Thirty Minute Ponies

by Arcainum


Remade Promises

Prompt #41: Celestia Remembers



It is cold. So cold that it hurts. The wind is a blade that cuts to the bone, and it is an effort even to move.

She sniffs, and the acrid stench of a burning city fills her nostrils. Against her better judgement, she looks over her shoulder and sees the green-tinged flames lick at the empty sky. The raging blizzard does nothing to stem the inferno as it slowly consumes everything that she once held dear.

She strains her ears and... yes, they are still screaming. The sound is barely audible over the howl of the whirling snow, but the dying still make themselves known. But above all else sounds the call of the windigoes, the mournful screech of frozen harbingers triumphant.

The truce had failed. Unicorns had grown proud, and insisted their abilities be worshipped. The earth ponies had been stubborn, refusing to grow the food that all ponies needed and only they could provide. And the bitter pegasi had ensured that they never could. As three races clashed in ancient rivalry, townships burned in magical flame, while neither sun nor moon illuminated the barren ground that had not seen rain for years.

She hears a muffled curse, and turns to fully face the distant flames. Her sister has tripped, catching her hooves on a lumpen shadow beneath her. The dead half-light that passes for illumination these days outlines the body of a pegasus, its wings tattered and spread wide. Its vacant eyes stare into the vacant sky with something that looks like sadness.

She wonders whether it died wishing things were different, or if it never knew they could be. All around, Equestria burns itself to death from within even as it freezes from without, until nothing will remain but silent twilight.

She meets her sister’s eyes and in that moment, standing above the corpse of a pony whose name they never knew, they make their decision.

Ponies have forgotten who they are, and what they were. Once, the three races cast aside their hatred and sang together as they built a kingdom the likes of which the world had never seen. They stood before the dangers of the world, fought them back together, and emerged as friends.

But that friendship has been forgotten. Their friendship was a light, the light that guided Equestria through the darkest of times, but now the kingdom is blind.

Her sister nods. They will remind them.

She tenses, and takes a deep breath. This will require all of her power. She lets the magic flow through her, bringing the pain of exertion with it. Tears run down her cheeks as she grits her teeth and crosses the line she swore she would never cross. Wisps of rainbow magic waft lazily from her surroundings and merge with her growing aura, Equestria’s ambient magic itself repurposed to her great task. The grass shrivels at her feet, and the murdered pony’s body crumbles to dust - a sacrifice she prays it would have been willing to make. Her mane shimmers as it changes colour and begins to billow against the rising wind, streaking behind her like the tail of a pastel comet.

The magic reaches its peak, and something deep within her changes. She is no longer simply a pony. She is a retaken responsibility, an example, a beacon to follow. She can stand it no more, and she releases the spell. Her sister smiles. It will be her turn soon.

They will remind them.

~

Celestia stopped, and stared at the wall of her pupil’s room. The only sound was the soft breathing of the young Twilight Sparkle lying in her tiny bed, long since carried into sleep by the tale. Shaking herself free of the memory, Celestia looked down at her student and smiled. A single ray of moonlight pierced the curtains of the room, casting a silver warmth over the one who would bring together the closest friends Equestria would ever know. Celestia kissed Twilight’s cheek lovingly, and whispered the end of her story.

“And that, Twilight Sparkle... is when I first raised the sun.”