia,” The guard gave a low whistle. “Guess it wasn’t enough.”
“You said the monitors in the surveillance room are offline?”
“Y-yeah. Why? Isn’t it obvious who our suspect is?”
“I have two and a half names so far.” Shining shook his head. “A facility like this takes more than a dozen to run at any given time. Now, they cleared out fast, but they probably took those videotapes with them. But if they didn’t… we can get a better picture of what all was going down in this facility.”
The elevator gave another ding before the guard could respond, and the rattling doors opened to blinding light. Shining instinctively winced- -moving into actual day from the dim emergency lighting of the dead facility beneath them was jarring. Or perhaps he was still shaking off sleep. It had been… what? Fourteen hours? Since Celestia had woken him after her escape?
They had worked quickly, at least. Not faster than Celestia, but quickly. By time Celestia had set down on his porch in Old Canterlot, he imagined they were still scrambling to move the facility into lockdown. And by-time the first domestic complaints about smoke rising over the mountains of Vanhoover had reached his ears, the facility was already in the state he was now finding it in.
They’d asked him to help cleanup. Better to call somepony on their payroll then involve more in their expensive lie. He figured he knew how the operation would go--he’d gather them their evidence. They’d quietly file it away, or destroy it. And gradually, every trace of the exact function and usage of the facility around them would be eradicated.
Celestia hadn’t revealed herself yet, after all. He figured that they assumed they still had time to catch her. Return her back to her prison.
Bring her back home.
And perhaps, Shining thought morbidly, as the elevator rattled upwards… they were right.
ii
“Hello again, sister.”
For a good while, nopony spoke further.
There was just the wind gusting through the airship's modest solarium, and the faint humming of the twin-propellers to either side of them. The blurred starmap of lights below was tilting somewhat vertically as the ship turned, and Celestia spent the silence trying to map out familiar grid-lines she'd helped devise during her enjoyable outings with Old Canterlot's ancient zoning commission.
She was facing it with an unreadable frown, as though she were accepting a meal that a cook had gracefully butchered to a point unworthy of mention.
“You know, you're harder to reach than the Prince of Equestria,” Nightmare Moon said, unmoving.
Behind her, Celestia heard Twilight cough.
“That… uh, isn't the right term, Nightmare—”
Like a pouncing serpent, she turned. Celestia flinched, and Twilight sunk her head instantly.
“And since when do you contradict me, Twilight?”
“I'm sorry!” Twilight said immediately. “Just trying to… just trying to help.”
“Then do it by shutting up.”
Celestia blinked, still locked in her instinctive flinch. The moon was hidden behind the rainclouds and the canvass solarium roof above—had she even risen it at all? She didn't recall. She'd been neglecting it, admittedly.
Cadance, she had understood. That was a scar that still felt too fresh to see heal during her lifetime. It was no wonder her broken, rattled mind had conjured her up to torment her further.
Nightmare Moon was a bit more surprising. There was so much more to her… so much more than mere delusion. Twisting her surprise into a snarl of her own, Celestia outstretched her wings.
“I don't have time to fraternize with the dead. And neither should you, Twilight.”
Nightmare Moon looked a bit taken aback for a moment, before shaking her head. “Look, I don't want to be talking to you about this, either. Thank your assistant.”
Twilight blushed, looking away. “We uh… had some time to talk to eachother. I was wondering the best way to...”
“I understand, Twilight. You do have the Sunstone. There's a reason I kept it around.”
“I don't have it right now, actually.” Twilight bit her lip. “That's a bit of an issue—we, uh hid it. It's… back at my library. Do you think maybe you can drop me off at home? I kinda didn't want to...uh, Blueblood doesn't seem to like me, and you seemed angry at me, and..."
Celestia narrowed her eyes. “You… do not have it on you.”
“I tried to warn her.” Nightmare Moon growled. “She was adamant that seeking you out was more of a top priority than securing its safety.”
“Well, that's awfully irresponsible of you, Twilight.” Celestia brought a hoof to the bridge of her snout. “I'll let Blueblood know. I hope you realize just how irresponsible a decision that was.”
“I'm sorry!” Twilight sputtered. “I was scared, I didn't know what to! I just wanted to talk to you and they wouldn't let me!”
“I know, Twilight. I'm sorry. We're talking now, right?” Celestia finally broke her gaze with Twilight, furrowing her brow as she looked back to Nightmare Moon. “Now if somepony would allow us the privacy?”
Nightmare Moon exhaled from her snout, tapping on the balcony impatiently and looking away. “I want to help you, Celestia. That's why I'm here.”
“Well, I don't trust you.” Celestia glowered. “How? How then, without the Sunstone? I thought I'd felt you back at the restaurant, too. Guess I wasn't mistaken.”
“I can move the Moon.” Twilight cut in. “Without the Sunstone. I can do it. I think.”
“She can.” Nightmare Moon confirmed. “I've been teaching her. She hasn't risen it yet, but she has moved it.”
“She… you can...” Celestia blinked, instinctively removing her wing from Twilight's back and looking down at her. Twilight instantly looked as though she would've willingly shrunken into nothingness if she could have.
“I knew you'd be angry if I told you!” Twilight moaned, sinking her head into her forehooves. “I screwed everything up and now you're—”
Twilight's sentence was cut short as Celestia enveloped the quivering unicorn in one of her cold and skeletal wings, pulling her closer and resting her head on Twilight's neck.
“I'm proud of you, Twilight. I always will be, no matter what.”
In her peripheral, Celestia distinctly saw Nightmare Moon turn away, looking back down at the passing traffic below. “I am, too. For whatever little that seems to be worth. I can see why, Celestia.”
Twilight said nothing, but Celestia felt her instinctively tense at Nightmare Moon's voice. She didn't bother giving the other alicorn her attention, though. Not during their moment.
“I didn't at first.” Nightmare Moon continued anyways. “I thought she was just some chubby freak you thought would bend to your will easily. But she's...”
Nightmare Moon broke off, shrugging a little.
“She's what, Nightmare Moon? What is she, to you?” Celestia practically sneered. “She's powerful? She's useful? She's capable of raising the Moon?”
“That's not what I mean.”
“You're not Luna. You are not fooling me.”
