//------------------------------// // The Three Princesses // Story: Journey to My Imagination // by DeiStar //------------------------------// Chapter 14: The Three Princesses ***** “Final battle?” Lauren looked at Celestia. There was not a single spark of doubt on her face. She didn’t seem to be joking, either. However, she couldn’t help but think she was inside some sort of game, and that now it was time for the final fight. “Give up already, there’s no way out.” Celestia shook her head. “You’ve struck me with all kinds of spells, yet, here I am, standing on my four hooves.” She was no longer wearing her golden shoes; the only piece of jewelry that still remained on her body was her golden necklace. “S-shut up! We won’t ever give up!” Twilight knew the Princess had a point, though. After all those beams of magic that she and Lauren shot and Luna’s spells, Celestia was still not defeated. Just what did they need to do to stop her, the Elements of Harmony, perhaps? “Keep up the good spirit, Twilight,” Faust commented. She didn't seem to be worried about the whole matter, at least, not as much as Lauren, Luna and Twilight. “We will need it…” “Sister… I am still too shocked by the revelation of… our origins.” Luna looked at Celestia, taking a step forward. She bowed her head briefly, taking a few seconds to think of her next speech. Finally, she gulped and looked back at her sister, with determination on her face. “However, if you do not desist, I am prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for your sake as much as my mother's!” Celestia just grinned at her sister. Her half opened eye began to slowly open a bit more. “Fools… you’re all fools…” she said. “Celestia! I didn’t create you to be like this! This isn’t you!” Lauren exclaimed. She had enough of this. “I… we will stop you, whatever it takes!” “Stop… me?” Celestia chuckled. “Fools! I am Celestia!” she exclaimed, taking a step forward and striking her hoof against the floor with might. “Nopony can stop me! If you think you can, just try!” The other mares cringed in surprise by Celestia’s sudden outburst. “I am the Princess and ruler of Equestria!” “CO-ruler!” Luna yelled. “I am already tired of you, saying that you’re the sole ruler of Equestria! Since that monster of Nightmare Moon was destroyed, I have resumed my position as co-ruler!” Her voice shook the whole room, as if she was dealing with a particularly troublesome supplicant in the only way left to her, roaring through the whole room. “Luna…” Celestia snickered, her right eye slowly opening. “Once I’m finished with you, there will be no co-ruler!” Her horn glowed. Finally, she was ready to begin the last battle. The battle that would decide the future of Equestria, of Celestia, and of course, of Lauren; creator of the world or not, she was as mortal as anypony else when confronted with a mad god. “Careful, everypony,” Faust warned. She took position and stood in front of Lauren, willing to protect her alter-ego at all cost. “Better charge your horns.” Immediately, Luna’s and Twilight’s horns illuminated, ready for anything that Celestia could offer. Lauren tilted her head in confusion. “Um… yeah.” Even though she could handle magic, she had never used it for self-defense, at least, not intentionally. She recalled the sudden beams of magic that she shot at Celestia a while back. Maybe she could try shooting one of those again. With a bit of effort, she managed to barely illuminate her own horn. “Huh?” Faust mumbled, rolling her eyes back to Lauren for a second. However, she looked back at Celestia, who was apparently preparing her first strike. Celestia just stood there, looking at her enemies with her horn surrounded in magic. She snickered, and within a few seconds, her body began to illuminate. Every part of her body, from mane to hooves, was enveloped in a glowing aura. “Your life… I want it,” she said. Everypony was cautious and with their guard up, except Lauren, who noticed the words Celestia said. She had heard those before, she was sure of it. Wait… that’s what she said… She didn’t have time to turn her head and look at her, since Celestia’s body burst into a flash of light. A light so bright that could hurt as much as staring directly at the sun. She immediately shut her eyes closed. “Hnng,” Lauren groaned, placing a hoof against her face to reduce the brightness of the light. Everypony did pretty much the same. Blinded, they were vulnerable to whatever attack might come from Celestia. It could happen anytime, anywhere. However, nothing happened. Not a single strike, blow or magic beam struck anypony. The bright light was slowly fading away, allowing everypony to carefully open their eyes again. Twilight was the brave mare to open her eyes first. She only opened them a little, enough to confirm if the light was gone or not. It was, however, she noticed something else, or rather, some other things. Everypony finally opened their eyes, unaware of the surprise that was going to stand in front of them. For a second, it looked like a bad joke, but as soon as their eyes were fully operational again, they couldn’t believe what was in front of them. It was not Celestia, rather, three Celestias. Indeed, there were two extra Celestias. However, they were a bit different from each other. They all had the same look as the original Celestia; no jewelry but the