//------------------------------// // Chapter eleven: Day seven: Day Breaks and on that day Celestia rested // Story: The Princess of Chaos // by Foal Star //------------------------------// Celestia woke up the next morning feeling rather groggy, expected after yet another long night of partying and drinking...maybe too much once again. Despite a still pounding hangover, the princess slowly got up and rubbed her head, though that did little to relieve the stabbing ache in her skull. She drank too much...again! As she moved to exit her bed, she had to immediately stabilize herself after nearly tripping on something. Looking down she found what appeared to be a small toy hammer, which she immediately smacked away. Properly jolted awake by the sudden shock she finally noticed that her entire bedroom was covered in cakes from birthday, to cheese, to shortcake, even cupcakes, all smashed on every inch of the room. While some ponies might have found this situation a little odd or in the case of a certain pink pony, either an amazing or horrifying sight, it only brought about annoyance from Celestia. Not even bothering to say a word, she immediately snapped her claw,spawning a broom and dustpan. Amazingly neither cleaning tool seemed to have the kind of level of sentience one would expect given recent events. No they really were just normal cleaning items, which Celestia was quick to put to use. In what likely felt like hours, Celestia went over every last inch of her room until it was completely spotless. A pretty top notch job considering no magic was involved. “There good as new! Now I just need to finish setting everything up in here and figure out what exactly happened last night,” Celestia muttered to herself as she set about properly organizing everything. The first step as it turns out was decorating the room. Rather than the more regal attire she’d been used to, Celestia opted for some colorful yellow and pink striped curtains, along with a giant carpet in the shape of a sun. While not exactly ugly it certainly contradicted her more professional attitude, and it seemed like that was the intended idea. Now that she was retired Celestia couldn’t care less about opinions or public image, she’d let those concerns rule her for the better part of a millenium. Now it was simply a matter of enjoying her freedom at long last. Though with that in mind she found herself pondering things for a moment. “Admittedly it might have been a bit of a rash decision to just suddenly drop on everypony. I imagine the nobles are probably still tripping over themselves on what to do and no doubt the rest of my former subjects are still unaware, though it’s only a matter of time till they learn the truth.” Despite the brief moment of bravado and elation, the sheer weight and impact of what her decision would bring was starting to weigh on Celestia’s mind. . Frustrated Celestia just threw her hooves in the air. “So, it seems as though I most likely probably destroyed any trust I had with the nobility, who are likely panicking with the rest of the populace soon to follow. But, it should be fine, Twilight and Luna can handle the formalities. I trust them. Besides, I'm the Princess of Chaos now? What’s the worst that could happen? Opting to take her mind off the topic she looked outside to see it was still dark with a moon shining down in the sky making her wonder what time it was? Looking across her room to a clock near where her phoenix Philomenia revealed it was currently twelve or rather midnight given the moon was still up. “Ugh!? How did I wake up so early?” Celestia asked out loud, a hint of her more childish and chaotic side coming back out. Now wide awake and obviously not going back to sleep any time soon, she flew down the stairs opting to check the state of the rest of her castle. In truth….it was a disaster. The once pristine and majestic castle like a hurricane had come through, a rather odd hurricane.Suits of armor replaced with ponyquins wearing the goofiest of clothing, portraits of cake, fields of sunflowers, and some embarrassing portraits of herself in her alicorn form and draqquenous form wearing bathing suits. The Princess of the Sun continued to fly through the kitchen, finding various pastries splattered across the room along with whiskey and wine bottles strewn across the place. Following on into the throne room, there was a banner overhead that read “pool room” and the mare was shocked at what she saw. There was a giant inflatable version of her alicorn form floating in the pool along with maid uniforms, tuxedos floating about with suits of armor sunk to the bottom of the pool. The room itself was full of more wine bottles, streamers and confetti. Near the end of the hall where all her staff who