“Oh, that's enough!” Nightmare Moon barked abruptly. The calmer tone she'd been attempting hadn't lasted much more than a minute, Celestia noted. Calmly, she broke her embrace with Twilight and outstretched the wing in front of her instead, separating her from Nightmare Moon's icy fury.
“You're no different from me, Celestia. She's a tool to you more than she is to me. Why is it so difficult for you to accept that, and just speak to me as an ally?”
“I don't wish to speak with you!” Celestia stamped a hoof, “I wish to speak with Luna. But that is never going to happen again. And I've already accepted that!”
“No you haven't. You never will. And I swear to her memory I will never let you,” Nightmare Moon shot back.
Celestia went quiet. She pursed her lips, and glanced back into the cabin of the airship. Blueblood and Rarity seemed to be bickering in the front seat, with Blueblood looking more focused on the front window of the ship than his wife.
Eventually, Celestia turned again. “What do you want from my friends?”
“I want your nephew executed, but I also know where to call my battles,” Nightmare Moon said, waving a hoof. “Narrow the question further. I know you want to.”
“Fine. What do you want with Twilight?”
Nightmare Moon looked to Twilight expectantly through the gaps in Celestia's decayed plumage.
“We're friends, Celestia,” Twilight replied, her voice a shaky murmur. Her head was still bowed low—she hadn't looked up from the floorboards of the gondola solarium since they'd left the station.
Celestia sighed, bringing a hoof to her snout. “No. Twilight, I'm sorry, but you're incorrect. Nightmare Moon is not your friend.”
“It doesn't matter.” Twilight still hadn't looked up from her ashamed bow. “This is all bigger than that.”
“You're not a cog, Twilight.” Celestia rolled her good eye, the other fake one still looking straight ahead. “And you don't get to tell me how big and small my priorities are. You're the biggest. You and the Sun. Everything else is secondary.”
“Including your nephew,” Nightmare Moon grinned. “Including your adopted niece who croaked. Including your subjects. Including your sister.”
“Yes, including them,” Celestia growled. “I'll have time to mourn them when I'm done here.”
“You mean when you're dead.”
“And before. I have a few years left in me after the end of all this silly affair. I'll be able to wallow in whatever amount of misery you feel I deserve. You and Sombra and Discord and whomever else wishes to join in. So don't go worrying there. You'll have plenty of time.”
“Gods, Celestia, why can't you just admit it to yourself? You've done this for too long. This is all something that any healthy mare never lives to see.”
“I have a duty.” Celestia's response came without hesitation. “You might’ve shirked yours with the dream realm and the Moon when you turned yourself into this insulting parody, but I will not. You may as well add myself to your list of priorities I've made the decision to reject.”
“Oh yes you are so selfless. Such a saint.”
Celestia took a step forwards, and the gondola shook slightly. When she spoke, her tone was calm, but Nightmare Moon's taunting gaze tapered all the same.“What do you want from Twilight Sparkle. I put you in the grave once, demon, and I'll do it again without an instant's hesitation.”
“Celestia, just relax. I like Twilight Sparkle. I’m willing to tolerate you. I feel I am at the point in which I feel comfortable admitting that the three of us openly assisting each other is relevant to my interests.”
Celestia laughed, despite herself. “So you're declaring a truce.”
“Not necessarily. I just think that having open communication is helpful.”
“I'm not stupid, Nightmare Moon. I know you better than that.”
“Fine, you want honesty?” Nightmare Moon grimaced. “You want me to admit the real reason why I'm here speaking to you?”
“I would be humbled.” Celestia rolled her eye.
“I… don't want to be alone again.” Nightmare Moon ground over the words, like they physically hurt her while she was saying them. She looked at her hooves when she spoke, forcing the words out as a barely coherent murmur. “I can't be alone again. And… forcing Twilight to choose between us… feels like an efficient way of doing so.”
For several seconds, neither pony spoke. Celestia had a scoffing remark in her brain, but Nightmare Moon's tone had been too much like Luna's for her to drive that dagger into her side.
Because, with Luna, it had been the same. “I’m so alone, Celestia.” “Why won’t they talk to me?” “Why are you the only being in this whole damned country who cares about me, Celestia?”
And Celestia had tried. By the stars in the sky, burning brighter now that her Sun had been banished below, she had tried. And the ghost of her failure would haunt her to the grave.
Thankfully, by some miracle, Twilight spoke when Celestia couldn't. “She's my friend, Celestia. I know you don't believe her, but… can you maybe trust me?”
“I'm not asking you to forgive me. And I'm not offering you my forgiveness...” Nightmare Moon took a step closer, and Celestia shot her wing up to protect Twilight from her once again. Nightmare Moon scoffed and rolled her eyes. “...but I think that perhaps Twilight might be the bridge between us. Will you at least allow me that?”
Celestia let out a low growl, her wing hanging around Twilight more tightly while she fixed Nightmare Moon with a cold glare. “Fine. But prove to me your good intentions. Leave Twilight and I in private.”
“Of course.” Nightmare Moon looked unsure, but she nodded. “Talk to you soon, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight said nothing, biting her lip and looking down at her hooves.
Without ceremony, Nightmare Moon vanished into the night, and the gondola fell silent once more.
“Celestia, I can...” Twilight gulped.
“I warned you, Twilight.” Celestia sighed. “In the catacombs. I told you that if I were to fall, you were to let it happen—”
“Well I never would—”
“Let me finish, Twilight.” Celestia gave her a sideways look, and Twilight shirked. “P-please, Twilight? Please, just let me speak to you? It’s been so long.”
Twilight gave a meek nod.
“Nightmare Moon is… a complicated entity.” Celestia sighed. “And I don't understand her. Not in the slightest. I don't know where the line between her and my sister lies. And I lied to you before when I said I did.
“I don't know what she wants and I don't trust her, but I know I can trust you, Twilight. I'm sorry that you have such an impossible responsibility—nopony wishes to become a… a mediator for a pair of feuding sister alicorns… but it seems that's the role fate's given to you. My personal belief is that she's playing a longer game and intends to stab me in the back the first opportunity she gets, but… evidently she will not go away simply because I wish her to. So, the three of us are in this together now.”
“She seems scared, Celestia. She really, really does.”
“I know. I thought so, too.” Celestia sighed. “And I want to believe that I'm not alone in that regard. I… can't tell you how much I want to believe that maybe part of my sister might still be there. And… well, every miracle that's happened to me so far has happened because of you, Twilight. By rights, I should be dead so many times over, but you’ve given me the courage to stay strong and face down one final evil. I trust you to help us through this, too.