necklace, bruises, scratches, and messy manes. In fact, the manes were the principal thing that caught everypony’s eyes. Each of the three Celestias had a unique and different mane color. One had her mane dyed in blue, the other one in green, and the other one in purple. It didn’t take a genius to realize they were the remaining colors that the original Celestia had on her mane. And of course, their tails were of the same color as their manes. “W-what the?” Luna looked at her ‘sisters’ in shock. Never in her life had she imagined that magic was capable of cloning. Was that one of Celestia’s hidden and forbidden spells? Why would she use it now? “P-Princess?” Twilight was as shocked as Luna, if not, more. Not even in her sea of books that she called home was a single commentary on a duplication spell. Lauren didn’t have any words. She was stunned to even talk. If one Celestia wasn’t enough for them, two more would make things even worse. Just what else could go wrong? “Curse you, Celestia,” Faust said. Her horn stopped glowing, as if she seemed to had lost all hope. Before anypony knew, their world was engulfed by darkness. A very familiar darkness, for Lauren. Was it over? ***** Ow, my head pounds… Twilight squirmed. She felt her senses were coming back to her. She didn’t know how long she was out, but it certainly wasn’t long. After a few seconds, she had the strength to open her eyes. “And that’s the last one,” a familiar voice said. Twilight shook her head and opened her eyes. Right there, in front of her, Lauren was caught in Celestia’s strong telekinetic grip. However, she didn’t show signs of making any resistance. She was just there, motionless, floating thanks to the golden aura of magic. Twilight also noticed her ex-mentor, standing just a few meters away from her. She was the one with the purple mane, but the other two were nowhere to be found. “L-Lauren!” Twilight called, obtaining no response from the alicorn in question. What was wrong? Celestia noticed the awaken unicorn, forcing her to display a grin on her face. “I see you’re awake, good.” The golden aura enveloping Lauren disappeared, causing her to drop on the floor, remaining immobile notwithstanding the force of impact. “Lauren!” Twilight called again, without any answer coming from her. She wanted to run to her aid, but Celestia was in the way. Twilight shifted her gaze towards the Princess, grinding her teeth in despair. “Y-you monster! What did you do to her!?” she cried. Celestia chuckled, raising one of her legs, pointing behind Twilight. “The same thing I did to them,” she said. Twilight immediately looked at the pointed location, gasping in shock as she looked at two familiar mares lying next to each other. Luna and Faust, both motionless on the cold marble floor. “Luna! Faust!” she cried desperately, not really expecting any response from the two paralyzed alicorns. Furiously, she turned her glance back to Celestia. “What did you do to them!?” she yelled. “They were in my way… so I got rid of them,” Celestia replied, taking a few steps closer to Twilight, causing her to retreat almost in reflex. “Just like I’ll get rid of you.” “N-NO!” Twilight squealed. Suddenly, she began to store some of her magic in her horn. She was willing to fight back until the very end, so she wasn’t going to let the Princess do anything to her. She had to help Lauren, Luna and Faust. Finally, she shot a beam of magic, which struck Celestia right on the face. However, the beam didn’t seem to do anything to the Princess. She didn’t even cringe or anything, almost as the beam was as soft as a morning breeze. “Twilight, Twilight, Twilight…” Celestia chuckled as she approached her. “Do you honestly believe that YOU, a little unicorn, can defeat ME, the Goddess of the Sun?” Twilight knew Celestia was right. She had to be honest with herself. There was nothing she could possibly do. She even failed to Lauren, Luna and Faust by letting them get hurt. She failed herself, and even worse, she failed her once beloved mentor. “No, no…” she muttered, unsure of what to do. It was all over. Celestia had won. She desperately wanted to bolt, to run away, to hopefully escape a terrible fate at Celestia's hooves, while at the same time, she knew that any kind of resistance was futile. She had assaulted the sole ruler of Equestria, and would now have to face the music, the horribly beautiful music of court and of gallows. “Twilight…” Celestia finally stood in front of her. She bowed to her level, facing each other. “My faithful student. It doesn’t have to end this way…” she whispered. “Huh?” Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked at the Princess, who had her sweet, warm smile again, the smile she wore all day, every day, until the day everything changed. “Princess Celestia?” For a second, she could swear the one talking to her was none other than her precious mentor, the one that had been teaching her about the magic of friendship. “Twilight… it doesn’t have to end like this. I don’t want to hurt you,” Celestia claimed. “If you give up now, I can still forgive you.” “But, but, what about La—” Before she could finish stuttering, Celestia raised a hoof to silence her. “Twilight… we can go back to like we were before this whole incident. We can go back to the days of happiness and fun. You, reporting your findings about the magic of friendship, having adventures with your friends... don’t you prefer that happiness instead of experiencing in full the consequences of your depraved actions?” Celestia’s words ran through Twilight’s mind, trying to accommodate and make the most sense possible. Was it really that simple? Forget her new friends, forgive Celestia for assaulting them, and return to her normal life? It did sound better than suffer the same fate as Lauren and company received, right? Twilight only desired to revive those days with her mentor, the one she loved like a mother. It was a fair deal. She didn’t care anymore. “Y-yes…” she mumbled. “You’re making the correct decision, my faithful student. