Chapter 12
Celestia’s eye cracked open, scanning her room. The gold-and-white themed room shone with royal opulence. Small comforts that she had collected over millennia that built up to a rather impressive collection. The sun had woken her, letting her know now was the time to raise it.
She blinked slowly, groaned, and rolled over in her bed.
It was going to be one of those days again.
They happened every century or so, and Celestia had been through enough of them to know exactly what she was in for. Depression, regret, jealousy, longing...
Longing for him...the one that so many more have met before she had the chance to embrace him.
Celestia sighed. It started already.
Dragging herself out of bed by her forehooves, she briefly toyed with the idea of letting Luna have her day of night. This would, of course, make it unbearably cold, create winds so strong that they would disintegrate buildings, kill crops, and doom life on earth. Unless somepony had an underground farm they were tending to at the precise moment it all happened.
No, better go raise it.
Reaching out with her magical power, Celestia immediately found the link between herself and her star. With a mighty, magical heave, she gave the sun another push.
She smirked. "Yes, I know you're tired, but it's time to get up," she mentally called to her charge.
Her smirk fell though as the sound of hooves behind her door brought her attention to her daily activities.
She would be dressed in the Royal Regalia, sit in court, nod her way through meetings, bore herself with her counselors, and generally have as much fun as she does whenever she visited the dentist.
“You need to stop eating so much cake, Princess,” she said, deepening her tone to mimic her dentist, “it’ll rot your teeth to the gums!” Of course, his father had said the same thing, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and so on, and so on to the very beginning of time.
Her head dropped as her servants entered the room, each a volunteer, and each eager to help the Princess get ready for her busy morning.
Their smiles died when they saw Celestia’s grim face.
The Princess’s silence didn’t encourage them any.
“Princess?” one of the braver mares asked, a golden yellow pegasus by the name Sunny Rays.
Or was Sunny Rays her great grandmother?
Celestia did her best to quickly run through the names of her current staff, a list she had updated every 20 years or so, before realizing that this mare was actually named Golden Days, a fourth generation servant in the house of the Sun.
“Yes, Miss Days?”
“Are you alright?” the pegasus asked.
“Yes,” Celestia quickly replied, sending her a soft smile. “I am just thinking.”
“May we question as to what?”
About how if I were to blink I could be staring at your great-great-great granddaughter.
Well, not literally...
Celestia still had the same 24 hour day that anypony else had. It’s just that years didn’t seem like they were 365 days, it seemed like years passed in a month on good years...
“The joys of Life, Miss Days,” she answered, millennia of dealing with politicians had given her an almost subconscious way of speaking.
“Joys of life my Royal flank. All I want to do is die, is that too much to ask?” She supposed it would a morbid thought for many. But really, when you had lived as long as she had...when you had seen so many ponies get killed by the hand of time...when you had seen as many wars, as many tragedies, as many broken dreams, failed schemes, as much pain, as much fear, as much hatred as she had, then everypony would probably be forming a line to jump off Canterlot’s tallest tower.
Not Celestia, though. “No, I have to wait.” For all of those who have hailed them as immortals, for all of the wizards and scientists who looked to them for the secret of eternal youth, neither she nor her sister were immortal. They would die.
Eventually.
And Celestia was thankful for it.
Anypony who wanted to live forever was a fool. She, the one who raised the sun each day, could hardly take her incredibly long life, and she had Luna with her, and well...
The ponies had finished dressing her, moving with such skilled hooves that Celestia had hardly noticed the extra weight fall across her shoulders and hooves. She glanced down at her gold-shod hooves, pawing at the ground.
It was funny, really, those who die want eternal life, but those who live want death.
Days coughed.
Celestia looked up at them, and blinked.
Right, these one didn’t leave unless she dismissed them.
“Thank you, ladies, you may go.”
They nodded collectively, sliding out of the room, leaving the Princess to her thoughts.
She sighed, mentally berating herself, “Did you just call them ‘these ones?’”
