Celestia blinked at her surroundings as the portal closed behind her. As best as she could describe it, she stood atop an asteroid floating within a nebula, with other asteroids visible in the distance connected by roads of starlight. Light seemed to shine from everywhere, and energy flowed freely within the entire Realm. She found herself spreading her wings, letting the currents of energy flow under them and between her feathers, as though the winds could carry her into the sky without effort on her part. To her surprise, she found herself gently lifting off, soaring through the incredible Realm by pure will. When her surprise caused her will to falter, she felt herself starting to fall, but she quickly regained her focus. As her flight stabilized, she pushed herself along by will from one floating spheroid of stone to another, gently exploring.
She quickly found that there was very little to distinguish any one floating stone from another beyond size. Some were small enough to catch between her hooves, while some were large enough to have cave systems she could glide through. Some had plants, some did not, but it was at best generic scrub, with no visual interest and less nutritional value. However, when she turned her gaze to the sky itself...she found herself breathless.
During the time she had ruled alone, she had on occasion slowed the setting of the sun so that the colors of sunset could stain the night sky, dancing amongst the stars as the moon rose. It had been her intention to try and create a night sky as beautiful as Luna could using her own medium, as an apology for being blind to Luna's plight by showing she had been watching. But the dance of pinks, greens, blues, and twinkling points of light here made those efforts - which had been akin to the Northern Lights that had once shimmered over the lost Crystal Empire - look like the hoofpainting of a foal that parents hung on the coldbox. She hovered there, staring in awe as she took in the majesty of it all.
"This is what happens when nature is left to its own devices," a calm voice spoke up behind her. "Forces uncontrolled create tapestries no imagination - mortal or otherwise - could conceive of."
Celestia turned to the voice, and saw golden light slowly coalescing before her into the shape of a golden humanoid woman, garbed in a regal gown of ancient design, features sculpted yet delicate, and with an odd motherly look to her face. "Welcome to my Realm, Princess Celestia," the woman greeted. "I am Meridia, Prince of Life and Infinite Energies."
Celestia instinctively bowed, knowing she was in the presence of one eons more ancient than herself. "I'm honored by this reception," she greeted warmly. "I must say, given how I arrived, I wasn't expecting..." She glanced around again, once more stunned by the beauty.
"My boy is quite a handful, isn't he?" Meridia allowed. "Even more so since he became King, instead of just Heir to a Prince."
Celestia blinked in surprise. "You are...his mother?"
"Well, I mothered him," Meridia corrected. "He was such an adorable tyke when he first arrived. I'd never seen life quite like him. Of course, Nocturnal would have it I grandmothered him..."
Celestia suppressed a giggle. She remembered times before Luna's fall began when she and her sister had competed over spoiling a particular favored foal who had caught their eye. ...they'd probably ruined the line of Platinum with their antics, if Blueblood was anything to judge... She quickly pulled her mind away from what was certain to become maudlin meanderings. "Discord said there was an...artifact I had to acquire here. One which might contain one of the Elements of Harmony?"
Meridia nodded. "Yes. His game this time. He wanted to involve as many of us as possible...but Vaermina, Azura, Nocturnal, and I strongly vetoed him involving anyone considered underage by your world's standards, with exception for those magically strong enough to thrive in our realms. He would have ignored myself, Azura, and Nocturnal...but Vaermina is his mate. She has her own ways of getting him to listen, her King or no."
"What sort of female could tame Discord?" Celestia marveled curiously.
"The Prince of Dreams and Nightmares," Meridia explained.
"...so that's why he was so insistent on involving Luna..." Celestia murmured softly, biting her lower lip in concern. Nightmare Moon was still a fresh wound in her sister's psyche, no matter how much the younger alicorn claimed she was fine now. Celestia desperately wanted to be there for her...but didn't want to risk pushing her away by pushing too hard.
"You needn't worry too much," Meridia offered comfortingly. "Vaermina is probably the wisest of us all, having the most insight into the way the mind - mortal or otherwise - works. She's also the gentlest of us unless provoked."
