//------------------------------// // Chapter One: My sister wouldn't do that! // Story: Gleaner Chronicles: American Monsters // by sevenofeleven //------------------------------// Lower Canterlot Celestia’s Tent Again the nightmare came upon Celestia. She thrashed and moaned in her white and gold-sheeted bed. At first, it was just a nice dream: a warm golden afternoon sun shone through the windows into the throne room as Celestia read another scroll from Applejack. She wrote that the apple trees were in full bloom and it was a sight to see. Applejack’s plain but earnest language piqued Celestia’s interest, maybe she could take some time off. She smiled at the idea. A bit of time in an apple orchard away from mundane politics would do her good. Celesta glanced around her throne room to make sure no pony was waiting for her decision on something, but all she saw was her attentive guards. It felt like a normal day. A moment later, things changed. The sunshine faded to a gelid green light. Her hackles started to rise. It was like she was being watched by something with malign intent. Celestia turned around while her breath left her body in clouds of white mist. She saw nothing. Still the feeling persisted as she faced forward again. Then a panicked guard ran up to her, his eyes darting around the throne room. “Princess, we’re under attack!” Before she could reply, bright green tentacles thrust their way down from the ceiling while green amorphous creatures engulfed some of the guards not being attacked. The guard near her was being pierced by one of the enemies and he howled loudly as it grew brighter and his coat dimmed to a greyish-brown color. A quick look showed that the same thing was happening to the other guards. Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw something that she had never seen in her two thousand-plus years. Her mind was filled with so many conflicting thoughts that she was paralyzed. One set found the events happening in front of her appalling, but fascinating. Others wanted to study and catalogue. This was important data that could be useful for later battles. Another set raged that her friends were being attacked and something should be done. That was the part that stopped any response. She didn’t know what to do without making things worse. Then there were the thoughts that suggested that she would be next. She pushed those back. By the time she finally regained her composure, the bright green amorphous figures faded away and the tentacles slid back into the ceiling. The regal white and gold throne room was filled with the fading screams of the dying guards. When it was totally quiet, the guards turned their heads as one and faced Celestia. A chill raced down her back when she saw the poisonous green glow in her once loyal guard’s eyes; there was so much hunger. A quick magical scan confirmed her suspicions. Her guards were not alive anymore, they were animated by alien magics. She was reluctant to kill her friends even though they were monsters, she knew many details about them. One of them was a painter with lots of potential, maybe in a few years he would resign and become the darling of the nobles. Another guard had five foals and an overworked wife. Celestia sighed. None of her guards deserved such an end, but it seemed that she was at war now. A lot of good ponies were going to die and she won’t have any control over that. With a sob, she focused on a spell that would immolate her ex-guards quickly before they could cry out in pain. There was a bright orange flash and they were reduced to small piles of gray ash. A cold fury started to blossom in her heart because of the senseless death of her friends. Grief would have to wait, there was so much to do. Her first task was to find her sister; with her help, maybe they could find out what’s going on. Her skin itched as she passed the streams of green light coming in from the windows. Something was wrong with the sun, but Celestia decided to deal with that later. When she reached the doors, she stopped and thought about her next steps. Celestia briefly thought about rushing to Luna’s side, maybe she was under attack too but then she wondered if more enemies were lying in wait. It would be more prudent to slowly travel the halls like they were enemy outposts and not stumble blindly into any traps. She nodded, this was the best option. After waiting for a few moments, Celestia slowly opened the throne room doors. What she saw was white marble halls with gold accents dimly lit by guttering torches. A thought suggested that Canterlot Castle had better lighting than that, but it faded