Celestia noticed with a bit of surprise that she'd been crying—she hadn't caught herself sobbing, but her cheek was damp all the same. Twilight seemed to be, too—her snout was dripping snot onto Celestia's coat as the two mares hugged each other tighter.
“W-we're not doomed, right, Celestia? I didn't doom us?”
“No, Twilight. You did not doom us. I promise.” Celestia nuzzled her, letting out a gentle chuckle. “I'm sorry if you ever thought I was replacing you with Blueblood.”
“I panicked. It's stupid, I shouldn't have listened to her, but...” Twilight bit her lip. “She told me you were.”
“Historically, my sister has found success preying on the insecurities of ponies. I witnessed it before. She… I really do think she means well, in her own way, but...” Celestia sighed. “You musn't take her projections of you as some factual dogma, is all. She is just as much a slave to her own fears of rejection and isolation.”
“I know. It's why I… thought maybe I could… It's why I've been trying to befriend her, instead of coming to you.”
“And I thank you. I promise.” Celestia nuzzled her one last time, before finally breaking the embrace. She gave the unicorn an eager and supportive smile. “We're going to be okay, Twilight. Together, we will. Okay?”
“O-okay.” Twilight gave a genuine smile and a nod, wiping her snout with a hoof. “I'm sorry I kept secrets from you.”
“Twilight. This is getting excessive, don't you think?” Celestia grinned, rolling her eyes. “Surely you have more interesting things to discuss than which apologies are most warranted right now?”
She levitated Twilight's notebook in her magic. “Would you wish to discuss what dastardly evil you were carrying out when you were so heroically apprehended by New Canterlot's finest?”
Twilight gave a sniffling laugh. “S-soil samples. There's a spot along Whitetail River where, uh. I dunno, I just had a hunch because of the way the river's situated relative to the run-off zones from the facilities outside of town.”
“I see.” Celestia nodded. “That's very thoughtful, indeed.”
“Th-thanks. I've done it before, but, uh. I don't know how seriously I was taken.”
“Did you peer review your study?”
“D-did I what?”
“Twilight. You're publishing academic fact in an attempt to make a factual revelation en mass.” Celestia handed her the notebook back. “Take it from somepony who's been doing it herself for years—you cannot simply hope ponies simply believe you're qualified to make those kinds of claims.”
Twilight gave a little nod. “I guess I can't. Sometimes I do, but for that one I used my own test results.”
“And they were disregarded on those grounds.”
“Yeah.”
“Ergo, if you were to publish the same data but used a credible source to do so...” Celestia gave Twilight a warm smile. “You'd make yourself credible in doing so, and therefore improve the likelihood that ponies may take your findings seriously.”
“Yeah!” Twilight said, with a bit more enthusiasm.
“For a journalist, you really do need to get better at talking to ponies, Twilight.” Celestia gave her shoulder a playful punch. “How about this? How about after we recover the Sunstone, the two of us head to Ponyville's governing academic body, and we hunt down somepony who may be qualified to look at your findings?”
“That, uh.” Twilight folded an ear. “Seems kinda unorthodox?”
“And your week has been orthodox by comparison?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Come now, Twilight.”
“Good point.” Twilight gave a little nod. “I'll, uh...”
“We will go home and rest. In our own beds.” Celestia gave her a smile. “And come dawn, the two of us will talk about this over a pot of coffee. Understood?”
Twilight smiled. “Understood. Thank you, Celestia.”
Celestia brought her closer with a wing, and without saying a word, her horn illuminated. She didn't break the embrace even as she gripped the delicate fabric of space in her magic and gave it a small tug, and the two vanished in a flash of yellow light.
Within the gondola, Blueblood and Rarity continued to argue, and the airship carried on its course towards New Canterlot uninterrupted.
iii
Twilight hadn't expected Celestia's wing to still be around her come dawn.
Her bed in the library wasn't exactly an alicorn-friendly size, and Celestia seemed to have fallen slightly onto the floor as a result.
It was still dark outside, though a few birds perched on the telegraph poles outside were calling out a premature dawn chorus all the same.
Twilight yawned, wiping her eyes with a hoof. Beside her, Celestia stirred. “Are you awake, Twilight?”
“Y-yeah. G-good morning, Celestia. Did you, ah. Sleep well?”
Celestia shuffled a little, going silent for a moment. “I dreamt I was back last night, Twilight. Back in the… back in my prison.”
“That’s… that’s horrible…”
Celestia nodded. “I asked them where you were. They told me it was all a dream. That I was… they told me that I was back home. Surrounded by those horrible bright lights. The cruel machinery masquerading as magic back in front of me. It was dawn, and I was expected to bring yet another artificial sunrise to an Equestria I wasn’t allowed to see.”
Celestia let out a long sigh, rising to her hooves and clipping her old regalia back on again. “Even my mind wishes to send me back there. I thought I was moving forwards… why do I keep being sent back there when I sleep?”
“Because they stole a decade of your life from you.” Twilight said simply. “You didn’t wrong them… or anyone. But they stole it anyway and told you that you should be grateful to even be alive. That kind of hurt doesn’t just vanish away.”
“I suppose so.” Celestia looked down at her hooves, as though a little unconvinced by what Twilight were saying.
“You… you served on the front lines during the war with Sombra, right, Celestia?”
Celestia nodded. “I did. Sometimes I’m still there, too. Bringing my magic to crystal ponies I know he forced to fight for him. Always hoping it would never be enough to kill them, but also knowing that if I didn’t act, my own ponies would be lost…”
Celestia broke off, and Twilight could see that she was crying. Not a dramatic, heaving sob… simply a few tears drifting slowly down the alicorn’s rugged, beautiful face.
“It’s… a disorder Celestia. There’s many like you, from the Crystal War. Post-traumatic stress, they call it. I… think you might be a sufferer.”
Celestia sighed. “I’m a madmare, then. A madmare, pretending she deserves her throne back.”
“Woah, hey.” Twilight’s voice was soft, but firm. “Cut that out, Celestia. You’re not. You’re just… hurting, still.”
“The wounds are old, Twilight. They should have healed over by now.”
