Approaching Apotheosis

by KKSlider


9- Crossing Cocytus

I pulled the wooden stick out of my mouth, leaving the entire candied apple inside my muzzle. Chewing on the treat, I grunted a compliment to the maker. It was surprisingly not bad. Said maker of the confection was nowhere to be seen, as I was sitting in a booth at some cafe in town, far away from the candy stand where I got the stuff.

As I savored the treat, I continued my secretive work. My work with Coxa had revealed the need for his Operation Pencil; to properly maintain the Fifth Hive and keep up with its ridiculous level of growth, the Hive’s bureaucracy desperately needed expanding, organizing, and formalizing. To that end, I was etching the foundation of the Fifth Hive’s government in purple crayon across a gaudy child’s menu– foal’s menu.

I was putting this newly planned command structure onto paper, drawing the various bureaus as if they were pieces of a complicated flow chart. Even if a department was going to be as small as a dozen lings or less, there were still uncountable amounts of hours of work needed to set everything in motion: dividing duties, selecting lings for placement, obtaining and distributing supplies, formalizing command structures, picking names, planning out potential relationships with other departments…

I was having a lot of fun. Despite my relatively tired state, I was content to work quietly, draw with the crayon that I had pilfered, and eat my legally obtained sweets. Reminded of them, I lifted open the lid on the box sitting beneath the table and pulled out another candied apple.

‘At least there are some benefits to being the Dread Prince.’

The turquoise-colored unicorn mare that ran the stand had practically shoved the box into my hooves when I asked for one.

The bell above the doors to the cafe chimed once again, my ear twitching in its direction automatically. Unlike the previous times, the pony who entered not only stayed inside the cafe but also approached me. When they stopped next to my booth and did not leave, I turned to see who was planning on lecturing me next.

“Fluttershy.”

The yellow pegasus cleared her throat, “Good m– evening, King Phasma. Is this seat taken?” She asked as she gestured to the seat across from me.

A whiff of frustration made me peer over her shoulder. Closer to the door, Rainbow Dash was standing at a distance, one ear cocked in our direction.

“... Go ahead,” I grunted, returning to my work.

“Thank you,” she said as she climbed up across from me.

In response, I pulled out a third candied apple, eating it in a single bite again. The small pony looked up at me with a hopeful expression, making me even more confused.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here to talk to you. If that’s okay,” she smiled.

“... You’re not afraid of me?” I asked.

“Not quite,” she shook her head. “Though I do not like all the yelling, insults, threats, hurting, and everything else that happens around you.”

I took a moment to get my thoughts together, “... Applejack and Rainbow Dash see me as a monster. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity are certainly not friends of mine. And you… are strange. You do not hate me as they do.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, “Oh my! I forgot that changelings can sense emotions!”

“So then…. Fluttershy. Do you see me as a monster?”

She tapped her hooves together quietly, “No. I don’t think anypony’s a monster. Some ponies just need a lot more guidance than others. In your case, I think you need a lot.”

Rainbow Dash snickered.

My eyes narrowed, “Are you here to subject me to another lecture?”

Fluttershy shook her head, “No, sorry. Princess Luna is worried about you, so we left to try to find you. Rainbow saw you through the window, and I… agreed to speak with you.”

“Where did this confidence come from?” I asked. “Every time I see you, you are either hiding behind someone or otherwise scared out of your wits.”

Fluttershy paused momentarily, “There were good reasons to be scared then.”

I shook my head, “Still, everything I know about you says that you should be the least willing to speak with me. I thought you’d be demanding to have the Elements used on me, in fact.”

Fluttershy paled, “... A few months ago, you would be right, King Phasma. But since then, we’ve… defeated Nightmare Moon, got captured by changelings, talked down a dragon, took down Discord, defeated Daybreaker, and spent days helping ponies whose lives have been turned upside down.” The mare shrugged, “Things aren’t as… calm as they used to be. I wish I could go back to the way things were, but nopony can. We all have to change to survive, and I did. You’re not a… monster, King Phasma. You’re just slower to change.”

“Now she’s calling me slow,” I sighed.

Fluttershy giggled, “Oh no, I didn’t mean to insult you! But you… do make a lot of mistakes and hurt ponies.”

I glared at her.

“But if the Princesses believe in you, then so do I!” She continued.

“Fantastic,” I said sarcastically.

“... May I ask what you’re drawing?”

I held up the defaced foal’s menu for her to see.

Her muzzle scrunched up, “.... Spaghetti and hayballs?”

I scowled, “The future bureaucracy of the Fifth Hive. And it’s meatballs. Meatballs.”

“Speaking of,” Rainbow interrupted, “where is everypony?”

The restaurant that I had found a safe haven in was visibly empty. Rainbow Dash stepped further into the place, looking around for any of the staff or guests. I knew for a fact that there weren’t any guests; the very few that were here before I arrived quickly finished up when I sat down.

