Once more, Celestia found herself in the world that seemed unnaturally familiar. This time she saw the two major races of this world clash on the battlefield, the ponies led by the Alicorn King and the Humans with their own King in tow. The details started to fill in. The Alicorn King was more like the father she remembered than she had initially thought, with the same massive stature that neither she or her sister had yet achieved. Yet somehow, this version was more martial than the one Luna had oft talked about. Yet as she looked at his grizzled face she couldn’t help but feel that he was more familiar. She tried to take her mind off the disturbing thought as she looked to the other side. The Human King was almost as tall as Tortured was, but only slightly shorter. His skin was a darker peach, and his eyes matched the hateful gaze of the Alicorn King.
Celestia then heard the Alicorn King speak. “This has gone on long enough.” He huffed irritably as his gray hoof struck the ground. “You humans will be brought to heel, and shown that you are far from the most powerful race!”
The Human King rolled his dark blue eyes. “Arrogance will be thine downfall, and your people will be cast down as is your place!”
The argument was starting to heat up, but Celestia found herself being drawn away from the scene to another one upon a hill. Upon it was a massive tree, easily the largest one she had yet seen. Yet what she saw was somewhat… familiar under its reddish branches. Standing under the tree was the same human boy from the first dream, but this time he was much older. His hair blew in the wind, and he turned to see the Celestia of the dream approach. He drew a sword, and pointed it at her. “What business do you have here, Princess? If I don’t like the answer, your life is forfeit.”
Once more, Celestia was jolted from the strange dream by a knock on the door. This one was far more confusing than the last. It had felt different than a dream, and almost like… Celestia massaged her temples. That couldn’t be right. But… what else was there to explain it? She had to put the thoughts out of her head as she let herself be escorted to the library to wait for tortured again. This time, she was given access to more of Tortured’s book series. She read on through the books, noticing that all of these had something in common: none of the Celestias portrayed had finished as many trials as her. Though, there were more books in the collection that she wasn’t allowed to peruse, so she would likely get to read those later.
What intrigued her most was what Tortured did with the ponies after each Celestia was beaten. He often parleyed on their behalf towards his people, instead of punishing them. Perhaps she had misjudged him. After all, if he didn’t care about the ponies, he would have left them to rot after each war. It was good to know that, deep down, Tortured was more reasonable than she thought.
However, she did wonder what was taking him so long. She shrugged, and continued to read. All of these books were anthologies, and sometimes the order of the stories made little sense. After all, though the “Second Book” had many stories, all of them seemed to come far after his true second encounter. At least, from the pages she could read. It still irked her that the first part of the book was kept under lock and key. Maybe that portion held the second world, one she so desperately wanted to read about. Many of the stories she had read were after Tortured had started to come into his own. Sure, there was the odd hint at his past here or there, but no dead giveaways.
She gave a large sigh as she relocated the bookmark and closed the book. There was also the matter of her recent “dreams”, if they could even be called that. Why was she having them, and why now? Was a spirit of a deceased Celestia reaching out to her? Or was there some other explanation? She wasn’t sure what to think anymore. She needed answers. She unintentionally shot a bit of magic at the book’s locked portion in frustration. To her surprise, the lock opened. She knew that Tortured hadn’t allowed her to read this chapter yet, but… Curiosity got the better of her. She had to know.
She opened the forbidden chapter, and began reading. This one was different from the others. It started with him struggling to come to terms with the fact he was in another world. It showed him waking from disturbing nightmares that the book dared not go into detail on. It portrayed him as vulnerable and unsure, much unlike how he was now. It slowly had him gain confidence as he tested the Celestia of that reality. But he had doubts. He wanted to be absolutely certain that she was evil before sentencing her, as opposed to how now he saw the tests as more of a formality. This chapter went over all the tests that she herself had faced, showing the Celestia of that world overcoming them. Celestia decided to stop reading when it mentioned the sixth trial, the one she was to have today. Out of respect for Tortured’s wishes, she closed the book and made a note of the page she had been on. She locked the chapter just to be safe, and stood just as Tortured entered the room.
He seemed amused that she had done so at just that moment. “Well now, somebody’s a bit eager. Waiting long were you?”
Celestia gave a nod. “I was starting to wonder if you’d forgotten.”
He shook his head. “I just had to get the destination ready. It might not be the moon, but I think that you’ll find it mildly impressive nonetheless.” He beckoned, and Celestia followed him out of the room. They walked in silence until they reached the Oval Office and She saw that the telepad was up and running. They stepped on, and Tortured addressed one of the technicians. “Is the connection with Atlantis City stable?”
