The Commandments
FALL OF PONIES
BY THE YOUNG AND FREE DRAGON
THE COMMANDMENTS
Twilight Sparkle was apprehensive as she awaited the Princess in the royal lounge. The Princess had never called a private council with her wearing such a grave expression as she did just ten minutes ago. Now, as she awaited Celestia's coming, Twilight could only sit and wonder what the Princess had to tell her that was so important, and caused her so much anxiety. She perked up as the door opened and in walked Celestia, her mane flowing as gloriously as ever, but her eyes betrayed her fear. She closed the doors and sat across from Twilight Sparkle, curling her alabaster white legs under herself, which seemed to bend and creak like old trees, falling under the weight of snow.
Twilight couldn't help but be afraid of that sound. Of course, everypony thought about it, but they were all comforted by the thought that Celestia was immortal. But, Twilight had read into it over the years, and found things that she was sure the Princess knew, but wouldn't tell her or anypony else. (She had found this information in the Canterlot Library, in a section restricted to special ponies.) Just because she was immortal, didn't mean that the Princess would not feel the effects of aging. Immortality was a relative thing, and only meant that old age could not kill them. Old age could still attack them, and death by other causes was a thought that was too frightening to let swim around her mind.
“Thank you for meeting with me, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said. “I hope that I didn't tear you away from any fun that you were having with your friends.”
While the birthday party for Rarity had been fun, Twilight would break away from anything to meet with Princess, important or not. “Not at all, Princess,” Twilight replied as strongly as she could. “What is it you wanted to see me about?”
Celestia sighed, and the sigh passed through Twilight Sparkle's heart, whistling through the ventricles and leaving a cold chill to be pumped through out her body.
“Twilight, I have no doubt in my mind that you have learned many things under my tutelage,” Before Twilight could say anything, she continued. “Things, I did not want you to learn.”
Twilight's heart seized up. There had been...guidelines of course. But she really didn't have any rules to her learning, other than her own intuition about things, and she was sure that Celestia could see that she knew of what things that she spoke of.
“I...have learned a few...questionable things, Princess.”
Celestia sighed, which once again made Twilight's blood run cold. “There is nothing wrong with that, my faithful student. Curiosity is only natural, and it would be wrong of me to hide these things from you forever. However, I did not want them to become known to you before I had a chance to explain them. But, I fear that now, I have no more time left to stand idle on this matter. Twilight, do you know anything of the Seven Destructive Friendship Sins?”
Twilight Sparkle knew nothing of such things, but her heart seemed to know the extent of how evil these things must be, considering it jumped into her throat and began pounding heavily at the mere mention.
“No, Princess. I don't know what they are.”
“I'm surprised, but I should have told you by now anyway. I am afraid that I have shortened your time to act on the assignment I must give you. Have you ever heard anything of the Fall of Ponies?”
“Um.... No, I haven't...is that bad?”
“Goodness, no, child. It is all my fault. But now I must tell you. The Fall of Ponies was written in ancient text by tribes of earth ponies, who lived in the first years of Equestria's beginning. You know of course how Hearth's Warming Eve came to be a holiday, but do you know how I became involved in Equestria's affairs?”
Twilight had to admit that that question had passed through her mind. They all knew the stories, but they all trusted the Princess enough to never question that about her. Now, it seemed that there was no choice.
“I have...wondered, Princess...” she admitted.
“It's only natural,” Celestia assured. “I became involved for a simple matter. My sister and I have the ability to raise the sun and form the night single hoofed, because we are immune to the temptations of the stars and of the skies. These temptations are the Seven Destructive Friendship Sins. Alicorns are the only beings who are immune to them, I'm afraid.”
“So what does that have to do with a tribe of ponies at the beginning of Equestria?”
“When Equestria began, it was paradise, as it is today. Perfect, as you well know. But many did not believe it could stay perfect, since the cooperative skills of the leaders had been so strained all the way up until that point. They believed that the friendship was still impossible. The believers in this became the tribe of ponies known as the Followers of Doom. They embraced the fallout of ponies of all species, and wrote texts that have become sacred to some.
“The texts talk of the Seven Destructive Friendship Sins that would cause the downfall of the leaders, and the breaking up of Equestria, and eventually the world. My sister and I brought the light of knowledge to these ponies. That is what they call it, though it was not knowledge. We are merely lucky enough to be able to resist these sins. Now, time has drawn closer to the prediction, and while I had hoped and prayed that they were mere mare's tails, proof has begun to surface that they are not.
“If these sins become a reality among you, the Elements of Harmony, all old foes shall rise, and every sin will become a solid being. A Horse of the Apocalypse. They will bring destruction to everypony, including myself and my sister.”