She didn’t bother defending herself as her conscience ripped at her, “They have names, Celestia, they’re ponies. Your servants. Your subjects. They deserve respect.”
“Yes, my servants, amongst the millions I’ve had. I know each one of them by name, and each passing has ripped my heart to shreds.”
“I’m a masochist,” she mumbled.
The temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees, and she heard a voice behind her. “Now, now Celly, I highly doubt that.”
Her heart jumped to her throat when she heard that voice, her head snapping up, and turning towards the figure that sat in the shadows.
The raven that sat on his black shoulder cawed.
“Dust,” he spoke again, his deep, grave voice echoing in the room that seemed to grow ever smaller as it was filled with his presence, “don’t speak unless spoken to, it’s rude.”
The raven cawed again before jumping off of his shoulder, probably off to find Philomena.
He was here, in her room, alone...
But he’s here...
“Business?” She asked, the cynical tone in her voice just winning over the excitement.
He said nothing, his black coat and wings perfectly preened, his horn glowing with a white shimmer as two glasses of wine hovered next to him.
She sighed, “I love to see you, Death, but you always come on business. Someone always has to die.”
The wine glass floated over to her. “Not today, dear,” he said, his green eyes softening as he stepped out of the shadows. He was only a little taller than her, but he looked thinner, almost hideously gaunt. He stood like a shadow, physical but ethereal and other than the simple wooden boat on his flank, his coat was perfectly ebony. His bone-white hooves glinted in the early morning light. “I’m not here to take anyone today.”
The outstretched glass was sheathed in gold as the solar sister took it. “Then why are you here? You never come to see me, it’s always business with you, work, work, work.”
“Celly...” he said, sitting next to the white Princess. “You know I can’t stay, you know I can’t come as often as I like.”
She sighed, sipping the wine, which tasted like orange juice for her newly-awoken stomach. “I know...it’s just...it’s just I want us to be together, but...but I just can’t die.”
Death frowned, draping his forehoof around her shoulder and giving her a gentle squeeze. “Everyone has their turn to die, Celly. Yours will come.”
She nodded before wiping away a tear, “So...anyway, what brought you here?”
“Two things,” The black alicorn answered. “First, your beauty.”
She giggled, smiling at that.
Death then frowned, “Second, I have some bad news about my brother.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Cotton Candy Clouds? Chocolate Rain? Popped Corn on the Cob? Oversized Apples? Bunny Gazelles? Failing Fail Safes? What in the hay is going on here?” Alan asked, his duster getting soaked by the falling drops of milk. He knew his duster was waterproof, but he wasn’t so sure about milk proof.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Twi asked, watching as the animals nibbled away at the corralled candy.
“I wouldn’t be that fast, Twi. This sounds like a story plot.”
“Oh, Alan,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “So far you’ve said everything is a story plot.”
“Not everything.”
“You were convinced Pinkie’s toothache was the ‘Season Premiere.’”
“Ok, the toothache was a bit of a stretch, but—” he was suddenly interrupted by a jet of green flame as letter from the Princess materialized.
Twilight, ever quick, got the letter before it even touched the ground, magically unrolling it. Her eyes quickly scanned the letter before she gasped. “Girls! We need to get to Canterlot. The Princess wants to see us now.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Alan remarked before escorting the girls to the train.
<<<|Ω|>>>
They had taken an emergency train, one that went much faster than the other steam-powered locomotives that filled the stations, and they had arrived in Canterlot within the space of an hour. They were then escorted up to the castle foyer by three guards, two escorts, and then a courier to get people out of the way.
Opening the doors, the six ponies and human caught the Princess mid-pace. “We came as soon as we could, Princess.”
“Thank you,” she replied simply. “Thank you all.”
“Is this about the weather, and the animals’ weird behavior?” Twilight asked. “What’s going on out there? Why didn’t my fail safe work? Is there -”
She was cut off by a raised hoof. “Follow me,” was all the Princess said.