away quickly. Celestia frowned and entered the hallway expecting something to jump out at her from behind the closed doors. The utter silence clawed at her nerves. On a normal day, there would be a bit or some noise and voices from the guests and servants. Hearing nothing but her hooves made her think that something worse was hiding in the shadows and would be upon her soon. Celestia stopped and tried to calm her racing heart. It took a few moments before her fear faded. Again she studied the hallway. It looked so familiar, but then a few minutes ago another area looked familiar too. She knew most of Canterlot Castle but somehow, she was lost. Perhaps this is not Canterlot Castle… She shoved that thought aside — it was just a distraction. Celestia knew she had to keep her attention on what was real and not imagined.  After a moment she decided to walk slowly and keep track of her current location. Somewhat later, she found the right sequence of hallways that led to Luna’s office. The new set of halls were a bit darker and green fog covered the floor. She placed a fore-leg into the fog. It was cold but Celestia pushed forward. No fog was going to stop her from getting to her sister. As she pushed her way through, parts of the mist would roil up to her face. A quick sniff made her cough. The fog smelled like rancid cake. She kept cantering on. Just when she was getting used to the dull sounding clunks of her hooves on the floor, the screams of pain started. At first, it was Luna’s cries Celestia heard. She began to gallop. “Luna, where are you?” All she got in reply were more agonized cries. More ponies screamed. Some of them she recognized. Fluttershy’s choking sobs, Rainbow Dash’s defiant but pained screams echoed down the endless halls Celestia galloped through. Rarity yelled. “Let me go, you-you intrusive thing!” Twilight Sparkle yelled, “P-princess Celestia please help us!” Even Discord cried for Celestia’s aid. Each scream and groan from ponies in agony tore at Celestia’s heart. She slowed down and stopped so she could find out where the voices were coming from while the green stinking fog swirled at her feet. And then there was silence. She looked around and attempted to brace herself for more horrors. After a few more moments, Celestia dragged her gold-armored hooves down another cavernous hall. A thought suggested that something was wrong, after decades, nay, centuries living in the castle, she should know her way around. Again she wondered why, everywhere she went, things seemed familiar and yet not. With a frown, Celestia focused on getting to Luna’s office. While she trotted, the silence seemed to press down on her like a overweight saddlebag. Then she heard Luna’s voice whisper, “Over here.” It seemed like her sister’s voice came from behind a door. For some reason, she hesitated. She didn’t know why. Finally, she pushed back her vague fears and opened the door slowly. Instead of her sister, there was inky-black darkness. Something about that made a chill race down her back. Her first impulse was to think of a spell to scan the room, but she couldn’t remember any spells. She shook her head as though that would bring some spells to mind. Some light spells surfaced, but that was it. A few moments passed while Celestia tried to convince herself that there was nothing but her sister in the room. Finally, she managed to regain her courage. “Luna, are you in here?” Celestia said. Her fear filled voice echoed. The total darkness made her hackles bristle. “Yes, come in and close the door,” Luna said in a strained voice. Something about the way her sister sounded bothered Celestia. She couldn’t put her hoof on it but there was something wrong. Then again, it was her sister and she needed help. A bit of anger surfaced in her mind. Celestia pawed at the floor. Her tolerance for stinking fogs and weird voices was gone. Whatever was in the darkness that wasn’t her sister was going to pay! She bared her teeth and strode angrily into the dark. The door closed behind her with an echoing boom. A bit of fear tried to rise in her mind but she shoved it back; keeping control was very important. She knew one thing that would help; light. A simple light spell would illuminate the room and help drive away the fear that kept threatening to make her lose her composure. Celestia quickly cast the spell. Nothing happened. She blinked. It was a simple spell, something that most first year unicorns at her school would know. Her mind began to swirl. No, she couldn't panic now. That would lead to other thoughts. Trying a more advance spell, she cast it. The darkness remained. She gulped