“That is strange,” Fluttershy whispered, looking around in bewilderment.

“The hostess is cowering in the kitchen with the cook,” I revealed, gesturing towards the service window that offered a view into the kitchen.

An orange unicorn and blue stallion were peeking over the edge, cowering out of sight when I pointed in their direction.

“Did you threaten them or something?” Rainbow asked.

I sighed, “No.”

“Then why are they hiding from you?”

“I didn’t exactly get the chance to ask,” I said quietly as I went back to sketching out the departments.

Rainbow stalked off to speak with the two ponies unlucky enough to be working on Halloween. As their conversation started up, Fluttershy sought to restart our own conversation.

Fluttershy brushed the hair out of her face, “Princess Luna is worried about you. We’re helping her look for you…”

“I’m worried about Luna, too, yet I don't sic my friends on her. Especially ones that threaten her every time they see her.”

Fluttershy glanced over to Rainbow, her guilt spilling out into the muddied taste of fear that permeated throughout the mostly empty restaurant.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Rainbow has gotten really excited about using the Elements. Last week, she wanted to see if we could use the Elements to get rid of the trash she forgot to throw out on garbage day.”

“And that excuses her behavior?” I growled.

Fluttershy swallowed, “N-no. What I’m trying to say is, uh, Rainbow is the only one wanting to use the Elements. The rest of us are…”

“Realistic?” I offered.

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “She’ll come around to you. You know, after you stop hurting ponies. People.”

I glared at Fluttershy, “I wouldn’t have to hurt people if they didn’t try to hurt me first.”

Fluttershy drew circles on the tablecloth with a hoof as she avoided my stare, “I can understand that. Nature isn’t all… butterflies and buttercups. Bears and lions have to eat, too. It’s just that… the ponies all think that since you’re pretty much an alicorn, you should be strong enough to defeat the bad ponies– people without killing. Or, uh, blinding.”

I scoffed, “Yes, Celestia made that very clear. Look, you’ve been nice to me so far. So instead of telling you off and swearing at you, I’m just going to tell you to drop it.”

Rainbow Dash trotted back towards us, her conversation with the two ponies apparently finished.

“Hi Rainbow,” Fluttershy greeted her friend.

“Flutters,” Rainbow returned. “Yeah, they, uh… yeah. Apparently, one of their nieces had a one-on-one encounter with King Phasma here during the first Invasion of Canterlot. Something about using her as a hostage…?”

I grimaced, “Oh, yes. I still need to apologize for that.”

“So it’s true?” Rainbow asked.

I nodded, “I wanted Captain Shining Armor to surrender, so I used a foal as a hu– as a living shield. It was nothing personal. I just wanted to solve the situation peacefully.”

Fluttershy shivered as Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Peacefully?” Rainbow echoed. “You call that peaceful?”

“As opposed to rushing a defended position and getting my lings hurt or killed? Yes, I do.”

“They said you hurt their niece.”

“Barely. I might have nibbled on her emotions, just enough to get a reaction. Honestly though, kids are like rubber– she was going to be fine seconds after that.”

“Hmph,” Rainbow grunted. “You better find time to apologize to her.”

I rolled my eyes and got back to my sketching, “... Well. You two have found me. Now you two can get lost.”

“We told Princess Luna that we’d bring you back to her,” Fluttershy explained.

“I think I’ve already ruined enough of her night,” I shot her down.

“She was really upset when you left,” Fluttershy said. “Um, I think you should be with her. Or at least talk to her.”

I groaned, “... Fine. Whatever she says. Where is she right now?”

“Out looking for you,” Rainbow said.

“And you didn’t notify her the moment you spotted me?”

Rainbow Dash froze, “... Uhhh. I’ll be right back! Make sure he doesn’t vanish, Fluttershy!”

As the RGB pegasus dashed out of the store and launched herself into the night sky, Fluttershy slowly turned back to me.

“... So what do you worry about?”

I frowned, “Hmm?”

She smiled, “You said you worry about Princess Luna.”

“Oh.” I shrugged, “She doesn’t like being alone, for starters.”

“Does she not have many friends in the Palace yet?”

“No.”

Fluttershy drooped, “That’s terrible. What if… what if I could help?”

I raised an eyebrow, “Not exactly much you can help with.”

“Actually, I run Ponyville’s animal sanctuary…”

Both of my eyebrows were raised now, “Are you suggesting that I get her a pet?”

“Mhmm,” Fluttershy nodded.

“That’s… actually a good idea. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

She beamed, “Happy to help! Do you know what kind of pet she would prefer?”

I shrugged, “No. We’ll have to see when we get there.”

Fluttershy got up from the table, “Okay. I live on the edge of town. I’ll show you the way.”

