“Hey! Where are you going, Applejack?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she turned around. Luna paused from her story to glance up at the orange earth pony. She gave a small frown as the farmer held the door to the literary restoration room open with a hoof.
“Ah’m thirsty. This is taking a long time so Ah’m goin’ to go get someth’n to drink.” Applejack gave a tip of her hat and stepped outside the door.
“Food. Right.” Twilight said to herself. She turned back to Applejack and nodded. “I don’t think I’ve eaten nor had anything to drink at all since this Nightmare Twilight mess started. Could you get me some tea while you’re out?”
“Sure thing. This here place may be in ruins, but Ah bet there’s still somepony who knows their way around a kettle here somewhere. Be back in a jiffy.” Applejack quietly closed the door behind her and her hoofsteps could be heard echoing down the hallway.
Twilight turned her attention back inside the room. “Now Luna, could we skip to the part where Celestia and you show up?”
“I told you, I’m getting to that.” Luna sighed. “I’m sorry if I’m boring you.” She added in the royal sarcasm.
“Well what about this cough Helia has? Is that important?”
“I suppose we could skip to that part.” Luna looked up at the ceiling, she squinted her eyes, as if trying to remember something. “Yes. I think we can skip to that part. I remember that part well.” Luna inhaled deeply before continuing. “It was a bitter fall morning. The leaves were already all turned. They fell to the ground, swirling in little circles as they fell off the trees, one by one. A time of death, many would call it. Was it death? No, in some ways it was quite the opposite. The lives of Helia and young Selena would change forever on that day.” Luna shook her head. “In some ways it was death, the death of an era. An era that Selena would forever look back upon in fondness, and it would be a long time before she would ever feel so happy again….”
Grass, trees, and bushes, they were moving so fast she could not even tell them apart anymore. All the plants just looked like green and brown blurs. Her heartbeat was thrumming in her ears and adrenalin had saturated her veins. Selena had nearly collided with a tree. Her breath would not settle; it was not from the near collision, but rather from the reason she was flying so fast. It was faster than she had ever flown before. Selena had always been a fast pegasus. She rolled to the side to avoid slamming her outstretched wing into another tree trunk. She quickly glanced upwards, looking for a gap in the forest canopy where she could see the sky. She yelped in pain as her wing clipped one of the trees. She did not want to admit it, but she was lost. She glanced downwards at her shadow, racing over the brush and tangled roots. She gave a quick three toned whistle and the shadow began to shift and change shape. The shadow lifted off the ground and took full form, solid and lifelike. “Yes, sweet Selena?” The shadow spoke in a melodious voice. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
Selena gritted her teeth. “Yes! I’m fine! Are we close enough now, Nótt? Can you take me to the Keep?”
Nótt’s wings spread wide, blanketing the area around Selena in shadow. He looked upwards thoughtfully. “Yes, we are close enough. Hold your breath.”
Selena inhaled deeply; cupping air in her cheeks. She braced herself as she flew into the shadows. The world melted away and merged with another. A place covered in shifting shades of various grays and blues that danced around. She was pulled by Nótt through a tunnel of some kind. Sound had decayed to humming and plinking noises. Every now and then a piece of the tunnel would break away and be pulled to the other side. With a sudden tug, Nótt plunged both of them into the side of the tunnel. As they hit the wall, they fell into what at first seemed to be a cool murky liquid, but the substance soon shattered into a series of disconnected lines. Light flooded the world. Selena squinted trying to make out the silhouette of the Keep in the Sky. Her head dizzily swayed from side to side as she scanned the horizon. She began to fall from the sky, the wind whipping at her mane. Finally she was able to spot the floating castle’s outline. She let out a sigh of relief, and it was only then that she remembered she had not taken a breath in quite some time.
“Thanks Nótt.” She said after steadying her breathing. She spread her wings to catch the air currents and pulled herself back upright, facing the Keep.
Nótt nodded. “See you later!” The pony chuckled as it reformed into her shadow.
Selena quickly adjusted her flight and sped rapidly off towards the Keep’s front, where the massive wooden doors and their iron lock stood. They had emerged from the Meld under the shadow of a nearby storm cloud and it was urgent that she made it those doors. The Keep had always been a magnificent sight to behold and it only was more fantastic up close. The turrets that pierced the sky, covered in creeping vines, caught the glint of Dagr’s sun. She pulled herself into a dive to pick up speed and swooped upwards as she rounded the corner of the floating island. She flew by the wall covered in stained glass windows. Suddenly she was overcome with a deep sadness. She fought back a stream of tears as she thought of her sister. Helia had always liked the stained-glass windows. She had always said when she had a castle of her own she would cover every outer wall with them. Selena choked back a sob as she rounded another corner. Finally the doors to the keep came into sight. She charged forward, hooves outstretched and braced for impact. Her shadow swept out from under her and pushed the doors open before she collided with them. She zoomed inside the castle and her hooves slid into contact with the stone floor in the atrium.
“Gratis! Gratis!” She yelled frantically. Her shadow returned to her, its hooves linking with her hooves on the floor. She ran deeper into the castle shouting at the top of her lungs, the fatigue of the flight seemingly lost, she was filled with boundless energy. “Gratis!” She repeated. Her voice echoed throughout the halls of the Keep. She had never noticed how still and quiet the keep was before that moment and the silence that was greeting her ears was unsettling and worrisome. She sprinted down one of the hallways. The Keep was an ever changing structure. Its stone interior would morph and twist around, making navigation impossible but still she knew every path, every hallway, and every crack in the castle. She had spent most of her life roaming its halls and its tricks and quirks never bothered her. She had gained an intuition about where each hallway led and could tell if she was heading towards or away from a room at anytime. She quickly turned down another hall and trotted across a red carpet. She called out once more to no reply. Finally her panic stricken mind seemed to clear enough for a thought to form. She skidded to a stop and looked down at her shadow. “Nótt, help.” She whistled a three note tune and watched as her shadow ripped itself out from under her hooves and off the ground.