and swallowed. The first spell she knew could be countered easily, but an advanced light spell? No, it would have at least manifested and flickered before failing. Her heart pounded a little heavier. Something was wrong. There was one thing she could try. The sun. She could pull enough power from it to light up the room in golden warmth. One mistake and the room would be engulfed in raging flames. Any counterspells that tried to deny her desire for light would fade away. A thought snaked in. What if there were no counterspells and it was her own weakness that made the spells fail. When the spells failed, she didn’t sense any counterspells. What sort of creature could break her spells and not be sensed? She pushed that thought away. This had to work. All she had to do was to reach for the reassuring heat and light that had been with her for millennia. Celestia focused and tried to pull the golden fire down to her. But nothing. She continued to search, continued to reach, yet she couldn’t feel the reassuring warmth that she had felt for millennia. It was gone as though it never was. The darkness pressed in on her like cold and heavy bedsheets. Again, fear arose in her mind and this time she struggled to push it back. It took a few moments before Celestia could think clearly. Then the thunder of hooves filled the room and she saw a green glow approach her. For a moment, Celestia wished she was elsewhere, but with a frown, she faced the oncoming ponies and creatures. Luna was the first pony to step out of the haze. Instead of her midnight-blue coat, it was greyish-brown like the poor guards she had to kill. Green eyes looked at Celestia coldly, while a grey-brown mane filled with green sparkles waved in an unfelt breeze. A sneer covered her corrupted sister’s face. “You were too late, Celestia.” Next, to Luna, Celestia’s favorite student was glaring at her. Twilight had a grey-brown coat and her purple eyes were now blazing-green filled with hate. Behind Luna and Twilight were other ponies with grey-brown coats. Celestia shook her head. “I tried to get to you as fast as I could!” Corrupted Luna sneered. “Too late now but I know one thing that could help.” Cut by her sister’s cold tone, Celestia stepped back. “What?” “Become one of us. It only hurts for a little bit.” Celestia shook her head. “No. I can fix you. I can fix all of you! Just give me some time.” Luna’s eyes narrowed and her ears went back on her head. “NO!” she said using the Canterlot Voice. A cold wave of power flung Celestia off of her hooves and through the air. She fell on her back and slid on the floor for a few moments. Her back burned while her mind churned. The last time Luna had used her Canterlot Voice against her was when she became Nightmare Moon. Images of that terrible night threatened to fill her mind but Celestia barely managed to keep her composure. Dismay filled her heart. She was powerless. Celestia tried to think of spells to use but none came to mind. Could she maybe talk to Luna and delay the inevitable for a bit? “Luna, why are you doing this to me?” “You have failed to protect me and the ponies under your care. You are lucky that I have a solution that will help you. Become one of us.” The ponies chanted “One of us!” Behind the chanting voices, something was banging on a door. Celestia swallowed and looked around. Above her was a large tendril, it began to grow toward her. The chanting grew louder as the tendril approached Celestia. She wanted to move but she couldn’t feel her body, it was like an insensate block of lead. In a few moments, the tendril would penetrate her body and start tearing her life away. It got closer and closer while the banging and chanting got so loud Celestia wanted to cover her ears. The green throbbing tendril got close enough to touch her white coat... Celestia flung herself to an upright position while screams died in her throat. Her bedroom was dark and the knocking made her hackles rise. She could barely concentrate on a basic light spell but she managed it. Her bedroom sprung into view as she tried to calm down. Slowly her racing heart slowed down enough for her to wheeze out “Wh- Who’s there?” “It’s me ‘Tia,” Luna replied. It took Celestia just a moment to light the candles and open the door using her telekinesis. Luna stepped in and rushed to Celestia’s bed. “You’re sweaty and the tent stinks of fear. Are you alright?” Luna asked, her ears and tail drooped. “No,” Celestia said. “How did you know I was having a terrible nightmare?” Luna looked away and back at Celestia. “I cast a dream-tracking spell on you. I came over as soon as I could when I