The Gift of Life Chapter 20
Ten weeks later...
The sun was shining the last of its light as it slowly set behind the mountains in the west. The trees had turned a soft golden color as they greatly soaked up the last of the light before it became nightfall. Their leaves rustled gently as a small gust of wind picked up, cooling the air significantly and sending the creatures of Everfree Castle’s gardens back to their homes. There was nopony out roaming the castle grounds save for one lone alicorn.
Celestia walked through the cherry blossom orchards at a slow pace. Her head faced her sinking sun off in the distance, the light shining at her through the branches of the trees. Celestia sighed, and sat next to one of the larger trees in the orchard.
“Goodnight, my sun,” Celestia said, a tear falling down her cheek. “It is time to make way for my sister’s night.”
Celestia looked down at her hooves. She noticed the small scrapes and callouses that were littered all around her hooves from the daily magic practices with Queen Chrysalis. She prodded one hoof with another, trying to move her coat to cover up the small deformities. After a while, however, she gave up and went back to look at where the sun had just fallen behind the mountains.
The western mountains were radiating light from the sun, its rays still reflecting off of the snow capped mountains. Celestia gazed at the beauty of the sight, and slowly lowered her head to rest on her hooves. Her ears swiveled around her head, listening for the sounds of the leaves still rustling in the gentle evening breeze.
A twig cracked behind her, and in an instant Celestia was on her hooves to face in intruder, her wings flared and her horn lit up in a yellow hue. She gasped to see Firemane standing in front of her.
“Woah there, Celestia,” Firemane said, taking a step back, “I didn’t mean to intrude. It looks like Queen Chrysalis’ training has really stuck.”
Celestia discharged her horn and folded her wings back up.
“I’m sorry, Firemane,” Celestia said quietly. “I wasn’t expecting anypony else to be out here.”
Firemane walked up to Celestia as she turned to look back at the sun, and he extended a wing around her.
“I thought I might find you out here, actually,” he said. “I’ve noticed you haven’t been yourself lately. You seem distant and distracted at times. Is there something troubling you, Celestia?”
“I... Firemane,” Celestia stammered, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Firemane sighed and kissed the base of Celestia’s jaw.
“Sweetheart, there are times in our lives when we cannot keep our feelings bottled up,” Firemane said. “There is something festering inside of you that gnaws at your inner conscience. You look defeated and distracted. C’mon Celestia, you know you can tell me anything.”
Celestia bit her lip and allowed the tears that had been blurring her vision to fall freely.
“It’s about Luna,” Celestia said, burying her head into Firemane’s neck. “I made a promise to her years ago that I would always be there for her. I am supposed to be her protector. She wants me to save her from the dangers that plague her mind, as well as the dangers that are present in Equestria. How am I supposed to do that when she is more powerful than me? Nearly every time we have dueled over the past ten weeks since we have started our training, Luna has bested me. There have only been a few times I have won, and I suspect that was out of pure dumb luck. How can I protect a little sister that is far superior to me when it comes to defensive magic?”
Celestia cried into Firemane’s chest, soaking his coat with her tears.
“She is depending on me, Firemane,” Celestia sobbed, “How can I keep my promise when she can take care of herself on her own?”
For some time Firemane did not budge as Celestia continued crying into his coat. When her choking ceased and her movements subsided, he lowered both Celestia and himself down so that they were sitting in the grass, and he pulled her to lay closely next to him.
“There is one thing you are forgetting,” Firemane said. Celestia looked up at him, her tears still streaming down her face.
“Luna may have the physical prowess over you, and she may be able to defend herself with her own magic, but that is not the only way to fulfill your promise to her. Your sister is very sensitive, Celestia. The mere thought of ponies disliking her makes her tear up.”
Firemane placed his forehead against the base of her horn.