Twilight shook her head, and gave Celestia a small smile. “Not exactly. It takes time. Sometimes, a long time. And it takes help, too, that I don’t think you’ve been afforded.”
“This… this disorder you say that I might have. There’s no cure?”
“I don’t think so. It isn’t simple like that.”
“I miss Luna, Twilight. She would’ve… she could’ve helped. Dream magic, you see.”
Twilight gave a solemn nod. “I.. could ask Nightmare Moon?”
Celestia gave a cruel laugh, shaking her head as she clipped the regalia on with her magic and started styling her mane into her now-familiar braid. “She would tell me I deserve it.”
Twilight sighed, rising from the bed herself. “Don’t you think it’s at least worth asking her?”
“It’s just a dream, Twilight. Already faded, upon hearing your voice and knowing I’m safe once again.”
“But it hurts you, Celestia.” Twilight shook her head. “C-can I ask you another question?”
Celestia gave a single nod. “You can ask me anything, Twilight.”
“Would… would you let me interview you, for a public article?”
There was no response for several seconds—Celestia simply stared blankly, making it abundantly clear she didn’t quite understand what it was that Twilight was suggesting. Nervously, Twilight proceeded further.
“I mean… about your imprisonment. About what it was like. You’ve been so… so hush about it. And I think that if you were to go public--”
“No.” The answer came, spoken coldly and firmly, as Celestia shook her head and started towards the main reading room of the library, a tired hobble to her still-waking-up limbs. “I’m sorry Twilight, but absolutely not.”
“S-still hurts too much?” Twilight guessed, hanging her head apologetically as she followed Celestia. In the reading room, a tall, beautiful orange bird was in the middle of preening it’s feathers—a phoenix, Twilight recognized instantly. She’d seen it with Celestia before, when she was a filly, and it gave a low purr when it saw the Princess, flapping over to settle on her mane.
“I realize it seems prideful.” Celestia continued speaking as if a bird was not playing with her mane, prodding at it with its beak as though it were a ball of yarn. “A-and I realize your intentions are only to help me put it behind. B-but… what happened to me. It’s… traumatizing. Humiliating. I… don’t wish to relive it, even through simply sharing what happened. And to have to face my ponies and say it...”
She shuddered, shaking her head. “I’m not brave enough to do that, Twilight Sparkle. I don’t feel ready to admit how much I failed. Better they find out themselves how far their princess fell, then hear a sob story from a sad, deformed old harpy from an age long past.”
Giving Celestia a small smile, Twilight walked a little closer, and nuzzled her head into Celestia’s neck. “’You are an important mare’. You remember that, Celestia?”
Frowning, Celestia looked a little confused. Twilight broke the nuzzle and gave her a small smile.
“You said it to me, when we were invading the museum. When I was having one of my little freakouts. You stopped me, and said that we’re not progressing until you heard me admit it.”
Celestia smiled, too, and gave a little nod. “It hurts me very much to see such a kind mare deriding herself like--”
“’Worthless old harpy. Relic of an age long past.’” Twilight shook her head sadly. “How do you think I feel, Celestia? You’re the most beautiful, brave, kind pony I’ve ever met, and I feel privileged every day to wake to a world knowing that you’re a part of it again. So… maybe for me, you oughta take your own advice.”
Celestia stopped in her tracks, and laboriously, she opened her mouth. Then, she closed it again, as though forcing the words out was a task beyond her. Twilight rested a hoof on the old alicorn’s back, and Celestia pulled her in closer with a wing as if by instinct.
“I’m an important mare,” Celestia spoke softly, the words hardly audible. Still, they were enough to get another warm smile and nuzzle from Twilight.
“Now we can progress,” Twilight said playfully, finally breaking the embrace and trotting into the reading area proper. “And I think I have an idea how.”
She motioned to her study area, with the dozens of maps lining every wall. Tacks and jotted notes where Twilight had noted her suspicions about the various industries now doting the maps still falsely showing rivers and trees.
“I tried to get a soil sample when I was imprisoned. It’s all private property, cause they don’t want ponies going into the industrial zone.”
“Mm. As if keeping ponies out would stop the environmental cataclysm they’re causing.”
“Exactly! All it does it keep them unaware of it. The number of forests that have been decimated since your departure is… staggering. It’s horrific. More destruction has occurred in a decade than over a hundred years prior. But that’s only what does make the papers.”
“Implying far more environmental damage than simply deforestation.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s the big one that ponies pay attention to. Kinda hard not to. But there’s all kinds of other problems that come from the industrialization outside of Old Canterlot and Ponyville.”
Celestia frowned, looking back towards the scattered bulletin board in Twilight’s office. “Which was what you were seeking to demonstrate. And closer to Ponyville, too. A populated area with a thriving surrounding ecosystem in the Everfree and White Tail forests.”
“Exactly. The Industry’s solution was to mark the whole area as private property. Easy enough to do when you own the public zoning divisions. But there’s still some places they couldn’t touch. Thestral communities, particularly wild parts of the Everfree…”
Celestia nodded, smiling a little. “To be completely honest… I’d like that right now, Twilight. Going back to the Everfree. Trying to help the living things in Equestria who don’t wish to spit at my hooves right now.”
Shaking her head, Twilight abandoned any vocal words of assurance. A gentle nuzzle against Celestia felt more right, and so it’s what she did. And Celestia hugged her back, pulling the two of them together as one.
iv
Twilight hadn’t set foot in a university in ages.
Admittedly, she understood why pretty quickly, as she watched the busy ponies scurrying through the gleaming halls. Ponyville’s university was a gorgeous building, especially relative to the somewhat quaint and homey size of the town itself. Ponyville was by no means a ‘small-town’, but by the standards of Old and New Canterlot, it was a little less than Twilight had grown used to.
It was also a relatively new building, at least as far as academic institutions went. As Old Canterlot gradually fell from grace, so too did enrollment in its schools. Other growing communities across the nation saw fit to fill the void, and Ponyville was in an ideal spot to do so. The town had been an untapped well of potential during the early days of the Industry's rise, and while it had destroyed much of the natural life surrounding it, the town's infrastructure at least grew somewhat as a result.
“I couldn’t get a hold of the botany department head professor, so I’ve instead arranged a meeting with one of his assistants,” Celestia said as they walked, the sound of her steel horseshoes clacking loudly on the newly polished floors.
