Balance

by TheAceofClubs

Chapter 5 - Enlightenment and Foreshadowing

It was dusk once more and the sun was hung low in the sky over Equestria. Celestia and Luna were sat on the balcony, eyes shut with shining auras emanating from their horns. Stars had begun peeking over the clouds as the daytime sky sank; as the Sola fell under the horizon the sky became even darker and made way for the rising Orion. The moon finally came to a halt in the centre of the sky and the two princesses relaxed a little.

“We’ve done it at last.” Celestia sighed with relief with Luna nodding beside her; after Celestia made her corrections like Luna she had found that the spell was much easier, although still strenuous, than it had been on the first attempt. Positive reports had come from the situation at the previously ruined Everfree Palace; although there had been minimal casualties not a pony had been killed and the Princesses had decided to personally visit and apologize to the affected ponies before personally leading the clearing of rubble by the ruined palace.

“I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky; I don’t know if we could’ve handled an ordeal of the magnitude that mother and father suffered.” Celestia murmured contently although Luna was shaking her head.

“I don’t think that it’s over quite yet though.” She responded. “I’ve got a nagging feeling that I’ve missed something. Plus, it isn’t like we were destined to be tested by some divine force or anything; the lucky mare just didn’t look our way.” Celestia frowned at the thought that the trouble wasn’t yet over.

“I don’t understand how we could’ve missed something; everything seems to have tied together nicely.” Celestia’s persuasion seemed fruitless as Luna gave her an odd expression.

“What are you talking about ‘Tia?” Luna asked grimly. “There were plenty of loose ends and I bet that if I retraced my hoofsteps now it would reveal them.”

“Then don’t,” Celestia said stubbornly. “What we don’t know can’t hurt us and everything has already turned out alright so far.” Luna gave her sister a look of disbelief.

“Celestia, that makes no sense.” Luna pointed out. “Ignoring the point wouldn’t do anything but blind us to a possible future. I personally think that I should retrace my steps.” The smaller of the two alicorns stood and walked away grumpily with the other watching in annoyance

“Luna!” Celestia called after, gracefully jumping to her hooves and turning on the spot to give chase, trotting at a slightly faster pace than Luna in an attempt to catch up, but it was to no avail; the princess of the night had broken into a run almost as soon as she had turned the corner and by the time that Celestia had made the same turn she was well out of sight, although it was completely obvious where she had gone.

Luna opened the same copy of A Veteran’s Account of the Evershroud War and flicked through the pages.

‘Keep going.’
Luna listened to the voice in her head spur her on as she turned page after page, stopping only when she heard Celestia’s voice ringing out from the other side of the library; it would take her a while to find Luna as the library was huge and could quite easily take up the entire subterranean size of the street above.

‘Keep going!’

“I am, I am!” Luna complained at herself quietly, resuming her page flipping. Eventually she found the page that she had previously been reading, where she had ripped out the picture of the alicorn family. Blinking before remembering where she had put the scrap of paper, Luna brushed behind her ear and sighed as she realised that the family had gone (although it was no surprise; she had been catapulted off of the castle spire with explosive force. The picture was probably carried by the wind far away from Everfree city or was under a large piece of rubble)

‘Is this it? Is this what I came to see?’ Luna asked the voice, reluctantly believing that she was being compelled to follow a trivial path.

‘Keep going!’ The voice spurred even more. Luna frowned and just decided to tip the book to its last page.

“There? Will that do?” She asked grumpily; there was no response. Luna looked down at the page and frowned even deeper.

‘July, the end of Princesses Celestia and Luna’s reign.
The ignorant foals finally corrected their blessings, all without picking up my trail. I must state my disappointment; I made it obvious, I even gave Luna the clues. The citizens have lost their faith after their blunder and now I believe I should be able to crush what little remains of it. There never needed to be a war; I just wanted some entertainment before my master game comes into effect.
The balance will soon be broken Princess.’
Luna felt her heart skip a beat as she read the last line. As she reread it Luna wondered whether the entry was actually talking to her and then remembered the top line.

