They returned to the audience chamber, which was already full of waiting petitioners, muttering worriedly amongst themselves. Celestia ascended the dais, shadowed closely and watchfully by Luna. The Chief Steward called for order, and for attendance to the words of her Highnesses Celestia and Luna.
Celestia stood forth on the dais, smiled at her subjects, and spoke.
"Before we proceed with the Afternoon Court, we have an announcement. It is our decision that, as the Elder Sister, we should assume a larger role in our co-rulership. Actually it is one we have already held for some time." She smirked at Luna. "This role is deserving of a special title... thus, it is our proclamation that henceforth we shall be addressed as Queen Celestia, and shall rule all Equestria in our own name... aided of course by the excellent advice of our regal second, Princess Luna!"
In the silence that followed, the crash of an armored hoof on the stone dais was a thunderous explosion. "We do NOT concur!" Luna glared contemptuously at Celestia. "This high-handed, unilateral decree-making shall cease! Now! Thou hast overstepped thy authority, Sister!"
Celestia looked askance at her. "Come now, Luna. Such disloyalty is not like thee at all. We are merely formalizing the arrangement that has been in existence for years!"
Luna's eyes went wide in disbelief. "The only arrangement we recognize is the equal jurisdiction of our thrones! Thou accuses us of disloyalty? The very nerve! Do not test us on this point, Sister!"
"Thou wouldst actually set thyself against us?" Celestia looked moderately amused by the idea.
Luna's head lowered. Her horn sang with power. "Just try us!"
"Well!" Celestia shook her head. "If it's open combat you desire, Sister, we had best arm ourselves for it!"
A wash of fire swept over Celestia. And flame-orange armor appeared: a rugged harness over her chest and barrel, dagger-like shoes, edge guards on her pinions, and a viciously-spiked crown encircling her head. And her eyes glared from beneath the crown, dark, sunken, and vicious. She grinned in anticipation, baring knife-edged fangs.
And then she threw back her head and laughed insanely.
"What's the matter, Sister? No stomach for a real challenge?"
For Luna had taken a half-step backward, the gleam of her horn fading and extinguishing, her eyes wide in shock.
She wasn't the only one. Starlight stared in horror at Celestia's armored form. It was all too familiar, exactly like the image from her dream... "Daybreaker!" she whispered.
She looked around for Twilight, who was no longer standing beside her. She found that Twilight had backed away, bumping into a nearby column and collapsing helplessly against it, staring in wordless horror at the grinning monster on the dais.
"No, no, no! Not Celestia!" Twilight finally said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Twilight! Are you all right?"
"No, I'm not!" Twilight shook her head, at a loss. "This must be why the map sent you to help the Princesses instead of me, Starlight. I'd never have been able to deal with seeing her like this... I'd have been a basket case!"
"Don't sell yourself short! Most of the time I was flat on my face, bawling my eyes out because I thought I'd failed." She looked up at the dais, where Celestia and Luna were still glaring at each other like a pair of gunfighters, each waiting for the other to make a move.
Trixie had been staring at Celestia as well, but in awed amazement. She finally looked round, and then hurried over. "Did you see that, Starlight?" she shook Starlight's shoulder excitedly. "Now that's a transfiguration spell! I gotta find out how she does that!"
"Trixie! Not helping! Focus!" Starlight shook her head, annoyance warring with outright panic. "We need to figure out what to do about this."
"What can we do?" Twilight asked, hopelessly. "We can't interfere in this! This is what actually happened!"
And then something even worse happened. Princess Luna... simply turned away. Then she raced down the stairs on her side of the dais, took wing over the crowd, and vanished in a flash of teleportation. All that remained was a fading glow in the air.
Celestia looked as if she felt cheated. "Awww... we were looking forward to settling a score or two with our dear Sister!"
Seeing that Luna was not a concern for the present, she swung around to the astonished guards, clerks, and petitioners. As one, the crowd inched back nervously.
"Calm thyselves, my little ponies!" Celestia said, in a tone achingly close to her normal, comforting, reassuring voice. "Thou hast nothing to fear from us. And the best is yet to come! Now -- attend us!" And she swept down the steps, through the clerks who scuttled out of her way, past the guards who had encircled the throne in confusion, and down the length of red carpet towards the rear doors, drawing the stunned crowds after her like a magnet.