The small crowd followed their ruler down several long hallways, and around a few corners, before leading them to one of the towers.
The room had several large stained glass windows, Alan had noticed, each starring a creature that was an absolute mish mash of parts from other species. “I have called you here for a matter of great importance,” Celestia said. “It seems an old foe of mine, someone I had defeated long ago had returned. His name is Discord,” she turned and faced them. “Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness.”
Her gaze floated to one of the nearby windows depicting three figures, one for each pony race. Each being tormented by a fourth figure, the creature. “Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. After discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone.”
“Alright, Princess!” Dash cheered.
Celestia ignored it and continued, “I thought that the spell we cast would contain him forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken.”
“No longer connected?” Twilight asked.
“That does not seem to be the major issue, Twi,” Alan said.
“This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements of Harmony have been kept safe since you recovered them. I need you six to wield them once again, and stop Discord, before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos.”
“But why us? Why don’t you—” Twi began, only to be interrupted by Pinkie, who was standing in front of the only window that didn’t feature Discord.
“Hey, look, we’re famous!” Sure enough, there were six, rather familiar ponies, each with a piece of golden jewelry. Each pony seemed to be firing a beam of pure light, striking the navy blue alicorn at the top of the window. Nightmare Moon.
“You six showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the power of your friendship to beat a mighty foe.” She brought her head down to her student, so they saw eye to eye. “Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord.”
It took a second before Twilight answered. “Princess Celestia, you can count on—”
She was interrupted by Pinkie again. “Hold on a second!” she said, raising her hoof like a schoolfilly. “Eternal Chaos comes with chocolate rain you guys! Chocolate Rain!”
Alan smirked, shaking his head. “I think the problem is more like chocolate rain comes with Eternal Chaos, Pinkie.”
“Aww...”
Twilight blinked before continuing. “We’d be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again.”
Celestia nodded, turning to the vault door. Using her horn as if it were a key, she unlocked it.
With a burst of light the door opened, and a wooden case decorated with jewels was revealed.
“Ooooh,” Rarity moaned, “you can keep the Elements, I’ll take that case.”
“Have no fear, My Little Ponies,” Celestia said. “I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord, with these,” she said, opening the case to reveal six...pieces of...
Nothing?
There was a gasp, and then silence as Celestia dropped the case in shock.
“Th-that chamber,” Celestia stammered, “it’s protected by a spell that only I can break. This doesn’t make sense!”
A laugh echoed in the hall, “Make sense?” he chuckled again. “What fun is there in making sense?”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed to slits as she growled the name, “Discord.”
There was the sound of ringing metal as Judgement flew from his sheath. “Show yourself.”
He laughed again, and both the Princess and the human scanned the windows.
“Did you miss me, Celestia?” He asked, one of his figures in the window coming to life, “Because I missed you,” his figure flew to the next stained glass window, skipping the blank one between them. “It’s been what? Four? Five thousand years?”
“Not long enough,” The Princess answered.
Alan smirked, “You’re that old, Discord? No wonder you’re so ugly.”
“Best watch yourself human. Dear Celly here is older than I am.”
Celestia growled, “Don’t call me that.”
“Call you what? Celly? Then how about Tia, or Celest maybe?”
“Enough!” she said, her wings flaring with anger. “What did you do with the Elements of Harmony?”
The Draconequus smirked, playing around in the window world. “Oh I just borrowed them for teensy little while,” he said, snapping his fingers and making a representation of said elements disappear.
“You will never get away with this, Discord,” she said, pawing the ground, her eyes glaring daggers at the smug spirit.
Discord sighed, “Oh, I’ve forgotten how grim you could be Celestia, it’s really quite boring.”
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Nopony insults the Princess!” Dashie then charged the window, eager to smack the grin off the chaotic creature’s face, only to fly straight into the window.
“Where are they, Discord?” Celestia demanded.
“I’m sorry,” he said, appearing in the window behind her. “What were we talking about again, Celly?”
