//------------------------------//
// The Price of Beauty 
// Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 5: Before the Chaos 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 3: The Price of Beauty


Dining Hall, Castle of Equestria, Equestria, Gaia, Autumn, 146 P.C.E.

The Doctor, Twilight, and Matilda were led through a large pair of bronze doors by a pair of pegasus guards. A massive, golden-walled, marble-floored dining hall around the size of Celestia's throne room greeted them. The floor was covered with velvet, silver-lined rugs, and, in the center of the room, there stood a table nearly as long as the room itself. There must have been at least one hundred chairs docked at the table, each seat with its own set of plates, cutlery, wine glasses, and decorations. At the head of the table were two large thrones, a golden one and a silver one. Discord sat proudly in the golden throne while Lily sat in the silver throne, continuing to emit an aura of elegance, beauty, and tranquility. Twilight found herself speechless at the sight of the dining hall.
"Brilliant!" the Doctor exclaimed. Matilda walked up to him and gave him a light shove.
"Come on, Doctor. Surely this isn't the best thing you've seen," she whispered.
"No, but it's definitely a runner-up."
The three ponies walked towards the head of the table. Discord stood up and greeted them.
"Welcome to the dining hall. I hope you're enjoying your stay in the castle so far," said the King.
"Oh, of course! It's an honor to be here!" said Matilda. The Doctor was tempted to roll his eyes again but he decided against this course of action. 
"Well sit down! Supper shall be here soon."
The Doctor sat down in the seat closest to Discord's while Twilight and Matilda found seats close to Lily.
"It's lovely here," said Twilight to the Queen. Lily giggled and smiled though Twilight could sense that something was off about her.
"Thank you. I can remember my first time behind these walls. It was ten years ago, so I was nineteen at the time. My father brought me here to watch him perform for Discord and the ambassador from the Griffin Kingdom."
"I remember that night like it was yesterday," said Discord. "It was terribly cold."
"Yes. My father was a unicorn and a very powerful one at that. He could cast magic that most unicorns could only dream of. There's a rumor stating that he was descended from Star Swirl the Bearded."
"Making you his descendant as well," said Twilight.
"Don't get your hopes up. It's merely a rumor and it's simply impossible to find out the truth. You'd have to go back in time and magic like that is extremely rare."
The Doctor winked at Twilight and she giggled in return.
"Anyway," Lily continued. "My father's performance started brilliantly and, at first, everything was going as planned. Then...everything went wrong."
"What happened?" the Doctor asked.
"An old rival of her father's was there that night," Discord explained. "He used some deadly, black magic to kill Lily's father during the performance."
"I'm so sorry," said Twilight.
"Thank you," Lily said with a saddened smile.
"What happened to the killer?" Matilda asked.
"I caught up to him," Discord replied. 
"And?"
"Took care of him."
"You killed him?" the Doctor asked.
"Of course not! I'm many things but I'm no killer. I simply turned him into a cockatrice and sent him off to Elmheim to be kept as a pet."
"Sucks for him," Matilda stated. Lily giggled.
"You three are so...exotic. You act and talk like no pony I've met before," she stated.
"Well, we're just a bunch of odd ponies. Just a group of travelers," said the Doctor.
"Perhaps you could tell me about your travels."
"Well-"
"Dinner is served!" announced the loud voice of the head chef. Silver bowls and plates of food floated into the room and were placed on the table. An aroma of unique deserts, vegetables, fruits, and other foods wafted into the Doctor, Twilight, and Matilda's noses.
"I guess we can discuss your travels later," said Lily.
"Yes. For now, let us eat!" said Discord as he raised one of his many forks. 

Courtyard, Castle of Equestria, Equestria, Gaia, Autumn, 146 P.C.E.