“You have the ability to use your words and your intellect to help her. You have the charismatic power of your mother, and when the ponies of Equestria start to bring back old resentment for the things they believe your sister has done, be there for Luna when it doesn’t look like anypony else will be. You are your sister’s closest friend, and she needs you to be there for her always, even if that means she is stronger than you physically.
“You are a smart and beautiful mare, Celestia. Always remember that for your sister.”
Fresh tears flowed from Celestia’s eyes, and she pushed Firemane over onto his back, smothering him in a romantic embrace. She kissed him over and over, and he kissed her back with the same intensity. They laid amongst the piles of leaves fallen from the trees, and the last of the light from the sun vanished behind the western mountains.
Pulling away for a moment, she asked, “How did I ever find a stallion like you?” But before Firemane could open his mouth, their passion quickly resumed.
~~~
A bright horn blared through the castle grounds, stirring Celestia and Firemane from their peaceful embrace. They both turned towards the direction of the noise, and they saw the massive doors to the gates of the castle begin to open.
“It looks as though we were successful in our operation,” Firemane exclaimed, a smile forming on his lips.
“What operation?” Celestia asked, glancing at Firemane curiously.
“You’re about to find out. C’mon, let’s go meet your mother and father in the throne room. You’re going to like this.”
Firemane quickly pulled Celestia to her hooves, and together they galloped off towards the castle’s war room.
~~~
Celestia and Firemane made their way to the throne room, shifting past the Everfree Guard and numerous Night Guards that stood at attention all along the way. Firemane had quickly adorned his Captain’s armor before heading to the throne room, and Celestia was now wearing her golden crown and chest piece. The massive throne room doors opened to them when they approached.
“You stand accused of high treason, Adolf Hinney,” Sol’s voice rang out. “How do you plead?”
Celestia and Firemane skirted around the center of the throne room, Celestia eyes wide as she saw who was standing before the throne chairs. She turned to Firemane as they took their seats next to Luna.
“How did you manage to capture the governor of Germaney alive?” she asked in a hushed whisper.
Firemane leaned his head closer to Celestia’s.
“As you know,” he began, “last week we laid siege to the city of Marelin, and began a frantic push to the capitol building of the city. However, the deeper we moved into the city, the more desperate the enemy became. Soon, it was taking us an entire day to move half a mile more into the city while we were taking heavy losses.”
He paused as Adolf Hinney spat at Sol’s hooves, earning him a buck to the face from one of the guards flanking him.
“We came up with a plan to send in a strike team of Night Guards to extract Hinney through a weaker part of the city. As you can see, the plan worked near perfectly.”
“Near perfectly?” Celestia asked.
“We did lose one of the Night Guards it looks like,” Firemane said.
Celestia frowned, but fell quiet as Sol resumed speaking to Hinney.
“It seems as though you plead guilty, then,” Sol said coldly. “The punishment is death. Take him away.”
One of the unicorn guards who flanked Hinney grabbed Hinney’s tail in his magic and dragged him out of the throne room. A number of guards followed them out, and soon only the Royal Family, Firemane, and a few pegasi guards were left in the throne room. Celestia rose from her seat and walked over to Sol.
“Does this mean that the war is over?” she asked.
“Yes, it is over, Celestia.” Sol confirmed with a grim smile.
“You don’t seem happy about it,” Luna observed.
“No, I’m not happy about it. We have lost over eleven thousand ponies these last ten weeks. The majority may have been on the side of Germaney, but Germaney is still a province of Equestria. Too many lives were lost over the dispute of the justice done to one pony.”
Sol sighed and walked to gaze out over Everfree. Galactica soon joined him, and one of Sol’s massive wings extended around her.
“We should not hold this moment in high regard,” he said. “This is not a victory for us. All we have done is prove a point in the worst possible way. We have proven that one pony’s death was justified at the cost of eleven thousand unjustified deaths. This should be a time for mourning all of the ponies that lost their family members on both sides of the conflict, both civilian and military. I will not celebrate.”
Celestia stared at her father with her mouth agape.