felt the fear levels rise.” “Why?” “You’ve been yawning a lot lately. I’m sorry for violating your privacy, I chastised Margot, one of the alien ponies for doing something like this and now I’m doing it too.” I’m glad you’re monitoring my dreams. Maybe you can find out if they’re coming from Empress Razorhoof?” Luna nodded. “Maybe.” Celestia patted an area on the bed right next to her. “It will be like old times when we were young.” It took Luna just a moment to hop into bed. “Celestia, I know you may not want to hear this but it’s possible that these dreams are from you. You worry too much.” Celestia looked away again, her magenta eyes clouded with memories. “...so many ponies died before we escaped. Maybe I should have fought more?” Images of trusted friends and colleagues turned into monsters started to fill her mind. An almost limitless river of green light flowed through the streets. Celestia pushed the frightful scenes to the back of her mind. She looked back at Luna. “No ‘Tia. You fought enough. There were just too many. Even with all of your power, you couldn’t handle all of those monsters. We left before we were overwhelmed by the enemy.” Celestia frowned. “There is a lot to worry about. I have this feeling that another horseshoe is going to drop and we will be scrambling to defend ourselves.” Luna sighed. “Have you forgotten the prophetess? She warned us two months before the Gleaners came. I would’ve wanted more time, but two months is better than none. If more horseshoes are going to fall, she would tell us.” Celestia looked down. “I don’t know...” Luna waved her left forehoof. “Why? We’re doing pretty well. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have returned and the camp’s morale has risen.” “How do you know that?” “I’ve been able to sense more optimism in pony’s dreams and more ponies are smiling.” Celestia nodded. “Well, that’s good.” “We also have the help of alien ponies. Margot and I made an, um, anti-air system. If those foul shriekers come back, they will be blown apart.” Celestia remembered the first time she saw the shriekers. She remembered that day, it was warm and that added some melancholy. Orange late-afternoon sunshine covered the tents. This was the type of day she would try to spend some time in the gardens of Canterlot Castle. Maybe even sit in the rotunda of the southern gardens. For a moment, a small smile played around her lips. Those were wonderful times. The flowers and the company were the highlights of such days. Celestia pushed the thought away. Being sad because she would never go back to the gardens ever again was counter-productive. Almost everypony depended on her being strong and hopeful. Even if the Gleaners and their horrible empress were defeated tomorrow, she was quite sure that the lovely flowers and vegetation had succumbed to corruption. It would be her or somepony else’s task to destroy the travesties that probably grew there now. Her lost gardens were just another item on a tear stained list of things she missed. With a sigh, she focused on her guest in her tent, and not her feelings of loss. She looked at Rainbow Dash and resisted the urge to cry. Her red eyes looked a bit sunken in and her ribs were starting to show. Celestia knew that Rainbow wasn’t eating or sleeping well because of the loss of her friends in Cloudsdale and the destruction of their home weighed heavily on her. Rainbow peered at Celestia. “What?” “When was the last time you had a good meal and some sleep?” Rainbow waved her left fore-hoof dismissively. “I eat and sleep fine.” Celestia sighed. “Rainbow Dash, I can see your skeleton when I close my eyes.” Rainbow frowned. “Really? I’m not that skinny. Wait, you’re trying to tell me something, aren’t you?” Celestia laughed. “Yes, I am. You need to take care of yourself. If you don’t you won’t be able to do what matters.” Rainbow looked away from Celestia. “There’s so much to do. Eating and sleeping just gets in the way.” “Do I have to hire a pony to make sure you sleep and eat?” “I’m gonna need a herd for that. At night I can see the faces of my lost friends and those I sent to their deaths. This responsibility is so heavy. How do you handle it?” “I make sure I eat and get enough rest so I’m strong enough to handle my responsibilities. If you need help, don’t forget to ask me. After a few centuries, I might have some sort of a clue.” “Thanks—” Rainbow was interrupted by the alarm horns. “I knew they would attack. I gotta go.” She unfurled her wings and flew out the door. Celestia followed her into the air. In the west, a grey-brown cloud was moving toward the section where the different