The technician shook her head. “I’m afraid not, sir. They’re having trouble connecting the network there. I can send you to the nearest port, though.”
With a sigh, Tortured gave a nod. “Alright then. Tell them to ready Sub Force One.” The technician made a call while another took over getting the destination ready. Tortured chuckled. “Well, looks like we’re taking a bit of a detour. I almost retired the Sub Force, too… Ah, well. Guess it was smart to keep it around.”
Celestia was about to ask what he was talking about when the second technician spoke up. “Ready, sir! Transmitting to Port Luminous in 5!”
Celestia decided to wait until after transport to ask her question. Or maybe… she wouldn’t have to ask…
“4!”
“3!”
“2!”
“Now!” Celestia and Tortured were transported away instantly, arriving in a massive sea port. It was much larger than anything her ponies had made, but all the ships here were made of metal. However, there was one different than the others. It looked like a massive hemisphere-ended cylinder with some sort of telescope on the top. Tortured led her towards it, and she saw the words “Sub Force One” embossed on the side underneath some circular windows. Tortured stopped short as the ladder on the side glowed to life and extended outward like stairs. They touched the dock, and Tortured stepped on first. After seeing him climb up with little issue, she followed after. It was a bit awkward climbing stairs meant for humans, but she got the hang of it rather quickly.
Once on top, the stairs collapsed onto the side of the massive ship. Tortured went into the hatch and down the ladder into the contraption. Celestia gulped. She steadied herself as she went down the ladder. She made it to the bottom in one piece, but she was unsure of this new locale. The hatch closed, and the lights in the ship turned on. Now, she saw that the interior of this device was unlike anything she had seen before. There were many levers and buttons in the driver’s place that she didn’t recognize, and so much more that she was having a hard time processing.
Tortured looked on in amusement as she strapped herself in on one of the seats. “Don’t worry, this thing’s completely safe.” He turned to the driver. “Commence diving.”
Those two words set off an alarm in Celesitia’s head. They were going underwater? She herself had never been there, and despite Twilight’s tales of her venture to the hippocampi, Celestia couldn’t help being nervous and a bit afraid at the prospect. She braced herself subconsciously as the submarine dove down into the water. It didn’t take as long as she expected, as Tortured snickered lightly as the sub began to move underwater. “You can relax. We aren’t going that deep underwater. It’s going to be a long trip, so might as well enjoy the view out the portholes.”
Celestia hesitantly follow Tortured’s suggestion, and the view outside took her breath away. The sight of all the underwater creatures was something else. Celestia had not been out of the castle very often, so this sight was quite amazing. She started to actually calm down. The novelty of these being the first wildlife she had seen on Earth was part of it, she supposed- but that thought caused her to think. Where had the rest of it gone?
She turned to look at Tortured, and he seemed to read the question on her face before she spoke it. “There are preserves for wildlife in days like these, but quite a few species have been domesticated and live with people at this point as well. It is not the best split, I know. But… balancing cities with nature is hard. There is always going to be some give and take. That’s just how the world works.”
Silence reigned until the submarine started to approach a domed city underwater. This city was just about as impressive as the one one the moon, seeing as humans (aside from Tortured Soul) didn’t have magic in this reality. The dome had to be made from special glass, she presumed. After all, they might not be deep in the ocean, but they couldn’t exactly scrimp on safety. It wasn’t much longer until the submarine’s side connected with the dome of the city.
The captain checked over some things before calling out. “Connection secure, sir. You are free to exit into Atlantis City.”
Once the go-ahead was given, Tortured opened the door and the two of them stepped out into the city. Celestia looked around in awe. The buildings looked to be made from living sea coral, which was far more impressive without magic than the living tree buildings were. Not long into the city’s limits they were approached by reporters. One of them questioned Tortured. “So today is a big day, huh? Most were certain that this celestia wouldn’t make it this far, but now we await with bated breath… what is her challenge today, Mister President?”
He had a strangely calm look in his eye as he addressed the crowd. “She has passed five so far, this is true. But this one has broken many to show their true colors. This… is the test of Hope.” He gained a smirk as he saw the reporter’s gasps. “Yes, this is the reason I have brought her here, to Atlantis City. Many call it the ‘Heart of Despair’, so I’m curious to see how she’ll fare…” He turned to face Celestia. “Are you ready for your hardest challenge yet?”
Celestia nodded. “What is the mission?”