“Yes, sweet Selena?” The shadowy mass had always greeted her in such a way. Every time she called him, and this time was no different. The expression on the dark pony was hard to read, Nótt did not possess a mouth, simply the vague outline of a muzzle. But the piercing green orbs that made up its eyes told her that it was worried. “How can I help you?”
“Gratis….” Selena sighed. Nótt was not stupid, but he was oblivious to the world around him. His only desire was that Selena was safe and happy and all other happenings were never even considered to be remembered. “I need to find your father. Quickly!” Selena glanced upwards towards one of the stained-glass windows.
Nótt flicked his starry tail. “This way, sweet Selena.” The stone wall behind him broke apart and the bricks began to slide revealing another hallway. “This shall lead to him.” Nótt chuckled loudly and faded back into Selena’s shadow.
She nodded to herself and took a quick moment to gather her thoughts. She inhaled sharply and then raced down the newly formed hallway. The hallway was narrow and twisted, but it was one she recognized. What it was doing sealed off behind one of the walls she could not fathom to guess, but she was glad Nótt could summon it nonetheless. She passed by several torches hanging from the walls, burning dimly. By all accounts they should have flooded the windowless hallway with smoke, yet they did not. After what seemed like an eternity of running, the hallway opened out into a large room. She approached a large pair of stone doors and let out a sigh of relief. “Found you….” She whispered as she lined her rear up with the doors. She gave a strong hind kick to the entryway. “Gratis!” She yelled as loud as she could muster, even with her shortness of breath from running.
The doors burst open from the force of the kick and slammed against the walls. The silver dragon was sitting on a wooden throne, looking fairly distraught. He turned his head slowly to face Selena. A tear in his eye which he tried badly to keep hidden, trickled down his cheek. The dragon took a slow, but deep inhale before speaking. “Selena…”
“Gratis! It’s Helia! She needs help!” Selena’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Not out of fear of the dragon. No, he was perhaps one of the most trusted beings she had known during her lifetime. Her voice trembled because of her sister.
“I know,” Gratis said with a solemn tone.
Selena ignored the dragon’s mumblings and raced up next to him. “She can’t move!” Selena began to pace nervously. “She’s in the forest, and she’s in so much pain! Why are you just sitting there?! We have to go help her! She’s dying!”
“I know,” Gratis repeated in the same quiet tone.
“If we don’t…” Selena spun around with a shocked expression. “What do you mean ‘you know?!’”
Gratis looked away from Selena. “I sense Dagr’s presence and his emotional state.” The dragon stared at the floor.
Selena stood dumbfounded. “Well then let’s go! Come on!”
“Selena… there are some things that are the rules of the world, the fabric of reality. Every life must pass. This is the nature of the world. I wish I could help your sister, but I can’t. I wish it was not her time, but it is. I wish I could take away the sadness in your eyes, but it is out of my control.” Gratis turned and stared at the stained-glass window that lit the room. The window showed two young mares, a blue coated pegasus and a ivory unicorn, standing next to a silver dragon. “Mortal life is so fickle. A mighty river that ends in a trickle. With every path, a bend… and with every story, an end.” Gratis turned back to face Selena. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so very sorry.”
Selena stamped her hoof. “That’s not good enough! You are the mighty Gratis! There is nothing you can’t do!”
“I’m sorry.” Gratis closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.
“Then she is to die?” Selena fell to the floor, tears in her eyes. “Sister….”
“It is the way it must be.”
Selena heaved a heavy sob. “Then… then… can you at least see her go? She would want you there….”
Gratis shook his head. “It was already too dangerous leaving the cloud pocket… I should stay in the Keep, it is the….” Gratis winced as Selena let out another sob. He looked upwards in thought. He felt a small tear drip down his cheek and with a mighty sigh he continued speaking. “Alright,” he whispered. “We shall see her off together.” Gratis took a few moments to steady his breath before he reached out his claw. “Come, let us depart.”
Selena lifted her leg up to Gratis and as his claw wrapped around her hoof. He snapped his fingers and the Keep in the Sky vanished with a blinding flashed. Travel this way was instantaneous. So much changed in so little time and all of these changes assaulted her sense. The air pressure was different, the ambient smell in the air was different. The Keep smelled of gravel and stone, but this area smelled of wet grass, the dew must have been fresh on the ground. As her eyes adjusted to the brighter light of the forest, her heart sank. Lying in front of her was a nearly lifeless form of a white unicorn laying on her side, struggling to breathe. Motes of dust hovered in the air slowly signaling that the area must have been very still for a long time. In some ways it looked poetic to Selena; the area was a serene forest in the early light of dawn. The subject of the scene was framed in a soft pillar of light, peeking out from the upper branches of the trees. Perched overtop of the body was a ghostly phoenix, his neck craned to better view the mare’s face. Selena raced forward to kneel at her sister’s side. “Helia!”
The unicorn’s muzzle cracked to a small smile. Helia chuckled softly. “Selena… you came back.” Her eyes closed gently as she drew a labored breath.