“I-I had not realized that lives were lost on such a magnitude,” she said
Celestia’s wings drooped and her legs started to shake. Firemane saw Celestia’s condition, and he quickly braced himself up against her with a wing extended over her back.
“Eleven thousand deaths, Firemane,” Celestia said. “Eleven thousand families who lost their family members in the span of ten weeks. Eleven thousand brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters.”
Firemane kissed Celestia’s cheek and brought her head under his own. Luna looked at them both with sad eyes, her hoof prodding at the floor.
“‘Tia, we tried to save Fanatic,” she said.
Celestia turned away from Luna to look out the window in the throne room. The sky had darkened significantly with the departure of the sun, and the lights from the houses slightly illuminated the night. The moon hung overhead, casting its dull light on the landscape.
“I’d like to go to the Tower of the Stars,” Celestia said.
“Okay, let’s go,” Firemane said. “Are you coming, Luna?”
Luna nodded her head. All three of them turned to depart the throne room, and the massive doors swung open to allow for Forza, Chrysalis, Static, Bright, and Reaper to enter. Celestia bowed her head towards them, and they did the same, and then she headed towards the Tower of the Stars with Luna and Firemane.
When Celestia, Luna, and Firemane reached the top of the Tower of the Stars, they were immediately hit by a rush of cold night air. Celestia shivered a little, but she stepped forward and looked out over the rails. The wind continued to rustle her mane gently in the wind, and she sighed.
“Luna?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, ‘Tia?” Luna replied, looking at Celestia.
“Equestria is a beautiful place, isn’t it?”
“I-I don’t know. I haven’t seen much of it.”
“But from what you can see right now, isn’t Equestria beautiful?”
“Well...” Luna paused as she gazed back out over Everfree and the forest, “I guess it is.”
Celestia took in a deep breath.
“The air is crisp, the sky is cloudless, and the trees are a brilliant green. We live in a beautiful nation; someday we will rule a beautiful nation. We will be the heads of state, making all of the decisions to keep Equestria as beautiful as it can be.”
The wind picked up a bit.
“Yet, I can see the beauty fading. The power that had once burned bright from this nation is nearly snuffed out. The citizens have lost more than they ever have these last few years. They have lost harvests, homes, and loved ones. They have lost more than what should be bearable.”
Celestia sniffed, and leaned her head against Firemane’s neck.
“Grim times fall upon ponies,” Firemane said, stroking the back of Celestia’s head. “The days have been darker in Equestria, but that does not mean that hope has been flushed out of everypony’s spirit. Just today I was staring out towards the Eastern District, and I could see ponies happily purchasing and selling wares.”
“Um, ‘Tia?” Luna quietly asked.
“We are only look upon the safe walls of Everfree,” Celestia said to Firemane. “Many of the refugees Germaney and Stalliongrad go to Manehatten for the city’s massive apartments for living. Many of the military families live in either Hoofington or Derbyshire. We were far away from the war here.”
“‘Tia?” Luna asked again, a little louder.
“But the war has ended,” Firemane protested, “No more ponies are going to be kill-”
“‘Tia!” Luna yelled.
“What is it, Luna?” Celestia asked.
Luna pointed in the direction of the Eternal Valley. Celestia followed her gaze, and slowly all of the hairs along her back stood on end. The entire sky above the Eternal Valley had turned a chaotic mass of red and black powerful storm clouds, and lightning strikes pummeling the expanse of earth beneath. Celestia slowly walked to the end of the spire that faced the west.
“‘Each strike paints the picture red,” she uttered, “until the King and Queen have nothing more to be said.”
Luna was standing next to Celestia, visibly shaking. Celestia stared a while longer, until something far off in the distance caught her eye.
“Is that a... Flutterpony?” Firemane asked incredulously.
The Flutterpony took a few more steps forward, and cautiously glanced behind her. She turned to the city, slumped to her knees, then collapsed onto the ground.
