As the sun princess opened her eyes, she looked down at the ground that she stood upon. A dark, charcoal hole had formed beneath her which hadn't been there before.
Celestia coughed as smoke completely engulfed the area around her. The smell was rancid and was like that of burning sulfur and methane poured into a single mixture. It burned, and burned so much that Celestia's eyes begun to water from the sheer brutality of the scent and aggression of the putrid stench.
The clouds up above was dark and slow moving as they seemed stained by the smoke that had begun to gradually disappear but still left its mark on the charcoal ground and grey sky. There were no words, no sounds nor any chirping of the once birds that had surrounded the area where she met her enemies. Not even the vulture seemed to be present even though the smell of steaming, rotting flesh had all but assaulted her very senses.
She breathed deeply wondering if it had always been this warm..this...hot. It was the just the beginning of spring so the fact that it felt as though she was in Saddle Arabia was strange and odd. It should be warm yes, but not the temperature of an arid place. No, it felt hotter. Much more so and yet despite this fact, the sun princess was neatly composed and her body felt well with the exception of her dry throat and small dehydration.
Once the smoke had begun to slowly clear, the solar princess was better able to see the view of the area around her. Her eyes wondered across the the barren field as nothing remained of any sign or hope or even glimmer of life. The green, beautiful grass that was once present in its nice bright colored glow, had dissipated into nothingness. The flowering daffodils that, though trampled by stampeding hooves and flattened but were nonetheless beautiful had been wiped off the face of the earth.
The ground and soil that was once soft to the touch, pleasant to the bare hooves and was the most fertile that she knew of was now hard, barren, cracked stone. Hard, flat, arid and crusted, void of any life or living form. Celestia had no words to say as she walked among the land confused and unsure of what to do or speak. But then again, there was nothing to say as there was no pony or thing to talk to.
"Sol-Soldiers! Soldiers! Is there any pony that hears me!?"
There was no response. Only the cracking sound of small dying flames and ash.
Celestia continued walking, her heart rate slightly increasing. She saw a guard standing in the distance and bypassing some of the fallen bodies of the griffons, she approached them only to be met by a still and mutilated figure.
It was a stallion but its body and face was unreadable. His armor had became rusted and most of the metal had melted into his own skin and fur, no doubt causing excruciating pain for the sad individual. His face was all but charcoal and some of his bones showed cleanly though as the skin had been cleanly burnt or melted away, leaving nothing but shredded remnants. He was like charcoal save for the pinkish and yellowish boils and flays of skin that had now become apart of him. That was all of him.
Celestia stepped back in disgust and her gag reflex gave way. She tried to stop it as she covered her mouth with her hoof but she couldn't help but spit up through her throat at least some of her own digestive fluid. Celestia looked from the ugly monstrosity and eyes moved around the desolate field before her.
The scene was completely void of life. Multitudes of bodies laid before her, griffon and pony alike, that were but a charcoal shell of themselves. Her soldiers, the surrounding area and wildlife, but an unintended tragedy of the war.
Or perhaps something more.
Celestia looked over the bodies of every living thing, mangled, deformed and oozing fluids as well as melted metal had all but claimed the field and the once virtues bodies of her loyal subjects. The damage of what had happened could be seen reaching into the farthest distance.
"Soldiers!" she wheezed. "Soldiers! Any pony! Is there some pony that hears me!"
Celestia stood quiet, daring not to move a single hoof or so much as breathe as her ears stood sharp upon her head.
A cough was heard in the distance and Celestia's ears couldn't help but twitch at the sound of it.
"Is some pony there? Any pony!"
The cough became louder until finally, Celestia was able to see just faintly enough what appeared to be a unicorn stallion. He was in battered and burnt metal armor with pieces of it missing from the battle. The left side of his face was fleshy and void of any fur or skin and his mouth was left in a permanent snarl as the skin and even some of the gum that held his teeth had been melted off. He had patches on his body where it seemed as though heat had seared it but only enough to leave a mild burn compared to the rest.
He limped as he walked, gritting his teeth in pain with every step. Eyes watered from the lingering smoke and he heaved due to the toxic mix of noxious gases. His head hung low in fatigued and it seemed as though he could barely keep up.