“Of course I came back. Us blank flanks have to stick together.” Selena clasped her hooves around Helia’s neck. “Remember?”
“Ha…” Helia smiled. “Yes, I remember. How could I forget, it was the day father died…. That phrase seems to beg death.” Selena felt herself tremble as Helia broke into a rattling cough. The pegasus could do nothing but squeeze her sister tighter as the force of the cough shook them. Helia inhaled weakly. “It’s a shame….”
“No, it’s not. Because you’re going to be alright.” Selena said. Her tear spilled over Helia’s coat, leaving small lines of matted fur. “I promise you.”
“Selena… remember what mother told us the day father died?”
“Don’t talk like that….” She pulled her sister into an even tighter embrace.
“Remember, Selena….” Helia pleaded, her voice quavering with pain.
“She said….” Selena sobbed. “Please, not you too…” Selena stroked her hoof against the back of her sister’s mane. Helia gave her sister a stern look. Selena clenched her jaw together and repeated her mother’s wisdom. “She said that all things have their time. This is the order of the world. It is the way things are meant to be.”
Helia nodded. “That we are born. Then we live. And… then we die.” Helia chuckled. “Shame though… I never got my cutie mark.”
Selena shook her head. “That’s right! You can’t die now; you have so much more living to do, Helia!”
“No, there’s nothing more for me forward. But we had some great times, huh, Selena?” Helia coughed loudly. “Do you… remember that time… in the Keep when we got Gratis… to wear…?” Helia wheezed and then fell limp.
“Helia!” Selena screamed. Her cry echoed throughout the forest and frightened birds left the woods.
“I’m here….” She wheezed.
“I remember.” The silver dragon stepped forward and peered over the mare. “It was such a silly hat.”
“Gratis! You… came…”
Gratis attempted to fight back a sob. “Of course I came. You are… very dear to me… princess.”
Helia shook as though she was giggling, but no sound came out of her lips. “Must be… you came down from the Keep.” Her eye opened up and rolled to face the dragon.
“Yes…” Gratis broke eye contact with the young mare.
“Are you going to make funny faces to make me feel better?” Helia said with a soft smile. Gratis smiled and let out a quiet chuckle. Helia coughed heavily. “I guess it must really be my time then…”
“I’m afraid so. Every story must have an end. Your mother was indeed wise.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” Helia said as she gingerly lifted her head up towards the dragon. “I don’t mean any disrespect to mother, but I’m not looking forward to this story’s end.” Helia let out a laugh that quickly turned into a coughing fit. She spat blood out onto the grass and sighed. “Soon… I guess….” She closed her eyes.
Gratis nodded softly then stood up. Selena watched him as he paced around the area. She had never seen him look so small before. The dragon shook his head. “No.” Selena turned around to face the silver dragon. “You are right, Selena. I am Gratis. I am the silver serpent, the source of all magic, the prime, and the center of the ether. The laws of reality are mine to command.” Gratis’s wings spread froth from his back. His face twisted into a determined scowl. “I have long watched over this world and hid from it in my castle…. I had always been content in that fact. Yet here you are… my friends… and how can I still sit by and let this pass?” He turned to face Selena. “In truth Selena, one of the reasons I did not wish to witness this is that I was afraid. Afraid my heart could not withstand this. And now I realize that… yes… it cannot.” He held up his claw, revealing a swirling mass of light and shadow. “Dagr! Nótt!” He shouted.
“Yes, father.” The phoenix stood up and took flight. It circled around the clearing in the forest before landing next to the silver dragon. It stood with an unmatched regality as the light of the sunrise scattering through its feathers. Selena’s shadow slithered out from underneath her hooves and snaked across the ground. It hid among the shadows of the trees, shying away from the sunlight briefly before taking the shape of a slender pony. The shadow pony took its place alongside Gratis’s other side and waited for the dragon to speak. The dragon leaned down and whispered into both spirits’ ears. His eyes darted back and forth between the spirits and the unicorn. As he spoke, the spirits began to nod and a small smile crept across the spectral bird’s beak. “Yes. We can do that.” Dagr nodded as he approached the sisters. Nótt gently pulled Selena away from Helia, despite her protests. Dagr looked down at the unicorn. “Helia…” Dagr said as she looked down. “Let me sing just one last song for you….”
Dagr opened his mouth. He inhaled deeply and then began to sing in a soft soprano. The trees began to sway, their leaves dancing with his song. His voice slowly began to pick up in volume as Nótt’s mouth-less muzzle split in two. Harmonizing with his brother, Nótt sang for the first time either sister had ever heard. The forest shook and swayed with the rhythm of the song, and Selena could not help but let her eyes close so she could focus on its melody. Selena would forever remember the tune, though its words would be lost to her memory as time would pass. Perhaps it was a love song; a mellow sad tune of unrequited love. Nevertheless, whatever it was, it was beautiful. The tune picked up the sisters and cradled them in its sweet melody, the rhythm rocking her back and forth in a dreamy embrace. Selena’s eyes flickered open to find that she was actually floating! She was being lifted off the ground by a strange, shimmering light. A mess of colored bands surrounded Helia, lifting her limp body off the ground. She was wrapped in a symphony of pink, blue, and green. The ropes of color began to revolve around her with increasing speed forming a solid sphere of multicolored light. The unicorn inhaled deeply, as if her breath were returning to her in a forceful manner. The song reached its cadence as a flash of light blanketed the area.