“Stop calling me that!” She roared, smoke rising from her mane.
“Temper temper, dear. Remember, we have company,” Discord scolded, “and what company at that! Just look at these ponies here!” He flashed, appearing in another window. “Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic, and easily one of the most powerful ponies in this room.” He flashed again, this time to the window that Dash had just crashed into. “Rainbow Dash, bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Next to her, the lovely Miss Rarity, bearer of the Element of Generosity.” He flashed again, causing the yellow pegasus to "eep" as she heard his voice echo behind her. “The sweet and soft spoken Fluttershy, bearer of the Element of Kindness.” He flashed again. “Applejack, bearer of the Elements of Honesty. The Party Pony, Pinkie Pie, bearer of my personal favorite, the Element of Laughter,” another flash, this time his whole, physical form right in front of Alan, “and finally you.”
Now Alan got a really good look at him, he saw the head of a grey pony, with a single fang protruding over his lip, two wild, yellow tinted eyes staring at him. He had two antlers, one of a deer, and the other was a goat’s horn. His long, serpentine body was covered in brown feathers which also covered his left shoulder. The feathers ended at a long, scaled eagle’s claw, and at the shoulder of his right arm, which was a lion’s paw. His right leg was covered in green scales, ending in three white, claw-like toes, while his left leg was a goat’s, ending in a split hoof. His tail, a red-scaled dragon’s tail ended in a white tuft of hair, and against his back were two wings, one black, bat-like wing, the other a dark blue pegasus wing.
“Yes, you,” Discord said, revealing the forked snake tongue between his teeth. “Sir Alan Williams of Earth, and I have to say, I am impressed with your work Al.”
Celestia was visibly shaking with rage as the chaotic chimera walked before her.
“You single handedly turned Celestia’s composed throne room into the biggest mess I’ve seen in years. In mere minutes you turned Canterlot on its head when you called The Princess to Appleloosa. Then of course how could I forget you leading out the Parasprites to the Blues Brothers? I honestly laughed. Or would have if I hadn't been stone at the time. Honestly, you’re a, well, man after my own heart.”
“Stop playing around Discord!” Celestia literally fumed. “Where are the Elements?”
“Playing around?” he said, his head making a 180 degree turn while his body continued to face forward. “That is an excellent idea! Let’s play a game.”
The edges of Celestia’s mane began to smolder, sparks crackling as tiny flames shot in the air.
“I’ve hidden the Elements. If you find them, you win. I’ll walk myself out in front of the firing line, and await my fate,” He gave a dramatic flourish, his hand coming to his forehead in mock despair. “But if you don’t find them then, well...let’s just say I’m going to have a little fun.”
He snapped his fingers, reappearing in the window with a flash of light. “I will leave you with a hint to get you started.
In twists and turns green and odd,
You will be searching for your thieves,
And finally when you’ve seen your logic is flawed,
You’ll return to the home of leaves.”
With those final words, the Draconequus left them in another flash.
“In twists and turns green and odd?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud. “What do you think that means?”
Twilight had already begun her search, and it wasn’t long before her gaze was drawn to the window.
The sprawling view of the Canterlot Gardens met her, and more importantly...
“The Hedge Maze! He must have hidden them there!”
Celestia nodded. It made sense. “Good luck my little ponies, the fate of Equestria is in your hooves.”
Alan smirked, spinning Judgement around. “Alright, let’s go kick some chaotic flank!”
“No, Alan,” Celestia said. “I cannot allow you to go.”
“What?” the small crowd asked.
“Alan does not have a connection to the Elements,” Celestia explained. “He above all of you here would be most susceptible to Discord's magic. You have to stay.”
Alan didn’t respond, simply staring between the Princess and the six ponies he had come with.
Pinkie leapt at him, smiling. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you a play by play when we come back!”
Smiling a little, he sheathed his blade before gathering the six ponies in a hug. “Good luck, guys.”