guilds had placed their tents. Heavy losses here would definitely cause a large loss of morale since the guilds were mostly responsible for keeping the refugee camp going. She didn’t want to think what would happen if the bakers and sanitation guilds were decimated. Celestia frowned, she knew she wasn’t going to like what she saw, but she needed to experience it first hoof. Below her, ponies were pointing to the cloud and yelling. Guards were moving in to help evacuate the civilians in the area. A few moments later, she was close enough to see more of the creatures Rainbow had called shriekers. They were greyish-brown ovals covered with spikes. Several flew over some tents and with a blast of green energy set them on fire. The sound made Celestia’s ears twitch. A pony ran out the burning tent and the shriekers vaporized it with another blast of energy. There was nothing left but a bloody mist. Then the shriekers continued their attacks. Rainbow looked back at Celestia. “Did you see that? I’m gonna make them pay! You should land. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Celestia frowned. “I’ll be alright. You go get them but be careful.” Rainbow nodded and flew off. Her speed burst caused a wave of air that roughly shoved Celestia back. She just flapped her wings and flew closer to the battlezone. On the ground, unicorn mages had created magical shields and other unicorns were casting fire spells at the shriekers. Burned and burning bits rained from the sky. Several pegasi were able to evade the invaders and kick some enemies, that either stunned or killed them. Then a blue blur flew in the middle of the shrieker swarm and exploded into a rainbow of colors. Celestia smiled. Sonic rainbooms were pretty effective against flying enemies. When the lights faded, there were just a few shriekers left that flew around in circles like they were dazed. That made it easier for changelings and pegasi to mop them up. She watched as healers and fire ponies galloped underneath her to put out fires and heal the wounded, but the flames from some of the burning tents were going out and unfortunately, the shriekers didn’t leave any wounded ponies. It seemed like there was little for them to do, Celestia, on the other hoof, had some work studying the enemy and coming with strategies to beat them. She compared gleaners and shriekers. Shriekers were weaker than gleaners because they could be hurt by physical attacks, but they had their own attacks while gleaners just drained ponies. Even though all of the attackers had been killed, Celestia could see that if more of these creatures attacked, the camp could be devastated. She didn’t want to think about what could happen if shriekers and gleaners attacked at the same time. “‘Tia?” With a jerk, Celestia’s mind returned to the bedroom and her concerned sister. “Sorry, I was remembering a shrieker attack. It would be good to see them destroyed.” “Also, Jerome is a master of mind magic. We could use his power against Empress Razorhoof. And we also have the help of the changelings.” Celestia huffed. “Not those creatures. I know that Queen Chr'YSalis is going to stick a knife in our backs as soon as it’s convenient.” Luna nodded. “Maybe? But she needs our help too. Maybe we can find a way to feed her brood without causing too much trouble here. Please don’t forget that we owe them for rescuing the prophetess. Most of the rescue team died.” Celestia looked away for a moment and back. “I don’t trust them.” “I agree, but we need their help. Princess Chr'Aya seems honorable and maybe with her help, we can give the changelings what they want.” Celestia nodded a bit. “Yes, Princess Chr'Aya seems alright, though her sister Princess Chr'Ida rubs me the wrong way. She reminds me too much of some grasping nobles I know. Thanks, I feel better. Maybe I’m worrying too much?” Luna shook her head. “No. Your worries are still valid. We do have to remain vigilant. Rarity and Twilight Sparkle are still missing. I’m confident that they will be found soon.” “Well, Luna, that seems to be everything.” “Good. I’ll get my mattress so I can sleep next to you. If you get another nightmare, I can sense it and maybe turn it into a regular dream. If it’s something from the empress, I will wake you.” “No need Luna, this bed is big enough for two.” “‘Tia, you thrash and kick while you sleep. I don’t need to wake up with bruises. My mattress is fine enough for me.” “Do you need help bringing in your mattress?” The bed creaked as Luna climbed off. “No, I am okay. Thank you for asking.” Celestia laid back and wondered what horrors the enemy was planning for them.