The area fell deeply quiet. Helia’s hooves gently touched the ground with the soft sound of grass crumpling underneath. The mare blinked a few times in disbelief. She inhaled softly the followed with a gentle exhale. She let out a quiet gasp in surprise. Her breath was no longer labored and she could stand once again. She glanced around to see Gratis, Dagr, and Nótt smiling at here from the other side of the clearing. “I do not understand.” She took a step backwards in shock. “Oh! My voice… I sound so… melodious….” Dagr smiled and nodded. Helia shook her head. Her mane now long and unruly, it swayed over her face. “But, I do not understand. I should be….”
“Not anymore.” Gratis said with a large smile on his face. “Not ever again.”
Selena stared wide-eyed. “Oh my! Sister, look at you! You have wings!”
“Whatever do you mean by…?” Helia gasped once more. She nearly fell backwards when she noticed large feathered wings. Her wings. She had wings now. “What am I?”
Gratis laughed. “Arise, alicorns! For from now on, you are a new breed and you should revel in it.”
Helia turned around in place. “I feel better than ever! I’m so tall! Wings!” She looked back at the dragon and gasped. “But… but… but… how?!”
“How indeed, princess Helia!” Gratis chuckled, he spread his arms out wide to beckon Dagr and Nótt. “They gave up their voices so that you may live forever!” Gratis broke into a hardy laugh. “You too, Selena!”
Selena’s eyes rolled upwards. “Gah! Sister! I have a horn!” Selena squealed most un-mare-like. “Magic! You’ll have to teach me magic!” Her hooves danced up and down. “MAGIC, Sister!”
“But!” Helia stammered. “Mother said that… the natural order….! She was… wrong?”
Gratis appeared to be inspecting the shine on his claws nonchalantly as he spoke, “One of the perks of being part of my family.” The dragon looked over at the two alicorns and smiled. “Now we will always be together. Forever. No matter how much time passes, or much land the Keep floats over. We shall always have each other.”
Selena approached the two spirits. “Nótt…. Dagr… thank you for saving my sister… and for your gift.”
The two spirits nodded with smiles on their faces. Gratis placed a claw on Selena’s back. “I’m afraid they will never speak again. Immortality is a very powerful thing. Even I cannot give it away so freely. It must be taken from something. A sacrifice, if you will. I used my power to bind the power of their angelic voices into your forms. It was my power that allowed you to receive it, but it was their gift to give.”
Selena looked over at her sister. “Now what?” She asked in a hushed tone, as if she was sharing some dark secret.
Helia laughed. “Mother was wrong. We don’t have to be like she said. Rules can be broken and we just broke them! So now…” Helia spread her wings wide and took to the air. “For us there is no order! We are born. Then we live. And… then we live and live and LIVE!”
Twilight Sparkle gasped. “Wait… wait just a moment. A new breed?” Twilight stood up and began to pace. “Then this is it! This was the birth of the alicorns!” She shook her head. “Is that possible? To create a new tribe just like that?” She tapped the sides of her head with her hooves. “But there’s more here, isn’t there…?” She squeezed her head as if she was trying to force new thoughts to stay within the confines of her brain. “Two sisters… two alicorn sisters. Alicorns that are sisters. Two of them. Oh…. Oh my gosh…. How did I not see this before?”
Princess Luna reached out a hoof towards the purple mare. “Twilight….”
“Oh! How could I be so dumb and thick?!”
Applejack carefully wondered around the castle as she searched for some semblance of a kitchen. Even when the castle was whole, she could never find her way around. Now that it was lying in rubble she could not find where one hallway ended another began. It was not that she was unfamiliar with the castle. She had been on a few tours of the palace whenever she was in town for a rodeo, and being a personal friend of Princess Celestia had its perks. She was pretty sure she had been down this hallway before; there was a painting of Princess Cadence that she was sure she had seen at least eight times. At last, after what had been probably an hour she found the apothecary room. Now she had passed by this room one time when Twilight Sparkle had given her a tour of the castle, but she never ventured inside. Now Applejack was no idiot. She may not of had all those fancy book smarts Twilight had, but she was pretty sure the apothecary room had all kinds of herbs and spices, which should be perfect for making tea. With that thought in mind she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
“Who’s there?” A startled unicorn mare dropped a few dozen viles full of some unknown, multicolored, liquid. “Oh. It’s you… honest Applejack, right?” The orange unicorn said quickly.
“Ah, you’re that… uh… wait a moment… it will come to me…”
“Rising Star, lead adviser to the princess.” Rising Star shook her head. “Well… adviser to the Lady now, I suppose.” She shook her head once more. “Well… she doesn’t listen to me… so I’m pretty much useless right now.”
“Aw now you’re not useless, Miss Star.” Applejack said with a genuine smile. “Actually, perhaps’n you could help me out here? I was looking for a nice cold beverage. And Twi was hoping for some tea.” Applejack nodded. “Ah think it might do her a world of good, what with’n all the stress she’s been under.”
Rising Star’s eyes went wide. “Right… because it’s in my job description to be a….” She shook her head and sighed loudly. “Fine. I’ll have something whipped up and sent to her.”
“Thank ya kindly!” Applejack bowed. “We’re in the uh… literature… resta… something room. It’s where Princess Luna is.” Applejack waved energetically as she walked away.
“Noted.” Rising Star turned around back to face the shelves full of vials. “Idiot Twilight Sparkle.” She pulled down a few vials from the shelves. “As if a cup of tea will solve everything!” A small vial floated down, safely cradled in Rising Star’s telekinesis. “Or…” Her hooves started trembling as she read the label on the vial. “Maybe a cup of tea…” She rolled the vial over and glanced at the picture of a pony’s skull and crossed bones. “… Could fix everything.”
