//------------------------------// // Chaos of Love 3. // Story: What Once Was // by Chocolate Pony //------------------------------// “Your majesty, you look stunning!” Celestia smiled slightly to herself in the mirror. Her royal clothing designer had just finished touching up her dress. Celestia donned a bright yellow gown with streaks of red running through it. Her mane had been decorated with red flowers. Her fur had been scrubbed, brushed, and doused in perfume. A bit too much to be frank. Celestia felt like she was gonna sneeze at any moment. How unladylike that would be! Especially in front of what would most likely become her husband. “You do l-like it? R-Right? We can change it if you want! I know it’s been a few hours and dinner is in less than one, but I’m sure his majesty wouldn’t mind if-“ Her designer scrambled for words. “Oh no! I love it! Nothing needs to be changed I assure you. I commend you for your hard work, Stitcher” Celestia replied, bowing her head towards him. “A-Any time, Princess! Really!” There it was again. Somepony afraid of her just because of her royal status. Admittedly she’d accepted this kind of behavior would never cease but it still upset her. Celestia hid her discomfort behind a bright smile, though, and made her leave of the royal dressing room. She was going to be hiding a lot of things behind a smile tonight. Including the fact that she was not at all looking forward to seeing her fiancé. He was a nice pony in all and he’d always been kind to her. But having a husband was an unappealing thought to her. Young she might be but desperate she was not. So why was it that the royal laws decreed a mare in charge of Equestria must at least try for a husband? It was honestly belittling. Celestia made her way to the castle dinning room doors, pausing before them. She inhaled deeply before signaling the guards to open them. They did so, bowing their heads as she passed. Once she’d entered, a red maned stallion looked up at her. He stood a few inches taller than her, had a steely gaze, but a kind heart beneath it. His fur was dark brown, in stark contrast to her alabaster white. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth upon seeing her. This reminded Celestia to put on her own trademark face as she approached. “I’m terribly sorry for keeping you waiting, Prince Fallsworth. The grooming process was longer than intended. I do hope you weren’t inconvenienced” Celestia said. “Not at all, Princess. Time is thing us Alicorns have a lot of. A few hours doesn’t mean much when you have forever” He replied. They bowed to one another before taking their respected seats at the table. Which of course involved Celestia being at one end and him at the other. Whoever had determined ponies needed to sit so far away from each other at a dinner table had to be one of the most antisocial ponies of all time! It annoyed Celestia greatly knowing she’d be spending the next hour or so practically shouting to Fallsworth. As dinner was laid out before the two by the servants, Celestia took a moment to look around. She quickly noted that the seat next to her was painfully absent of a certain mare. “Will Luna be joining us tonight?” Celestia asked one of the maids who was setting her plate. “Sorry, your majesty. But she has complained of a stomach ache and has chosen to remain in her room till morn” The maid replied. Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She ALWAYS had a stomach ache. One that convinently enough showed up whenever the two were supposed to do anything remotely social together. The gap between the two sisters grew wider everyday. The part of her that wasn’t occupied within the memories Discord had forced her into, knew it would eventually have dire consequences. Such that would change both their lives forever. Her own stomach twisted with a dull pain at the fact. “So, Princess Celestia. What have you been up to as of late?” Prince Fallsworth asked. Celestia started slightly but quickly recovered herself. “Mostly tending to the ponies. They are making much progress with one another. Building homes, families, in general, lives, together. It warms my heart greatly to see such unity between my little ponies.” This was very true. The ponies were branching out into new territories. Finding places to settle and to cultivate. Equestria has become a gift that just kept on giving. Blessing it’s ponies for their hard work and perseverance. “That is wonderful to hear. You do well for your subjects. Tell me though, how are the spells working out?” “What spells?” “You know. The ones Starswirl the Bearded has been speaking of lately. He says they may have found a way to learn about creatures from different realms. Creatures that were never meant to exist in our world. Is this true?” Fallsworth asked, taking a bite of his salad. Celestia contemplated on wether or not to respond. Starswirl hadn’t gone into too many details about the spells he had managed to conjure. Nor exactly what he had learned doing so. This was why she afraid to say for sure. He was usually very open with her but if he had been reluctant to tell her everything this meant one of two things. 1. He didn’t know much about it himself and therefore he held back from giving a full explanation. 