“Thanks Alan,” Twi said, before leading the six ponies forward to the maze.
As the door closed behind them, Alan turned to the royal, “Will they be alright?” he asked.
“I hope so, Alan. I hope so.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
It felt so wrong.
Twilight and the others were all out there dealing with the god of chaos, and he was here sipping tea with the Princess. He should be there with them, he should be helping them, he should be protecting them.
He set his four-hundred-year-old porcelain tea cup down, probably with more force than was necessary, and squeezed the handle of Judgement.
Celestia sighed, lowering her own cup, “Sir Alan, I realize you are worried for your friends, but had you gone things would probably have gone bad.”
“I-I just don’t feel right doing nothing.”
The Princess nodded. “I understand your feelings, Alan. I do not like risking the well being of my subjects on the performance of others, regardless of how much I trust them. I prefer to deal with threats to the kingdom myself. It is my responsibility, and I should not have to rely on my subjects to aid me in it.”
“Then why are we still sitting here, and not out there?” Alan asked, doing his best to stifle his anger.
Celestia gave him a look. “I have more magical power than you could dream, Alan. Over the years, the brightest minds of Equestria have tried taking guesses, most picking astronomical features that border on ridiculous,” she looked him straight in the eyes. “They’re not even close. If I wished, I could move all of Equestria to a different planet.
“Now, I am telling you this so that you understand what I mean when I say that Discord is stronger than I am.”
Alan didn’t reply.
“If I could do something I would,” she said. “However, Discord’s only true weakness is the Elements. He could crush me if he wanted to, or worse.”
Alan sighed, “That doesn’t really help.”
Celestia set down her own teacup, “I know, Alan. I know.”
“Where did he even come from?” Alan asked, “He just seems so...” He threw his hands in front of him, unable to find the word he was searching for.
Celestia regarded him for a second. “That is a very long story, Sir Alan. One that dates back to the very beginning of this world.”
Alan blinked. “He’s been around since the beginning?”
“Discord? No,” Celestia answered. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
Alan smirked, “I have time.”
Celestia gave him another look and then began to speak, “In the beginning, there was nothing. No order, no chaos, simply nothing. Nothing except for her.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
She looked over the darkness, the empty black space.
It was perfect.
Well, not really.
It was the perfect canvas.
With a faint, red glow, she picked up her quill and carefully dipped it into the inkwell.
Perfectly empty.
Then she began to write about something.
Planets, stars, galaxies, trees, sound, light, air, energy, she wrote all of it. And as she wrote, the blackness was filled with it.
This was good.
Somethings were everywhere, a world had been made. Carved by the nib of her quill, and filled with her ink.
It was ready for a Someone.
She wrote again, describing her first someone, a pony, she decided, a white coat, purple eyes, a Pink mane to start, she may change that though. That was too normal, though. This Someone had to be special. Wings were good, but a horn was good too. Maybe both? Yes, that would be very special. This Someone would be polite, and she quickly picked a voice for her first Someone.
“Um...excuse me...”
She turned to see a small foal, a filly, with wide eyes and a pink mane.
“Where am I?”
She smiled, putting down her quill. “You are in your world.”
The filly looked at it with wide eyes. “It’s big.”
She smiled again, “Did you want a name for yourself?”
The filly shook her head, “I don’t know what to pick.”
“Can I pick for you?”
The filly nodded “Yes, please.”
She smiled, “I’ll name you Celestia, my first Someone for this place.”
“Ooh, that sounds great!” Celestia said.
“I’m glad you think so, Celestia.”
“But, Miss, what’s your name?”
“My little pony, my name is Faust, but you can call me Mom.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
“She made four of us,” Celestia said, “myself, Luna, Death, and Harmony. Us, sisters, they brothers. We each had our own charges, I was tasked with the sun and the Kingdom, while Luna had dominion over the night sky and dreams. Likewise, Death was charged with the gates of Tartarus, and shepherding souls while Harmony worked with the flow of nature, and was the Prophet of Faust."