‘The end of Princess Celestia and Luna’s reign.’ Luna drew back in horror as the book burst into flames and vanished entirely within seconds.

“Luna?” Celestia had finally found her sister; she had reversed out of the aisle and into plain sight. “Luna, what’s wrong?” Celestia had clearly noticed the shock on Luna’s face. Lost for words the younger alicorn simply stared at her older sister. “...You went back and retraced your steps, didn’t you?”

“...I was right; now we know what to prepare for.” Luna’s voice was blank as she uttered the sentence and Celestia tried to pull a small smile; knowing the future could potentially be a boon. “...But I kind of wish I hadn’t seen it.”

~*~

The following morning’s air was cold and bitter but at least seemed to have less urgency now that the corrections to the Sola and Orion had been made. Celestia and Luna, along with their entourage of guardponies had spent the morning visiting, apologizing and compensating the citizens of Everfree that had been directly affected by the previous disaster. It seemed almost a miracle that nopony had been killed in the current situation, although there were still ponies trapped inside the ruins of the palace, so it wasn’t definitive. Having received pardons from each and every pony, Celestia and Luna made their way towards their destroyed abode where workponies had spent the night shifting rubble from around the palace. Upon arriving the two sisters were relieved to see that most of the rubble had been moved by unicorns both in and out of the royal service.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” Came the surprised greeting of a saluting heavily armoured earthpony.

“Good morning Commander Claymore.” Celestia responded with Luna murmuring the words just after, both ponies snapping a quick salute back. “How is the situation?” Celestia had decided to take the head of the group as Luna had had a sleepless night; such was her nature and so was not as focussed as her sister.

“Most of the rubble has been cleared my liege but we have been unable to breach the large piece of debris by the main entrance where we can feel the presence of the ponies behind.” The stone grey guardpony told his princess, pointing to the main gate. “It wouldn’t be such a problem, but numerous unicorns have reported that they can feel enchantments upon the debris in question.” Celestia nodded in confirmation; she had no worries of such enchantments now that they had learnt how to use the Arcane Lance.

“Very good commander, leave the main entrance to Princess Luna and I; I would rather you cleared the area, got some medical assistance ready and formed a rescue party to collect the civilians from inside as soon as possible.” Celestia ordered confidently. “Have everything available to proceed in half an hour, am I understood?” Commander Claymore saluted. “Then you are dismissed Commander.” The earthpony stamped and turned away to put the orders into motion and the two princesses sat by the command tent nearby while awaiting the proceedings.

When news finally arrived half an hour later Celestia and Luna had put aside their royal adornments and had set off for the blocked main gate. Ponies had taken orderly places so as to go about their purposes as soon as possible and were ready and awaiting orders.

‘Retrace your steps!’ Hissed the voice inside Luna’s head as they approached Commander Claymore; most of her sleep deprivation the previous night had been because of this urging voice, but Luna had no idea where she was supposed to retrace her steps to.

“Commander, you wouldn’t have per chance seen Sir Rightheart have you?” Celestia asked the earthpony, but was only responded with a shake of the head.

“Not at all your highness; Sir Rightheart hasn’t checked in with me this morning.” Celestia frowned; that hadn’t been the answer she had been expecting and she wondered where the knight had gone.

“Okay, thank you Commander; are preparations complete?” Celestia continued.

“Affirmative my liege, would you like me to initiate orders to resume?” Claymore answered; Celestia nodded. With another quick salute Claymore trotted off to give the orders to other guardponies while the princesses continued toward the gate.

‘Retrace your steps!’ The voice ordered over and over.