stayed behind for her crazy party were strewn about using various blankets and sheets covering themselves, some even using curtains. Honestly part of her wanted to snicker at the sight, but context and her current stress kept that from happening. As she contemplated what to do about the display before her, the sound of several hooves outside along with other strange sounds turned Celestia’s attention to the doors. Heading to the doors, Celestia finally went outside revealing the night sky and looked down to the ponies running around seeming to be freaking out about something. Some waved signs with “Celestia raise the Sun!” on them. The now retired princess gasped as she slammed a claw to her face as she remembered something somewhat crucial. Namely while both she and her sister could move celestial bodies...that power was limited to their RESPECTIVE celestial bodies. Ergo, Luna could only raise the moon and Celestia, normally, could only raise the sun. True Celestia was able to move both during the thousand years her sister was sealed, but that was only through a lot of trial and error...none of which Luna had been given. This effectively all meant it wasn’t actually midnight, notnoon. Taking off from her castle, Celestia flew into the sky and took out an oversized frying pan,flipping the moon over revealing the sun. The mare gave a sigh of relief, seeing she probably stopped more chaos before things got worse then looked down at the ponies below and squeaked out, “Sorry.” Celestia immediately flew back into the castle and her room, the weight of such a massive misstep bearing down on her...or at least that’s what should’ve been happening. Once she got over the initial embarrassment, Celestia noticed she wasn’t feeling the normal distress she would’ve felt under the same circumstances. No, instead she felt an urge...an urge to do it again, to cause more havoc and distress. Perhaps she may turn the sun into a giant egg again? Or maybe make it rain cake? Or turn the mountains into water balloons. So many possibilities for such much wonderful glorious cha……! As the word started to form in her mind Celestia immediately shook it away. In the entirety of her long life she’d never felt an urge to cause trouble for her citizens, no matter what happened over those many years. And yet, she could still feel a small sense of satisfaction at the sight of them, crying and pleading for her help. It was a distressing thought to have. Hoping to distract herself, Celestia headed off to the kitchen and with a snap of her claw dozens of dust pans, mops and feather dusters appeared. “Alright, time to go and clean while I make some breakfast for my staff!” Celestia exclaimed and with a clap of her paws the cleaning tools flew off to do their master’s bidding. Yet, even as she worked and cleaned, that nagging thought in the back of her mind remained. As if waiting patiently for a moment to break free. Bronze Helm groaned and found himself waking up completely ignorant to where he was and what had happened the previous night. Despite his better judgment telling him not to, he indulged in what alcohol he could amidst Celestia’s celebration. A decision that he was now very much regretting. As his eyes finally began to adjust to what light there was, he found his fellow guards and maids all sleeping soundly and seemingly unaware of the events of last night. Thankfully he wasn’t alone for long as Feather Duster rose up rubbing a hoof over her head, looking over the area and meeting his gaze. “So, what happened? Did we just party all night?” “I believe so,” Bronze Helm said, still processing what happened. “Though I can’t exactly explain why? Given the situation it seemed like a rather odd choice to indulge her so.” “I think I might at least be able to explain that,” Feather said, looking somewhat uncomfortable at what she was thinking. “I believe the Princess may have influenced us with her magic.” Bronze’s eyes widened considerably at this revelation, though that shock immediately turned to anger as it was clear he’d reached his breaking point. “THAT IS IT! THIS FARCE HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH!” He immediately slammed his hooves down in a rage, shaking the remaining staff awake, some already jolted up by his thunderous yell. Bronze sadly didn’t give them time to get over their own hangovers as it was clear he was out of patience. “All of you get up now. We are finding the Princess and putting an end to this nonsense once and for all.” Despite the forceful tone, many of the ponies present looked fully in agreement, Feather Duster especially. “Indeed, I should’ve said something about this days ago and I’m ashamed it’s come to this. But it’s time to put our hoof down.” All the other staff