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.” Celestia smiled, standing up. “Twilight, I want you to hold my hoof.” She extended her hoof to her. “Together, we shall find the real culprit, the mare behind the mare. And promise me that we will never fight, alright? I love you, Twilight. Remember that I always will.” Twilight simply nodded. Her worries were now gone. She was going to get her mentor, her friends, her life back, and she didn’t care about anything else. “Yes, Princess…” She slowly started to raise her hoof to hold her mentor’s white one. “I love you too, Princess.” ***** Ow, my head pounds… Luna squirmed. She quickly shook her head, realizing she had come back to her senses. How long was she knocked out? She didn’t even know, however, she did know one thing. The last thing she saw before passing out was her sister’s face right in front of her. Luna looked around the throne room. She was all alone. Lauren, Twilight and Faust were nowhere to be seen, along with Celestia's three monochromatic clones. “Hello?” she called, receiving silence for an answer. “Hello, my dear Luna. Remember me?” a very familiar voice said. Luna’s eyes flew wide open as she spun around to face at the source of the voice. At first, she seemed like she had saw her sister, along with her totally blue mane. However, the figure swiftly changed into something awful. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the very same foul demon who she thought that Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony had purged only a year ago. A night black alicorn stood right in front of her, wearing a pale blue helmet, along with her long and wavy mane that the legends spoke of. It was none other than Nightmare Moon. “N-NO! I don’t accept you! Ponies all across Equestria love and study my nightly handiwork, and I harbor no more desires to keep the celestial gallery static and unchanging. You are not a part of me!” Luna answered, clenching her teeth, taking a few steps back. It was not possible. It had to be some sort of joke. “Luna, dear, you ARE a part of me as I am a part of you… and it will be like that, forever,” Nightmare Moon replied. “No! I refuse to believe that! Begone with you, horrible demon!” Luna threatened. Her mind was still very fragile due to Lauren’s sudden revelations, and under the unrelenting pressure of her previously malevolent darker side, it was only a matter of time before it broke. “Now, now, calm down, sweet Luna,” Nightmare Moon chuckled. “I am not your enemy.” “Yes, you are! You are the reason why I was banished to the moon for a thousand long years!” Luna exclaimed. “Oh, was I?” Nightmare Moon asked, with certain tone of sarcasm. “W-what do you mean?” Luna asked. Of course it was Nightmare Moon’s fault. Who else? “Don’t you remember who we are? Aren’t we characters in Lauren’s story?” Nightmare Moon walked closer to Luna. “Don’t you remember what she told us only a few minutes ago?” Luna couldn’t move. The shock was still too big. “I… I don’t…” “She was the reason why you turned into me. She created me. Your banishment to the moon was caused by none other than Lauren herself! Are you really prepared to accept that we are both puppets in a play organised for the express purpose of entertaining fillies?” Nightmare Moon approached closer, standing right in front of Luna. Her body was considerably larger than Luna’s, almost as tall as Celestia. “N-no…” Luna stuttered. “She’s the reason why I exist, the reason why Celestia had to do what she did. She’s the reason why Celestia fancies herself the monarch. Don’t you see, Luna?” Luna looked up at her malevolent self, with a puzzled look on her face. “Luna… accept me. If you do so, we can take revenge on that pesky Lauren, who caused us all this suffering. Accept me, and we will not only do that, but finally make Celestia acknowledge us as an equal, if not, a higher authority.” “But… no… that’s the thing I escaped from…” Luna mumbled. She was actually considering the possibility. She couldn’t deny the fact that she was quite appalled by Lauren's designs upon her life and sanity. She was tired of Celestia's selfishness and snobbish behavior. Celestia was no absolute ruler of anything. If anything, she was the co-ruler of Equestria. Maybe, just maybe, she could make everypony realize her true power and position with Nightmare Moon's help. “Luna… accept me. Accept me, so we can punish our so-called mother for the damage she cast on us. Accept me, so we can save Celestia and find the real culprit who is causing her to act like this. Accept me, for this almighty end justifies any means!” Nightmare Moon exclaimed. She extended one hoof, willing to help Luna to fulfill her designs upon the throne. Luna nodded, consumed by her thoughts. Her observant darker side was not lying, for once. Lauren had to face the consequences of her meddling, and Celestia had to acknowledge her authority. Yes, she was going to make them both respect her and beg for her forgiveness. For that, all she needed was the power of her dark past; the power of Nightmare Moon. “Yes… they will see…” Luna slowly began to raise her hoof. “You’re making the correct decision, my dear Luna. