(5)
The eastern sun gave way to a new morning over the far Equestrian mountain ranges. Trickles of red and yellow light glided over the purple mountain tops and descended into the darkened valley below. In this valley where Canterlot resided, the town was already abuzz with activity in preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration which was only a day away. And there, hanging over the eastern skyline, loomed a silver moon watching over the silent planet below. Though, as usually, no one seemed to pay much attention the common satellite as it once again dipped below the horizon.
In the Western Tower of Canterlot Castle, Zack was already dressed and ready to make his way downstairs. Though he was ready for the day, the lack of sleep from last night’s oddities made his mind groggy and tiresome. He still needed to successfully make his way to the kitchen without falling down the twisting staircase which led to the ground floor. Gradually going down the stairs, he wondered why he never had a problem making it up and down these stairs so many years ago. These steps were made for ponies, which meant they were narrower and smaller than what he was use to. He took his time down the flight of spiraling stairs, watching his footing as he ever so carefully took on each step. When he finally made it to the ground floor, he seemed no closer to being awake than he was in his bedroom door.
With each footstep dragging across the marble floor, he slogged over to the kitchen chambers. There, the cooks were frantically preparing every course for the big day. Ponies of all sizes and races worked in the kitchen; from cooking to cleaning, they were a swift, organized system that were right on schedule. Zack tired to ease his way through the kitchen, trying not to get in any pony’s way; they didn’t mind his presence one bit. Most of the senior chefs already knew Zack from years before and gave him a quaint smile when they made eye contact with him. The younger cooks gawped with wonderment at his bizarre sight and sometimes even stopped what they were doing. The veteran chefs had to push them along and tell them that he was nothing to stare at and to continue their duties. Zack had grabbed a cup of black coffee with two cubes of sugar and some creamer and made his way out of the kitchen.
He entered into main dining hall where only one other member of the castle was sitting down at the end of the long table. He looked just as sleepy as Zack did and next to his own cup of coffee sat a neatly wrapped present. Zack took a seat next to his fellow friend and began adding the creamer and sugar to his beverage.
In an attempt to make conversation, Zack commented on the looks of his friend by saying, “Rough night too, huh?”
His buddy responded, “Tell me about it. Twilight had me up all night looking for a book on pony tales.” Spike looked over at Zack and asked, “How about you?”
He took a sip, “Someone broke into my room last night.”
Spike’s eyes widened with surprise, “You’re joshing me? This is a castle for Pete's sake! How could somepony break in? It’s like, impenetrable, right? You should tell the Princess, pronto!”
Zack leaned back and blew on his coffee, “The thing is, they didn’t steal anything. They just broke in and left me a weird message.” Spike gulped down the last of his coffee and let out a fiery green belch.
He hopped off his seat and replied, “That sounds interesting and all, but I just remembered I have to go to the observatory to help organize books... again. If Twilight catches me here and not working up there, I’m toast.”
As Spike waved off Zack in a hurry, Zack noticed that the dragon had left his gift and called out, “Hey, you forgot your present!” The baby dragon made a sharp u-turn and grabbed the box out of Zack’s hands.
He thanked him before leaving the room, “Thanks Zack, almost forgot my gift for Moondancer’s party.”
After he had finished his cup of joe, he began to make his way to the throne room. The halls were filled with rushing ponies to and fro. Deadlines were closing in and some ponies were hurrying to finish their tasks before the celebration. The halls were lined in decorations presenting the sun and moon in honor of the day. Everything along the halls were dusted, mopped, swept and as clean as a whistle.
Zack opened the large doors to the throne to see that Celestia was bombard with castle workers. The multitude of them were showing her different decorations to decide which ones to put up while others were styling and prepping her mane and coat for today’s events. As Zack walked over to her, he decided quickly not to tell her about what happened last night. He thought that it would be best to wait a day or so when things got less hectic around the castle.
He confronted her, offering his services, “Is there anything I can do to help?” She gave a faint smile towards him, holding back the slight pain of her mane hair being pulled back by a stylist behind her.
