To Every Story
-A few moments earlier-
Princess Celestia sat atop her lonely throne, waiting for the end. She could hear the hoofsteps of her trusted pupil approaching. She knew what Twilight was here to do, and yet, she wasn't mad. If there was any pony to be furious at, it was herself.
Even now, seconds from what would be the last moment of her life, she couldn't believe that she had turned into what could only be called a monster. What had started as noble intentions had quickly withered away into appalling actions, and the only result was ruin.
Mere days after the start of her retirement, she had begun to grow bored. The mundane tasks of princesshood that she'd once hated started to seem fun, and so she asked Twilight to become ruler again. She knew that it was a selfish act, but it was either that or live the rest of eternity in endless boredom. Not even she was strong enough to survive that.
That said, it was still her goal to return the throne to her pupil eventually. But after learning how heartbroken Twilight had become over being forced to move to Canterlot, Princess Celestia realized that her student had never wanted to become ruler at all. Twilight's interests had lain in academia, and so Princess Celestia gave her the School for Gifted Unicorns to take of in addition to the School of Friendship. Everything was perfect for Twilight, Princess Celestia had thought. Her pupil wouldn't have to rule, and could instead continue to live with her friends while managing educational institutions.
Everything was going perfectly until Luna returned from Silver Shoals. Though it wasn't as if her sister was in the wrong. Princess Celestia had promised to retire, and all Luna did was insist that she live up to that promise. Luna had been one-hundred percent right about everything she'd said. It was time for the two of them to move on and hand the kingdom to the next generation. It was not right of them to try to rule forever.
But as always, the two sisters' talk turned into yelling. They had never been the best at conflict resolution amongst themselves, and this time was no different. Pointed comments turned to insults, and the only result was an understandably hurt Luna leaving in tears. So when Princess Celestia heard that her sister was publicly calling for her retirement, she understood. However, not even Luna could have predicted that her actions would split the kingdom in two, and so the sisters met again soon after to try to reach an agreement.
What happened next was inevitable.
A thousand years ago, when Luna brought up feelings of resentment, Princess Celestia had brushed them aside, considering them nothing more than overreactions. Now, a thousand years wiser, she thought she had learned her lesson after allowing her sister to become Nightmare Moon, but that was a lie. A deceit she believed to convince herself that she had changed for the better. When Luna came to her to mend the divide in Equestria, Princess Celestia didn't give her sister the respect she deserved. She thought she knew better. She was older, wiser. Or so she thought. Upset, Luna responded with anger, fueling the flames which led to the two of trying to hurt each other with magic.
Princess Celestia didn’t remember who shot the first beam. They were both at fault, but as the elder sister, Princess Celestia gave herself the majority of the blame. Consumed by a level of anger that blinded her senses and reasoning, she defeated her sister in battle and decided to banish her. Wanting to outdo the last banishment, she chose the sun.
The victory filled her with a rush of adrenaline she'd never felt before, a feeling which quickly transformed to utter horror when she realized that her spell would last not for a thousand years, but for a million. It was a spell she was only able to cast due to a surge in magic powered by rage. She wasn't sure if she could reverse it. She wasn't sure if anypony could reverse it. She had lost her sister for what was practically forever.
As the consequences of her actions sunk in, Princess Celestia succumbed to madness. Her kingdom tore itself apart from the news of the banishment, which only further drove the princess into despair. A part of her wanted to die, but she knew that she couldn't unless she was killed. And as brave as she could be, she knew that she was too much of a coward to be the one to end her life. And so she remained alive, living a nightmare nopony in their right mind would call life. She was nothing more than a vessel of her failures and regrets. She just wanted the chaos to stop, and so she ordered the Royal Guard to quell the violence, using force only if necessary.
But of course that only made things worse. The calm, composed Princess Celestia would have foreseen this happening, but this new excuse for a ruler could barely think a coherent thought, let alone predict the effects of kingdom-wide actions. In a snowball effect straight from Tartarus, the martial law led to civil war. Countless ponies died, because of her, the princess who was supposed to guide them into the light. All Princess Celestia had wanted to do was delay her eternal boredom and give Twilight a more fulfilling end goal. What she got instead was death and destruction no villain could imagine even in their sickest fantasies.