Celestia nodded. "Still, I hope you'll forgive me if I show unseemly haste when it comes to completing this part of the endeavor. Luna is...very dear to me. To have her involved in this again, so soon after..." She bit her lip to silence her rambling tongue.
"Quite alright," Meridia agreed. "Tell me, as Princess of the Sun...have you ever been forced to deal with the scourge of unlife?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Zombies, ghouls, vampires, necromancers, liches, or blighted?"
Meridia grinned warmly. "You seem quite experienced in dealing with such creatures."
"Vampires I find can be reasoned with, and necromancers intimidated into compliance," Celestia explained. "As for those that can't, and the rest..." Reaching into her magic, she pulled out a massive morning star that glowed with a golden light, the spiked ball at the end of the chain made of crystalized sunfire. "I find this an effective deterrent."
Meridia's grin widened. "Quite an effective weapon you have there. What do you call it?"
"The Sun Scourge," Celestia answered. "Not entirely accurate - it's a morning star, not a whip - but I was in an alliterative mood when I crafted it."
"Impressive," Meridia praised. Reaching into the ether, she drew out a wide bladed golden sword with a metal circle where blade met hilt, containing within it a yellow star that pulsed endlessly. "I enjoy my Dawnbreaker myself."
Celestia stared at the weapon in awe. "It's beautiful..."
"It's much better in action," Meridia promised. "Shall we see which is more effective against the undead blight?"
Celestia grinned, finding herself eager to put herself through her paces again after so long. "You know where to find a ready supply?"
Meridia's answering grin was vicious.
Namira stared out over the Scuttling Void at the scattered burning chunks of undead flesh of various sorts. Clenching her fists in rage, she screamed out, "Discord dammit, Meridia-"
"He won't!" Meridia sniped back.
"-I just finished making those!" Namira finished. "Why did you even do this, anyway? You were supposed to fight her!"
"One, I don't like you," Meridia stated bluntly. "Two, she needed to vent. Three..." She gestured into the distance.
The Draugr Deathlord - five times normal size - let out a guttural roar as it charged, the other Draugr surrounding it - scaling from normal size to its size - charged with it. Celestia stood there, her mane and tail literally aflame as her eyes glowed with her magic. Letting off a whinnying battle cry that hadn't been heard since the Unification Era, she lunged to meet the charge, the blaze of the Sun Scourge spinning over her head in a fiery halo that glowed brighter than the sun, even its light making the Draugr flinch back.
"I had an excess of popcorn to work through after Discord's last game night," Meridia concluded, popping a few kernels into her mouth. "Want some?"
Namira glowered angrily at Meridia for a time...then sighed and sat beside her. "Gimme." Grabbing a handful, she began to munch.
First :P.... Celestia is very scary.
Ok that's funny at the end and love the song
Ooohh!!!
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Awesome chapter. I love Celestia taking on a giant Deathlord. I do like her stance on Vampires being given a chance, I can just see her popping into visit some vampony over the centuries and trading wines, books, and other things that get better with age. Now, can Celestia go help Serana and the Dragonborn put an end to Harkon???? I would love to see him get smacked across Skyrim via her morning star.
Still want to see Azura and Nocturnal with the Crusaders if only to keep them occupied and safe.
As he flight stabilized, she pushed herself along
1. Her.
This was certainly a brighter chapter of the nine.
Who knew Celestia was so skill at Macenry.
Now that we know what Celestia can do, I wouldn't want to be caught dead anywhere near her.
Indeed.
Probably.
That answer your question?
Well, most of these creatures are vulnerable to sunlight or fire, and that IS her shtick.
Ooh!
Morning star, HAH!
That'd be a yes.
[quote"One, I don't like you," Meridia stated bluntly. "Two, she needed to vent. Three..." She gestured into the distance.3?
Someone make fanart of this.
Ah.
That title. Don't you mean DOUBLE SUN POWWWEEEEEERRRRR!
You know, It's kinda stereotypical at this point that Celestia has a mace and is battle-eager. I haven't watched the show since season five, so I may have missed something, but it just feels like everyone's shoving Celestia into the role of an overpowered brute. I like to think her one thousand years of experience over Luna would make her the more subtle between them.