When he lifted his head and saw the princess of Equestria, his home, standing tall and looking straight at him he immediately came to pause and shuddered. His eyes grew wide in the expression of fright and he took a few steps back from the solar mare.
"P-p-p-princess...I...Please..."
He couldn't get out the words and he fell back upon his flank as he tried to move backwards, refusing to take his eyes off the princess.
Celestia narrowed her eyes at him and bore into his chest that took in quickened breaths but whenever he did, he let out a violent cough. Celestia stood among the noxious gases unharmed or bothered save the assault of the fumes on her nostrils. Yet, she was oddly at home in the over bearing heat that radiated through the place. She couldn't help but wonder why but for now her only worry was getting the soldier in front of her away from this gas chamber of a place.
"Are you all there is?"
The guard looked at her, still carrying the face of a scared foal until it finally registered what the princess had asked him.
"Y-y-yes, I believe so y-your majesty."
The princess looked at him and then gave one last scan of the field before giving a deep sigh. Closing her eyes, she used her magic to erect a yellow force field over the soldier and pushed out as much as possible the virulent gases.
"Come now." she spoke in a soft and gentle tone. "We must get you to safety."
The guard looked up at her with teary eyes and coughed. "Y-yes your majesty."
The guard followed after his princess as she walked in front of him. Always ahead of him every step as he sluggishly followed behind. As they continued to head back to the capitol Celestia kept her head hung down low most of the time. Her eyes burrowing into the ground as she laid deep in thought. She lifted her head soon after and looked up into the sky. The smoke and grey clouds had cleared well enough that she could see the silver sphere of the moon. The image of her sister banished to the very thing she took pride in, added salt to her already stinging injury.
She furrowed her eyebrows and pressed forward. The image of the battle between her sister caused her to cringe as she witness, along with the world, the terrifying power of the Equestrian royal sisters. She remembered it vividly, as though it was only yesterday and not fifty years ago, that such an event came to take place.
She felt it, the awesome power of the moon as it blocked out her sun and caused the world to shake in unbearable darkness. The ground shook in violent earthquake as the moon risen and she herself stood in fright at the very pony who became a darkened monster of the once beautiful sister she so dearly loved. It took the Elements of Harmony themselves to put in an end to her madness.
She shivered at just how much power her sister held and just how much power she herself did.
She pressed forward until finally she heard a thud behind her. The equine princess turned around only to see the soldier that had been following her having collapsed onto his flank. She panicked and quickly went over to his side. His breathing had become more erratic and his heaving turned into a constant hacking sound.
"Hang on, for we will be there shortly. I need you to stay with me!"
The guard could barely speak back and reply. But he gathered what little strength he had and stepped away from the princess, though it was quite pathetic the way he looked.
"Wha-what are you doing? Why are you moving away?"
The guard heaved as bloodshot and teary eyes stared straight into velvet ones. The guard could not believe her ignorance and at the same time all he could see in his benevolent ruler was that of a violent version of her.
The thoughts of his fellow brethren flashed to his mind as he watched them burn before him with the same magic that had sworn to protect them. He had managed to erect a barrier to try and shield himself but the intensity and sheer power of the magical blast was not enough to protect all of him from the it nor the after effect. His image of the princess had all but been warped as the only thing he could see was a black form of her whose once glorious pink mane had deteriorated in destructive flames.
He shook his head at the princess who looked on with worry and anxiety.
"Why are you afrai-"
"y-y-you..." The soldier choked as Celestia stepped closer only to be stopped by the pony.
"No! Don-" he heaved. "Come any closer! St-stay...over there!"
"Wha-" Celestia touched her face when she felt something scorch it. She looked at her hoof only to see black crust upon it. She rubbed her face and noticed that it did not carry the softness of fur but instead the roughness of volcanic crust.
"Y- you...monster! Y-you-!"
Celestia could not respond as she doubled over in pain. She gritted her teeth as she held a hoof to her face. Her body slowly morphing into something unknown to her but known to the one who stared upon her. She felt her body temperature rise by several degrees as her body begun to turn black and morph into a crust that cracked with fire running through them like pulsing veins. She let out a painful groan as she could no longer bite her tongue to hold in her pain.
The more the guard saw her as the abomination the more she became it.
"N-no. No, no, no..."
Celestia managed to look a the guard. "Why are you like this! Why are you so afraid!"