Princess Luna shook her head. “That’s not the point, Twilight. What matters is that the golem was defeated. It was not a revenge plot. Not to say that Helia and Selena did not feel a certain… catharsis when the stone crumbled.” The princess sighed. “But this next part of the story… I… Well...” Luna inhaled sharply.
It was the middle of the afternoon. Helia mentally cursed herself as she looked down at the pony in the bed. She placed her hoof alongside the pony’s face and tried desperately to give a smile. After failing to do so, she turned her gaze to the window. It was a cold morning; the sun was peeking out among a large blanket of clouds and it was looking like it was going to rain soon. The clouds were getting darker by the moment and while she had only been watching the outside for a few minutes, it looked like the weather was about to take a turn for the worse. She held back a sob as she watched a small sprinkling of rain patter against the window. “Don’t be so troubled, my little pony.” A soft and weak voice pulled her attention back to the bed.
Helia once again tried a smile but she could not manage one. “Don’t worry, mother. He’ll be here soon.” Helia glanced nervously at the door.
“Helia, my sweet…” Gaia whispered with a strained breath. “You’ve grown so beautiful. You’ve no doubt caught the eyes of every colt in town.” The blue earth pony chuckled. “I want you to have this.” Gaia lifted her hoof up and slid a small lapis lazuli bracelet off of her leg.
“Oh, mother. You need that. I can’t have it.”
“Dear, we both know it’s almost time.” Gaia closed her eyes. “This was given to me by your father… My engagement bracelet. By giving me this, your father cast off his tribal heritage in Olymponyus, because inter-tribal marriage is forbidden.” Gaia’s speech slowed in speed. “It was such a great symbol of his commitment to me, and my daughters to understand truly how great their father was, since there really isn’t enough lifetimes to tell that properly.” Gaia’s shaky limbs pushed the bracelet into Helia’s hooves. “I want you and your sister to have this.”
“Please, mother, don’t talk like that.” Helia’s face streamed with tears. “Dagr and Nótt… they’re fetching him… Don’t worry, he’s fast…. He disappears there and reappears here… it’s complex but I know he’ll be here. Once he knows….”
Selena placed her hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Helia…” She tried to wipe her tears from her eyes, but they reappeared again shortly after.
Gaia exhaled slowly with a wheeze. “You are all you have left. Take care of…” Gaia smiled. It was a beautiful smile. “My wonderful two daughters, you’re destined for such great things….” Then… Then… Then…
Twilight Sparkle placed her hoof on the alicorn’s shoulder. “Luna? Are you alright?” Luna nodded but tears were forming on her cheeks. Twilight bit her lip and felt a sinking feeling in her chest. “Maybe we should skip this part?”
“No. It’s important.” Princess Luna said as she tried to pull her hoof to her face to wipe her tears, but the chains on her limbs prevented her. A small noise of pity escaped Twilight’s lips and she focused magic in her horn. With a sparkling flash of purple, Luna’s bindings were served. “Thank you…” She whispered. She raised her hoof to her cheek and wiped the tears but more flooded down. The princess of the night inhaled deeply before continuing. “Then… well… what happened next was unforgettable.”
It is a strange sight to observe. Some things can just be known, and no pony will ever know how or why they know them. This was one of those things. It is inherit to all living beings that they can tell when life leaves a body. It’s in the eyes. There is a subtle twinkle of life in the pupils that is always there. Then one day, it vanishes and it can be seen swirling out of the eye. The pupils become dull and they lose a subtle shade. Where they once reflected the glint of the sun they forever after only show a listless black abyss. Most of the time there is a small noise, the sound of the last bit of air rushing out of the lungs. It is the last sigh of life, some call it. This time however it was silent. In the bed, the cyan earth pony’s eyes simply went dull. A soft smile adorned her face, and why should it not have been? She was surrounded by those she loved. Those dull eyes began to invoke such sadness in Selena that she was compelled to lift her hoof up and close them.
“Don’t touch her!” Helia barked as she pushed Selena’s hoof away from Gaia.
The smaller alicorn sobbed. “Helia…”
“Don’t worry Selena… It won’t be long now.” Helia glanced back to the door.
“Helia…” Selena repeated with tears running down her face.
Helia held up her hoof. “Shh! He’s here!” The pressure in the room shifted slightly. A small gust of air rushed out of the doorway as Gratis appeared with a flash of white light. A ghostly phoenix rose up out of the sunlight and perched itself by the door to the room. “Gratis! Thank… well… you that you’re here! Quickly! Our mother… she’s…”
The silver dragon slowly cupped Helia’s cheek in his claw. “My princess… I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.” The dragon gave a sympathetic smile. He looked over at the earth pony on the bed, seemingly sleeping peacefully. “She’s gone.”
“I know.” Helia frowned for a brief moment. “So bring her back.” Her tone was cold. The room started to twist slightly as Selena felt lightheaded. The stunning silence that seemed to echo through the room was maddening. Finally the dragon spoke.
“I’m sorry. I can’t.” Gratis’s eyes seemed to find something very interesting on the floor.
Helia looked puzzled for a moment. “What do you mean you can’t bring her back?” Helia’s jaw clenched tightly. “You’re Gratis! You can do anything! You made us immortal, do it again.”
