//------------------------------//
// Tainted Wings 
// Story: Final Reign 
// by Lise 
//------------------------------//

	Celestia dreamt of whiteness, whiteness that stretched to infinity. There was no texture, or sound, or odor, just emotiness. The dream didn't bother Celestia. She felt at ease, knowing she was part of it all. Nothing changed here. There was no pain, no fear, just hope—no, knowledge—that Equestria would be saved. Remnants of memories floated in and out, reminding her of her plan. Celestia couldn't say what it was—she had lost herself too much in her dream—but knew it was the right one. 

The whiteness stirred. Black tears appeared, disturbing the calm. Celestia felt herself being torn from the oneness. It's time. Celestia slid through infinity, casting aside like a winter veil. Then she opened her eyes. Dull darkness greeted her. The room, her prison, seemed slightly different from what she last remembered—it was smaller, barer, emptier.

"Your Highness?" A trembling voice asked. It was a male voice.

"Blueblood?" Celestia tried to sit up, but her limbs refused to budge.

"I'm afraid it's only me, Princess." Fancy Pants leaned above her. He seemed changed as well—thinner, paler, and so much older than she remembered. "Guard, fetch the Prince, would you?" he shouted over his shoulder. "Right." He turned back towards the princess. "I’d best be going. I'm sure you have plenty of important—"

"You've started drinking," Celestia said softly.

Fancy's expression froze. His eyes moved to the left, as if only now noticing the half full glass of whiskey floating beside him.

"It's all right." The ex-monarch smiled. "I have seen ponies drink before." Using what she had of her magic, she levitated her head upwards, moving the pillow below to a better angle so she could see more of the room. "I take it Equestria is still in danger?"

"Ah, well." Fancy Pants avoided her gaze. "Progress has been made in several areas. Your last discussion with Twilight bore unexpected fruit, actually. The Princess believes—"

"My dear little pony." Celestia closed her eyes, laying her head back down. "Please don't start lying to me now."

"I, well... the thing is, Princess." Fancy Pants took a gulp of his glass. "Things are catastrophic, Princess. The worst you feared, and then some."

"Oh," Celestia said, the hope of a thousand years crushed and shattered in a single word.

"Rationing sunlight wasn't enough for Blueblood. He has rationed dreams now." Fancy spat the words out. "The way things are going he'll ration everything else!" With a flash of his horn, Fancy closed the door, then cast a sound-proofing bubble surrounding himself and the Princess. "Blueblood has gone insane. He's opened negotiations with renegade changelings, even threatened all-out war with the Crystal Empire unless they surrender all their magic."

"Is Cadence still alive?" Celestia stirred, eyes still closed. "Is Twilight?"

"As far as I can tell," Fancy Pants replied. "I'm not much in the loop, I'm afraid. Princess, I implore you, remove Blueblood's wings. Nopony's any closer to finding a solution. Tartarus has already begun to shrink. No big loss I admit, but if it's started somewhere..."

"My dear, faithful Blueblood." Celestia smiled. Using what little strength she had, she opened her eyes, focusing on his features. "Do you remember how we used to talk in my chambers when this whole thing began? Just you, me, and Raven. We discussed dozens of options, went through countless possibilities. Wasn't it you who suggested we give the burden to Blueblood?"

"I was wrong," the unicorn whispered. "It was a mistake that condemned Equestria to... this."

"Are you so convinced it was a mistake?"

"He's calling himself a bloody Tyrant!" Fancy almost shouted. "He's already killed two Elements of Harmony and countless other ponies. Stars know how many will follow! Those that are loyal to him get better rations. Those who oppose him a stripped of their property, have their magic drained, and their thoughts locked away. The Wonderbolts are no more, the royal guards are reduced to mindless statues with no will of their own... Ponies are killing each other for sunlight and nightmares. What more must he do before you accept we were wrong?"

"You still wonder why I didn't choose you?" Celestia asked. 

The princess' mind thought back to the eventful day when the symptoms of the disease first struck. Back when Luna had become increasingly unstable, Celestia had gathered the only two ponies who she knew she could trust—Fancy Pants and Raven. Both knew more about the affairs of the kingdom than any other, plus neither of them were alicorns. For months they had thought over the matter. Fancy had wanted to focus all their efforts on finding a cure. Raven—the more practical—had suggested an entirely different approach. She spoke of a pony to take the power, the burden, of all alicorns. Fancy had proposed Blueblood, but Celestia had felt what lay in his heart.

"You want me to grant you wings as well," the princess sighed.

"I say to Tartarus with what I want!" Fancy snapped. "To Tartarus what any of us want! It's what we need to do. It's what you need to do!"

The castle shook. Fancy Pants removed the sound bubble. The faint noise of hooves clanking reached the room.

"Guard!" He shouted. "What's happening?"

The door swung open and a lifeless statue of a pony rushed in. Once he had served as Celestia's captain of the guard—now, he was a will-deprived puppet. Is this Equestria? The Princess averted her eyes.

"His Majesty is under attack, my lord," the guard said with a voice barely his own. "You are to be escorted to a secure location."

"Attacked, you say?" Fancy glanced at Celestia from the corner of his eye. "Pray, who is attacking our most noble Tyrant?"

"The Element of Laughter," the guard replied, his voice completely aimed of emotion. "I am to escort you to a secure location."

"Quite right." Fancy Pants nodded. "One has to follow orders to the letter, doesn't one? Yet, as you'll notice I'm already at the most secure location in the palace." The words made the guard pause, his face twitching at the conflicting instructions. "There is no better protected room, is there? As such I'll be perfectly safe here, won't I?"

The explanation seemed sufficient, for the guard turned around and abruptly left. Celestia and Fancy Pants were alone once more.

"Do you see the Equestria we have created?" the unicorn asked, eyes wet, pleading her for help. "Help me. I still have my connections in Canterlot. Twilight and the Crystal Empire will support me. We'll have peace at last. No more misery or pain, just a few years to put everything in order before the end."

Celestia remained silent.

"I can fix things, you know I could." He moved closer. "Just take his wings and give them to me. Nopony else has to suffer."

The floor shook once more.

"Princess, please!" Fancy Pants begged. "Any alternative would be better!"

Any alternative. Celestia closed her eyes. It was impossible to tell whether she had made the right choice, just as it was impossible of knowing whether Fancy Pants would make matters worse. She had known his family for generations, as assistants, ambassadors, even advisors. There was no pony in Equestria better suited to take the reigns of power.

"My dear friend," she whispered. "We all learn from our mistakes..." Summoning all the power she had, Celestia cast a spell. There was no telling if she would ever have the strength to cast another, there was no telling if she would even wake up again, yet the princess felt this was something she had to do.

Incandescent light filled the room lifting Fancy Pants into the air. Its strength singed the unicorn's fur, letting off a crisp smell of ozone.

"And Blueblood has already made his," Celestia whispered.

The spell came to an end abruptly. The light vanished in a flash, taking with it the last five minutes of conversation from Fancy Pants' memory, along with any thoughts of insurrection. He would still keep his mind, but from now on, he would remain forever loyal to his monarch.

Celestia dreamt of whiteness.