Face to face, he saw her only once.
In his dreams, however, he’d seen her nearly every other night; in dreams where his hindlegs still worked, still moved, where he was not crippled for life.
He was a painter by trade. Or had been, at least. He was more accurately a fool; a fool who’d embarked on an ill-fated journey to trap the world in paintings and now found himself trapped in the unforgiving claws of the forest.
He’d lost his supplies, lost his way, and he feared his very own life would soon follow. He’d scavenged whatever food he could find, whatever might feed him, and had been too blinded by hunger to realize he’d eaten a too generous hoof-full of poisonous duskshade berries.
The hallucinations, like nighttime, had descended upon him some time ago, but now he could barely walk, barely move as he pushed through the poison and deeper into the woods. Would he die alone?
He thought of his wife. He thought of his daughter, and his grandfoals.
The sound of a cascading, raging waterfall filled the dry air, intermingling with his ragged breaths. He reached a clearing and found before him a lake and waterfall larger than mountains themselves. He tried to make sense of it, tried to figure out where he could be, but the poison seeped into his mind and clouded his thoughts.
“He-Help…” he called out, to the night, to the stars, to whoever might listen. “He...Help! Please! Some...” He collapsed to the ground. “Somepony…”
...Little one...
He opened his eyes and looked up, a gentle voice whispering to him. Oh, he was hardly a foal, but he could not think to argue with a voice as motherly as that one. Was he dying? Had his mother come fetch him from beyond the stars and the earth?
...I am here, Little one...
“Whe…”
His voice drifted off, his eyes drawn towards the waterfall crashing down. He could see it; beyond the lake, there was a light. It called him, beckoned him, and his eyes widened when a faint golden magic enveloped the waterfall. He watched as it parted in two and revealed the entrance to a cave.
With whatever energy he could muster, he forced his body off the ground and walked towards the river. The water was as cold as the night air and yet, the more he stared at the light, the closer he swam towards it, the more a strange sort of warmth took over.
The more, it seemed, his pain faded away.
Perhaps he truly was dying.
Eventually, he reached the cave, climbing out from the river and into solid ground.
In the distance, where the light was, he saw the outline of a creature. He walked towards it—towards her. As he approached her, he could see the outline of a horn, and whatever spell she was casting was bright enough he could see her perfectly when standing before her.
He fell to his haunches and wondered if he was still hallucinating.
An alicorn sat before him.
An alicorn, tall and goddess-like and still as a statue. Her closed eyes betrayed no emotion, no sign of life, and her wings were firmly pressed against her body, nearly hiding the sun-shaped cutie mark she bore.
And her horn.
Her horn, he noticed with horror, was cracked, but it still glowed brightly enough he could see the tears rolling down her cheeks.
The beautiful creature was crying.
He stepped back, and a ripping sound on the floor caught his attention. Several dozen or more scrolls lay scattered all around, all of them in various stages of decay. He grabbed one and tried to decipher the faded out words, but it was hard. He was tired, and dying, and they were all written in big scrawling, desperate letters.
Pri c ss, it's me, Sp ke,
wh re are you??? ??
i c n’ find Twil g t, can t f nd prin ess Luna, Shin ng Ar or is g ne
plea e help us pl ase ple se pri ces wh re are y u
ple se an wer
“Is it commonplace now to read somepony else’s mail?”
Startled, he looked up towards the mare, and she looked exactly as she did before, save for the smile on her lips.
“Yo-Your horn,” he said, the only thing he could think to say. “It…”
“I am not in pain,” she replied in an almost heavenly voice, light and carefree and gentle. “Or, if I am, I’ve grown used to it.”
A sharp jolt of pain shot through his body, and he groaned.
“Are you dying?” he asked, when he managed to collect himself. He couldn’t rightly tell if it was meant for her or for him. Probably both.
“Am I dying? No, I no longer can,” she replied with shocking nonchalance. “In other circumstances, I would be able to, but it would take quite some time. My sister and I are ageless alicorns.” She paused, frowning. “My niece and my student aren't, however. I sometimes envied them for it.” She smiled. “It's all in the past now, isn't it? But now... time, life, and death are inconsequential for one in my current position.”
“Can you move?” he asked, even as his body began to fail him. “Can you heal?”
“I will never move again,” she replied. “But if I move and stop casting my spell, I could heal myself.”