She looked up, at one of the windows of her room, “Death always worked in the night, leading souls away to Faust’s home in the darkness, taking them across the river. Harmony, however, worked in the day, balancing the seasons, giving Faust's guidence, establishing his namesake wherever he went.” She gave a soft smile, “It’s ironic, actually, that Luna fell for him.”
She looked back down at the human, “It was a grand romance the two had. They each stayed up for as long as they could, meeting each other in the twilight hours. They loved each other dearly.
“But Harmony couldn’t take it,” Celestia continued. “Those few hours were not enough for him, so he began to search for a way to ease her burden to take care of her duties. He looked for a way to take care of mine as well, so as to allow me time to be...well, anyway...He shut himself away for three years searching for the answer, and when he finally came out, he was the creature you saw today.
“I...” she hesitated. “I’m still not sure what happened in that room, how his innocent notes and research turned as dark as it did. He was different when he came out, not just in physical appearance.
“At first, we suspected nothing. Harmony’s work seemed to be innocent, and once he took over the sun and moon for us, we were able to spend some more time with each other as well as our subjects.” She paused, closing her eyes, “I dread to think about what would have happened if we had not.”
“What do you mean by that?” Alan asked.
“If we had not been with our subjects, we could have missed it. If we had not been paying attention, then Discord may still have control,” She stood, walking over to one of the windows. “We began to notice that harvests that should have been plentiful were falling short. Rivers were changing course, seasons were coming out of order, clouds turned to stone, stones became intangible, rain fell on cloudless days and snow fell in the middle of summer. Magic would do the opposite of its intent, wings would ground a pegasi, hooves would stand on nothing but wooden walls and ceilings. It was chaos, and getting worse.”
Celestia sighed, “That was when Discord was truly born, from the body and mind of Harmony. He wasn’t himself anymore, Luna saw that first, and it nearly broke her.”
She hung her head, “It was sad to see Harmony go. He was a good friend, strong, courageous, loyal. He single-hoofedly represented every single Element. The Elements, in fact, were his own creation. An attempt in his three year search. I was only able to discover them because Luna was distracting him, keeping his eyes elsewhere while I searched for a way to reverse what had happened.”
She turned back to him. “There was none, and our only option was to stop him.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
“And that, My Queen,” The Draconequus said, standing next to Luna, a glass of chocolate milk in his hand, “is why Sum-ter is my favorite season.”
Luna nodded, a poorly hidden frown on her face.
“Is something wrong, my dear?”
She looked at him, her eyes on the verge of tears. She would give him this one chance, this very last chance. “H-Harmony...why...why are you doing these things?”
A look of confusion spread across his face, “I-I’m doing this for you. You-you don’t like this?”
“You’re hurting ponies, Harmony. They can’t take this. Celestia doesn't like what you’re doing, and neither do I. Stop hurting them, Harmony.”
“But...” Harmony said, his face twisting in confusion, “But...we’re together...that’s...” his eyes bulged and shrunk as a twisted grin spread across his face. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
A tear fell to the ground between Luna’s hoof and Harmony’s foot, “Yes, but...but not like this. Not with all of this pain for them.”
“Who cares about them!?” Harmony asked, throwing his hands into the air. “This is about us! You, me, no one else!” The grin on his face turned manic. “We have that now, all the time on our near immortal lives to be together. We don’t have to let anything trouble us anymore. It’s just me and you.”
“No,” Luna said. “It’s not just me and you. It’s everypony. You’re Harmony, you should know that better than anyone.”
Harmony frowned. His eye twitched. “Well...well then, I guess I’m not Harmony any more.”
Suddenly, Celestia,carrying three jewels around her, one blue, one purple and one green, laughter, magic, and kindness, landed behind him. “Enough, Harmony, let our subjects go, or we’ll make you let them go.”