“I’m sure that’ll be just as good. Probably less likely to be in the Industry’s pocket anyways, right?”
“My thoughts exactly. Younger blood. Less cynical, less corrupted by this world's infectious greed. Still technically an assistant professor, with a highly cited thesis on soil degradation. A perfect peer.”
“Are you sticking with us?” Twilight asked, fiddling with her visitor’s lanyard as they headed out into the open air of the courtyard leading to the university greenhouse.
“I will for a short while, although I do have other arrangements to attend to.”
Twilight blinked, looking over at Celestia. “You do?”
“You remember Raven, yes? I would like to get together with her again. When I retake the throne--which, given the way that the Industry has been scrambling and panicking, seems a looming possibly more and more--I would like to ensure I have enough time to properly tutor you into your role by my side.”
Twilight blushed. The idea of that still seemed so surreal to her, even if it had been one of the first things Celestia had suggested upon their first meeting. “O-oh.”
Celestia smiled. “Raven is old, and close to retirement. Nonetheless, I intend to ask her if she would be interested in returning as my court’s secretary when I retake the throne.”
“I’m sure she’ll be honoured.” Twilight replied, and Celestia responded with a wordless smile and nod.
The tall, many-windowed towers that were the science and engineering buildings glared down on a sunny courtyard, and dozens of ponies were milling about, lounging on the grass and reading, hurrying between classes. Even with thoughts of exams and essays clouding most of the student’s worried heads, they still couldn’t help but stop what they were doing and watch as Princess Celestia herself, and her trusted assistant, made their way proudly across the lawn towards the greenhouse tucked away some distance from the courtyard.
It didn’t take long for much of the onlookers to become more of a presence than simply distant curious eyes in their peripheral. Soon enough, they’d started to swarm around Celestia and Twilight with a bit more urgency driving their intrigue, and Twilight could hear the distinct whirring sound of a camera discreetly producing a future front-page photo for Ponyville U’s student paper.
A few students bowed. Not all… not even a lot, but some did. And when they did so, Celestia finally stopped, surprise flashing into her eyes.
“Well then…” she said gently, bringing a hoof to her regalia. “It’s a pleasure to see all of you young ponies, but I really am just an old mare sightseeing.”
The simple claim seemed to warrant a chorus of excited chattering. Twilight flicked an ear, looking from Celestia to the greenhouse they’d been heading towards before Celestia had halted.
“It’s really her! Princess Celestia!”
“What is she doing here?”
“Princess! Can I take a picture with you?”
“I’m sure I can spare the time,” Celestia said, chuckling. “Twilight, I can catch up with you if you’d like.”
Twilight paused, looking from Celestia to the students. When she’d been growing up, Celestia had been many things, but the most predominant in her mind had been her status as a teacher. She’d heard stories of her energetic, engaging lectures at her School of Magic--how even with a day constantly booked with tasks she would fit in time for one and make it seem like her life purpose.
Celestia was many things indeed. To a younger Twilight, long before the spectres of dread and apathy had clouded her life, she’d been a dream teacher, and her teachings a goal to strive to.
There’d been jealousy on Twilight’s mind, when she’d heard those tales from her peers in Magic Kindergarden. The stories of those who’d made enough of an impression to warrant personal tutelage by the Princess herself. She’d sworn to herself that she’d prove herself as worthy of such an honour, and she would make her parents, herself, and her Princess proud.
And she’d botched the entrance exam all the same.
Again, and again. She’d spent her whole childhood being told she’d matter, and when the time came to prove it…
Twilight shook her head. No more. The time had come again to prove herself… the past few months, it had come and come again.
Celestia seemed happily in her element here, and Twilight could already see her smiling face on the front page of the next day’s papers. The one thing she was most concerned about--her reputation, was being tended to with every positive interaction she had.
“I’ll see you soon, Celestia.” Twilight nodded, and headed further towards the greenhouse.
She gently tapped on the front door, where a short-maned yellow pegasus was gingerly drizzling thimble-fulls of water onto a drooping geranium. She perked up instantly, looking a bit surprised for a moment before fixing Twilight with a sheepish smile instead as she flapped over to the greenhouse entrance.
“Good morning! My… ah, office hours aren't until…”
“This afternoon, I know. I'm not one of your students, Professor Fluttershy, I'm actually a reporter. Was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?”
“R-reporter?” Fluttershy blinked, tilting her head. “And I'm… um, technically not a...”
Fluttershy wilted a little, turning her attention back to the geranium and giving it a spiteful spray of water.
“You want Professor Hemlock. I'm just his assistant.”
“Well, they referred me to you by name at the front office of the Science building.” Twilight shrugged, lingering awkwardly in the entrance to the greenhouse. “You see, I'm… um. Well, I'm freelance myself.”
“Oh!” At that, Fluttershy perked up significantly, turning to Twilight with an excited smile. “Wait, hold on… you're… you're Princess Celestia's assistant, right?”
“I'm technically not… uh...” Twilight broke off, shaking her head and extending a hoof instead. “Twilight Sparkle. Investigative journalist.”
Fluttershy shook, her grip delicate and frail but her smile welcoming and genuine. “Pleased to meet you, Twilight. What can I do for you today?”
“I was wondering, uh. You wrote your thesis on soil degradation, right? Around Ponyville?”
“Well, the White Tail Woods specifically, but yes.” Fluttershy nodded. “Topsoil erosion. Certainly, uh. Concerning stuff.”
“Oh, I know. I've read. Been keeping up with your research as best I can… we don't really have much of an academic library in Old Canterlot, where I'm from.”
“Really?” Fluttershy tilted her head. “Huh. Well, thank you, I suppose. It's nice to know it's reaching somewhere. So, you came to talk to me about it?”
“Well, sorta. I also was wondering if I could get a sample tested? I don't exactly have access to a lab, or… uh, much knowledge by way of actually going about… um, testing...”
“Right. You're writing on behalf of Princess Celestia, so you probably want to be putting out something peer reviewed?”
“Exactly! So, we hunted you down in the faculty list and, uh. She sent me over. I'm… uh, r-really sorry if I'm intruding or if it's a bad time...”
“There's no need to be so nervous, Twilight.” Fluttershy gave her a supportive smile. “Come on in. Put on a lab coat. I'd be happy to help you out if it's on Princess Celestia's behalf. Even if I am a bit curious why she'd want me, of all ponies.”