immediately nodded in agreement, though some clearly less enthusiastic about it, yet marched on in solidarity. The staff all stomped into the kitchen ready to confront the princess and finally end this insane game. However there frustration and anger was met byCelestia, tied with an apron around her waist and then went about making breakfast for her staff. Yes, the entire staff found themselves confronted by all kinds of breakfast foods, pancakes, eggs cooked in a variety of ways, french toast, coffee, donuts, ice cream floats, and a few cakes of course. The aurora of the food whiffed through the air seeming to make many of the angry and confused staff to be completely captivated by the food with their mouths drooling. Though Bronze Helm remained unaffected, his expression actually hardened by what he saw. Celestia turned herself over to see the staff and waved a paw, “Hello my fellow subjects. I hope you don’t mind but I thought I’d provide you with an apology breakfast after the scene I made last night. I hope you enjoy it.” Many of the previously determined staff members found their fire snuffed out, both by the food and the gesture itself. Even Feather seemed as though she was going to waiver, luckily for her, Bronze stepped forward and stood firm as always. “The gesture is appreciated Princess, and under normal circumstances all those here would relish such a thing, the fact remains this needs to stop.” Celestia’s previously cheery expression immediately dropped. “Stop? Stop what exactly Bronze Helm?” Her response only seemed to anger Bronze further, what little control he had slipping away. “This, ALL of this! Your majesty, this entire absurd affair needs to end now. I’ve looked the other way on this matter for far longer than I should, and I can no longer stand by and watch this continue.” Despite being more clear with his words, it was clear either Celestia wasn’t understanding him or just ignoring him. And thus, he knew he had no other option but to be as direct as possible. “You must concede this arrangement with Discord, relinquish your Chaos Magic and return to your Alicorn state.” All the remaining staff immediately started to show signs of panic as Celestia’s expression turned neutral, Bronze’s message finally getting through. Thus this brought them to the point of no return and left them all to deal with the fall out that came with it. The silence remained for several seconds, leaving nearly everypony on edge as Bronze waited for his ruler to respond. “Oh come now Bronze, there’s no need for that,” Celestia said, her prior cheer returning in full, as if the last few words hadn’t been spoken. “Now, why don’t all of you take a seat and I’ll get us some…” “ENOUGH!” The sound of countless plates and dishware shattering on the floor echoed through the halls, along with a loud crash. All eyes widened and jaws dropped at the sight before them. Bronze, having finally been brought to the limit of his patience, grabbed the table and in an impressive display of strength flipped it over, sending its contents flying and crashing all across the floor. Once again there was silence for a moment, the only sound being the heavy, angry breathing of Bronze now staring down the stunned princess. “Over this last week I’ve watched and tolerated all the ridiculous whims and desires you’ve asked of me, of all of your subjects. I’d hope that you eventually see reason and finally end these idiotic games, but since you are content to act like an irresponsible child, I will treat you as such.” Stunned Celestia seemed to try and say something, but Bronze beat her to the punch. “BE SILENT!” As if faced with an angry parent, Celestia’s words died as Bronze continued. “Time and again you have recklessly endangered countless ponies with your shameless pranks, all without any thought to the consequences it would bring. You’ve treated your subjects like your personal playthings, manipulating them both mentally and physically for no reason other than amusement and causing disaster after disaster in search of personal gratification. And this most recent stunt only proves my point further.” By now Celestia was looking more and more ashamed of her actions, her body seemingly starting to shrink under Bronze’s harsh gaze. “You have a responsibility to the citizens of Equestria. You swore an oath to help and protect them to the best of your abilities and yet when you were asked to perform those duties, you decided to run away and even now brush it aside. As if the ponies of Equestria don’t matter and you’re content to simply dump all the responsibility on your sister’s shoulders.” That last word earned a look of outrage from Celestia, whose eyes were now glowing red with fury, her body growing and becoming more monstrous, her