“No, no, I don’t think you can–”
A designer stallion came between the two and interrupted, “My liege, which conditioner would you rather prefer? The Highland Equestrian Wild Flower Fields, or Sweltering Summer Sun and Banana Bonanza?”
Celestia swayed her attention over to the designer and answered, “Summer Sun... Banana–whatever, please.” Her focus went back to Zack. A sudden burst of magical light came between the two and as the light resided, a scroll appeared before them. The Princess unraveled the message and quickly read it, mumbling the words aloud. She looked back at him with a gleam in her eye, he could see she had a task thought out for Zack to do. An aura of yellow light enveloped her unicorn horn and from a growing and glowing ball of magic came forth a blank scroll and quill. She hovered it over in Zack’s grasp and he took the parchment and feather.
“Could you take a message for me,” she asked with delight.
He grinned and answered, “Sure thing.”
“Pretend you’re me, and tell Twilight Sparkle that she needs to stop worrying about today and to go to Ponyville and make some friends.”
Zack scratched the bottom of chin and thought of how he would word the message to make it sound like the Princess wrote it. He came to a conclusion and began to write the letter while saying aloud what he was writing:
“My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight,
You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely, but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!"
The Princess laughed out loud and sarcastically commented, “Oh Zack, don’t make me sound like a tyrant!”
He continued with a smirk on his face:
“My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"
Celestia asked, “You should add an exclamation mark at the end of that last sentence.”
“I actually did!” The two chuckled as the scroll was wrapped up and hovered over to Celestia. She overlooked the message and evaporated it away into thin air.
“There,” she said with a sigh, “that should keep Twilight out of my hair.”
Zack shook his head and stated with a smile, “Oh, you’re terrible!”
“I’m the terrible one? You’re the one that wrote the letter!”
“True. True...” He digressed, “So, is there anything else I can do?”
“Just stay out of the way for the day. Come back down to the Royal Garden tonight before midnight.”
“Gotcha,” he replied as he saluted her off in a carefree fashion.
He exited the throne room and goofed off around the castle, though the day that he spent seemed to last much longer than he thought. He first perceived that is was because of the Summer Solstice, which was the longest day of the year. He then remembered that this was only the second longest day. He had confused the two days from all the rush of activity he ran into today. It made him think that today was the day, but in reality, The Summer Sun Celebration began at midnight tonight.
He couldn’t leave the castle and had no intentions on doing so, so he spent his time in the library, seeing if there were any new books needing to be read. He couldn’t have long discussions with either Valiant or Shining since both were as busy as the Princess. So he waited out the longest day of the year, digging his nose into the latest edition of Daring Do. There wasn’t a lot of things he could do today, so he patiently waited and read his novel.
Night had come at last and Zack counted down the hours till the eve of midnight. A half an hour beforehand, Zack entered the Royal Garden. Like everything else he had seen around the castle, the garden hadn’t changed one bit since the years he had been away. The solitude and tranquility of the garden at night was a little eerie for Zack’s tastes. It was rather strange seeing no one else in the garden on the precipice of such a grand day. He thought that he would have at least seen a guard or two, but he appeared to be alone. He wandered over to the Panexus and awaited Celestia. From the shadows of the castle walls emerged the Princess and the two greeted one another.
Zack asked her, “What are you doing here alone? Everyone must think you were kidnapped or something.”
“Calm down, Zachary. I break off from the public all the time, they know I’m around and safe. I can protect myself.” She walked over to the Panexus and looked down at it, almost as if inspecting it.
Zack spoke up, “So, you’re heading over to Ponyville then?”
“No, I’ll be heading over to Midnight Castle to confront my sister once she gets there.” She materialized six round objects in front of her with her magic. Six spherical stones with engraved markings on each of them. Celestia continued, “I’ll place these in the castle. They have no real purpose to them, but upon mentally realization, they’ll teleport the actually Elements of Harmony to the six, and all will go according to plan.”
Zack raised a finger and stressed, “Now hold on there–I want to get some facts straight. Why do you have your hooves so involved with this? This prophecy seems set up to me and that if you don’t do this, it won’t happen. Aren’t prophecies suppose to take their own course with no interaction from outside forces?”