‘I can’t retrace my steps!’ Luna argued back, but it made no difference as the urging merely continued. Celestia stopped suddenly and looked up at the rubble with Luna’s eyes following shortly after; it was an entire room made of transparent material much like glass and after a few seconds of thinking Luna finally recognised the broken structure. It was the Equestrian Spire, or what was left of it; the glassy material that encased it was chipped, robbing it of the glory it once held in the form of carvings into the walls. Looking upon it made Luna feel like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

‘You can’t retrace your steps? Nonsense; you just did.’ The voice finally said, making the hairs on Luna’s mane stand on end. The young mare waited a few more seconds but nothing more was said from the mysterious voice.

“Are you ready Luna?” Celestia asked as Luna came back to her senses.

“Er- Yes!” Luna said absentmindedly before realising what she had said and regretting it. Before she could think of something else to say Celestia had lowered herself and her horn had started glowing with magical energy; Luna couldn’t tell if it was too late to stop but she had become aware that every pony in the area was staring at her and Celestia, waiting for them to cast their spell and end the suffering that the ordeal had caused the country. With a groan, she obliged to their wishes and copied Celestia’s pose. The Arcane Lance spell formed in her mind and her own horn began to glow. The power steadily started to grow, but Luna had to make sure to time the casting correctly so as not to create an explosion as large as the previous one. When she felt the spell grow to a size equal to half that of the previous casting at the tip of her horn she finally released her focus and sent the spell hurtling into the ruined spire; it almost felt like a shame to destroy such an ancestral structure but Luna knew that it was for the best.
HISS-BOOM
The spell collided with the Equestrian Spire and disappeared momentarily. The entire structure started to glow as the Arcane Lance penetrated the enchantment before finally exploding and throwing various debris in all directions. Celestia and Luna, being the closest to the explosion, were thrown backwards onto the floor by the force of the blast. As the dust cleared Celestia and Luna wrenched themselves back to their hooves as guardponies started approaching the area to not only continue their rescue mission but also ensure that their princesses are safe.

“Hello?” Commander Claymore coughed into the ruins, blindly listening for an answer through the dust. “Is anypony in there?” The earthpony waited for a few seconds; no response. Celestia stared into the dust cloud, stepping in front of Luna defensively while the younger mare could feel her heart pounding faster and faster as a foreboding feeling befell her. Commander Claymore opened his mouth to call out again but was silenced almost instantly as a pegasus suddenly materialised from within the dust shroud and clamped its jaws around his throat, blood bursting from cut vessels in his neck. All the ponies nearby were struck with fear as they jumped back and watched in horror at the grounded earthpony struggle in vain as the seemingly possessed pegasus pulled away without dislodging its teeth, ripping Claymore’s windpipe with it. As Claymore finally stopped resisting and went limp the pegasus turned to the next closest guardpony and did the same except with his leg. The guardponies had finally come to their senses and were moving to detach the crazed pegasus but were stopped in their tracks as more ponies rushed from the dust, savaging the soldiers relentlessly. Celestia cried out as another earthpony guard fell by her hooves, a unicorn biting into his hide viciously. Celestia’s head had turned before any further gore tainted her vision, nuzzling her head against Luna’s to shield her eyes from the vile sight. As she looked away from the gruesome battle unfolding around them to the now-dispersing dust cloud Celestia felt her entirety freeze up at what she saw; an armoured blonde stallion was walking out of the ruined gate towards them. Luna’s jaw dropped as she recognised the familiar pony and did a double-take; it was him.

“The game comes to an end when pony ravages pony Princesses.” Sir Rightheart said confidently. Luna felt her throat cease up and upon further inspection noticed that the world around them had as well; guard and feral ponies alike were suspended in midair. Celestia took a step back in shock at what was going on.

“Rightheart?” Luna’s tone was hoarse, having been forced to work despite the incredible sense of disbelief that she was feeling.

“How did you-?” Celestia stopped midsentence; Rightheart’s face had become distorted with a grin that portrayed none of his trademark expressions but instead emanated an unsettling feeling of insanity.