“Oh, didn’t you hear, Tia?” He said, twisting his head. “I’m not Harmony. My name is Discord, and we both know you alone don’t have the power to stop me, not like this.”
“She’s not alone,” Luna said, pulling a second set of jewels from her saddlebag. The gems on this one were magenta, red, and yellow; generosity, loyalty, and honesty.
“You’re going to try and stop me, Lu?” Discord asked, a hint of hurt in his eyes.
“You’ve said it yourself,” She answered, tears streaming down her grim, determined face. “You’re not Harmony anymore.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Luna didn’t take it well,” Celestia said.
“Sounds brutal,” Alan said.
“But Discord’s treachery did not end there. He has a long reach for such a short tongue. At first, I thought perhaps it was the loss of Harmony, but soon it became apparent—”
“He had gotten to me,” a new voice interrupted.
Both turned to see Luna standing there, tears from the fresh memories in her eyes. “Discord had left his impression,” she continued, “and I became restless, and easily irritable. Also, apparently, easily jealous.”
Alan’s eyes widened a touch. “Discord...he was behind...” he trailed off, wondering if mentioning her name was a good thing to do.
“Nightmare Moon, yes,” Luna finished. “It’s how he functions...”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Come now, Applejack, lying will save your friends.
But Honesty is a sign of trust between friends.
Lies are so much easier to take, besides...just one won’t hurt.
T-the truth is kinda harsh...
<<<|Ω|>>>
“...He worms his way into the minds of his victims...”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Laughter is fun...
Until they laugh at you.
Why would they laugh at me?
Because you’re just too much sometimes Pinkie, you’ve said it yourself.
Well...well...well then they won’t laugh at me anymore.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“...He preys on their fears and insecurities...”
<<<|Ω|>>>
But Generosity is a gift.
To others, sure, but what about you? Don’t you deserve something nice after all the things you’ve done?
Well...yes, but...
Besides, which one of your friends would honestly want a diamond?
Well...
Whose diamond is it, Rarity?
Well...mine...I suppose.
Whose?
Mine.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“...He finds their weak spot and drives at it, forcing them to face his decision...”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Kindness warms the hearts of others.
Yes, that’s why Alan took all the blame himself, because your friends definitely wouldn’t have blamed you.
I never said they wouldn’t I just...um...I don’t think they would have -
Would have what, Fluttershy? You saw the way your friends treated Alan, and the only reason he got off so easy is because he was being “Helpful.” They would have ripped you to shreds.
But I...
They need someone stronger, Fluttershy. Not some doormat.
I...I...
Show us some cruelty, dear, show us some strength.
They're...they're...they're all foals...
<<<|Ω|>>>
“...And then he manipulates them over the edge until they aren’t themselves anymore...”
<<<|Ω|>>>
But...but my friends need me.
But Clousdale needs you too, after all, it’s your home...
But...my friends.
You have a duty to Clousdale.
But...but...
Just think of all those ponies who could get hurt if you’re not there...
C-Clousdale...needs me...more...
<<<|Ω|>>>
“...That’s how he fights, and that is how he wins,” Luna finished sobbing, wiping a tear from her eye.
Celestia stood, before giving her sister the best hug she could.
The younger princess cried into the older’s coat, as she was flooded with the images of her greatest mistake.
“Sir Alan,” Celestia said. “Go to Ponyville. I fear your friends may need your help yet.”
Alan nodded, before standing. “As you wish,” he said, before jogging out of the room.
“I fear I may have sent him to his doom.”
--------------------------------
Hey guys...
Um...Pinkie couldn’t make it today...
She left a note for you...
“Dear Readers.
Thanks bunches for all of the faves and comments, you’ve really made Miner happy, especially when he found out he was featured. You should have seen his smile! It was even bigger when he saw his faves double in two days! He’s promised to make the next chapters really good, and he hopes you’ll like them. Thanks for reading as always, Bye!”
Yeah, thanks, guys, it means a lot to me. Comment if you want...bye
…
…
It’s so quiet in here...