Gratis sighed. “My powers are limited to this universe and I’m afraid your mother is no longer of this universe.” Gratis shook his head. “I cannot bring her back. I’m so sorry.”
“But… you made me immortal. You gave me wings and such power! Can’t you just bring her back?” Helia staggered. Her front hooves slipped against the ground and she nearly fell down. “I… I don’t understand…. You’re… too late?”
“Yes…. I’m afraid I am.”
Helia face contorted into a pained expression. “I… don’t…. But…” Helia let out a sob. “She’s gone? But she… she… she can’t be… gone.” Helia stood up from her slump and leered over the bed, staring at her mother’s lifeless face. “Mother….” She looked back at the dragon. “Is there really nothing you can do?”
“There are rules. A natural order to the world.”
Helia gently stroked the earth pony’s cheek. “Yes… she always says that… said… that…” Helia shook her head and turned her attention back to the earth pony. “That’s what she said when father died. That some things are just meant to happen and cannot be changed….” Helia scowled. “Then… why am I alive?”
Gratis took a small step backwards. “Helia, you…”
The alicorn’s head snapped back to face the dragon. With a look of confused anger on her face, she sneered. “My immortality, it’s against that natural order too, isn’t it? Why do I live on when she does not?”
Gratis bit his lip. “It’s… well…. Now is not the time to discuss this. Come; let us honor your mother by placing her image in the stars, for the whole world to see.” Gratis reached out with a claw.
“DO NOT TOUCH HER!” Helia screamed as she threw herself over the earth pony. Gratis, Dagr, and Selena backed up quickly. “Don’t touch her…”
Selena lifted a hoof in Helia’s direction. “Sister…”
“Leave…” Helia said with a sob. “Just leave me be…” Selena glanced over at Gratis. Helia clenched her eyes tightly shut as she screamed. “I… said… LEAVE!”
Twilight Sparkle bit the inside of her lip, her face crumpling to that of pity. “Luna… Are you...?”
Princess Luna shook her head and cleared her throat. “You need not feel bad, Twilight. This event happened long ago in Helia and Selena’s past.” Luna lowered her head and let it rest on the cold stone floor of the literary restoration room. “It’s rather funny if you think about it. Only the day before Helia was happy and so full of the wonder of life. When her mother died it would be an unthinkable time before she would ever outwardly appear that happy again. I suspect that internally, she never fully recovered. It was the start of something terrible….”
No less than a few months had passed since that day and Helia was sitting on the roof of the Keep in the Sky. She stared out at the pink clouds, caught in the glint of the sunset. The view was breathtaking. Had any other pony been witnessing that sight they would have been smitten with the view, entranced and perhaps content to spend the rest of their days staring out at that particular horizon. She was unaware how long she had been watching the clouds lazily roll by, but she vaguely remembered that the moon had been out at some point, so it might have been the whole day. She softly hummed the song Dagr used to sing to her as she watched a few birds fly in formation out in the distance. Her humming cracked and often went silent during the higher parts of the song, as she refused to give it enough of her breath. Her ear lifted upwards in response to a soft sound that echoed behind her. The wooden door that led to the roof of the Keep in the Sky creaked open. It appeared she had a visitor. Helia’s eyes rolled back to the sunset, not entirely eager to greet the silver dragon approaching her.
“Sweet Princess Helia, how are you feeling today?” Gratis said quietly. Over the last year, the dragon god had been plagued with guilt. It was an entirely new feeling and it gnawed at him. Every day he would visit her and everyday she would still have tears in her eyes. He had tried all manner of tricks to try and cheer her up and all had failed. Today would be different though, he could feel it. Today he would get the smallest smile back on her face. Then things could go back to the way they were. Back when they were the happiest, despite the strangest, of families. He could see it already. He’s snap his fingers and the send light the sky with fireworks. She and her sister would laugh until their voices gave out and then they would retire to the dining room where he would summon the most amazing feast. There would be candied sweets and pickled fruits galore. All he needed was a smile.
“Hmph.” It was only one syllable and, lacking a vowel, it was hardly a word.
Gratis smiled largely. It was more of a reaction than he had gotten all last week and he would take what he could get. This time he just knew he could cheer her up. No matter the cost. “Look, my little pony.” He raised his claw up in the air and pulled at an invisible thread. A fleet of pink clouds floated close. “Cotton candy clouds, your absolute favorite.” The clouds floated around the alicorn, encircling her head. “Don’t you like them? Are you not hungry?” Helia simply lowered her head. “No? Not good enough?” Gratis sighed. He snapped his fingers. All of the clouds in the sky turned a bright pink color. “Look! Now they all are your favorite! Isn’t that something special?” Helia turned away from the horizon, disgusted by the sight of the sky. He snapped his fingers. “Now look! Chocolate flavored rain!” Helia sighed. Gratis frowned again. “Alright. I didn’t want to do this one. But you’re leaving me no choice. I’m going to have to make the face.” Gratis snapped his fingers. His body slimmed down and his scales vanished into a coat of fur. His face elongated and changed shape. Mismatched horns spouted from his skull. His limbs morphed into strange unequal parts. He became a horrifying monster betrayed by a beguiling, single fanged smile. “Half-pony, half dragon, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Well? Funny right?”
Helia looked up at the strange creature before her. “Stop it.” She scowled.
Gratis was practically screaming with joy on the inside. She actually was speaking again! “Oh, but you like the funny face. I seem to recall this was a favorite when you were a little foal.” Gratis pulled his ears out to the side and his face stretched to accommodate. “How about a smile?”