“Oh no,” Celestia said, “Firemane, you need to alert the city guards now. Get help to that Flutterpony. Luna and I will fly out there right now to reach her.”
Firemane quickly disappeared back down into the tower, and Celestia looked over at Luna. Together they took flight towards the Flutterpony, pumping magic into their wings so that they could fly much faster. The distance between the Flutterpony and Celestia and Luna closed rapidly, and they made a hasty descend, leaving craters in the ground where they had landed.
“Are you okay?” Celestia shouted, galloping the rest of the distance to the Flutterpony.
The Flutterpony groaned as she heard the hoofbeats of two incoming ponies. Her wings were battered and torn. Mangled armor lay tattered across her body, blood dripping from the makeshift bandages that the Flutterpony had used to heal her wounds. One of her hooves looked to be twisted in the wrong direction.
“Please help,” the Flutterpony pleaded in a raspy voice.
“What happened to you?” Luna asked as she knelt down to start healing the Flutterpony’s smaller wounds.
A horn sounded from inside Everfree City, and Celestia heard the massive gates scraping against the ground and creaking on its hinges.
“I need... I need to speak with Queen Chrysalis,” the Flutterpony wailed, breaking down into sobs.
Celestia glanced back at the city to see that some guards galloping towards them. She turned back to the Flutterpony.
“It’s going to be alright,” she said. “You’ll see your queen soon.”
~~~
“Where is she?” Chrysalis asked as she stepped into the infirmary.
Galactica nodded her head towards a bed at the far corner of the room. Celestia and Luna stood over the Flutterpony, and were levitating a glass of water to her lips. Chrysalis quickly trotted over to them, and kneeled down next to the bed so she could be at eye level with the Flutterpony.
Chrysalis stared at the Flutterpony’s tattered hooves. Lifting them over the blanket, she said, “Sunfire, are you okay?”
“I am fine,” Sunfire said, wincing as she lifted herself higher in the bed, “but the Eternal Valley is not.”
“What happened?” Chrysalis asked.
“A massive army as rolled forth from Shimmerwood forest, my Queen, headed by a creature I have never seen before. He looked like a dragon, but he had various body parts from other animals as his limbs. He is some sort of chimera.”
Sunfire cough, and tears started to stream from her eyes.
“We tried to stop them,” she said. “Blackheart and I took the Eternal Valley’s army to meet the enemy’s, b-but the chimera used his magic to twist us into horrid beasts. We lost our soft, white fur to be replaced by the black chitin of an insect. Our eyes turned to pale blue. Our wings became ripped and tattered, and our legs now have holes in them.”
Chrysalis’ eyes widened, and her butterfly wings were locked together.
“You look like you have been unscathed by this attack,” Chrysalis said.
“I managed to escape, if only just barely,” Sunfire replied, “The transformation did something to the Flutterponies’ minds, and they all started to attack the Flutterponies who had not been harmed by the chimera’s magic. They hounded me for two days, ravishing my wings so that I could not fly. Eventually they left me alone, but only when Everfree came into view.”
“What happened to Blackheart?” Chrysalis asked quietly.
“He-he’s changed, my Queen.”
Crysalis sighed, but she tried to smile at Sunfire.
“I’m going to fix this, Sunfire,” Chrysalis said. “You should return to sleep. You need your rest.”
Sunfire opened her mouth, but Chrysalis shook her head and rose to her hooves.
“I will not see my nation or my ponies fall victim to such malevolence,” Chrysalis explained. “I am going to return to the Eternal Valley and put a stop to this chimera before he has a chance to move somewhere else.”
Chrysalis made her way to the door, but Sol help his hoof up.
“The Equestrian Military is at your service,” he said. “I will personally venture forth with you and help you reclaim the Eternal Valley. It is the least I can do for all of your help over the past century.”
Celestia’s eyes widened, and she quickly got to her hooves.