“You...you must,” he said, suddenly clinging to the health of the alicorn. She needed to live, for he feared he would not, but if she survived death, maybe he too would be pulled from the brink. “Please… you need help…”
He collapsed onto the ground, the pain ripping him apart, and his vision blurring. He struggled to keep it focused on her.
“You are kind,” she replied, “but you were the one asking for help, weren’t you?”
Finally, she opened her eyes. She opened her eyes, and they were pitch-black. They were black, and sad, and she continued to cry. He wondered if he ought to be afraid of her, but realized he was afraid for her.
“Why are you dying?” she asked gently.
“Duskshade berries,” he said, his speech starting to slur.
“How long ago?”
“Time...is inconsequential...isn’t it?” he echoed, and found it in him to smile even through the agony. He thought about his family. “My wife, my daughter…”
She did not reply. He thought, for a moment, that she was waiting to watch him die. A weeping angel to look after him in his final moments. He thought of his daughter. He thought of his grandfoals.
“One pony.”
He looked up, confused by her words, and found her looking away. He realized she was not talking to him, but instead seemed to be talking to herself.
“One pony,” she said. “He is asking you for help, and you brought him here. One pony.”
She looked down at him, and the sadness in her eyes vanished. They were hard, and cold, and yet… kind at the same time. She was going to kill him, he thought. And he was too gone to fight it.
“Please stay completely still,” she instructed.
She took a breath, and when the spell stopped with a crackle of magic, she gasped in pain and nearly tumbled down. Before he could hope to try and offer help, she steadied herself and her horn glowed anew.
Except, now it was he who was enveloped in golden magic.
“Don’t speak,” she replied when he opened his mouth to do so. “We have little time.”
He did as told, and magic filled him with a burning heat, as though the sun itself pulsed through his veins. Except, though it burned, the other pain he felt began to fade, his limbs began to stir, and his vision clear. He realized that somehow, someway, she was burning the poison away.
And then, it happened.
A loud, deafening crack sounded off behind her in the darkness of the cave, and her eyes widened with unrestrained fear.
And a laugh.
Deep, raspy, terrifying.
“...hello, Princess...”
He saw them.
Two yellow terrifying eyes behind her.
“I am sorry, my little pony,” she said quickly, desperately, and before he could ask, she stopped the healing spell. Both she and him hissed in pain, but she quickly unleashed another spell. A barrier surrounded her, and again she sat completely still, her horn glowing and crackling.
“...oh, my dear, it’s too late now..."
She gritted her teeth and said nothing.
“...all this to save him? Threw it all away for a single pony? You really are a fool.”
The painter tried to speak, but his vision clouded again.
“I stopped the poison,” she said gently, and she continued to cry. “I stopped it, but I could not undo the damage to your legs. I am sorry. You must go. You…” She swallowed. “You have been here too long.” She smiled kindly. “Thank you. ‘Tis a long, long time since I’ve seen a pony.”
And before he could say much, before he could ask her name, her horn glowed as brightly as the sun itself, and with a final agonized groan, she cast a third spell.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an entirely different place. A road. He could see a town in the distance, and ponies moving about.
Exhaustion swept over him, and he tried to remember where he’d been, tried to remember what he’d seen, but the more he tried to do so, the more the details blurred away. By the time he fell asleep, by the time he was found, his memories of the past days had gone, and only her image remained.
The weeping princess who’d saved his life.
Her image, her voice, and those yellow eyes would haunt him until death.
Oooooooooooooo. Celestia appears at last.
My my, I wonder what she is doing there. MYSTERY!
*squeeing intensifies*
I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS
So Celestia was keeping Discord contained and that's why he hasn't shown up until now? That would explain a few things.
Ahh, Celestia at last! How wonderful. I wonder how long ago this took place?
I'm sorry to hear you had a hard month, but I'm glad you've gotten over it.
Celestia, you poor fool... if you'd only used your magic to summon Saitama instead.
All I can say is...
"Please, Monochromatic, can I have more?"
CELESTIA!!!!!???? HATH WE FINALLY FOUND THEE??
8518717
I think she was hiding from him. Do remember, she was the first one to disappear in the legend.
Helluva teaser, mono. Now we are all extremely curious to know what spell was Celly casting.