2. He knew something that was too dangerous to share with others. Celestia swallowed hard at the likely hood of it being the second option. “I do not know much, dear Fallsworth. And what little I do know is not of great enough importance to share” Celestia finally replied. Fallsworth raised an eyebrow at this. He opened his mouth as though he was going to ask something, but then quickly shut it. He then nodded in silent agreement, continuing to eat in silence. Celestia did the same, but her mind already knew what he was going to ask. Do you know of any creatures who might have been brought into our world? Celestia did not want to answer that, nor even think about it. So she changed the subject after a while. They spoke of trivial matters. Or at least what is considered trivial amongst royalty. Fallsworth had just been in the middle of telling a story from when he was young, one she sadly enough found highly boring, when Celestia almost choked on her tea. Unbeknownst to Fallsworth, the tea kettle next to him had begun filling his mug with a sickening green liquid. His knife had raised itself up and began making stabbing gestures in the direction of a couple spoons, which were huddling in fear. A lone slice of cake not too far from his right hoof suddenly split in half, revealing icing fangs. It leaned closer to his right hoof, on the verge of chomping down. “Prince Fallsworth!” Celestia yelped suddenly. All of the inanimate objects that had been given life froze. Returning to their natural, immovable, states. Fallsworth however had jumped at her sudden shout, causing him to knock over the tea kettle which promptly splashed a sickly green liquid all over him. “I’m so terribly sorry! I saw a..uh...spider and though it best to warn you. I did not mean to startle you so” Celestia apologized, rising from her seat and rushing to his side. “Oh it’s quite alright. Allow me a moment to clean myself up. You have a restroom nearby, right?” Fallsworth asked. “Yes it’s down the hall, to the left, and then the right. I’ll have Frosty Mug show you the way.” She called to her servant of said name and had him guide the prince to the bathroom. All while trying to dry the unusual stain from his jacket. Once they had left Celestia glared around the room. She spotted a current that looked a bit...discolored. Casually trotting over, she turned her back to it before kicking it with all her might. “Ouch!” A familiar voice cried out. “What was that for!?” “For disrupting my date!” Celestia shouted. “Oh is that what this was? I was so bored I figured you just wanted to make yourself miserable for an hour and a half.” The discolored half of the curtain turned into the form of Discord. His yellow-red eyes gazing mischievously upon her. He gave her his traditional toothy grin as he snaked his lion paw around her neck. “I thought green was a lovely color for him. Really suits his personality. Utterly repulsive” Discord explained, grinning with pure delight. “You don’t even know him” Celestia growled in response. “And you do? Tell me, beneath his somewhat attractive exterior what do you really know about him? What’s his favorite food? What music does his like? Does he like long walks on the beach or picnics in the park? Does he like cotton candy?” Discord asked, a look of disinterest on his face. “None of those things matter. We’re two leaders who could potentially rule a kingdom alongside each other” Celestia replied. She moved out from under Discord’s arm, turning her back towards him. She had begun walking away when his face appeared in front of hers. He hovered over her, gazing into her eyes intently. “Fine. I’ll do you one better. Does he love you?” Celestia mentally froze. Love. A quality any and all should have regardless of wether it was romantic or not. If it was romantic it was regarded as a privilege. Something so many ponies strived for but fell just short of obtaining or maintaining. Celestia had always been one of those ponies who thought she could maybe have that. One day. But who with? She had no idea. “I-I don’t know” Celestia answered honestly. “And yet you’re considering spending the rest of your life with him? Did you snort something resembling those flowers on your head?” Discord teased. Celestia shook her head in disdain, glaring at him resentfully. “What’s it to you? You wouldn’t know anything about being loved. Nopony loves you.” The air in the room suddenly went ice cold with Celestia’s words. She’d scarcely realized what she said when regret crawled up her gut like a demon attempting to escape. Discord’s face lost its usual playful look. It was replaced with a pain Celestia could not grasp. An anger she’d never feel. An emptiness she’d never know. But for a brief moment, there was also a hint of...longing. As though there was something he wanted but knew within his very soul he could never have. Discord snapped his fingers, disappearing from sight. An apology died on Celestia’s lip as he did so. Just then the doors to the dining room opened. Prince Fallsworth stroud in, wiping the remaining traces of the mystery liquid from himself. “Sorry I took so long, Princess. This stuff was harder to get out then I-“ He froze mid sentence. He asked the question she herself did not want to answer. For she knew it would be so. “Princess Celestia, have you been crying?” ********* Later that night, long after Prince Fallsworth has made his leave, Celestia climbed into her bed. She blew out the candle on her nightstand, rolling onto her side. Celestia gazed out her window at the night sky. Luna’s moon was so bright and beautiful. If only more ponies got to enjoy it. As sleep began to claim her, she could’ve sworn she felt a presence whisper something to her. ”Like he said, ‘Time doesn’t mean much when you live forever.’ But be asured, Celestia, it will matter who you spend it with. And who you don’t.”