“Well, really, this is more my inquiry.” Twilight levitated a labcoat and gingerly put it on, and Fluttershy led the way into the greenhouse. “You see, I took some soil samples from the riverbeds leading into Ponyville.”
“Whitetail River?” Fluttershy frowned, looking back. “That's government owned property, Twilight Sparkle. They've been pretty stern on not letting anypony in there. I should know, I've tried to get clearance to gather samples of my own.”
“Y-yeah, I know. I kinda got arrested trying to get that sample? I'm out on bail.”
“...I see. You lead an interesting life, it seems.” Fluttershy shook her head. “The soil sample you have on you… it's the one you took from the Whitetail River?”
“Of course.”
“You're sure it is? Cause, like. If I were them, I definitely would have confiscated that,” Fluttershy said. “Or if I was feeling particularly like I had something to hide, I would switch it with an ordinary sample.”
“That's… um… I mean, maybe?” Twilight withdrew the sample from her jacket pocket in her telekinesis.
“Twilight, this is my field. Trust me when I say it isn't the first hoop I've had to jump through trying to gather credible data.” Fluttershy took the sample in her hooves, turning it over a few times. “I've seen it happen before. I've learned that being passive and unassuming is the best way to get your hard work stomped on by bigger ponies than you.”
Twilight said nothing, but she bit her lip and nodded.
“My point is, don't give them the benefit of the doubt. Ever. I don't want to sound like a grump, but I think any industry that'll destroy as much of Equestria's ecosystems as them don't really deserve it. But who listens to the dirt scientists of Equestria?” Fluttershy rolled her eyes.
Twilight gave a small nod. “Probably more than they do the homeless freelance journalist.”
“With, um. Respect. You do have Princess Celestia, as well.” Fluttershy said softly, almost under her breath. She started unclipping the buttons on her labcoat as she spoke. “She seems to be intent on treating you with respect, from what I’ve heard and read about her.”
“She really, really has.”
Fluttershy grinned. “So much so that I wonder if she’s taken a fancy.”
At that, Twilight nearly sputtered. “Y-you think she what?!”
With a light giggle, Fluttershy shook her head. She opened a cupboard, withdrawing a few reusable plastic containers and tossing one to Twilight. “I’m just teasing you Twilight. Here, take this.”
“W-why?”
“Well, we’re going to collect soil samples together, aren’t we?”
“Aren’t you busy? I don’t want to be a nuisance...”
“Twilight Sparkle, I’m looking at an opportunity to help Princess Celestia get an upperhoof at slowing the destruction of my forests. Why would that be a nuisance to me?”Before Twilight could muster a reply, Fluttershy let out an audible gasp. “Oh. Oh my.”
Then, she lowered into a bow, and Twilight knew who she’d see as soon as she turned.
“That’s not necessary.” Celestia said gently, as she stepped into the Greenhouse and gave Fluttershy a warm smile. “I see you two have made fast friends.”
“It’s an honour to be enlisted to help you, Your Majesty!” Fluttershy said excitedly, nodding her head a few times. “I was just discussing with Twilight how I’d like to go collect dirt samples with you! Trust me, it’s a lot more fun than it sounds, and we’ll get to see all kinds of wonderful birds and little critters and flora and--”Celestia chuckled as Fluttershy broke off, blushing a little. “S-sorry. I’m, ah. A little excited by this turn of events. Are… are you going to help save the forests, Princess Celestia?”
“I would consider it a dire sin not to do so.” Celestia nodded her head firmly. “Would you object to a teleportation, Professor Fluttershy? I believe I can get us there and back without interfering with your schedule too dramatically.”
Twilight perked her head at that, but said nothing. If anything, she smiled a little to see Celestia once against testing the limits of her magic. No longer treating her jagged horn like it were some fragile apparatus about to break. As far as Twilight was concerned, it was the very conduit that brought sunlight and life to Equestria—a long, proud, ivory shaft of potential. It was as majestic to Twilight as the mare it was attached to.
Fluttershy had said something in reply but Twilight hadn’t quite been paying attention, thought she did notice a few stray sparks springing from it as Celestia readied a teleportation spell.
And then, a flash flooded through the Greenhouse, and the world vanished…
...only to be replaced by the bright sunlight and sound of a nearby running stream.
Fluttershy instantly let out a long, contended exhale, her wings rustling and unfurling to catch the cool spring air. She closed her eyes and simply stood still for several moments.
“This is the Whitetail Woods, Twilight Sparkle,” Fluttershy said eventually. “It’s really a wonderful place… and it’s home to one of the largest animal preserves in Eastern Equestria.”
“One of the only animal preserves in Eastern Equestria.” Twilight replied softly. “I’ve read. And despite that, about thirty percent of it’s been clearcut, sixty percent of it has been in some way negatively affected by these effects, whether through air pollution, water, or forest fires.”
Fluttershy gave a little nod. “Actually it’s more like eighty-percent, now. A lot of this forest feels like a ghost from when I was a filly.” Shaking her head, Fluttershy turned back to Celestia and Twilight. “I don’t get to come here nearly often enough. Thank you, Princess.”
“It is my pleasure, my little pony. Now, sadly, I do have other arrangements to attend to today. Getting waylaid by a gaggle of intrigued ponies was an unexpected but welcome surprise to my day’s schedule.”
“We’ll be a few hours gathering samples anyways.” Fluttershy shrugged. “And it’s time I’d love to spend nowhere else.”
“I shall see you two soon, then.” Celestia said, and as her horn began to glow, she leaned over to give Twilight a little nuzzle.
Then, a flash, and she was gone.
“Definitely a fancy.” Fluttershy flashed Twilight with a mischievous smirk, adjusting her saddlebag and setting off towards the shore of the babbling brook. Twilight blushed but didn’t protest, and fell in line behind Fluttershy.
“You said you lived here when you were a filly?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy quickly knelt down before the brook, taking out a glass vial with her wing and collecting a sample of water into it.
“Oh, no, no.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I lived in Cloudsdale. I just spent a lot of time down here, and found myself liking it more and more.”
“Ah… I… guess that’s one of the perks to having wings, hrm? Can just up and fly when you don’t like someplace.”
