The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Different Kind Of Goddess

"Nothing you can do..." Amber whispered, not letting go of Celestia's gaze. "You're telling us this just after Garsheeva cured another friend of exactly the same fate. One of my friends here made a metal body that worked when you put a cutie mark inside. Valey herself has been in moon glass and made it out before, years ago! Aren't you supposed to be a goddess? Who wants to help us? Why is there nothing you can do now!?"

Celestia didn't look away. "How many millions of ponies do you think there are in the world? How many thousands do you think die each day, from illness or injury or merely old age?"

"That's beside the point!" Amber raised her voice. "You're here, right now! Just because you can't help everyone doesn't mean it's fair not to help the ponies you can!"

"No." Celestia shook her head. "I understand your loss, my little pony. While every pain is unique, this is something that afflicts everyone in time. It is a natural part of the world, one everyone must live through. If I possessed the power and used it to intervene, why not help two who were suffering? And if two, why not four? I could never hope to stem the tide of death across my entire country. Without a line to never cross, there would always be more I could do, and my country would never be at peace. My line is the dead. While my subjects are living, I do everything in my power for them, but I stop at turning back time on fate. That is why you are the ones I am concerned for."

Her wing spread out, passing everyone in the engine room, but Amber didn't stop. "But this wasn't a disease, or an injury or old age! And she's not dead! She's right here!" She pushed forward Valey's body again, which blinked obliviously. "And here!" Amber put a hoof roughly on the cage holding the sword apparatus.

"Even were I to wish to, I told you that I cannot," Celestia apologized, closing her eyes momentarily. "I am sorry for your loss. I truly am. But the powers required to undo something of this magnitude are ones I have distanced myself greatly from. No mind could wield them and rule without the temptation to misuse them. Equestria is a peaceful land, and I must prioritize a fair and just rulership of it above all else."

Amber's face strained. "But Garsheeva..."

"You said you met Garsheeva in her temple's core," Celestia interrupted. "You are aware, then, of her true nature. She would have told you stories about how she rules and why."

"Amber..." Maple's ears fell. "I think she might have a point. Garsheeva doesn't rule the Empire. She's just a protector and figurehead, because she knew she couldn't handle the power. If she tried to be a kind ruler while being able to do this much for everyone... how would she ever choose who to spend her time helping?"

Amber glanced desperately at Maple. "But...!" She whipped back to Celestia. "You saw Meltdown. On the deck. You recognized her. If you know who Garsheeva is, you know who she is too! Maybe you can't help us just for being random ponies, but if she asks you to fix Valey, can you help her!?"

Celestia sighed. "Meltdown is known to me. I merely did not wish to pressure her with attention in her current state. She is very ashamed." She lowered her head down to Amber's level. "Believe me when I say that even if I wished to, there is nothing I can do."

"Please..." Amber whispered, eyes starting to tremble with tears.

"I am so sorry." Celestia spread a wing, offering it like a haven.

Without acknowledging the wing, Amber ran from the room, trailing sobs and leaving Valey behind like a clueless chicken. The changeling slowly nuzzled Celestia's leg.

"Oh..." Maple's ears fell sadly.

Celestia entertained the shell for a moment, rubbing one of its chitinous ears and earning a cicada-like purr from its rattling wings. Eventually, she looked up, glancing between Maple and the silent Grenada. "She was your captain, wasn't she?" she murmured. "You all appear shellshocked and leaderless. Soon, I am going to need to discuss things with someone who speaks for all of you, but you seem strained to the breaking point."

"...Our captain is still alive," Grenada said after a silence. "She is the worst off out of any of us."

"It was horrible," Maple whispered. "We were right there when it happened. We fought her ourselves. I thought for sure we were going to die. Ever since we escaped and ran out of fuel here, I've been bedridden and watching everyone else try to improve the place, just wishing there was something I could do... and I feel like I'm the best off out of anyone." She met Celestia's eyes. "I have a daughter and a best friend in that sword, and I would do anything for you if you could get them back. But if that isn't possible... please help the rest of my friends."

Celestia looked like she wanted to ask something, but held it back. "As I said, my little pony," she murmured, "for those who are still alive, I will do anything I can."

"Then take us away from here," Grenada insisted. "Even if we could restore power to our ship, we are out of food and in dangerous lands without a map or morale. Some of us were enemies before escaping together and having to work together to survive, and as you said, none of us are emotionally stable. We cannot support each other. I have heard you have a train that leads deeper into your lands."

Celestia inclined her head. "I see. This is why I would prefer a leader to discuss with regarding Writs of Harmonic Sanction."

Maple was aware that a lot more ponies were likely watching from outside the engine room door, but she folded her ears. "You'll have to work with what you can get, I suppose."

"...Mmm." Celestia sighed. "I do not make them rare for no reason. You are aware of this."

Maple nodded. "We have two, and Yakyakistan has promised us a third."

"That is a feat I see around once in a century," Celestia replied. "But there is little doubt your group is exceptional, from what I have heard."

"You have seen our condition," Grenada replied. "And not the worst of it. We sent our best showing to greet you on the deck. Grant us asylum."

"The Aldenfold are not simply a country border." Celestia stood up, spreading her wings as much as possible in the enclosed room. "They are a dividing line that splits the world in two. Any who cross it in either direction bring technology, ideas... magic." She stared at the obsidian sword. "I limit it as sharply as I do so that all who cross may be made known to me. There are many long-lost secrets in this world, and it is my hope that by limiting access between the north and the south, I may slow their spread and return. Do you know the legend of the thousand-year war?"

"A thousand years?" Maple blinked. "No, why?"

Celestia nodded. "Nearly one thousand years ago, the world was engulfed in a period of tremendous turmoil, when the Aldenfold was created and the world's geography set as it stands now. One thousand years before that, there was another great upheaval, and amid it gods such as myself and Garsheeva came to exist. History before that is lost to all but immortals such as ourselves, but I can assure you it happened before that as well. Whether it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, an ancient curse or something far more, we are less than fifteen years from another millennium, and events such as these in the Empire and the war in Yakyakistan decades earlier may well be precursors to another such world-shattering episode that all of you could live to see. Now, more than ever, I cannot afford to be careless about things that could have such dire consequences."

"What dire consequences?" Maple protested, her chest still weak. "We just want to live out happy lives."

"Shhh," Celestia whispered, looking over her shoulder with a twinkle in her eye. "I did not say no, did I?"

Comments

[Phoenix Kitten]

So long, the Immortal Dream. I think her hull will be shattered, and her pieces hurled into the ocean to sink and rust, to keep any passersby from finding and attempting to use the tech within.

[Alchemik]

I don't envy Celestia her burden. There's a fine line between having the power to live as you will and having the responsibility to help others with your power.

[Venlinelle]

While Celestia is necessarily opposed to some of our goals by circumstance right now, you’re doing a great job of portraying her as the sad but fundamentally caring ruler she is. I wonder if her view on saving Valey would be different if Luna had returned?