“Yes... and no.” She divulged, “Once I set the key in motion, I will have no affair outside of the Elements, but I must do this.”
Zack asked, “How come I can’t help them, but you can in your own way?”
Celestia faltered, “Because... because that’s just how I want it to be!”
Zack fired back, “You just want to be a part of the Elements again! You’re... you wish to have that power back... you’re power hungry. I can’t believe you!”
“How dare you,” she raged. Her eyes began to glow into a burning white light, “You think that I would want the Elements for myself!” She arose into the air, creating a powerful gust throughout the garden.
Zack stepped back and yelled out over the winds, “Please, just tell me the truth...” The power she expressed seem to slowly evaporate out of her system. Celestia flapped back down on the ground and lowered her head in shame.
Zack eased, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No. You’re right... I’m a fool, Zack.” She looked back up at him and went on, “When I had... somewhat control of the Elements... I felt so powerful. I’m... I’m a terrible leader. I want to get the Elements away from me, I want this all over with, I can’t handle it anymore. This is why I need Luna, I can’t keep doing this alone. It’s all his fault... Discord’s, for turning my sister against me.” She fell to her knees as a single tear fell from her eye. “No one pony should ever have control of a magical artifact... Moonsinger would have told me that...”
“Who,” Zack questioned.
Celestia broke off from her thought and replied, “No one important... anymore that is.” She wiped the tears away from her eyes and regained composure, “I want you to stay at the castle tonight and await me and my sister’s arrival.”
Zack looked away as he affirmed with dissatisfaction, “Fine.” He looked back in her eyes and said, “Just know that... every ruler from my world has been corrupted by power... there is no perfect leader from where I'm from. Comparing them to you is like comparing coal to diamonds. Though you may not be perfect, I think you’re an excellent leader... but that’s just my opinion. I’m no leader nor politician of the sort. I’m just, me.”
She stepped forward to give Zack a warm hug, enveloping him with her wings. He returned the favor and wrapped his arms around the Princess’ neck. They patted each other off as she stepped onto the Panexus once more. A strange noise could be heard from far off and the two looked off into the starry heavens. The mare on the moon had disappeared before their eyes and yet Zack seemed unfazed by this drastic change, for he knew what had happened just then.
“It’s about time,” she said with a heavy heart.
Zack gave a thumbs up and said with affection, “Good luck–no, you don’t need luck. You’ll do great!”
She smiled as the edges of the ancient device beneath her glowed with a brilliant sapphire blue. A pillar of heavenly light shot down from the sky and whisked the Princess away. The only person left in the garden was Zack and his thoughts.
The night grew on and Zack lost track of time as he waited the sisters’ arrivals. The night seemed to persist longer than he had thought. He had waited so long that he caught himself up in the ‘Daring Do’ series. He was behind by three books, and each was only a hundred or so pages long; but by the last pages of the final book, it seemed like night had lasted for a full day and yet he wasn’t tired at all.
He set the book down in the meeting chamber of the castle and reclined back into the large, red leathered sofa. The room was quite spacious and consisted of high walls and ceilings with a grand chandelier in the center of the upper interior. The room was lit by magical torches and a fireplace that sprawled out before him on the far wall. It was quite toasty and relaxing to be in the chamber, yet he felt a strange vibe throughout his body. He couldn’t tell why he felt so abnormal. It may have been that he was all alone in the entire castle, but he felt something sinister at work.
He tensed up his form in preparation for what it might be. The solitude and stillness of the whole setting seemed off key and perplexing to his every being. A feeling he couldn’t describe or had even felt before encased his body for the fear of the unknown. The chair he once felt comfortable in failed to keep his tensions at ease. He sat up slowly and thoroughly scanned the room for whatever it was that was making him feel uncomfortable.
After much debate with his emotions over his will, he took in a breath and sat back down in the recliner. He tried to ease himself and get into a relaxed position. The moment he had just felt confirmed his suspicions for the sanity he lost a few days ago. He wiped a cold sweat from his forehead without even knowing he was sweating in the first place and tried to cope with the circumstances.