Hell, Celestia controls the Sun. Luna? She controls the Moon and the rest of the stars. Take from that what you will...
To be clear, I'm NOT complaining. Just making a point.
7905451
its more about what occasions they prefer to brute force, for fun.
7905186
We ARE talking "Azura and Nocturnal" to keep the Crusaders safe, right? Because for some reason I can SO see when they all get together it'll be the other way round.
I was wondering how you'd get this one to work out, loved how you did it
Jyggorath and the Crusaders... now THERE'S a comedy waiting to happen...
Lullaby For A Princess is indeed an excellent song. Poor Namira being the shitcatcher of this story. At least she got popcorn out of it
7905694 There will be so. Much. Chaos everyone will feel it. I'm guessing that they are pre-Crusaders of the Lost Mark?
7905901 Given the time period of the story, ayup.
I see you subscribe to the Celestia is a super badass line of headcanon.
Wait... how old is Spike in this Fic? He's cleary older than the CMC, but beyond that...
7905971
Spike is a dragon. He can take on the kinds of things in the Daedric Realms. Or at least survive.
7905451
Actually, I think of it more along the lines of how Reality Check explained it in Nyx's Family.
When Celestia and Luna first took the throne, the world was a savage place, so quite often the pair of them had to charge off into battle for their little ponies...and it was fun. Compare that to centuries of endless paperwork.
Who wouldn't enjoy getting to go nuts on some baddies once in a while? Celestia and Luna's problem is that most of the modern baddies can't take it.
In essence, Celestia is like this because ponies haven't invented paintball or laser tag yet.
7905597 at the very least nothing beyond teesap will touch the crusaders with Azura and Nocturnal watching over them. Any monsters will find themselves exterminated or turned into pets. Because I can totally see Azura shrinking an Ursa Minor down to teddy bear size. And as for a certain pair of bratty fillies... learn stealth skills from Nocturnal and steal that tiara right off Diamond's head so smoothly she doesn't notice.
You know, on reading this line I was almost expecting them to end up in the Sanctuary, the world the Diablo series takes place in...
7906252 It sucks being on the receiving end of a Quadradic Power Curve when the enemies don't scale with you...
Personally, I ascribe to the princesses having powers on certain tiers that increase exponentially the further they dip into them.
i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h397/Almech_Alfarion/figP1.png~original
(Note the Blue Lines)
The first few levels, are alright to use for everyday, and notching it up a few levels for basic combat is acceptable. These levels would be akin to your average to powerful Unicorn mages, but at some point they would go from only blasting down walls or closing basic injuries to taking out entire city blocks/regenerating the missing limbs of an entire amputee ward with a single spells, and after that to wiping out or revitalizing/rebuilding/terraforming entire armies/cities/mountain ranges/countries in one go, with nothing in between the different levels of power that they can "Dial Down" to to find some sort of middle ground. Luna would have an easier time of it in general, because her domains tend to lend more to subtlety and finesse, but even she would have problems after a certain point, or if she were using abilities outside of her domains.
This leads them to working through certain problems that don't want to stop being problems by proxy, because expending the necessary power to deal with alone would jump them into a tier that would cause more collateral damage than they're willing to cause.
7905451
For the argument of power, see: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/319262/why-no-one-messes-with-luna
7906636
Hmm...I like that concept. Even if it does kind of turn Celestia into Good-Aligned pony Frieza.
(Can't find the quotable I'm looking for, so...)
Ah, level seven. Haven't tapped this in a long time, but it works as well as ever...like an old dress I never wear anymore. The only problem is, whenever I put it on...someone dies.
7906916 ONE PUNCH!!!
Heh, sorry. Couldn't resist.
pre03.deviantart.net/8d88/th/pre/i/2011/328/f/c/the_fun_has_been_doubled_by_cyb3rwaste-d4h5yxh.png 7906252
7906252
Head Canon accepted!
Heh, good one! Celestia indeed needed some cathartic venting. She'll feel so much better after all is said and done.
And that ending
7910780 Wait until you see the last issue of Friends Forever.
Best song to use.
Celestia and Meridia's undead slaying bonding time, I love it.
Dawnbreakers my fav weapon right now