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.” “Yes, I accept you, Nightmare Moon. We shall become one soul again! Nopony will be able to stop us!” ***** Ow, my head pounds… Lauren squirmed. She was getting quite used to passing out, though. “Lauren, you alright?” Twilight asked. She was holding Lauren’s head carefully with her hooves. “Uh… yeah, I guess,” Lauren replied. She was lying down on the floor, but why? She rolled and stood up, suddenly remembering what had transpired beforehand she passed out. “Ah!” She turned her head, looking to were the three Celestias were supposed to be. However, something was quite different, since only one Celestia was standing there, along with her full green mane. “You just saw what I did, right? Give up now, or it will be like that, only a thousand times worse.” Celestia took a few steps closer to the crew. Twilight, Luna and Faust were standing in front of her, apparently defending her from Celestia. Her mind was still a bit dizzy, but she managed to keep her composure. “I… I hate to say it, but…” Faust talked, causing Luna, Twilight and Lauren to look at her. “We don’t stand a chance…” she sighed, bowing her head in shame. “W-what are you talking about!?” Luna suddenly replied. Twilight was about to ask the same thing, but it seemed like Luna was ahead of her. Lauren just stared in confusion. “We are no match for Celestia. It would be better if we give up now,” Faust stated. She didn’t even have the guts to look at anypony at the face. Celestia snickered, amused by Faust’s words. “Very wise, mother. If you all surrender now, I might consider forgiving your actions against me.” “N-no! We can’t give up! We need to save—” Before Lauren could finish, Faust looked at her with tears on her eyes, tears that reflected defeat and shame. “Don’t you get it, Lauren!?” Faust growled. “It’s over! We can’t beat Celestia. It’s wiser to just submit rather than being eliminated by her!” Those words stung Lauren deep in her chest. Faust appeared to had lost hope and not only her, but Luna and Twilight as well, who were actually thinking about it. Was it over? Everything they had done so far, was it over? “S-she’s right,” Twilight muttered. “Let’s be honest. Against Celestia, we don’t stand a chance.” “T-Twilight, wait!” Lauren protested, but it was too late. Twilight took a few steps closer to Celestia, bowing against her in submission. Faust was the next to do so, walking in front of her daughter and bowing as well. It was the best thing to do, at least for them. Lauren couldn’t believe it. Twilight and Faust basically threw the towel without even trying. They gave up all hope, but what about Celestia? They HAD to save her from her own self. However, it seemed like that wasn’t the plan anymore. With the last of hope Lauren had in her, she looked at Luna. “Luna… we have to…” Luna bit her lower lip and bowed her head. “Sorry, Lauren,” she mumbled, before walking over towards her sister to repeat what Twilight and Faust had done just a few seconds ago. Lauren couldn’t believe it. It was really over. She was all alone now. Twilight, Faust and Luna were standing next to Celestia, looking at Lauren with a disappointed frown. A frown filled with defeat and sorrow. “No… no…” she said to herself. “Very wise, everypony,” Celestia said. “See? Nopony has to be hurt, Lauren.” She raised her leg and extended her hoof, inviting her to join. “It’s all over, Lauren.” Was it? It seemed that way. With nopony on her side, what could Lauren do? The final beams of hope disappeared from her head. The opportunity to save Celestia, to find out the truth behind her arrival in Equestria, to find out the something that caused Celestia to go insane, all gone now. Lauren stood up, filled with defeat. She wasn’t even sure of her own fate. What would Celestia be prepared to subject her own mother to? Would she be kept in Equestria as the monarch's pet, or chained up deep down in the dungeons? She thought of that as she kept walking towards Celestia. “You’re making the correct decision, dear Lauren. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.” Celestia smiled, standing up straighter than usual. Lauren had finally arrived in front of Celestia, tears of regret and sorrow shedding from her eyes. She pressed her hooves against the floor and bowed against the Princess, who still had her hoof extended. “Do not fear, Lauren. I promise you that we shall find the real culprit and we will help you find a way back to your world,” Celestia assured. Lauren nodded. She didn’t care about anything anymore. She was willing to do anything if that meant to go back home. She only wished to wake up from her nightmare. Slowly, she raised her leg from the floor, submitting to Celestia. It was over, and she didn’t care. Before Lauren could reach Celestia’s hoof, a familiar voice echoed in her head. Don't let an illusion blur your judgement, deceive your eyes and mind!