mane literally turning to fire as she roared like a dragon. All the staff ponies immediately started to panic, some shouting, some running, yet even at this stage, Bronze remained rooted to the ground despite some sweat dripping from his brow. Further enraged, Celestia held out her claw in an all too familiar gesture, making it clear what she was planning to do. And yet...Bronze made no attempt to move, grovel or anything kind of show of surrender. He instead took another step forward, defiance in his eyes. “Very well, if that’s your answer than fine. Go ahead, use magic to run away from your responsibilities. At this point I’d rather face whatever you have planned than continue to see the Princess I once served so proudly fall any further.” The entire group waited with baited breath for whatever action Celestia took, terrified at what came next. Bronze himself stood still, eyes staring right at the still furious looking Celestia, unwavering as he accepted his fate. And then….. Nothing The massive flaming mane on Celestia’s head seemingly blew itself out like a candle, as her form shrunk down to it’s normal size. Her expression was a mixture of horrified and ashamed, looking at her hands as as the full weight of what she just attempted hit her. Tears quickly started to leak from her eyes, as her entire body began to quake and shiver. The staff remained quiet afraid of what to do next, with Feather the only pony making any attempt to move, taking a single step forward. “Princess...are you alright?” Celestia’s only answer was a single glance, before her entire body shattered into glass, shocking all those around. All eyes could only look in horror at what they’d just seen, which only grew further as the pieces seemingly turned into a glimmering pentachromatic dust that quickly flew out the doorway towards the pool room, leaving all those present stunned. Bronze Helm finally broke his composure and dropped on his flank, letting out several breaths he’d been holding during the entire standoff. Feather was quick to rush over to him, seeing sweat dripping heavily from every pore. “Are you alright Bronze?” Feather asked with great concern while the other staff ponies relaxed themselves from the tense situation. Bronze merely offered a weary glance. “I’ve certainly been better. I honestly think part of me was worried she’d act on that threat. But I couldn’t just sit around anymore. Action needed to be taken.” Feather merely nodded. “You’re not wrong, while I’ve never thought the Princess’s actions were truly malicious it’s clear the longer this goes on the more reckless she’ll become. We needed to act.” Both ponies turned their attention to the direction the colorful dust had fled to, Bronze standing himself back up. “Now we just need to make sure the message got through.” Feather nodded and followed him to the Pool Room, while the remaining staff stayed content to remain behind, all silently hoping things would finally resolve themselves. Bronze and Feather slowly entered the Pool Room, met only with the sound of the water’s shifting surface. The room itself was still in a fairly noticeable state of disarray with clothes in every direction, some actually still floating on the surface of the water itself. Most eye-catching though was a rather large inflatable in the shape of a castle not unlike the one in Canterlot. From the one entrance into the mini castle they could hear the sound of someone sobbing and knew what that meant. Feather opted to be the first to step forward, Bronze likely being on shaky ground with the Princess. “Princess Celestia, it’s Feather Duster, might I have a word with you.” The sobbing draquenious seemed to pause for a moment, though no sound followed. Feather thus decided to push a little bit harder this time. “Your majesty please, come out. We understand you’re upset, but you must understand we needed to do something. Your actions were becoming too outrageous for us to ignore and we had to consider the safety of the citizens. Please don’t misconstrue that as thinking we hate you.” Bronze finally decided to speak with the door having been opened for him. “Indeed your highness. Despite what I said, I have been honored to serve under you these many years and would like nothing more than to continue. But, please, this needs to end.” Another choked sob was their initial response, before Celestia’s snake-like head finally appeared out of the castle entrance, her eyes bloodshot and her expression reeking of shame. “I know…” she muttered out, the words clearly painful for her to say, yet her expression showed the sentiment was genuine. “When I started this whole thing I thought it would be a simple game, something maybe distract myself with, just for a short while, take a break from