I chuckled, “As comedic as it would be, I think we should actually wait for the rest.”


Luna sighed as the foals retreated from sight.

"They're really enjoying the night!" Twilight tried to cheer Luna up.

"Indeed," Luna said. "But it is not them that I worry about. It is that overgrown colt who I promised to save that worries me."

"Why don't we talk while we look around?" Twilight suggested. "There's not exactly much I know about… err, relationships, but I'm happy to lend an ear if that helps!"

Luna gave the shorter unicorn a smile, "Thank you, Twilight. That means a lot to me. Though I wonder how much we can speak about, given that any conversation will be prone to interruptions from the townsfolk."

Twilight took them down a sidestreet, "We've searched the main plaza. Now we can search the backroads and have some quiet. So, Princess, what exactly, uh, troubles you?"

Luna's muzzle twitched in irritation, "It should come as no surprise that the events of last night and the preceding event before that ails me, Twilight."

Twilight wilted, "I'm afraid that I can't offer any advice on that. Even Princess Celestia seemed at the end of her wits when it came to dealing with that terrible punishment!"

"That's just it," Luna said quietly.

"Could you please explain?"

Luna sent out a magical pulse. When it only returned the life signs of those inside their homes and not anypony out on the streets, she relented.

"Perhaps I could have prevented this all from happening," she began. "Perhaps I somehow could have convinced the changelings to not brutalize the traitor in their midst. Or perhaps I only needed to convince Phasma to stay his hoof. In the end, I put up only a token effort to sway him. For that, I feel… I feel like I have failed."

"Why didn't you?" Twilight asked.

Luna thought for a moment, "... Because of Fort Ripclaw."

"I've never heard of that place."

"I would be thoroughly surprised if you did, Twilight. Make no mistake, your ignorance is intentional."

Twilight frowned, "I'm afraid I'm only becoming more confused, Princess."

"Let me explain. For a thousand years, I have been trapped on my moon. Alone. As Nightmare Moon. In my absence, Equestria progressed. In my isolation, I have… regressed. Much like how King Phasma finds it hard to dispense forgiveness to his enemies following his murder, I find it hard to see myself as an equal to Celestia. No, that is not it. I feel… left behind. I relate to the changelings almost as much as my own kind. The bloodshed. The war. The murder. Equestria moved forward while I moved back."

"But it was never this bad in Equestria's history," Twilight countered. "The closest we get is the famine that followed Discord's upheaval of society, thousands of years ago."

Luna stopped. Twilight stopped, too, and looked back at Luna with worry.

"That is not true," Luna said.

"... What happened?" Twilight asked, fear already present in her voice.

Luna checked for listeners again before continuing, "In the centuries following Discord's defeat, civilization was a mere suggestion rather than a fact in some areas. It took time to rebuild Equestria. During that time, some griffons moved in on the Northeast coast."

"... I recall that," Twilight said. "You and Celestia managed to convince them to leave."

Luna sneered, "You make it sound so… clean."

"So… what really happened?"

"Fort Ripclaw happened. Are you certain that you want to know the truth?"

Twilight looked around. The two of them had found themselves on a street surrounded on both sides by small shops that had closed down for the night. Given the odd decoration, the deserted street fit right into Nightmare Night's scary theme.

"One of the traditions of Nightmare Night is to tell scary stories," Twilight explained quietly. "This is the wrong kind of scary, the very real kind, but… I'll listen. I'm here for you, Princess."

Luna nodded, "Thousands of years ago, the border of what was and what wasn't Equestria was hard to maintain. The world had declined in many ways during Discord's rule, if you can call it that. A marauding warrant of griffons moved into the Northeast, in the Foal Mountains. To cement their rule of the region, they built a fort on top of a mountain. Given that all griffons have wings, such a lofty fort only held advantages. For an entire generation, they operated out of Fort Ripclaw, raiding the villages around them."

"So you and Princess Celestia went to kick them out?" Twilight guessed.

"Quite so," Luna nodded again. "As we neared their fort, we came into contact with survivors of their raids. What they said was… We did not believe it. When Celestia and I, with our army at our backs, arrived at Fort Ripclaw after slowly climbing the mountain it was built upon, we… found the ponies that had been taken in the raids."

Twilight gulped, "They were dead?"

"They were eaten."

"No!" Twilight gasped. "There's been no cases of that in ten thousand years! That can’t…"

Luna cleared her throat, "The beakmarks were unmistakable. Some bodies were picked clean to their skeletons. Others… I will spare you the details."

".... What happened next?" Twilight asked, swallowing what Luna presumed to be bile.

"Next, we 'convinced them to leave,' as you put it," Luna quoted. "The griffons had holed up in their stone castle, Fort Ripclaw. We had let them hide. Asking them to leave was never going to happen, not after what they did. Tell me, Twilight. What is the main export of the towns surrounding the Foal Mountains?"