Before she could finish or gain an answer, the guard collapsed on his side and passed on but not before uttering the words that would come to finally haunt her.
"Queen of ash..."
Twilight sat in her library as she rested her head on one of her hooves. She stared at her books boringly and unamused as she read them only to close them and then throw them into the pile of novels next to her before opening another. Spike, who accompanied her, gave her a look of annoyance and groaned as the princess of friendship was only giving him more work to do.
"Twilight, didn't you say that you'll be helping me organize the library today? Not reading every book thats in it."
Twilight lifted her hooves in the air and groaned before flopping her face onto the round wooden table. "Ugh Spike! I know I said I'll help you but this is so unfair! How can I practice any magic when I can't even use my magic! I can't really help you either when I'm so limited!"
Spike rolled his eyes.
Unicorns...don't know how to cope without magic.
"Stop being such a drama queen Twilight. Have you not done what you did in Ponyvile today with that...that...that..."
"Want it, Need it."
"Yeah that, you wouldn't be in this predicament. And besides, she only took away your magic for two weeks and said that after that you can write a five page report on your reflections after the punishment." Spike smiled.
"Two weeks Spike! Two weeks!" Twilight slammed her face into the table and wept. "Is such a punishment necessary? She didn't have to strip away my use of magic!"
"Maybe she'll change her mind, who knows?" the dragon shrugged.
Suddenly there was at the door and the sound caught the attention of both the creatures in the room.
Spike approached the wooden door and opened it.
"Princess Celestia."
"Hello Spike." She smiled. "Is Twilight here?"
"Yes! I am here."
"Oh, well that is well. Do say, is there anything important you are doing today."
"Well I was just doing a bit of cleaning thats all. You know, a little dusting here and dusting there." Twilight smiled nervously.
Spike looked on in disbelief. "More like complaining..." he mumbled.
"If you are busy I can always come back later if you-"
"No! Its fine! Really princess! I'm sure Spike can handle the rest! Right Spike?"
Spike merely gave her a shameful look.
"See?"
"If you say so. As for you Twilight there I not only want to talk to about what transpired two days ago but there is also someplace I want to take you. It is very important."
She looked to Twilight's assistant.
"If you do not mind Spike, I will only borrow Twilight for a short while. We will be back in no more than three hours. Will you be okay til then?"
Spike gave a salute. "No problem princess!"
With a nod, the princess closed the doors of Twilights home and her loyal student followed behind.
"Do excuse me for taking you so early but It is going to be a fair trip as we are heading pass that Applelosa itself."
"That far out? Where are you taking me exactly princess?"
"A place that not even I dare to tread."
Princess Celestia and Twilight rode on a train towards Applelosa. Twilight had attempted to make conversation with the princess by asking her small and simple questions on her work and how she exactly though of her.
But seeing as the princess seemed more focused on what was on her mind and wishing to not bother her with her own thoughts, Twilight refrained from bothering the royal sister any more. Despite knowing that she most certainly wouldn't mind. Before long, they arrived at Applelosa, and the two guards that had followed them, got the royal carriage from off of the cargo part of the train and bordered the two mares upon it before heading off.
Eventually they arrived at their destination and Twilight was most certain that perhaps, they had arrived at the wrong stop. Twilight scanned the area they were at and noticed the exact location where they now stood at. She looked a the princess for clarity. Celestia merely nodded her head which her student took as a sign to step off.
Twilight placed her hooves from off of the carriage and onto the arid ground beneath. It was stale and void of life compared to the vibrant grass that she was so use to seeing in Ponyville. A dusty wind blew through her mane. Celestia herself stepped off of the throne and beckoned her student to follow her until that of her guards were finally out of ear range and view.
Celestia closed her eyes and gave a sigh. "Do you know where we are Twilight?"
"Y-yes. We are at the Badlands."
"Do you know why we are here?"
"N-no. I cannot say I do princess."
"As you know, I took away your magical abilities for a time due to your behavior in Ponyville."
Twilight lowered her ears and rubbed her foreleg. "Yeah...I know. But you didn't have to be so harsh! I mean, I understood what I did was wrong."
"It is not just that Twilight." Celestia spoke. Her voice as smoothed as honey and gentle like a mothers.
