Monsters
By Sharpe Quill
Prologue: The Source
Princess Celestia was breathing heavily. Sweat coated her neck and sides, her wings hung drooping at her sides almost to the ground, and her bright pink mane hung limply beneath a golden tiara. She had never felt as tired as she did at that moment. She stared wearily up at the one who had caused her and her sister, not to mention all the poor ponies in Equestria, so much pain and suffering.
Even in defeat, Discord couldn’t help but taunt them. In his final moments before the power of the Elements of Harmony had sealed him in stone, he had taken a grandiose pose, eagle claw thrust up and outward, head thrown back as though in song. A final act of defiance. The statue smoked slightly but gave off no heat.
Celestia tried to calm her breathing, but it was a difficult task. The magic required had been greater than any she had ever experienced. She could feel the trembling form of her younger sister huddled at her side, shaking in fear and exhaustion. She turned to look at Luna, and sympathy overcame her. Celestia wished there had been a way she could have spared her sister this, but even with all her awesome power, Celestia alone was unable to wield the Elements to their full potential, and nothing less would have been enough to handle Discord. She had needed Luna for this, and Luna needed her now. She would break down later, when there was nopony around to see.
“Shhh,'tis alright now, Luna,” she whispered soothingly, nuzzling her sister’s mane gently.
The small figure peaked out from behind her to stare at the new statue. “Is… is he gone?”
Celestia extended her wing out and drew her younger sister into an embrace. “Yes. He is gone. We have prevailed.” She forced a smile on her face. “Truly We are proud of thee, sister.”
Luna seemed to relax at the praise, managing a tremulous smile of her own. But then her eyes closed and she sighed in weariness. “I am so tired, Celly.”
Celestia could relate. The Elements’ power was not free. She felt as though she could sleep for years. She knew that she couldn’t, not yet. There was too much to do.
Celestia and Luna stood in what had once been their castle, their home. When Discord had first appeared, he had taken great pleasure in turning the palace upside down. Literally. The thrones were on the ceiling and a chandelier somehow hung upwards not thirty paces behind them, the fire that flickered along their wicks gave off darkness instead of light, literally casting shadows about the room. The windows had been broken during the confrontation and fluffy pink clouds could just barely be seen outside zooming about manically.
She suddenly realized that she was lying down, right there on the “ceiling.” Odd, she didn’t remember moving at all. But since she was already lying down, and since the danger had passed, surely it would be alright for her to close her eyes and relax. Just for a second.
She felt the steady deep breathing of her sister pressed against her, beneath her outstretched wing. Her sister was safe, her subjects were safe, Equestria was safe. She’d earned a moment of respite, to relax. She closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, after what couldn’t have been more than a second, she was looking directly into the brilliant blue eyes of a dark violet unicorn mare with a silver mane, one of the her closest friends and advisors named Moonbeam. The weary alicorn was startled by the sudden vision so close to her face but carefully held it in check, allowing no reaction whatsoever to show on the outside. She calmly looked into those sparkling blue eyes and smiled.
“Thou hast done it, Princess!” the unicorn exclaimed happily. “Discord is gone! He is truly gone!”
Celestia gently shushed her friend before whispering, “Our dear sister is still weary from her ordeal, We would that she could rest for some time yet.” She raised her wing slightly, presenting the midnight blue form still sleeping soundly.
“Of course, Princess,” Moonbeam whispered, all serious once again. She ducked her head. “But there is much yet to be done.”
Celestia closed her eyes wearily but nodded. “Very well. Wouldst thou please take Princess Luna to a safe place where she may sleep in peace?”
“As thou command, Princess,” the unicorn responded, ducking her head again.
Celestia carefully enveloped the sleeping form of her sister in a golden nimbus of magic, lifting her up and placing her gently on Moonbeam’s back. Luna squirmed but didn’t wake. Moonbeam trotted away, careful to not disturb her precious burden. Celestia watched them leave before turning her attention to her surroundings.
The Great Hall was back as it was supposed to be, the correct way up and with everything back to obeying gravity. Luckily, the switch had not seemed to disturb them, and Celestia was now lying on the floor. Outside the still-broken windows, naught but fluffy white clouds were visible. The sky had the rosy blush of evening, and she realized with a small pang of guilt that she had slept through the scheduled sunset.
At once her long horn was enveloped in a halo of golden light and she focused her will on the arduous task of allowing the sun to slip into its nightly slumber while at the same time gently pulling the moon above the horizon and into the sky. It took significantly more effort than it normally did. She realized then just how much the fight had taken out of her. She shuddered to think about how much it must have taken out of her sister, even though she had purposely shielded the worst of it from her.