“Rightheart? Who would that be?” Rightheart chuckled with a sinister tone. “Remember Luna, I’m Lackluster Polish, your friendly saviour from the heart of discord itself.” The two princesses stared confusedly at their friend and he simply cackled with pleasure at their hopeless expressions. “Ooh... ‘discord’. That has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? You know what, forget Lackluster Polish, I think Discord will always suit me better. I don’t even remember who Lackluster Polish is.” His grin broadened even further. “Oh, that’s right; he was the escapist that thought he could make a difference and evade my iron fist.”

“You can’t be Rightheart!” Celestia cried out desperately. “Rightheart is a kind and compassionate pony, not a sick and twisted thing like you!” Rightheart cackled again.

“You, my dear Celestia, are a mule and you, Luna, are an ass; Rightheart was just a farce.” The princesses were taken aback by the derogatory comments but were even more confused by the last comment.

“A farce...?” Luna repeated in disbelief.

“Yes, a farce, a game, fabrication; he’s as real as the Night Mare Moon and you all believed in his larger-than-life ideals and skills for over a decade.” Rightheart elaborated, now starting to sound frustrated at having to explain what he thought was an obvious point. “I even tried to give it away yesterday and neither of you had the intelligence to understand without the answers being literally spelt out.” Celestia simply stood on the spot with a look of disbelief, but Luna decided it would be best to finally get all the answers she required.

“If you aren’t Rightheart, then who are you?” Luna asked quietly. Rightheart’s smile literally rotated one-hundred and eighty degrees into a frown.

“You really do need to have it spelt out, don’t you?” Rightheart’s voice distorted more than his face as he reared onto his hindlegs. The alicorns felt an odd wave spread over them as the stallion’s body stretched up into the sky. His appendages transformed from hooves to various animal limbs, while his head seemed to extend into a grey scaled dragon head decorated with horns and fangs.

“Tell me!” The giant creature boomed. “Do you know what a dragonequus is?” Luna looked on, her thoughts reminding her of the same question that had been voiced the day before in her dreams and when she thought about it the booming voice was the same that had been haunting her since then, egging her on and she had followed the directions with minimal resistance. In the moments she watched the stallion transform into the hulking beast before her Luna watched her life flash before her eyes.

‘The end of Princesses Celestia and Luna’s reign.’ That was it; the end and so soon.

“D-I-S-C-O-R-D.” The creature shouted. As its body stopped writhing and morphing the huge beast lowered its head down to the mares’ eyelevel. “And that would be me.” Discord’s voice was much like an old stallion’s, but still sounded teasing and cruel. Celestia couldn’t believe her eyes; it couldn’t be possible.

“B-But this is impossible; you’re supposed to be dead!” She uttered in disbelief. “Mother and father defeated you!” Discord cackled again.

“Because obviously I could be here if that were true; use your head Celestia!” His voice was full of sarcasm and Celestia flushed red under her coat in embarrassment. “You mules and your parents are merely figureheads for a boring world, just as I am the same for the polar opposite; the ying to your yang if you please.” Luna recalled Discord’s explanation from her dream; they’re the embodiment of harmony whereas the dragonequus, namely Discord, were the embodiment of disorder and the lack of harmony.

“Tell me my young mares; do you know about the sacred shrines of Equestria?” Discord asked, changing the direction of the conversation. Without waiting for an answer he continued. “The sacred shrines are hidden glades within each county of Equestria. It was in the shrines birthing pools that we were born.” Luna raised her eyebrows; like what she and Luna had learnt the previous day she had had no idea of this so listened intently for enlightenment. “I propose a race; a competition to decide what happens next.” Both princesses remained silent; it was obvious that they’d have no choice.

“I, being the spirit of chaos and disorder have the knowledge as to where the Treeshroud birthing pool is located; you, on the other hand have no idea where the Everfree county glade is. The task is simple; find your appropriate birthing pool.”Celestia swallowed the lump in her throat and summoned up the courage to speak.

“And what if we can’t?” She asked timidly.