Twilight was stunned by all of this. She had never imagined anypony would not believe in Equestria. How could they doubt Celestia, Luna, and their friends? But there was still a burning question. How could these sins become a part of her friendship?
“What are the sins?” She gulped.
“The sins are; Dishonesty, Distrust, Selfishness, Begrudging, Blame, Insurrection, and Disband. As well as being sins, they are also the order in which our fall will come...unless of course you can stop it.”
“How can I stop it, Princess?”
“I cannot supply you with much information. Only that you must study the motives of the enemies (including my sister) you have faced in the past, and that knowledge will save you from the end.”
“What...is the end?”
“The end cannot be predicted, according to the text. But the very least they could tell was that we will all lose what we hold dear. Unicorns will lose their horns, the Pegasus will lose their wings, the Earth Ponies will lose their beloved land. All Cutie Marks will fade, and we will all become slaves to nothing. Which will cause the destruction of ponies, and of everything.”
“And what about Alicorns?” Twilight prompted anxiously.
Celestia glanced out the window at the beautiful night that Luna had created. There was only but a weak light of the fireplace lighting the room, and Twilight could not be sure, though she thought she saw a drop of golden sun drop from Celestia's eye and disappeared into the carpet.
“Our destiny... is written in the stars.”
“What does that mean?” Twilight cried, panic striking her heart.
“You will know in time, my pupil,” Celestia said, looking back at her and giving her a weak smile. “And maybe...by what you learn to stop the fall of ponies, you will learn how to save my sister and I.”
[][][]
Twilight's thoughts were everywhere, but mostly upon the sins and the riddle about the stars. She had always thought that her friendship with the others was indestructible. They were the Elements of Harmony, after all. Couldn't they stop anything? Well, Celestia had said they were the only hope and while she had said she had no doubt that they could save the world and ponies, she didn't seem too confident.
Celestia had told her to share this information with her friends, but she wasn't sure she should, or at least not at the moment. Maybe she should tell then one at a time at least. If she told them all at once, they might panic (especially Pinkie Pie). She needed time to explain it to each of them, and to make their situation clear. And of course, she would have to figure out what they would do. It wasn't as though she had been given any ideas on how to deal with this problem, other than that she had to study her past foes.
She returned to Rarity's party in a rather sour mood and did not bring much joy to it. They were all to stay for a week in Canterlot, since Cloudsdale had predicted some bad weather to come between them and Ponyville, and the Princess didn't want them traveling through it. They had all retired to their chambers, all of said chambers were a marvel, and each felt very undeserving of the great honor. But then again, they had saved all of Equestria on more occasions than one. But that was not the main thought in Twilight's head as she lit candles in her room and piled books on to the bed.
“Twilight, you aren't going to stay up all night with those candles burning, are you?” Spike asked.
“Would you prefer I leave the lights on?” She asked, not looking up from the books that she was stacking. “I don't expect you to stay up with me the whole night, but I do need the light to read,”
“Alright fine,” Spike said in an exasperated voice.
When Spike was in bed, and the night was growing late, Twilight Sparkle read over the myths and legends surrounding Discord. Apparently there was much more to him than what they were aware of. He had been around for perhaps as long as Celestia, and despite not being an Alicorn, he was immortal, proving her theory that there were other beings that had that power. How they gained it still perplexed her though. Was it by birth or was it cast upon them magically?
Was it something like the rising of the sun and the moon? That was something that could be done by a single Alicorn, but was possible with the power of several ponies. Would it be possible to bring immortality to the masses? And would that solve the problem. Immortality was something that Twilight Sparkle rather liked the idea of. She liked to think that she and her friends, and anypony could live forever in happiness. It seemed like a good deal. And there was no guarantee of what came after death. On the other hoof, Celestia did seem to be aging, despite her ability not to die. Ability or curse...? She fell asleep pondering this.
[][][]
She awoke to the smell of smoke. Her eyes opened and then widened whenever she saw and felt flames licking up around her bed. One of the candles had apparently fallen over whenever she had dozed off. She hadn't noticed the growing flames until now, and now it was almost too late. She hopped over the fire and grabbed Spike up off his bed and tossed him up on to her back. He hadn't woken up until she moved him and he awoke to grab on to her and hold tightly as panic struck him. Twilight charged out of the room, banging on each of her friends' doors to tell them to get moving. She waited until they were all out and following her.
[][][]
Twilight Sparkle bit back tears as she looked at the burning castle. How had it come to this? How had a tiny fire around her bed caused the castle to burn? How could they not put it out? How-- Celestia began walking towards Twilight Sparkle and she felt fear beating in her heart.
“Princess...Princess I'm sorry...” She said as the Alicorn approached her.