“It’s not really that simple, I’m afraid. Flying is… hard. I’ve never been very good at it." She paused her work to give her wings a backwards glance, as though she were confirming they were even still there in the first place. "I feel safer with my hooves on the ground. I used to get bullied for it a lot, so I would come down here to hide from them. The more time I spent, the more I found myself liking it down here.”
“Before the Industry started destroying it.”
Fluttershy winced a little, and gave a small nod of her head. “I wanted to protect it no matter what it took. At first that meant… well, doing what you do. Protesting, hoping things would change if I got angry enough. But I’m not loud enough, and the Industry find it pretty easy to ignore anypony who isn’t loud enough.”
“So… dirt specialist?”
Fluttershy gave a little chuckle, sealing the lid on the water vial and stowing it away in her saddlebag. “I studied environmental protection for my first two years, and then they shut down the course. Three guesses as to why. I used the credits I had to change majors, and… dirt specialist. It was the best I could do with what I had.”
“It’s further than I got.”
“I don’t believe it matters how far you get, Twilight Sparkle.” Fluttershy glanced over, her left wing prodding open her saddlebag and her hoof fishing out a petri dish. The whole while, she didn't break her gaze with Twilight. “I think it matters what you stand for, and how hard you fight for it. If we all weigh our accomplishments against eachother, we’ll just get discouraged because we’re not all the same. That sorta thinking is how you make a flightless pegasus feel like she doesn’t matter at all, and she never will.”
Twilight nodded, a small smile forming. “Equestria isn’t very friendly to ponies who think like that, are they?”
“Equestria doesn’t have time to be friendly when they’re being lied to and deceived and can’t even know what’s right from wrong. That’s why it’s a good thing there’s ponies like you who are making that right.”
Twilight’s smile grew a bit more confident, and it stayed that way as she and Fluttershy continued their work. Twilight learned quickly to remain quiet and let Fluttershy lead on, as she carefully and meticulously felt at the ground with her hooves while she walked along the shorebank. Sometimes she stopped, only to eagerly show Twilight a frog hiding in the mud or a catfish swimming along through the murky water.
Their work was tedious, but it was soothing, too. Birdsong above, softly running water below. The canopy of trees too thick to reveal the mountains of smog lining the outskirts of Ponyville. It was an hour gathering the first few samples, and then Fluttershy suggested they head a little further down stream where she suspected there was a dirt road snaking away from one of the mining quarries. The perfect place to dump waste, and the perfect place to test.
They walked for nearly an hour, and the canopy of trees grew thinner as they did. The Sun had started to peak below the treeline, the shades of dusk sweeping through the growing gaps of the trees ahead. The air itself felt stranger, and Twilight couldn’t entirely tell why. It wasn’t until Fluttershy spoke up that she realized.
“No birds. Looks like there’s more light ahead, too.”
And indeed, there was. Another few minutes of walking, and it became obvious why. The creekbed had gradually been tapering away into mud, then dirt, then clay. The curved edges where a roaring river had once been ghosts of a once thriving ecosystem.
And ahead, the vast, sprawling plain of death that had been so commonplace. So universal across Equestria.
“And this… is what we do.” Fluttershy sighed. “The cost of our cities and the Industry’s lies.”
Twilight gave a sad nod, and fished out her camera from her saddlebag. The Sun was setting on the clearcut plain, casting the entire somber sight in a ghostly orange haze.
It would at least make for a good cover page.
v
“Captain Armor!”
Shining Armor’s Royal Guard saluted as he stepped out of the elevator.
He nodded back at them, steppin out onto the roof. There was another hallway that led forwards, through the cool, imperfect corridor dug into the rock. The square of sunlight that had first assaulted him was ahead, and he led the way to it.
Reflecting in the pale afternoon sunlight was Celestia’s crown and regalia. Discarded, as she’d undoubtedly made her escape from the very spot. Her damned hoof shoes were still in place.
“So. Do any of us want to offer a theory as to who our mystery prisoner was?” he deadpans, levitating the crown in his telekinesis. There was an awkward chorus of chuckles behind him. “So, she’s still alive. Which means that below us is a facility that was designed to imprison, torture… and all but assasinate the Princess that all of us, a generation ago, pledged our lives to protect. Is that the situation as I understand it?”
The chorus of chuckles was echoed as an uneasy slew of agreeing mumbles. Shining turned back to them, narrowing his gaze.
“Princess Celestia served this nation up to the day of her death. She was mourned. And now she is alive, and out there someplace. Likely scared for her life, alone, and hunted. We are to find her, help her, and find out what the hell happened here.”
They all nodded. Of course they did. They’d been his guard since the days when they’d served under Celestia. They were still around now, relics. Relics to be silenced, disposed of, quietly deposed, when their necessity was complete.
But Flim Flam Industry had trusted him with cleanup. With covering up their crimes, and with lying to his own guards in the process.
But loyalty in Princess Celestia wasn’t always easy to discard. Shining had thought it had been. He’d thought it had vanished long ago, and evidently the state had assumed such. Somepony to help them shove Celestia and their desperate attempts to contain her quietly back into the dying light.
Twilight. Princess Celestia had asked about Twilight. She had said she was looking for her. And Shining had been, too. For so long, he’d wondered just what had gone wrong with his sister.
But perhaps nothing had. Perhaps it was the whole damned world around them that had gone wrong instead.
“Guard the evidence we collected today with our lives,” he said firmly, looking over his guards. “I want photographs of it all. I want it recorded down permanently, until we’ve gotten a crystal clear idea of the safety of Princess Celestia, and the identity of those responsible for depriving it from her.”
His guards saluted.
And Shining thought of Twilight and Celestia. Maybe they did have a chance. And maybe he could help.
Shining Armor exhaled when he got to the front gate of the facility. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath the entire walk up the dirt road from the clearing behind them.
At the gate, three more of his guards stood waiting. They saluted as he approached, though it was quite clear their focus was still on the buildings behind—the long radio-tower pointed upwards, the satellite dishes mounted to the tops. It was a little strange, seeing a radio-communication building so far in the woods in the valley between two towering Vanhoover mountain peaks.The poor troops were probably wondering what had taken Shining and his platoon over six-hours scouting out.
“S-sir… what was...”
Shining held up a hoof. Fishing out a cigar, he lit it and settled down by the gate, leaning against it a little and staring back at the compound. Behind him, his lieutenant spoke up.