Twilight automatically answered, "Fire and ice gems. They're used in everything from fridges to ovens."

"And the mines have been productive for thousands of years. We found quite a lot of fire gems in stockpile back then. Now, what happens when a dozen Fire gems are piled up?"

Twilight shook her head, "Their magic would be unstable. They would burst into flames."

"And what would nine hundred Fire gems do?"

Twilight's rear hit the ground as she was forced to think through the physics of such a massive amount of unstable Fire magic.

"You could melt stone," Twilight summarized.

Luna continued her story, "More than just stone. We had let them hide in their castle. When we took the outer defenses, they retreated into the inner layers. So we sealed them in. Every doorway, every window, every chimney, every balcony… Any way they could escape, we sealed. They had rations that would have presumably lasted them at least a whole month. But we had no intention of waiting them out. Nine hundred fire gems were piled high on the roof of Fort Ripclaw. The fire was so hot that it burned through the stone floors and walls, collapsing the castle one story at a time.

"A few tried escaping. They busted open a hole in a wall or tore through the barricades we placed. We didn't capture them. We didn't even kill them. No, we threw them back in. Every last griffon was burned in that castle till not even their bones remained. When the gems had burned through the last floor, when finally there was nowhere for the griffons to flee to and they burned to nothingness, the gems burned even hotter. Down they went, burrowing into the mountain itself. Eventually, they burned a hole in the world's crust, and a new volcano was born. The mountain was renamed to Mount Firehoof, with no records of what happened ever surviving."

"I have a snow globe of that volcano," Twilight whispered. "Nopony ever told– no book ever said– Princess Celestia never told me! She… neither of you would have done something so brutal! So… barbaric!”

“Yet we did,” Luna insisted. “But while Celestia did all she could to forget and bury the past, I can not help but find myself looking back on it more and more.”

“But you said you brought an entire army with you!” Twilight pointed out. “There would have been reports! War stories! Something!”

Luna patted Twilight on the shoulder, "As I said, no records were kept. Those present were sworn to silence. It was an easy thing to ask of them, given that they were the ones who had to bury all the dead ponies that we found. Not even the Griffon Kingdom really knew what happened."

Twilight trembled, “… I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to believe that my teacher, the one who greeted me every morning and guided me through school, is capable of doing all those things… Was it worth it? Did you feel good? Did you get what you wanted?”

Luna shook her head, “We felt nothing. And, since no records were ever kept, it was not like the Griffons took this lesson to heart. We murdered them all and gained nothing.”

“But this was thousands of years ago. Nothing that bad has ever happened since, right?”

"Nothing except trying to drown the world in eternal night,” Luna scoffed. “Neither of us have forgotten that day, and we have vowed to never let it ever happen again. But while Celestia has continued to improve in the past one thousand years... I have had one thousand years to myself," Luna sighed. "With nothing to keep me company but my memories. I understand that what Phasma did was wrong, but… I don't care. I know I should, but I do not. Celestia and I have done so much worse. I want to help him, but clearly I need help myself…"

“... Why does it feel like the world has lost its color?” Twilight asked, ears drooping. “Ever since the invasion, the world has turned into… this.”

Luna pulled Twilight into a hug– which was returned immediately.

“I wish I had the answers you need, Twilight.”

As the two continued to sit in silence, Luna reflected on the conversation. Even just saying what happened felt like a load was taken off her shoulders. However, so much was left unsaid. So many details stayed within her mind. Twilight didn't deserve to hear them. She was too good, too pure.

'The screams. The begging for death. Half-eaten ponies, desperately trying to put their insides back inside as they lay on top of bones and gristle. The smell of rotting flesh. The smell of burning flesh. How numb I felt when I watched the castle burn.'

Luna looked up at the night sky. Seeing her moon sitting up there, so far away, Luna decided to share one detail with her friend.

"Somewhere on that moon, there's a replica of Fort Ripclaw. In my boredom and isolation, I rebuilt it, brick by moon-dust brick. Celestia decreed that Fort Ripclaw would be forever unremembered. She doesn’t know that our sins shine down upon us all every single night."

A chromatic blur cut through the night sky, interrupting Luna's trance. It curved quickly and started growing in size as it headed straight for the Princess.

Rainbow Dash landed hard, sliding across the street and coming to a screeching halt. Quickly turning around and galloping over, Rainbow greeted the two of them.

"Princess! Twilight! I found him...! Uhh. You two okay?"

Twilight quickly pushed away from Luna and straightened up, "Ahem! Yes, Rainbow. We're okay. Luna was just telling me a sad story."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rainbow pressed. "You look like you got run over by a manticore."

"Rainbow Dash," Luna interrupted, "please take us to Phasma. There is much to discuss."