“If you can’t?” Discord chuckled at the comment. “If you don’t find it by the end of the week then your faithful little ponies will turn on one another like what you’ve just witnessed. Ponyville, Canterlot; all of them.” These words made Luna and Celestia’s expressions fall even further. “You have a week young mares.” The words reverberated through the air as Discord vanished before them. The two alicorns could hear nothing but their hearts beating but within seconds sound resumed around them.

“Your highnesses?” Came the voice of a pony beside them. The stallion guardpony looked a bit shaken but otherwise uninjured. “Are you harmed?” Celestia and Luna stared blankly at him for a second before shaking their heads.

“Wh-What are the casualities?” Celestia stuttered, trying her best to sound natural.

“Commander Claymore is dead and three others are being treated for bite wounds.” The guardpony reported. “All of the ponies that were inside the wreckage were neutralized.”

“Very good.” Luna stated, stress evident in her voice. “You have permission to halt progress on the palace for the time being. In the meantime...” Luna stopped for a moment of thought.

“Send word to all remaining commanding officers to meet us later this afternoon, am I understood?” Celestia finished the order. The guardpony saluted in acknowledgement. “When you are finished with that you are dismissed for the day; that is all.” The guardpony seemed to sigh in relief and galloped away to put the order into action. Celestia exhaled heavily and looked at her younger sister.

“Celestia, what just happened?” Luna asked shakily; Celestia just shook her head and turned away, trotting out from the wreckage doing her best to ignore the mangled corpses that lay around them.

“We were all fooled Luna.” Celestia murmured in response without turning to look. Luna could hear the pain that was felt in the words; their childhood friend had merely been a lie and could possibly be their downfall as well.

~*~

Celestia and Luna sat blanketed under their mother’s wings; both had wept upon greeting the two alicorn parents, trying their best to explain the previous events through distorting sobs. When they had finished the young mares had simply sat silently, awaiting a response from their elders that might make their situation any less dire.

“So, Discord has returned.” Orion murmured quietly. “Although, if he is to be believed then he never left.” Sol nodded, nuzzling her daughters gently.

“Celestia, you said that you’re both meeting the commandponies later, correct?” She asked quietly; Celestia nodded in confirmation. “What do you intend to do after that?” Celestia waited for a few seconds before shaking her head.

“I don’t know; we’ll make a beeline for the glade, wherever it is.” Celestia sighed again. “But therein lies the problem.” Luna finally raised her head to talk.

“Mother, father, do you know where the glade is?” She asked, answered with a nod in response.

“It was where you and Celestia were born and where your father and I too.” Sola almost sang. “It’s inside mount Canterlot. If you intend to head there then we’ll be accompanying, just to make the trip that little bit easier for you.” Luna nodded almost solemnly.

“...He played with us.” She murmured disdainfully.

“He played with us all; you must remember that Discord is a gambler of fate.” Orion responded wisely. “He plays life as if it was a game.” Luna scowled at the thought of the recklessness.

“But we must remember that he is no more powerful than we can be.” Sola continued with Orion nodding in agreement.

“Games can go either way; you win or you lose.” The stallion preached, settling down beside his family. “He’s either had good luck to make it this far with his rules or a hand in foul play. It makes no difference though; we must not let him make us believe that we are merely pawns.”

“But he’s been able to conceal himself and pull the strings of Equestria without us being able to do anything about it for so long.” Celestia pointed out but Sola simply shook her head.

“That’s right; he’s been able to pull the strings of Equestria without being noticed.” The alicorn mare said, nuzzling her daughter as she did. “But now that we know of his presence and can make a move to stop him the game should change to our favour.” Celestia didn’t look assured.

“If you’re really sure.” She was finding it hard to believe that there wasn’t some kind of info that was being withheld once more, but what she had heard seemed to fit into place; it would make the task easier to have guidance. “I guess things can only get better.” Orion nodded to assure her.

“We been able to force him to his knees once; we can do it again.”