Ugh, she needed a bath. And a grooming. And maybe a nice cloud to sleep on.
No. Unfortunately, Moonbeam was correct, there was still much that needed to be done. She had an eternity to catch up on her sleep. She forced herself to stand.
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The following day, Princess Celestia found herself in a meeting room surrounded by Moonbeam and eleven other advisors, mostly unicorns but with a few earth and pegasus ponies in attendance. The room itself had taken significant damage in the preceding months during Discord’s reign of terror, but it was serviceable. The council was discussing the aftereffects of said reign and how to handle the cleanup. Rain Fall, an orange pegasus mare with a light blue mane, was reading from a report.
“The effects of Discord’s magic have already begun to fade away throughout the country,” she said, “but it is strangely… selective.”
“In what way?” asked one of the unicorns.
Rain Fall studied her notes quickly. “It would appear that the majority of the superficial changes have been self-rectifying, however the deeper changes seem to be more resilient. Maybe even permanent. For example: all the buildings are correctly seated, the grass is green again, the clouds rain water. In short, nature is returning to its proper state.”
“But?” prompted Moonbeam from her place next to Celestia.
“But the animals for the most part have not.”
“What d’you mean? ‘For the most part’?” asked Rocky Road, a brown and white stallion with an unfortunate pink mane. “Is they or isn’t they?”
Rain Fall sighed. “Some have. At the moment we’re not sure why, but it almost seems as though Discord twisted some poor critters just as one of his sick jokes while others seem to have been more planned out. These latter creatures have spawned their own cruel offspring, equally twisted. Take these for instance: There are reports of a type of creature that seems to be a mix of a chicken and a dragon whose stare can turn ponies to stone. Or these so-called manticores, which are like big lions with wings and some kind of nasty stinger for a tail. All in all, it isn’t pretty. What’s worse, they seem to be spreading quickly.”
“Canst they not be killed?” asked Baron Blueblood.
Celestia winced very slightly. She hated the very thought of killing any creature, no matter how dangerous it may be. But she also recognized the incredible danger such creatures posed to her ponies.
Rain Fall didn’t seem to notice the princess’ discomfort. “It seems as though they can. Even when Discord was at his full strength, the creatures were mortal enough. The bigger problem is the progenitors.”
“Hold up a tic. The what now?” interrupted Rocky Road, a stalwart pony to be sure, but simple as they came.
“She means the creatures from which they all spawned,” explained a rose colored unicorn mare with a blue mane, appropriately named Rose, with a slight air of annoyance.
“Then why didn’t she just say so in the first place?” snapped Rocky Road.
“She did!”
“Well she didn’t need to be so hoity-toity about it!”
The two glared at each other across the narrow table. Feeling they were getting off track, Celestia coughed lightly. “Please, please, now is not the time. Rose, thy husband merely desired clarification.”
Both ponies blushed and backed down.
“Please continue, Rain Fall,” Celestia said, in the same gentle voice.
Rain Fall coughed. “Yes, well. The original creatures seem to be immortal. Any attempts to kill them have failed. Magic can slow them down but they’re remarkably resilient. The few times we’ve managed to hurt them before, they just seem to get back up. But with Discord gone, it is possible that they are now vulnerable.”
“How many of these ‘progenitors’ are there?” asked Moonbeam.
“Maybe two dozen. We’ve been keeping tabs on them, trying to make sure nopony runs afoul of them. They don’t seem to have any specific motivation, they just tend to wander. This is not counting the one you somehow befriended, Princess.” Rain Fall inclined her head towards Celestia.
Celestia smiled at the mention of her multi-headed friend. She and Luna had managed to get on the good side of one of the larger creatures that Rain Fall was talking about, and it had been their friend ever since. Although feeding all of its heads was something of a hassle.
“Well, if we can’t kill them? Then what?” asked the other earth pony in the group.
There was silence around the meeting table as each pony mulled the problem over. Finally, Celestia rose to her hooves, towering over the others. “A prison,” she said.
A series of murmured agreements spread throughout the ponies assembled around her. Celestia continued, “We know of such a place. And We believe that with Our magic, coupled with the threat of Cerberus, these creatures will be contained and pose no further threat to Equestria. What say thee all?”
Almost immediately there was a chorus of “Ayes” from the gathered ponies accompanied by short round of hoof stomping.
Moonbeam looked troubled however, and looked up at her friend and ruler. “But what if they get out?” she whispered, her words intended only for Celestia.
Celestia closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. She whispered back, “Pray that they do not.”
********************
~ 2000 years later
“Oh no!”
“What’s the big deal? It’s just a lost dog flyer.”