Oh, and non immortal Twily is sad. Though I'd bet neither her nor Cadence would actually care for it, now. They already had a thousand years to suffer, a single life with love is enough now.
oh man oh man oh man I am so excited for this. SO MANY QUESTIONS. I have to say I love hopping on to the site and seeing the little notification.
I have a high bar for this. You'd better make me weep like a child many times during this book.
EDIT: Oh shit I just realized--those letters--spike was, at least for a while, able to send his burpy emails? But why wouldn't celestia reply? What happened to her?
Wow, so there she is. I wonder what she was doing? Certainly she wasn't restraining Discord, right? He's still been out and active, even if he's clearly operating under some constraints and not at his full power. And besides, binding Discord without the Elements of Harmony is just something they don't have the power to do.
We've found Celestia! Yay!
But only sorta... less yay
Holy. Shit.
Holy... crap...
Holy crap...!
Holy crap!
HOLY EVER LOVING MOTHER OF–!
*deep breath*
Dude, this is without a doubt the biggest potential plot twist ever. If I'm right about what you've just foreshadowed here, what you've hinted might be involved in all of this, just how deep the plot is going to thicken... God, I love your writing. It's beautiful, it's daring, it's bold, and it is quite possibly the best I've found on here yet. The story has so much depth and intensity to it! And you write it flawlessly! You portray the most adorable version Twilight Sparkle I've ever seen, with her canon personality perfectly portrayed–an awkward, book-obsessed filly of a princess slowly becoming a friend-loving, sweet, supportive and yet awkward mare. Please, please, please for the love of God keep writing this beautiful and inspiring piece of craftsmanship of the written word. I'm sure I speak for all of your fans when I say that we want more and we are all waiting anxiously at the edge of our seats for more of this distinguished series!
8518994
I think she thinks she is containing Discord, or some threat Discord unleashed. As Twilight was kept prisoner by her own fears, or a Discord-made manifestation thereof, I think something similar is going on with Celestia.
She can't leave that place or let up on her spell, ever, or something terrible will happen. Of course, if she has a moment of weakness and momentarily takes a time out to save a life or two if some dying pony stumbles within her effective range, the threat is never quite able to take advantage of it in time (because he's not actually there), but she is still unwilling to leave that place.
8519159
Sorry, it's not an X-Men crossover with pony Charles Xavier.
(Just kidding, I don't know that it isn't.)
What a fantastic and haunting interlude. Timely at that. Even knowing some of this twist in advance didn't lessen the impact. Oh wow that Spike letter. Sad now... I regret nothing.
Holy crap. That was amazing.
And I have questions. So many questions.
I think Celestia is protecting herself, if she drops her guard for even a second she becomes vulnerable. To what? I think unlike the others, she is still solid.
8519555
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/1e/Discord_statue_ID_S2E01.png/revision/latest?cb=20131125170233
Missing letters:
nei
e
atihicimo
seanseo
as
...I feel like there should be a secret or code of some kind here, but I can't for the life of me figure it out.
Celestia, f*ck yeah!
I mean, she's not exactly in great shape, and that ending seemed kind of bad for her, but it's nice to finally see her in the story. Where there's life, there's hope.
Alright, we get our first look at Celestia, more questions, and more fuel on the hate-fire for Discord.
Sorry to hear you had a bad month. This is still great stuff though.
8519809
Nah, the story specifically says it's hard to make out because the scroll was faded and rotting to pieces.
Spike has probably been sending mail for the past thousand years. The oldest stuff is gone completely.
8519555
It said her eyes were pitch black. My guess is she's corporeal like you said, and the reason is because she's "infected" with chaos magic like a certain someone else was for two years-- except Celestia is still of sound mind. The spell she was maintaining might have something to do with that.
Or it could be something completely different, who knows?
And Mono, you da bomb. As I follow along like I have since The Enchanted Library was a one-shot, I can't recall having ever read anything else that felt so much like a fairytale, and at the same time so real. It's straightforward and poetic in the same breath, like a photorealistic painting of the most fantastical setting full of beasts of magic that pull the tides of fate.
And now, finally, finally, Celly has entered the picture! The gang's all here! Sort of! Even as I dread whatever's happening to her, I can't stop giggling because she's finally here!
Some thing else to note, I think this story is set in the past. Long before the main story. Not sure why, but it feels like it's meant to be.