“Why couldn’t you save mother? Why do I live when she does not?” The words echoed through the air and though they should have been lost to the wind with the altitude, they reached Gratis’s ears with piercing clarity.
“I was too late. I can’t bring a soul back once it is departed this universe. I am sorry, but that is the limitation of my power.”
“Too late…” Helia chuckled. By this point Gratis should have been ecstatic to hear such a sound, but instead he felt uneasy. “Funny how an all seeing being could be 'too late' to something.”
“Helia… There were rules…”
Helia stood up. “No. You seemed to forget those rules when you made me and my sister immortal. You could have saved her and you chose not to. So why then? Why am I supposed to live forever and she had to die?”
Gratis looked at the floor for a moment. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
Helia’s face streamed with tears. “How long will we live? Will we outlive all others we meet? Is there no reason to form attachments, because no matter what we will have to carry on without them? Will we have to watch the deaths of all those we hold dear? Will the world end, leaving us to sit in the darkness, floating for all eternity in nothingness?”
“Yes, all that is true…. I gifted you the power to live forever.”
Helia grunted. “Some gift.”
Gratis reached out with his eagle claw. “I… could take it away, if that is what you wish….” Helia looked upwards at him. He sighed. “The energies that keep you ageless are bound in a three point balance, the combined force of all three pony tribes. I could break one of the links….” He placed his claw on the tip of the alicron’s horn. “I could use my power to break your horn. The balance would be lost and your immortality would vanish. But… the sickness that almost claimed you is still within. It is frozen in time along with your age. If I break your horn, the sickness will claim your life.” Gratis’s voice trembled.
“Live forever, or die now. Not much of a choice is it?” Helia covered her face with her hooves.
“I don’t think I could do it. Even if you asked… I could not take away the gift knowing you would die in the process. I am sorry.”
“It is not that I want to die. I just don’t understand why you would give me the choice but not her…. Not anypony else.”
Gratis leaned over and smiled. “Don’t fret. There is so much to life!” He snapped his fingers. With a flash of white light, Helia suddenly found herself on the ground below the keep. There were standing in a nearby meadow. In the distance a group of foals were playing some rule-less game with a rock and twig. Gratis gestured to the area around him. “And while it is true others will come and go, we will always have each other. Forever.” Gratis smiled as he glanced at the peaceful sight before him. “So forget all about her and give me a smile. Come on now, my sweet princess. Give me a smile! Just a tiny one will do!” He snaked around her and pulled on his beard to make a funny face. “Please?”
“Forget about her?” Helia whispered as she watched the young foals play. “Just… forget about her…?” She broke into a sob and buried her face under her hooves. “How vicious of you…. How little you understand loss….”
Gratis bit his lip. He must have said something wrong again. He paused for a moment and tried to think of another gag, after a moment he snapped his fingers. The ground beneath them changed into a checkered pattern. “Look! The ground is painted your favorite color!” He leaned over her and gently patted the back of her head. “Isn’t that just silly? Don’t you feel like laughing?” He frowned. “No?” Gratis began to pace. His tail swished back and forth as he tried to think. He clapped his hands together as he had another thought. He pointed to a small rabbit that was hopping near them. Its legs elongated and it began to dash around in fear. “Have you ever seen a bunny with such long legs?” Gratis laughed. “I don’t know why they call them long-ears! They should be named after their legs!” Gratis’s laughter came to a crawl as he noticed Helia was still sobbing under her hooves. “Oh! I know!” He snapped his fingers and the dirt path nearby turned to soap. The nearby foal began to slip and fall. One cried out from the pain of twisting a leg. “Look over there! That’s just a riot of laughs, right?” He glanced down at the alicorn who was quietly sobbing. “You’re not looking….” Gratis ran his palm down his face in frustration. “Oh! You like dancing! Here look at this!” He snapped his fingers again. Thing threads appeared above the nearby group of foals. Their limbs lifted off the ground as they began a slow waltz. They began to scream in fear.
Helia’s head jolted upwards. “What’s going on?” Her eyes widened as she saw the horrible sight before her. The grass was replaced with some weird pattern, a few towering woodland creatures were tripping and rolling on the ground, and in the distance three little foals were screaming in agony.
“Fun!” Gratis said. “And all for you, my princess!”
“Fun?!” Helia screamed as she stood up. She reared back on her hind hooves and shoved Gratis. “You call this fun?! Stop this right now!”
Gratis looked horrified. “But… but I…. I was just….” He timidly raised his claw and with a snap of his fingers the young foals fell to the ground. In the background the foals quickly dashed away; crying out and whimpering.
“Is that what we are to you?! Are we all just puppets for your amusement?” Helia shoved the creature again. “Is that why you made me immortal? So I could entertain you forever?!”
Gratis stammered. “N-no… I just wanted to…. You were so sad….”
“Well how about mad? Is mad better?! You are disgusting. You think that life is just barrel full of laughs. Well, guess what? Everything can’t be fixed with funny faces and cute little rhymes and pretty windows!” Helia shoved once more, this time with enough force to knock Gratis down. “And it certainly can’t be fixed by tormenting others for your own amusement! You are a monster!”
“Monster? I was only….” Gratis cowered beneath the shadow of the pony.
“Yes, a monster! You are nothing but… but… chaos! And discord! You just think you own everything! You with your inconsistent rules that don’t make sense! I hate you!”
“H-hate?”
“I hate you! I hate you so much!” Helia’s wings flared out and with a mighty leap she took flight. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” She called back as she flew off towards the horizon.