Wanting nothing more than for this nightmare to end, Princess Celestia sentenced Twilight's friends for execution after they tried to overthrow her. She knew that this would finally break her student and give her the anger needed to do the unthinkable. If Princess Celestia was to die, then she wanted it to be by Twilight's hooves.
She didn't expect her student to understand or ever forgive her. She didn't deserve that. All she wanted was peace, and a chance for Equestria to move past the warning she had become.
And so Princess Celestia waited, ready to breathe her last. The sound of approaching hoofsteps stopped. Twilight had made it to the throne room. Always the anxious pony, she looked like she was ready to collapse from panic at any second. But at the same time, the murderous intent in her eyes was unmistakable. Twilight's gaze was steady, like that of a predator who had finally found its prey.
It seemed like only yesterday when Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville to make some friends. And friends she had made plenty, in Ponyville and beyond. Despite her comatose state, Princess Celestia mustered the composure to grow a brief smile, one that she knew Twilight would notice. Despite everything, she was proud of her student. She had faith that Twilight would set things right, or at least as right as they could be.
When Twilight charged up a magical beam, Princess Celestia's heart slowed and her breathing became effortless. She was at peace, ready for true eternity.
Her icy expression melted, revealing the pony hidden beneath the layers of madness and despair. The pony who was so proud of their daughter.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- SilverStar7 · 1.3k words · 74 1 · 2.6k views
- Voxum · 1.1k words · 50 0 · 1k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.094 seconds
Total duration
1,109 users online
2,244,305 hits today, 2,328,677 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well, that's an interesting take about their retirement, I must say, and well written too. Although, honestly, one would think Celestia should really be above such pitiful behavior.
Still, nicely done
Remember, kids, take up a hobby in retirement like collecting stamps or something, or you'll become a murderous tyrant who will torture your siblings in a fit of rage and destroy the country you live in until your best friend comes to kill you.
10457316
Thanks! Appreciate this coming from you!
In case you didn't the blog post associated with this, the idea for this story came to me in a dream. Guess Celestia was not her usual self in the dream
10458019
Haha, perhaps Twi should've recommended some hobbies to her mentor.
This was really good. I wish we could see the aftermath.
10462472
Glad you liked it! Hopefully you feel the same way about my other fics
10462538
Your welcome
10459238
Yeah, I've seen the blog, you got some interesting dreams, man
!
To be clear, I'm not saying Celestia was completely OOC. IMHO she was herself when she realized she blasted Luna and in most of the second chapter.
What I found less believable is Celestia being this stubborn in the beginning, not listening to reason, not talking to Twilight just forcing her will on everyone. This simply doesn't seem like Celestia we know.
As someone who hates the whole 'retirement thing' - I believe Twilight would gladly accept Celestia (and Luna) back as co-rulers. It would make things easier for her on so many levels. But instead of simply asking, Celestia pushed herself in like some bully. That was... weird.
The paranoid part and calling for martial law were also a bit off, but here she was broken after realizing what she did to Luna. I guess she wasn't in her state of mind when she ordered the last part.
All in all, I still liked the story - it was an inspirational little thing
P.S.
Is it just me, or did this story had a bit of a political vibe to it
?
10464648
Yep, fair enough haha.
I didn't intend for any political vibes. Curious, what vibe did you get from it?
10469861
Well, this part hit a bit close to home:
That sounded a bit preachy to me, like how someone in power should never try to restore law and order by using any sort of force because it may backfire horribly and led to civil war.
If that wasn't intentional, then I clearly need to cut down on the real-world political drama
I'm burning to know if Twilight's friends survive.... If Twilight is the sole ruler again, they should, but once a ball is set in motion...
Reading this late and with only having seen up to series 5, but space have mercy on me, this was fun to read. It is with these little stories that sadness hits a lot harder and with a faux-remembrance regretfulness instilled by an action never taken, while longer stories seem to maintain a difficulty in instilling such emotions. by space I swear, my body went to flames after finishing this text and golly gee, it was glorious. Thank you for this work --- The comment about Celestia being slightly out of tune might be somewhat true, but at this point, this story is just good enough to let it slide since it created emotions that are rare in myself.
Hm. it's deeply into idiot ball territory... and there is a LOT of informed flaws... I mean... Celestia here is rational... what she has done from the moment she got out of retirement to now... not so much. It feels somewhat forced... There are worse cases around but still...