Responsibilities

by pyrobug0

Prologue

Celestia slowly made her way down the stone steps leading from the surface into the earth. In the last few months, she and Luna had made this forgotten catacomb into the central command center in their fight against Discord. Members of their resistance took shelter in its shielded halls, able to find a moment of respite from the battle that had raged ceaselessly since beginning their offensive. Amid the exhaustion and the fear and the loss of war, this place had almost begun to feel like home.

Now it felt more like the corridor leading to the execution grounds. Her steps were heavy, each taken with great apprehension. Her candle cast strange shadows across the stone walls. The air around her skin and in her lungs felt cold and stale as death. Her every thought was consumed by the task that lay at the foot of the stairs.

The crashes and eruptions of the battle above echoed around her, reminding her that she needed to hurry. This night would decide everything, and time was of the essence. Yet each step remained a battle in itself. It felt as though she was yolked to the weight of the world, dragging it behind her as she struggled to move forward. At last she reached the foot of the stairs and stepped into the central chamber, and the weight doubled.

The floor of the room was covered in intricate runes and lines that formed a large circle. Around them, candles, crystals, totems, and a number of other spell components were carefully arranged. Several unicorns moved about the room, carefully checking the preparations. Some of them turned to Celestia as she entered, offering greeting but failing to hide looks of sympathy and remorse. As they quickly returned to their tasks, Celestia moved towards the room’s center.

Here, five inscribed lines converged on the floor, like spokes of a wheel. Several feet from the axis, five tokens lay on the floor, one on each line, each on top of an ancient rune. These were the Tokens of Friendship: the horn of the buffalo, the feather of the phoenix, the antler of the deer, the scale of the dragon, and the idol of the zebra. Each had been acquired with great difficulty and determination. They were key for what was to come. Celestia barely noticed them. Her attention was entirely drawn to the young mare lying in the center of the circle.

The unicorn lay with her legs curled up under her, like a frightened animal. Her dark grey coat was matted with sweat, and her once pure-white mane was tangled and dirty. She shivered violently, uncontrollably. Her lavender eyes were shrunken and bloodshot, and they darted frantically around the room, never seeming to see anything. Her mouth moved, but her voice was almost silent, and she only managed to form a few words, which she muttered to herself over and over.

“No... can’t be... no sense... doesn’t make sense... none of it... all wrong... can’t... why?... why?...”

Celestia stood before the mare, and bent her head down to her. She gently rested her forehead against her student’s, and spoke softly.

“North Star?” The unicorn didn’t respond. “North Star, can you hear me? It’s me, Celly. Please answer me.” There was no change. North Star showed no sign of even sensing her touch, or hearing her voice. She only continued to tremble and mumble.

“Can’t be real... isn’t possible... no sense... no sense...”

“Celestia, are you ready?” Luna’s voice called her attention from behind her. The white alicorn turned to face her sister. The younger pony was watching her sympathetically, but also expectantly. It was clear that Luna knew what had to be done. Celestia knew it, too. She turned back to North Star and leaned forward again, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against the unicorn’s one last time.

“I’m so sorry,” she barely breathed. Without another word, she stepped back and moved to one edge of the circle, Luna taking her place opposite her. They stood facing each other, North Star and the five tokens between them. Celestia could still see North Star’s face - her terrified grimmace, her darting eyes. Tearing her gaze away, she looked to the other ponies assembled outside the circle, who nodded affirmatively. It was all ready.

Facing the circle, Celestia and Luna closed their eyes and raised their heads. Their horns began to glow as they cast their magic into the space around them. After a moment of quiet, the inscriptions on the floor began to glow and hum, as the alicorns’ magic connected with them and was drawn along their path. Celestia felt a tug as their magic was drawn out of them more and more by the ritual markings. Light traveled around the edge of the circle, and then along the five spokes towards the center. As it passed through each of the tokens, they began to glow and sing with power.

The light continued towards the center, finally reaching North Star’s prone form. It began to seep over her, covering her like a gentle liquid. As the glow enveloped her completely, Celestia felt her most powerful magic surge out of her and into the spell around her. It was incredible, indescribable. She felt her power mix with Luna’s, felt it pour into the tokens. She felt it course through North Star, overtaking the mare’s body. She cracked open one eye and looked back at her student. The unicorn had stopped shaking. Her eyes were still and full, though they still didn’t see. Her body drooped as she seemed to succumb to her exhaustion, and she rested her head on her legs, and closed her eyes. Then the light obscured her features, and her form faded away.

In that instant, power flooded into Celestia. It was at once warm and strong, like all the wonderful things in the world that could not be deterred. She felt as though there was a gentle presence beside her, breath moving and heart beating with her own, sharing her dreams and struggles and joy and grief. She felt the warmth reach into her heart. It steeled her conviction. Loyalty. It lightened her fears. Laughter. It filled her with clarity. Honesty. It reminded her of the ponies around her. Generosity. It surrounded her with a guiding love. Kindness. And in the midst of this warmth, in an instant of rebirth, she felt the power and the balance and the connectedness of everything around her, and everything that was. Magic.

A resplendent beam of multi-colored light erupted from where the alicorns stood, tearing away the ceiling above them and exposing the chamber to the night sky above. The radiance of the spell faded to a divine glow around the two sisters. The tokens of friendship had vanished. In their place, five brilliant gems hovered between them. On both of their heads sat a beautiful golden tiara. Inset in Luna’s was an amethyst in a crescent moon. Celestia’s bore a similar gem, in the shape of a spiraling sun. Still bathed in the glow of their new power, Celestia and Luna spread their wings and charged into the sky.