Twilight and the others followed, but owing to the crush of guards, staff, and subjects who were all moving to follow Celestia, they were forced to fall behind, and only managed to catch up when Celestia had strode out onto the broad tiled patio outside the palace's main entrance.
"Now, observe!" Celestia called, her horn charging with power, so that it shimmered and crackled with fire. "We shall demonstrate the power by which we claim our new title!"
She tossed her head high, and a blazing arc of light flashed skyward. It spread out into a massive glow in the hot, burning sky overhead. And out of the glow, features steadily resolved, immense and imposing. It was Celestia's armored face, her wings spread out about her, her forehoof raised in triumph at the scale and scope of her capabilities.
It was the very image of her -- literally so. The projected image moved and turned as Celestia herself did. It was an extension of herself, of her near-boundless power, on display across the entire land.
WE ARE QUEEN CELESTIA! she cried out, in the Royal Voice, and her words echoed across the courtyard, across the hillside, and across the entirety of the realm beyond. WE DECLARE OURSELVES SOLE RULER OF ALL EQUESTRIA! LET ANY WHO WOULD CHALLENGE US GAZE UPON OUR MAJESTY AND POWER... AND RECONSIDER!
Twilight stared up at Celestia's face. She shook her head helplessly.
"This can't be... it just can't be!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Some ponies find solace in hard work. Some in flying so fast the worries are left miles behind. Some in a tub of mint-chip ice cream -- and if that doesn't do it, the next one is certain to, dahling. Some throw a party, on the theory that if everyone else is laughing, it will be hard not to do so along with them. And some hug a bear.
Twilight's method was simple: study. Reading, and then writing. Industry. Put the hooves to work, and the mind will follow! As grim as things seemed, she told herself, she was here to do a job: to capture what had happened for the benefit of history. And by Celestia... She winced at the thought, but didn't correct herself... That's what I'm going to do!
She set herself to tail Celestia, as she strutted about the castle, fiercely snapping out orders for its redecoration in her new, flame-bright colors. Far from being rejected, Celestia's tyrannical orders and demonstrations of strength had made her even more popular with her subjects -- at least, those who crowded around her, vying for her favor. And anyone else simply tried hard not to bring themselves to her attention. Even the guards cautiously trotted around after her, not sure if they were supposed to be guarding her, or guarding everypony else from her.
Thankfully, so far no one had tried to stand up to her, to challenge her outright. But that wouldn't last forever. Sooner or later ponies were going to get hurt, one way or another. That sky outside -- it was like the worst, most record-breaking hot summer day ever. That couldn't be good for the farms, forests, and animals that Equestria depended upon for its resources. To say nothing of the ponies who did the work farming and gathering... she desperately hoped they were alright out there...
Twilight shook her head. Focus, she told herself firmly. Watch Celestia closely. There must be something you haven't considered, some way that she could be brought back to her senses. Something that can help everypony!
But even if I find that answer, Twilight realized, I can't do anything with it! I can't change the past! I just have to hope they see it as well!
Grimly, she continued to follow Celestia, mentally cataloguing events, planning to write it all up when she got back home.
She heard a clattering of hooves behind her, and turned to find Starlight and Trixie hurrying to rejoin her.
"We checked around, like you asked," Starlight said. "And frankly I'm disgusted. I mean really! Nobody's talking about how to put a stop to this. The nobles are all talking about the best way to curry favor with the new and improved Queen Celestia! They're commissioning artworks and decorations, planning Galas and garden parties they can invite her to! They're watching Equestria go down the drain and not lifting a hoof to stop it!"
Trixie nodded. "I checked around the kitchens and the staff rooms. And it's even worse there! Sounds like the common pony doesn't much care what Celestia does. She could go bouncing down the middle of street on a pogo stick! As long as they're kept safe from invaders, and they know who to send their taxes to so they don't get in trouble, they could care less who runs the country and what they choose to do with it."
"That image in the sky, though!" Twilight pointed out. "That's got to scare them."