Oh dear, this interlude gave me the chills! Especially the part about Celestia's eyes...
Seeing an update for this story always makes me happy, even if it is only an interlude.
I am SO hyped for this story!! What happened to Celly? What's her curse? What did she mean with that? So many questions i can't wait for the next chapter!! 10/10
What the BUCK is going on here?! O.O
I mean I'm no Celestia lover, but holy FUCK!
8520473
At the start, this story did have clues hidden in code, pictures, or bold/colored text. Yes, the scroll he read was ancient and falling apart, but the missing letters might have been a hidden message in there--only Monochromatic stopped planting such clues long ago.
Kind of a shame it stopped, really, as they were a fun bit of interactive play for us readers to decode them.
8546006
I know that. I'm just saying, the story specifically stated, it was rotten and falling apart and that's why stuff was missing. It wasn't anypony's attempt at hiding a code, so why would there be one?
*shrugs*
8546280
Because if Mono was still doing the hidden messages, the lost letters would've been a perfect for him/her to have hidden one.
8546006 8546280
Ciphers are very much a thing that will be restored next chapter. I was waiting for Chapter 3 so it matched the first book.
The only difference is now it'll be a find-me game with the chapter artwork.
8550911
Cool!
I finally found a little time to read, YAY!
Celestiaaaaa!
That is so her though, to want to care for and help her ponies, even when she will suffer for it. I think forcing her away from all her ponies that she loves, cares for, and would do anything for, is one of the worst punishments Discord could deal out. Whether it be because she thinks she's keeping her ponies safe by doing so (she is very duty driven) or some other reason. He is too good at dealing out personalized punishments.
Excellent as always Mono!
8550367
8550911
I don't have anything against the hidden messages. I was just saying, I don't think Mono is mean enough to basically tell us straight up that there isn't one, then have there be one after all.
8551792
I wasn't trying to imply that Mono would have done so. I was just lamenting the lost chance to hide a message had such still been going on.
But Mono's promised that the games will begin again soon, so there's that.
8550911
No matter how much I love this story I refuse to waste time figuring out stupid ciphers. It just brings back bad memories of my past. Don't ask.
8562145
Well, the cipher's don't actually affect the story, so it's entirely up to the reader whether they want to solve them or not! I wouldn't call the ones in this story stupid, as it's just a little harmless game with those who want to play, but rest assured, you can proceed without having to solve them.
Was that Discord she was keeping imprisoned? So when he got her, she got him too. But when that pony came into the picture he managed to get out when she drooped the spell to heal him, probably a few years before the start of Enchanted Library.
Or it could be something else completely, that's just my guess.
This line proves, I think, beyond any shadow of a doubt that Discord here is truly callous and cruel. Forget the petty lie he was told; the so-called 'trick' he was so upset about was a consequence of his own horrible nature and actions to begin with. We already knew he lacked the wit and self-analytical frame of mind to reflect upon how his own behavior affects ponies' actions toward him. But this clearly demonstrates that he utterly lacks any mote of compassion, and is incapable of even comprehending it. He's remorseless and sociopathic, incapable of empathy.
He should be destroyed... I'll go fetch the Ultimate Nullifer from Stan.
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/280/500/12b.png
AAAAAH, FINALLY WE SEE CELESTIA, AND I'M SO EXCITED~!
8687233
I am now officially jealous.
Oh shit iT'S CELESTIA AHHHHHH
With how built up she's been, and how epic Cadance and Luna's intros were, I was wondering how you'd do this - you have more than lived up to the hype holy shit
Why won't she move? Why won't she heal herself? Is she actually trapped or is it self-imposed? So many delicious questions!
(Also oh my god Spike's letters tore out a little piece of my heart)
She can still receive letters from Spike?
This must be before the beginning of TEL. The moment when Discord was set free from his eternal arm wrestling match with Celestia so he could set Rarity on the path that would lead her to Twilight's doorstep.
Solar wards... FAILED
Extradimensional imprisonment... FAILED
Subject, 'Discord'... UNCONTAINED
Well I guess now we know why things went into motion those few years ago. I wonder how long until one of the gang finds the painter? Then again, Sunbutt's pretty white coat might make Rarity jealous...
8583708
You get that, I will gather the dragon balls.