“No, Daddy, you can’t go!” she exclaimed, rushing over and hugging Sol’s leg.
“How can you suggest that I don’t go?” Sol asked, bewildered. “Chrysalis has been our ally for centuries. I cannot refuse to send help with her to defeat the enemy who has taken over her lands.”
Celestia hugged Sol’s leg tighter.
“You can’t go,” she pleaded. “Remember that riddle I told you after Fanatic had been killed?”
“I do.”
“The third part has come true tonight. ‘Each strike paints the picture red.’ Look out at the Eternal Valley. A horrible lightning storm has shadowed the entire nation, and you can see that fires run rampant by their red reflection on the base of the clouds. Don’t go, Daddy. I don’t want to lose you.”
Sol sighed, and he gently lowered his head to kiss the base of Celestia’s horn.
“You will not lose me, Celestia,” he said. “I will return to you before the end of the month. I promise. Chrysalis needs our help, and if two of the most powerful ponies in the world go instead of just one, there is a much greater chance that we can succeed against such a powerful force.”
Celestia released her grip on Sol’s leg, but she remained with her head downcast.
“Cheer up, my sweetheart,” Sol said, using his nose to raise Celestia’s face up to look at him. “Perhaps we are going to do battle with the thing that has plagued your thoughts for years. Perhaps then you will be at peace in your mind.”
“I hope you’re right,” Celestia said, half-heartedly rubbing her cheek against Sol’s.
~~~
The sun was rising over the eastern mountains, and Celestia stood atop the Tower of the Stars looking out over the eastern district. The sound of the city gates echoed throughout the empty streets, opening for eight thousand ponies to exit in a massive column. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies alike marched towards the Eternal Valley and the thunderstorm that covered it.
At the head of the column, Sol and Chrysalis gave one last look back towards the city at Galactica who stood on one of the gate’s ramparts. Celestia raised her hoof to wave down at them, hoping they would see her too, but neither seemed to notice as they returned their gazes forward. She sat back on her haunches and sighed as the door to the tower opened.
“I haven’t missed Daddy leaving, have I?” Luna asked as she hopped to the railing.
“No, the column only began leaving the city a few minutes ago,” Celestia said.
Celestia and Luna watched silently as the column continued to pour out of the city. Sunlight glimmered off of the golden armor of each soldier, each encompassing a golden river of metal and steel. Their hoofsteps marched in sync with each other, and clopped noisily on the cobblestone streets.
“‘Tia?” Luna asked.
“Yes, Luna?”
“Do you think that the chimera Sunfire spoke of was the same entity that has spoken to you before?”
Celestia stood next to Luna as a breeze started to pick up and rustle both mares’ manes.
“I have a feeling it is,” Celestia said. “This chimera just so happened to have arrived after the war against Germaney with a sky painted red. Unless there is some other... thing that is advancing the entity’s plans, I suspect that Daddy and Chrysalis are walking into a trap.”
“What kind of trap?” Luna asked.
“I don’t know, Luna, but if the last part of the riddle means anything, then I have a pretty good idea. ‘...until the King and Queen have nothing more to be said.’
Luna’s head drooped, and she slowly sat back on her haunches.
“So you think Daddy and Chrysalis could be killed?” she asked.
Celestia bit her lip and sat down with her sister.
“I don’t know, Luna. Both Daddy and Chrysalis are very powerful. For all I know, this entity could be overconfident in his abilities. He might have extended his reach too far.”
Luna continued to keep her eyes downcast, but she moved her head and nuzzled Celestia under her chin. Celestia returned the gesture by rubbing her cheek at the base of Luna’s horn.
“Do you think Daddy and Auntie Chrysalis will come back?” Luna asked.
Celestia paused, and brought Luna into a tighter embrace. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks onto Luna’s head, and they both could hear the sound of the city gates closing.
“Yes, Daddy and Auntie Chrysalis will come back,” Celestia said as the gates thundered shut.