"Am I going insane," he thought while maintaining his composure. "So this is what it’s like to be a crazy person... but wait, what’s the actually definition of being insane? I thought that by not knowing you were insane meant you were sane? Or maybe by having some perfection tendencies, but I’m nothing like a person with OCD... am I?"
His thoughts were cut off by a sudden, yet very faint noise. As quiet as the flickering of the distant fir, he heard something odd in the room around him. It sounded as if it were far off, but the room wasn’t that large. He pushed himself up onto his feet and listened as hard as he could. He could no longer hear the noise he thought he had heard, but persisted to listen for it again.
At that moment, a loud echo of a sound came into his ears. The tension he had built up within himself was released in a sudden jolt of fear. He didn’t catch what the sound was at first because of the suddenness of the moment, but now he listened in more. At first, he didn’t believe it. The sound was a voice, and not just any voice, his own voice. He made sure he wasn’t talking cupping his hand over his mouth. His own voice spoke from afar and echoed through the chamber as loud as howling storm winds. He emptied his mind of fearful thoughts and listened to what the voice was saying.
“How... how long have I been away... How long... tell me... please...” the voice spoke. Zack didn’t speak up, but only waited. Another voice boomed behind him, a voice he knew as well. It was Twilight Sparkles; but how–he wasn't sure. The two echoing voices from the unknown commenced a conversation with one another.
Twilight’s voice answered, “A very long time... things have changed, Zachary. They weren’t how you remembered them.”
Zack’s voice spoke again, “I see...”
“The world, I hate for what it has become. So vile and treacherous. Magic is practically dead.”
“Is there anyone I know still alive... Where’s Celestia or–”
“Celestia has been gone for a very long time. Not dead, but gone. Let’s see... Spike may still be here... goodness I miss him.” Zack had enough of this. He thought that maybe he was under some sort of spell and uncovered his mouth to speak.
Zack commanded, “Where are you! Show yourselves!” No one answered and the voices continued around him.
“Why did Celestia leave?”
“Equestria no longer wanted her, she was no use to The New Order.”
Zack stamped his foot and screamed, “God Dammit! Where are you cowards?” Again, no one responded. He grasped the sides of his head and banged his fists against it. He tried to force himself out of this lunacy. He fell to the floor, his head burning with pain.
The voice simultaneously echoed around him, shaking his body to the core, “Where did you go? Why did you leave us? Where did you go? Why did you leave us?” Zachary let out a cry of pain and lay defeated on the floor.
He wept, “Why... why is this happening to me... Oh God, why?”
Zachary’s voice spoke up again from the unknown, “Where shall I go? Where shall I go to get away from the world?”
The other voice responded, “Some call it, Rhignes Rock.”
It took a few moments, but Zack realized the voices had stopped and he was alone once more; but before his stress could subside, another voice came into the room. A voice much different from the rest, one he had never heard before. It didn’t echo and boom like the rest, but it sounded as if it was whispering in his ear. He could almost feel the warm breath of another being next to him, yet he was still alone as ever.
It spoke with a cold, assuring voice, “You will fail... You will lead them to their graves. I can promise you this. Everything you love will die before you.” Zack broke down and covered his face.
The voice soothed him, “My sad, sad puppet. Do not cry. I will make you a slave, I will make you kill the ones you love. I will make you my own. A slave... a slave for eternity... And you will enjoy every moment of it.”
“Stop it,” Zack cried out, “Shut up! Shut the hell up!”
It laughed, “I will shackle you, limb by limb. I will use your own hands to slaughter the little ones. Everyone will die, a blood bath for the innocent. I’m tired of playing games, I’m ready for the end. I’m ready to watch the world burn. And in the grand finale of all things good, you will look over the hills lit by scorching fires and you will laugh, and laugh, and laugh. The world will burn until the red earth is left and the skies are black with ash. The lush fields of green and mountains high will be trampled under your foot. We will make things they way I want them to. Whatever I desire, you will desire. Out of chaos comes only chaos. The world will die and you will murder it. And you will love me for it. Because I am you.”
Zachary scrambled to his feet, fighting through the intruding voice which gave him so much pain. He rushed out of the chamber and flung the doors open only to be halted by a blinding, yet strangely attracting light.