Tortured’s face flashed with irritation before twisting into a malicious grin. “Your task is to find all the people of the city who have fallen into despair, and solve their problems. By my estimate… there are about one hundred thousand people in the city who have given in.” Celestia saw that he seemed all too pleased with himself, like he had finally figured out how to “defeat” her. He sneered. “Best part is… you have only until dusk to finish. You’ll fail for sure!”
At this statement, the reporters seemed to back away, uneasy. They could sense it too. Something was wrong with Tortured, and Celestia had seen it before. He was starting to falter to darkness, and was getting close to the edge. Celestia stood firm and smirked, surprising Tortured enough to snap him out of it. “Well, I best get started then.”
Tortured shook himself off as he followed her to see what she would do. It had been a while since he had slipped into insanity. He had almost wanted to toss away the rules and kill her on the spot. He couldn’t slip like that again. He was humanity’s hero! He could afford to become the monster.
He saw Celestia find many of the depressed and disheartened in groups, and give rousing speeches that he at first just tuned out. He was certain it wouldn’t work, but… it did. A group of a thousand people, back on their feet and ready to work. Tortured was impressed, but that wasn’t enough. He kept observing, and she found more groups that had given up.
A group of two thousand. A group of three thousand. A group of four thousand. Two groups of five thousand. Three groups of ten thousand. She had convinced them all to find hope again. And then… she found a group of fifty thousand. Was she about to finish his task in mere hours?!
Part of him wanted to do something to stop her, make her fail. But… That would ruin the validity of the tests. He swore to himself he wouldn’t cheat for his own ends, assured of the fact that eventually, all Celestias wound up the same way.
But as he looked upon her success, he couldn’t help but wonder. Had he been wrong about her after all? It was certainly harder and harder to call it all a ploy at this point… He shook his head. He couldn’t doubt himself. If the trial of friendship failed to stump her… there always was the final test. After all… none had passed it… without cheating.
Later, back at the starting line, Celestia came back to see Tortured congratulate her. “Impressive. I was certain that you’d fail… Yet, once more, you’ve passed with flying colors. Alright, a deal’s a deal. Ask your question.”
Celestia was unsure what to ask about. It certainly wasn’t safe to ask about the second or first world, he was likely to get angry… That meant asking about the dream was dangerous too. She pondered for a while about what to ask, and finally something came to mind. “Tortured, let’s say I prove that I’m not evil to you. How do you think that’d change your approach should you continue to travel dimensions to protect humanity?”
Taken aback, Tortured blinked. He paused for a long time. He eventually shrugged. “To be honest? I’m not sure. I’d figure something out.” He turned to the reporters, shooing them away. He then followed Celestia back to the submarine, and she could see in the corner of her eye that he had a contemplative look on his face. Was she finally starting to get through to him? It was hard to tell. Yet, every time they were alone, she felt strange. Like… they’d been like this before they’d met. Were the strange dreams messing with her head? Why was she having them, anyway? She had no answers. The trip back to Port Luminous passed in silence as Celestia and Tortured each had their thoughts occupied by other things. They exited the submarine at Port Luminous and were teleported back to the White house.
Once there, Tortured seemed to return to his usual self as he asked Celestia to be escorted out. Celestia compiled and let herself be returned to her room. There was so much bothering her… If only she could talk to Luna....
Tortured sent the Secret Service out of the room and once more entered his secret room. Nobody could bother him here. He looked at his journal, from which he had adapted the stories… except he’d never adapted the early pages. He’d tried rereading them, but… he found the memories the words represented too painful to even look at. Yet now… He couldn’t stop himself. He turned to an early page, and read.
I stood atop a hill in the Neutral Zone to think. Dad had been getting too aggressive lately. He wanted to make the ponies slaves, and kill their royalty. It sickened me. How couldn’t he see that we were more alike than he knew? I sighed as the fall leaves fell. Maybe I’d have to start a coup to instill change.
I was knocked out of pondering when I turned and saw Princess Celestia. My dad had taught me to be wary of her, so I had the perfect response to her arrival. I drew my sword, and questioned her. “What business do you have here, Princess? If I don’t like the answer, your life is forfeit.”
What I didn’t expect was her answer. She came to escape from her father’s madness, much like I had. It was then that we hatched a plan…
Tortured closed his journal. That was the day that he had first met the Celestia of his world. If only he’d known back then what he knew now. He could’ve… He shook his head. Dwelling would do him no good. He decided to leave his room and get some rest.