all the pressure and stress. I never imagined things would go this far.” Finally letting her body leave the castle completely, she remained content to simply sit on the air, making no attempt to use her magic in some exaggerated manner. “I was a fool to let things go on as long as they have. I’ve let this magic take me over and I’ve likely destroyed any credibility I have with any pony in Equestria. Even after I change back, it’d likely be better to make my retirement permanent and hand the reins to a truly competent pony.” “And low and behold, the great Celestia is finally humbled. I never thought I’d see the day.” An all too familiar voice echoed through the castle halls, before water from the pool started to rise and snake in a spiral, taking shape, eventually reforming into the familiar form of Discord, with a pocket watch in hand. “And just shy of the deadline too, so close and yet so far. Oh well, a win is a win after all.” With a toss the watch disappeared as he descended down towards Celestia. “Discord, come to gloat?” Princess Celestia grumbled angrily. “Oh absolutely,” Discord’s grin grew giant as he pulled out a megaphone. “Or atleast that was the plan, but after all that’s happened and that expression on your face, who am I to kick a dead….you get the idea.” Turning the megaphone into a large chair, the Spirit of Chaos continued to loom over Celestia all too happy in his victory. “Come now, there’s no need to look so glum, I didn’t force you to agree to this after all.” Celestia immediately fired back angrily. “You were the one who goaded me into this. You said I should relax and have fun for a change.” “Yes,” Discord said with heavy emphasis. ”But I never said to start acting like me. Simply have a little fun like what I do from time to time.” Further angered, Celestia finally rose up to meet Discord’s level. “Is the great Discord lecturing me on constraint? After all the havoc you caused in the past?” “Yes! Keyword there is in the past. I’m reformed in case you forgot!” Discord responded still smug as ever. “True I cause a little havoc here and there, but hardly on the same level as my glory days or the insanity you managed to pull off in the span of a week.” Celestia crossed her claws and growled angrily, “Oh really, you're “reformed” like how you were reformed when you decided to turn Ponyville into your chaotic playground, or when you turned Twilight and her friends against each other! That’s what you call restraint!” That remark actually managed to chip at Discord’s bravado, though only for a moment. “Yes, I’ll concede I was more than a bit over the line back then. However, that was before I decided to truly give the whole friendship and reformation thing a chance and If this were me a thousand years ago I would be up here partying with you while watching Equestria fall under a rain of chocolate milk. But I'm different now...and despite how I might act I never wanted to see you turn into me.” Recalling her earlier moment of chaotic desire, it was hard not to see his point, and he wasn’t wrong as she’d allowed her self restraint to erode. “I can’t believe I’m actually admitting to Discord of all creatures having more self restraint than me.” It was a bitter pill to swallow, and to concede Discord had been proven right, but she had no room to argue. “Yes, I suppose you’re correct Discord. I will concede you’ve won our little wager.” Her response was met with blasts of confetti and a large banner with the words DISCORD WAS RIGHT in bright red letters. Discord himself looking like he was the king of the world for that moment. This only grew at the flat looks from Celestia, Bronze and Feather. “Hey I don’t get to have moments like this very often, excuse me for enjoying myself.” With a snap the decorations disappeared as Discord started to loosen up his claws. “Now then, I suppose it’s time to return you to normal and return everything to the normal, boring status quo.” Both Bronze and Feather looked positively elated at the idea, only for Celestia to shake her head in the negative. “Yes, you can return me to my original state but I'm done serving as ruler. Even if we ignore the mess I’ve made this week I was planning to retire soon anyways, with Twilight becoming my next. This last week has shown me my time has long passed and it’s time to let another, more capable pony take over,” Celestia explained calmly, much to the shock of her subjects and Discord’s own disbelief. “That’s it? The mighty Celestia makes a bit of a mess of things and opts to throw in the towel instead of simply accepting her mistakes?” Discord immediately pulled a calendar out of thin air and scanned it with his eyes. “I’m sorry, is it the opposite day? Because right now I’m being the responsible one here and