“A research facility, Private Shallow.”
“A prison.” Shining responded, shaking his head. “It’s a small power facility on the surface level. There's a hydroelectric dam about a kilometre down the road from here, and it looks enough like some innocuous monitoring station to not seem suspicious to any pegasi flying over. But inside, it's a far different story. There’s a network of tunnels beneath that go far, far underground. Some of the power was being rerouted to Whitetail. But the rest is...”
“Is it… foreign, sir?” The poor guards looked between the lieutenant and Shining. “Belonging to the changelings, perhaps?”
Shining shook his head. “No. This is Equestrian technology. Equestrian names. There’s Equestrian writing and state standardized academic books inside. It is...” Shining shrugged. “Something that the State has been keeping hidden away from the public eye.”
“And something apparently affiliated with the Late Princess Celestia. Efforts to revive her, perhaps?”
“Unknown, at this time. And I would cease speculation if I were you. At least until we have some answers.” Taking one last draw from the cigar, Shining snuffed it out with his magic and then motioned one of the guards closer. “This evidence. I don’t want it ending up in the hooves of the State, understood? We’re gonna keep this investigation between us as long as possible.”
“S-sir?!”
“I mean it.” Shining said firmly. “This means no discussing it with anypony, no leaking of any evidence, and no tracking down of any identities without my association. This is my investigation and it won’t fall victim to another State cover-up.”
He spoke with confidence… with a decade of loyalty and service finally back in his voice after having been imprisoned by blind, hopeless apathy for so long. And from the expressions on his guards faces, they could tell it, too.
The last of Princess Celestia’s loyal guards saluted, just as somewhere, far away, a lonely unicorn in the library of an even lonelier dead city awoke to the sleeping white form of a broken mare who had once been something important.
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The prodigal dingus returns to grace us all with fine-ass words.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/3/1/1974943.jpeg
UPDATE! WOOHOO
Oh hey, this is nice to see.
IT LIVES!
Yes!! It's back!
Hey things are happening again~<3 I missed this story.
Oh heck it lives.
And I'm proud of you, Norris. I've been waiting a long time to hear these words.
I absolutely adore the way you wrote Fluttershy. The interaction she had with Twilight and Celestia was absolutely spot-on and so natural for a world as unnatural as Flim and Flam's Equestria. Shining Armor and the loyalty of his guards was executed just as well; you can feel that devotion to help Celestia shimmering clear in their lines.
Just wonderfully done. I'm hoping that you find the motivation to bring Celestia all the way back to the throne.
I jumped around chapters and this is a great read, but the ending is a longgggggggggggg ways off.
10262884
About three chapters, though it might end up being as much as five and an epilogue, since I want to avoid having any single chapter that pushes 12k in length. Sometimes when you're writing, a plot point that initially only existed to streamline a narrative proves interesting enough to warrant additional focus. Other times, something integral is draining and uninteresting to write and read. This is especially true of a story where the exploration of the world and characters is as integral to the overall themes and style of the story as the Point A to Point B narrative structure.
When I publish that last chapter, it really will be final. I want to make sure I've told the most interesting stories in this world, as entertainingly as possible, before I do.
Best thing in 2020 so far.
It's lovely to see this old one shake the rust off :>
Ayyy, knew it'd come eventually.
The new chapter notification brightened up my day. Amazing as always, too.
Welp, looks like I've got something to read through again.
My god it's good to see this get updated.
It's been so long but I'm really glad this story got updated, being one of the best I've read on this site. Great to see that Shining was doing some legwork on his end, too.
Woooooooot!!!
I've waited a long time for this. It's great to see your work again my fellow writer :)
Huzzah! I'm so happy to see an update to one of the best written fics on this site!* I look forward to the end days of the journey you've taken us on.
(*that I've read, which is hundreds)
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You're too kind. Thank you for sticking with it
Happy to see this back in my notifications! I always enjoyed this fic, and still do! :)
“It’s just a story, kid. Don’t get all upset over fairy tales.”
“But...”
“But what?!”
“But it isn’t a fairy tale. It’s about us. It’s about... it’s about what we are letting happen!”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. I think it is.”
“Well, kid, that’s why fairy tales are so dark. Nobody’s gonna pay attention to warnings otherwise. And some folks, they’re not bad, or dumb, or ignorant or anything, really. It’s just that sometimes they just need to be scared into seeing what’s right in front of their faces. Pat yourself on the back, kid! You just graduated to being scared!”
“Isn't it kinda sad people are like that?”
“ Breaks my heart. It really does. But then if it weren’t so, we wouldn’t have all these fairy tales you like so much, now, would we?”
Thanks for the update.
With everything going on right now, I think I need a story of people fighting back against a corrupt system.
This story has always been up there with the best in my opinion, and its a pleasure to get such a good update.
Thank you for still updating
10262893
Very exciting to see a fic I've been tracking since 2015 update. Good luck with the final chapters! I hope you can keep your steam up.
So much good stuff in this chapter??? Nightmare Moon revealing herself to Celestia, Twilight diagnosing Celestia with PTSD, Fluttershy??!! You're too good to us, man.
I'm glad to see someone in-story actually acknowledging the romantic tension between Celestia and Twilight. It's been a while so my memory's fuzzy, but I've always gotten the feeling that Celestia knows that she has feelings for Twilight. I wonder when Twi will realize she has the Big Gay.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
A change is coming. And coming fast.
How many see it? How many know? How many care?
God I love this.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I’ve been too enthralled with this story to remember to comment for the last several chapters. Your writing is just... so good. You know that state where you forget you’re reading and feel like you’re watching a movie in your head? Yeah, thats where I’m at now.
I am having a lot of trouble understanding Shining Armor in this story. He seems like he’s playing both sides, helping Flim Flam Industry and Celestia in different strokes. And now apparently Nightmare Moon is redeemable? And the corrupt oligarchy in charge somehow is halfway allowing Celestia to move toward taking her power back? You have a great way of painting each character in a different shade of gray. The only one we can be sure is a piece of shit in this fix is Flim Flam Industry, and that’s not even a singular person so much as it is an idea.
Something tells me they’re biding their time. I’m fully expecting them to send assassins soon. It’s just what corrupt governments do to their oppositions.
10863604
I like the part where the horsey goes neigh.
Oh my gosh. Been reading all night. What a story