"Nope!" Trixie shook her head. "Weirdly enough, most of them find it reassuring! They don't mind her watching them like that, so long as she's watching everyone else too. It's like, they think they're special, so they don't have to worry that she could turn against them. They're just waiting and hoping to see her turn against somepony else... somepony they dislike!"
Starlight nodded in agreement. "That's one thing the new Celestia has, for certain. She's got charisma!"
"Is it just charisma, though?" Twilight asked. "Or is this part of Daybreaker's abilities: the power to control and pacify her subjects by sheer force of will?"
"I haven't felt anything like that," Starlight observed. "Though that could be due to the time-lensing spell... in a very real sense, we're not actually here."
"And right now I almost wish I wasn't!" Twilight frowned. "I've been following Celestia around, listening in on the scrolls she's been receiving from the countryside... and she's already receiving letters and gifts from suitors! I mean, what the hay? Some idiot ponies are seeing that hideous face leering at them from the sky... and then sending her love letters?"
"Takes all kinds, I suppose," Starlight agreed.
"And you should see her when they're read to her, praising her strength and beauty! You'd think she was married to that hoof-mirror she keeps close to her so she can smirk at herself!"
Trixie had wandered over to a window, and was staring through it, at Celestia's image in the sky, occasionally turning to compare it with the real Celestia standing a short distance away. "You've got to hand it to her," she said, mostly to herself. "That is one ace of an illusion! I mean, putting your face on the entire sky? If I could pull off something like that, it would be better than the best poster-and-hoofbill marketing campaign ever! I'd have every pony in the world crowding in to see my act!"
"Trixie!" Starlight yelled. "What is the matter with you? This is serious! Will you please give it a rest with wanting to learn a new trick for your show!"
Trixie swung to look at her, startled. And the show-pony's face suddenly plummeted from gleeful cynicism to cowed misery. So much so that, despite her anger, Starlight went over to her friend and hugged her reassuringly.
"I'm sorry, Starlight!" Trixie finally said. "Things are bad, I get it. But, well... this is just how I cope! Whenever things get really bad I fall back on planning stuff for my next show. Because in the past whenever things got really bad, my show... well, it was all I had!"
"I know, Trix." Starlight said. "And I'm sorry I yelled. This whole thing has got me on edge, too. I keep feeling like I'm somehow responsible for it all, just knowing about it, even though there's no way I could be. And my coping mechanism has always been going off and doing something stupidly over-the-top with my magic. Ha! Can't get away with doin' that anymore!"
The two of them shared a laugh at that.
The moment was interrupted by the arrival of an out-of-breath guard pony.
"Your Highness! Come quickly, there's --"
"Calm yourself, you quivering foal!" Celestia sneered at him. "There is nothing you need fear... save my wrath at your lack of proper decorum!"
The guard took a moment to catch his breath, and came to attention.
"My... Queen... there is a delegation here, demanding to speak with your Highness."
"Demanding?" Celestia laughed delightedly. "How rich! What sort of delegation? Whence from?"
"From the Dragonlands, my Queen!"
Celestia actually looked astonished by that. "Already? Quick off the mark, aren't they? But perhaps that whelp of theirs that I saw off yesterday went crawling back to his own kind for help. All the better!"
Wheeling about, she strode after the guard pony as he led the way down to the main entrance and out into the courtyard.
Facing them were not one but three full-grown dragons: one with green scales and golden spines, another with jet-black scales and gleaming crimson eyes, and in the middle, a third who was much larger than the others, stone-gray in coloring with ram-like curling horns. He strongly resembled a looming, fuming volcano.
"WE HAVE HEARD TELL OF A POWERFUL PONY," the gray dragon rumbled. "WHO DARES SET HER MISERABLE MAGIC AGAINST THE MIGHT OF DRAGONKIND. BRING FORTH THIS PRINCESS OF THE PONIES!"
Celestia flung her wings wide, and her image in the sky did likewise.
"Spineless wyrms! Thou camest seeking a Princess! And thou hast found a Queen! Make no demands here, or be sent home with wounds to remember us by!"
"WE LIKE A CHALLENGE!" The dragon bellowed with laughter. "PROVE THAT THOU ART EVEN A DISTRACTION!"