I don’t care much for it.” “Call it what you will Discord, but it’s my decision,” Celestia said firmly though there was hesitation in her stance. “And if it really bothers you so much, why don’t you try ruling if you’re that concerned.” “Are you kidding me? I would rather get my teeth pulled than rule Equestria!” He took the princess’s crown and placed it squarely on Celestia’s head as he continued, “Listen Celestia, you made mistakes, very humiliating mistakes that’ll likely haunt you for the next few centuries, but who hasn’t screwed up here and there, I know I have. You however, need to suck it up and move on. I don’t doubt little sparkle butt will become a decent ruler in the future, but she still has quite a bit of growing to do. Until then, just use this as a learning experience.” “He’s right your highness, please we still need you,” Feather pleaded heavily with Bronze following suit. “You are a great ruler and these mishaps, while embarrassing, aren’t enough for us to forsake you.” Getting support from her own subjects was expected, but greatly heartwarming, especially given what she’d put the both of them through. But Discord also supportive, in his own way, without any twist or surprise. Maybe it was the opposite day, and that thought finally brought a smile back to Celestia’s face. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ve already made plenty of mistakes in my long life, I shouldn’t let these blunders deter me.” Feeling her confidence restored somewhat, the princess offered Discord a genuine smile. “Thank you Discord, perhaps losing this little contest wasn’t so bad after all.” Discord didn’t respond with much at first, taking in everything without his usual bluster. “Fine, fine, we’re all happy and everything. Now that, let’s get things back in...ugh, order, shall we?” Discord immediately flew outside and began rubbing his claws together, building up numerous magic sparks before extending his hands out. Tendrils of red and pink extended outward and wrapped themselves before slowly lowering it to the ground, fitting it into the earth like a giant puzzle piece. After the deed was finished Celestia was rather astonished that the task didn’t take that long, and the castle looked as if it never left. She stood there hovering in the air as she scratched her head,“Well that was easier than I expected?” Discord shrugged and responded rather nonchalantly, “It’s Chaos Magic and it is my forte after all. Now then, onto the other matter at hand.” Celestia was confused for a moment before looking at her claws and realized what he meant. “Ah, yes that. While I’ll admit having this kind of power was enjoyable, it’s so tempting to just let loose.” She looked at Discord with a new found respect, now understanding just how much restraint he’d been showing in recent months. “How do you do it? Discord snapped his finger and sent a cloud of pink smoke out that quickly surrounded Celestia. “Well, years and years of practice certainly helps. But I suppose I learned that having friends was more important to me than simply having fun all the time.” As he finished speaking, the smoke finally cleared revealing Celestia in her alicorn form once more. Celestially immediately nearly crashed into the ground below, only avoiding it by opening her wings up and flapping in place. “It’s been awhile since I actually used my wings to fly. That’ll take some getting used to.” Discord eyed her carefully with a smirk, while Celestia looked at him with less amusement. “What, disappointed I’m not a draconequus anymore?” Discord’s smirk only grew somewhat. “Not really, truth be told I think this look suits you much more.” That response caused Celestia’s cheeks to burn red, not expecting such a compliment. “Is that so?” Discord’s smirk turned positively giddy as he spoke his next words. “Sure, how else can I tell you’ve been munching on cake unless you can’t use magic to get rid of the extra weight?” Celestia’s face immediately turned red, this time from anger instead of embarrassment. Her horn started to glow furiously as the spirit of chaos mocked her, only to find her horn now covered in bubble wrap. “As much as I’d love to engage in another little sparring session, I do believe you still have some other issues to resolve in Canterlot?” Celestia’s anger quickly burned out as she realized he was right. There was still much to do back in Canterlot and many things she had to set right. “Yes, something for another time. Right now, there are quite a few ponies I owe an extended apology to.” Thankfully Discord freed her horn as Celestia extended her wings out and took off towards Canterlot, leaving the Spirit of Chaos to simply watch her fly onwards, his smirk shifting to a smile.” “Now that’s quite a sight to behold.”