Tears grew in Twilight Sparkle's eyes as she watched them fall from he ruler's. She couldn't help but feel the grip of fear around her heart as she watched the golden tears fall.
“It's not your fault, Twilight Sparkle. I should have known...” Celestia whispered as she looked upon her pupil.
“How could you have known I would mess up so badly?” Twilight cried.
“It was not under my control,” Celestia asserted, silencing her student. “This was bound to happen... it's a sign.”
Twilight Sparkle had never known her mentor to be a fatalist, or believe in signs and deeper meanings, though she couldn't recall a time when she had said otherwise. It was clear now that she at least believed in the seriousness of this situation and whatever doubt Twilight had held in her mind before should be stomped out now. But that still left the question: who's will was it for the castle to be burned down?
“Who...made this happen, then?” Twilight asked.
Celestia was silent for a moment before speaking. “Do not let your fears turn you into what you are not, Twilight Sparkle; do not hate what you become to escape from what you hated being. I must now help with the injured. Please find somewhere to rest within Canterlot. I will call upon you again soon.”
With that, Celestia walked away, leaving Twilight to wonder what she had meant. She not spoken directly, once again. Why would her teacher give her riddles rather than true words, when she had just been cursing herself for not informing her sooner of the impending doom? There had to be reason...Celestia of all beings could not stoop to this hypocrisy out of temptations or pure nature. It wasn't in her nature.
But that still did not explain why she would choose to keep secrets when the truth was the only savior from the darkness that she had predicted. Celestia had never placed such a large task on Twilight's shoulders without giving more specific information on what she had to do to stop it. Twilight felt almost angry at the Princess for a moment. She had given so little and expected so much. Well, truthfully, looking into Celestia's eyes, it was hard to tell if she expected too much or nothing at all. Lack of faith was not an attractive thing either. Twilight sighed and took one last glance at the destroyed castle before going to find her friends to do as Celestia had asked. This, at least, was a doable task.
[][][]
“I simply cannot believe that beautiful palace was destroyed!” Rarity wailed, flopping down on a couch that had been provided by the inn they were staying in. “All of my things were in that chamber as well! They are all burned!”
“Calm down Rarity,” Applejack said. “I lost all of mah stuff too, and so did everypony else.”
“But I had brought all of my newest fashion designs and models with me! Even my favorite ponnequin! And now they're all gone!” Rarity screeched, burying her face in her hooves and beginning to sob.
Spike came to her side and patted her back, cooing to her, and telling her what he thought she might want to hear, though on several occasions, it caused her to scream and cry louder. The others all sat in a semi circle, partially including Rarity and her couch in it. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all talked of what could have happened, while Twilight Sparkle sat quietly brooding.
“Maybe it was an attack by a dragon!” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Hey!” Spike shouted, offended by her implication.
“Oh...sorry Spike. I meant evil dragon.”
“But why would a dragon attack Canterlot now?” Fluttershy asked meekly.
Of all of them, Fluttershy seemed to have taken it the hardest. Her nerves seemed to have snapped and shook violently, not saying much, but when she did, it was never positive. Of all of Rarity's moaning, she would probably be sated in having her designs back. Twilight Sparkle wasn't sure Fluttershy would ever get over this, even if the castle was suddenly magically rebuilt and all the ponies' wounds healed instantly.
Pinkie Pie was frenzied, but she was not in a mood beyond reason. She talked incoherently of plots to destroy Canterlot and all of Equestria (adding her out sound effects and such) that seemed ridiculous to the others, but on the magnitude that Celestia had talked about, maybe it was much more sensible than they thought. Celestia had brought order and balance once, and the only thing that ever seemed to frighten her was disharmony (whether by Discord or some other evil means). The examples Pinkie Pie brought up, no matter how strange would affect the balance of Equestria and cause what Celestia feared, maybe not in the most serious way, but evil often seemed to travel under a cloak.
“Ah haven't heard you say anythin' Twilight,” Applejack said suddenly. “What do you think started the fire?”
Twilight looked up from her hooves that she had been staring at and glanced over all of them in a stoned silence before speaking. “It was me that caused it.”
The others gasped (Even Rarity) and shared looks before their eyes returned to her.
“How?” They all asked.
“I was reading and fell asleep, knocking over a candle. It lit up my bed and after we ran out, it took over the whole castle.”
“But how could one measly fire like that take the whole castle? Most of it's made of stone anyway. Stone don't burn.”
Twilight had to admit that Applejack had a point. The only plausible way it seemed that a fire could destroy the whole palace was by many separate ones, or more underlying damage to the support and infrastructure of it. One fire didn't seem capable of taking everything down. No...didn't seem capable. It wasn't.
“That's what the Princess told me,” Twilight Sparkle said. “And she has no reason to lie.”