Celestia glanced around at her subjects. And laughed. "Well... he did ask for it!"
Her horn blazed. And an invisible hand grabbed each of the dragons by the throat, and brought their heads smashing down onto the stone tiling of the patio. The huge creatures struggled crossly, their claws scarring the stone, their tails flailing madly. But they might as well have been nailed to the ground, as Celestia strode forward to stand eye to eye with the large gray dragon.
"Now," she said chattily, "thou hast a choice! We can immediately open peaceful, cooperative diplomatic relations... starting with thy so-called 'Dragon Lord' swearing an oath of fealty and non-aggression to the Throne of Equestria! Or..." She paused, giving the dragon a gleefully unpleasant look. "Well... let's just say thou really doesn't want to know what the other option is!"
"RELEASE US, PONY! OR YOUR LANDS WILL BURN BENEATH THE FLAMING WRATH OF ALL DRAGONKIND!"
"Oh, do not speak to us of flame or wrath, wyrm! Lest we show thee what the words truly mean!"
Celestia threw herself into the air. And became the Sun itself, blazing fierce and implacable above the pinned dragons.
LAST CHANCE! The Voice seemed to come from the sky itself. OR THIS DAY SHALL BE THE LAST FOR ALL DRAGONKIND!
The dragons ceased their struggling, finally getting the message, their eyes wide in fright.
"Highness!"
The blinding light suddenly winked out, and Celestia hovered in the air again. "What is it now?" She glared fiercely at the guard who had spoken. "Canst thou not see we are delivering an ultimatum here?"
"Er... my apologies, my Queen, but look!"
Celestia looked to the sky where the guard was pointing. "Oh my!" She sounded decidedly pleased. "It looks like... it is! A flight of Griffons, come to pay their own diplomatic call! Ha! Now we are talking!"
She gazed down at the pinned dragons.
"Take a moment to think about it!" she advised them.
And then she launched into the air, heading straight for the center of the Griffon wing.
It wasn't possible to hear the exchange, but it was pretty clear what the result was. The Griffons swung round about Celestia, preparing to attack. And Celestia simply waved a hoof in a circle. The air around her became a vast whirling, blazing maelstrom, a hurricane of light and vicious wind, which tossed the Griffons about like rag dolls, knocking many of them out of the sky altogether.
Celestia grabbed two of the remaining Griffons with her magic, and then flew back down to land on the patio again. Her prisoners landed roughly on the stone tiles before her, pinned as the dragons still were.
"Now, emissaries of the Griffon lands, we are a fair-minded monarch! So we shall make thee the same offer we have made the dragons..." She lowered her head to grin evilly at the leader of the Griffons.
SURRENDER... OR ELSE!
"Ahem."
Everyone turned to look at the stern figure who had just trotted out of the open doors of the palace, with a jingling of bells from his hat and cloak. It was Star Swirl the Bearded.
"I think," he said softly, with an implacable edge to his voice, "that this has gone on quite long enough, your Majesty."
She didn't even turn to face him, just glanced at him over her shoulder.
"Oh, really? And what do you plan to do about it?"
"It's not what I'm going to do," he said, unruffled. "It's what you're going to do, isn't it? Come now, Celestia! This really isn't you. This isn't the Princess I've come to honor and respect... the calm, sensible ruler who can be counted on to make the right decisions, and to know what her limits are. End this now, before it goes any further!"
"Oh, you are so right, old friend!" Celestia said, coming about.
Her magic lashed out.
And there was a stone statue of Star Swirl, wearing a very surprised look, standing before the entrance to the palace.
Celestia stared at the statue, as if amazed she had gotten away with it. And then she threw back her head and laughed -- long and loud and utterly insane.
"Is there anyone else?" She finally demanded, when she'd caught her breath. "Anyone else to challenge our power and authority to rule? Anyone else to be subdued and brought to heel?"
She looked around. "No? No one?" She pouted. "How disappointing!" Then she turned back to her prisoners, fangs bared in a mad grin.
"Now where were we? What were we discussing? Ah, yes, we remember... TOTAL CAPITULATION!"
And this time it was Twilight who turned away.... and then ran off, as fast as her hooves could take her, unable to bear it any longer.