Gratis was alone and he was stunned. He laid prone on the ground and watched the pink clouds float on by. While the area around him was tranquil and silent, his mind was noisy. The words echoed in his ears. She had never yelled at him before. No pony had ever yelled at him before. Why had she yelled at him? He rolled to his stomach and lifted himself up. He stared down at his mismatched arms. “A monster?” He asked quietly. He waited for an answer but none came. None ever would. There was no force left in the world that was above him. It should not have mattered. She was just a lowly pony he took a passing fascination with one day. Her words should not have stung so much. He could not understand. He tore his gaze from his paws and gave a dismissive wave. “Of course I’m not a monster. They are cruel and vicious. I am magnanimous. I gave her everything she ever wanted.” Gratis spun around and glanced at his swaying tail. How funny he looked in this form. “But that’s not true. I let her mother die. But it wasn’t my fault. It is the universe’s law… mortality… natural order…” He clenched his jaw and clutched the sides of his head. Something was pulsing in his mind. Something he had forgotten. “I could have broken it. It’s within my power.” He glanced down at his claw and rubbed his fingers together. “I could have….” His head began to hurt. The something that was pulsing in his mind had increased to a pounding. Something he was running from. “Sure I could have. I am Gratis! I have such power.”
Gratis took a few steps forward and the ground underneath him turned back to checkered. “Why, of course!” Gratis exclaimed. He lifted himself off the ground magically and floated down the dirt path. “Why not? I can change the rules! I have that right!” He spun gleefully around and spread his arms wide. The world began to shift around him. Trees became flat and the sky turned a sickly green. “This world could be whatever she wants! I could be whatever she wants!” He broke into a haunting cackle. He spun around and pointed at the ground. “Anything! No limit to the possibilities.” The dirt swirled upwards and strange geometries sprouted like plants. He laughed. He was not sure why, but he was laughing. “See? It’s not so hard, princess! You just crack a smile and laugh!” He floated upwards into the sky as the laughing continued.
“Sister! Help!” A cry rang out from below.
“Helia?” Gratis looked downward. At some point he had floated over a village, probably the one the young foals from earlier lived in. He quickly scanned the crowd of ponies below, looking for the alicorn that had called out.
“Sister!” The voice called once more. To his surprise it belonged to a small earth pony filly. Suddenly he became aware of the scene. The town was on fire. The flames danced from one roof to another.
“Somepony was careless.” He said. He raised his claw to stop it, but hesitated. The town was full of large candy canes and floating, upside-down huts. “Oh….” The realization hit him. “I was careless.” The ponies below ran around aimlessly screaming. He watched as they uselessly tried to put out the magical fires and restore order to their little village. “I’m always careless.”
“Look up there!” One of the ponies yelled. “It’s the monster that's responsible!”
Gratis’s eyes opened wide. “Monster? I’m not a monster! I’m…” He glanced down at the fires. “I’m… I’m… chaos?” He chuckled at the puny little pony. He could not explain why, the little timid thing just seemed so funny. “Yes, I’m chaos… I’m…”
“Discord.” Twilight Sparkled said with a shudder. “But how? I don’t understand.”
“He went mad. I don’t know what happened, but from that day on he became cruel. Helia and Selena tried to reason with him, but it was impossible. The world became his playground and its inhabitants, his puppets.”
“Then?”
“Soon the world was under his control. Lands were converted into his chaotic playgrounds. There was no resistance, not because everypony accepted it, but because there was no way of fighting it. How does one combat the ground from turning checkered? How can one fight the fundamental laws of the world being broken?” Luna looked upwards at the ceiling. “Oh, I wish I could tell you of the Chaos Wars. They lasted so long, I’m not sure I could tell it in its entirety before your short time on the world is up. It was fantastical and horrifying all at the same time.” Luna lowered her voice and began to speak in a rhythm heavy chant. “There were the mushroom walkers and the sliver talkers of the Rock-Lake dweller’s zoo, the terrible fall of Fort Trottingham, and the ship with eight thousand crew. The wyvern riders of the eastern marsh and the jungle fox and his fifty inch march. The King of Twenty-Five Lies and his court of Always-Maybe faced off against the pegasi in the Forest Shady. There was the dragon sage that was cursed with lotus-eating bliss and his sons that forged him the gilded cage atop the Leafy Cliff. The tales of the soapy road, and the salty tree, and the pen of Parchment Quill; the griffin rouge, poor Trick Knee, and the endless cider still. There were the vortex swimmers and the gate of the Future-Past where the vigil kept by the Timberwolves never did quite last. The armies of the alicorns and their gilded trumpet horns. The fanfare in the morning air when the Ruby Queen was scorned. Forging the armor of Chainlink Mesh and the great rock farmer’s test; the contest of the grassy west and the Falcon King’s ivory crest. I’ll never forget the sight of the Crystal Ones and the fallen clouds atop the inverted hill. The banshees’ everlasting lungs or the whereabouts of the popcorn mill. The Duple Stone that made changeling curse, the tale of the ponies cloned, and that silver dragon’s mirth. The rise of the champion of order and the fated duel. The ancient tomes, chocolate catacombs, and the sisters ever youthful. The Ocean Star seen from so far and the Bark Woven Bridge; the wagon pullers in the lakes of tar on the slanted ridge.”
“It sounds… wondrous.”
“I realize from the description it sounds like hero’s epic, but in all its glory it’s hard to forget there was so much suffering. That was why Helia and Selena had to end it. Once and for all….”