"You believe I did harshly but there is more to it than simply seeing you having done wrong." Celestia placed a wing on Twilight. "All ponies make mistakes, even I Twilight but there is more to your predicament than you realize. All dangerous ponies start off small and I have had the personal right to see some of them even develop. Ponies who have done serious crimes like murder for instance, start off small. Weather it be through toys or even animals. Typically, such things escalate from there."
"Are you saying I'm going to become a serial killer!?"
Celestiag gave a chuckle and shook her head. "No Twilight. I am saying that when you cast that spell I do not believe you realized just how powerful you are. Yes, it was a small spell but it was one that nearly corrupted all of ponyville. Do you understand what I am saying?"
"Yes." Twilight admitted reluctantly.
"With great power comes great responsibility and through the years I have seen too many powerful ponies become corrupt through magic. Sunset was only one of them. So when I heard of what you done it sent a shiver down my spine. I did not want you to repeat the same mistake."
Celestia gave a sigh.
"Twilight, look around you and tell me what do you see?"
"I see desert...nothing. Just tumbleweeds and a skull. I believe it belongs to a...bull?"
"What you are seeing is just one of my many mistakes."
Twilight's eyes grew slightly wider. "...what?"
Celestia removed her wing and walked a few steps in front of her. Her horn begun to glow with yellow energy but eventually begun to send out sparks like that of fireworks. The princess squeezed her eyes tightly as the sparks eventually turned to fiery small flames and her hron became like that of black crust.
Twilight looked on as the ground beneath the princess begun to smolder in intensity. Finally there was a sharp flash that blinded the velvet unicorn. She shielded her eyes with her hoof but when she placed it down in front of her did not lay the princess she once knew but instead, a black, charcoal like mare whose mane was that of burning flames.
Twilight took a step back as she stared wide eyed at the creature before her.
"C-Celestia? Is that..you?"
"It is me Twilight."
"Wha-what is this?"
"This area was once a sprawling field. Filled with flowers and wildlife. It was not always like this."
"What happened to it then?"
"Do you know about the war of the gryphons?"
"Yes! I read about it back in filly school! It was-!"
"I destroyed them."
Twilight fell silent.
"I destroyed everything that was once in this plain. The vegetation, the gryphons...my own subjects. All was a painful tragedy of me not knowing the limits of my own power. When I finally did it was too late. Not one soldier survived. Not one."
Celestia stared at Twilight, expecting a due response but received none. The purple mare only continued stepping back in eyes that reminded her too much of the same eyes that looked at her in fright so long ago.
Unable to bear with the painful reminder and beginning to feel her own magic eat at her, she gave a sigh and reverted back to her original form. Her fur shifting from a cracked ebony to the pure white coat and ethereal mane that denoted the sun princess.
"You...killed them?"
"Yes. I did. And it is still something that continues to haunt me." Celestia kept back the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes. Every once in a while, I have that dream. The dream where I repeat and relive that haunting day over and over again. Do you know how it must have felt? To relay back to their families their deaths and why there was no survivors? Yes, I sent a powerful message to others to think twice before threatening my ponies or my country but at what cost? The lives of many and the fear of my own subjects? Your actions shook me Twilight and your magic is something that even Starswirl would be envious to hold but it was something that jogged back that frightening scene of mine and I could not help but wonder if the same may happen to you."
Twilight stood quiet before finally speaking. "I'm sorry princess."
Celestia couldn't help but smile at her student. She wrapped a wing around her and gave her a warm hug before placing a hood under her chin.
"Remember Twilight, with great power comes great responsibility and great power you hold." she flicked away a tear from Twilight's eye.
"Know I do not do this to scare you but to keep you from repeating my own mistakes. Remember this alright?"
"I will princess." Twilight sniffed.
"Perhaps that is all for today. Come, let us return home and as for that five page report, you do not have to worry about doing it. I will give you a pass on it."
"Really? Oh thank you princess! Now, how about we waive that magical suspension as well?" Twilight wiggled her eyebrows at her teacher who merely raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh alright."
Celestia gave a chuckle. "Come on. I am sure Spike could use your help."
"Oh...right."
The two mares gathered back upon the carriage and took off back towards Ponyville and Canterlot but not before Celestia caught one more look at the barren field.
She mumbled under her breath.
"Queen of ashes..."