Queen Lily quietly strolled through the empty garden. It was nighttime now but the lights of the castle shined brightly in the dark. She walked up to the fountain of many colors and looked into the pool of water below. Her reflection looked sad and fuzzy. She sighed. Her recent prediction gave her the shivers. She hated her predictions. They always happened right before something horrible took place. She didn't want that. Everything was too perfect, to happy, and too safe. She couldn't have anything horrible happen. Not now. Not ever again.
"Your majesty?" asked a voice from the dark. Lily turned around to see Tara a.k.a. Twilight walking towards her. "Are you okay?"
"Oh. It's you, Tara. You gave me a fright," said Lily.
"I apologize. Do you want to be alone?"
"Not really. Would you walk with me?"
"It would be my pleasure."
Twilight walked up to the Queen's side and, for a few moments, they walked through the dark courtyard in silence. 
"May I ask you something, Queen Lily?" Twilight asked.
"Ask away," the Queen replied.
"In the history of Kings and Queens of Equestria, you and King Discord don't talk like most of the other rulers have. What happened to the loud speaking and the royal we?"
"Oh! That old stuff? My husband thought that was a load of rot. He's changed things around in Equestria for the better. Oh how I love that draconequus!"
"How long have you been married to him?"
"Two years. After my father died, Discord let me stay in the castle. We grew close and eventually married."
"Why did you come to live in the castle? Don't you have a mother?"
"I did but she was very sick when I was born. She died when I was thirteen."
"I'm sorry. You seem to have had a rough life when it comes to your parents."
"Yes. My mother gave up everything for me to be happy, even her own health."
"She must have cared about you a lot."
"I love her...and hate her for what she did to me."
"What do you mean?"
"Tara, do you feel attracted to me?"
"Your majesty?"
"Answer me with one hundred percent truth. Do you feel attracted to me?"
Twilight blushed as she said, "Yes."
Lily sighed and looked towards the starry sky. She then said, "I'm not surprised. I saw the looks on the Doctor, Matilda, and you when I first met you."
"Your majesty, is something the matter?"
"Tara...when my mother was young, she was often teased for being ugly...and being unable to fly. For you see, my mother was a pegasus and you should know that it's extremely disgraceful to a pegasus if they are unable to fly."
"I can understand where that comes from. A pegasus who can't fly. That's sort of like a unicorn who can't perform magic."
"Exactly. My mother was born with certain disabilities. Many pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies alike constantly bullied and used her. Then she met my father."
"Let me guess. He was the first pony to treat her with respect."
"Of course. When I was conceived, my mother was worried that I would be born ugly like her and that I would go through the same hardships that she herself went through. In order to ensure my future, she went to a shady sorcerer out in the darkest regions of Equestria. She made a blood oath to make me the most beautiful and loved pony in all of the world."
"And I can see that it worked."
"Yes, but it came at a terrible price. My mother became incredibly ill following my birth, which led to her dying a frail and weak pony thirteen years later. At first, I loved being beautiful. It was simply amazing to have everypony love and respect me. Then...I began to see the dark side of my beauty."
"What was that?"
"Everypony either was instantly attracted to or fell in love with me on sight. I couldn't escape this. Ponies hounded me to marry them and many went to unbelievable lengths to get my attention. Some even went and hid in the local toilet to wait for me. Then the predict...then I received a prediction from a seer."
"What kind of prediction?"
"The prediction stated that the first creature to see me and not fall in love with me on sight would be my true love."
"Let me take a guess and say that the King was the first one to not instantly fall in love with you."
"Obviously. He was somewhat attracted to me but not as much as the others. It wasn't until I spent a few years with him in the castle that we both gained feelings for one another. I can honestly say that these last ten years in the castle have been some of the best years of my life."
"I'm happy for you. You finally found your true love."
"Yes...but my mother's wish continues. Ponies and creatures of all sorts still find themselves attracted to or falling in love with me. I wish I could find a way to stop it, but so far there is no cure."
Lily turned to face Twilight and looked somewhat surprised, as if she were expecting the unicorn to look at her with a flirtatious look.
"It's funny. I've only just met you and yet I'm spilling my life history to you as if you were a long-lost sister of mine," said the Queen with a smirk. Twilight chuckled awkwardly and turned towards the starry sky. "Maybe I just needed to talk to somepony about it."
"Have you ever talked to the King about it?"
"I've talked about it with him multiple times. He's a wonderful listener. Maybe I just wanted somepony else to know...to understand how I feel. Are you going to spread the word?"
"I promise not to speak a word of this to anypony if you don't want me to."
"I don't mind if you tell your fellow companions about this. I can tell that your friend, the Doctor, is extremely curious about the secret behind my beauty."
"Do you want to head back to the dining hall? I'm sure the King and the others are wondering where we are."
"Of course."
Twilight and Lily began heading back when Lily suddenly became incredibly still.
"Queen Lily?" Twilight asked. The Queen's eyes turned bright blue, a strange steam began emitting from her mouth, and her body began shaking as if she were surrounded by ice. Twilight ran up to the Queen and looked straight into her eyes. "Your majesty! Are you okay?!"
Lily looked at Twilight and began speaking in a voice that wasn't her own. She said, "The mistress and the element arrive to play; the King prepares for his final day. The icy fiends return from the grave, and the Doctor sadly will have nopony to save. The cost of beauty is finally paid; the daughters of magic fight the raid. A friend will perform a trivial task, and Twilight Sparkle will return home at last!"
Lily then collapsed onto the ground as Twilight helped break her fall. 
"Your majesty!" Twilight cried. "Your majesty!"
Lily's eyes shot open and Twilight was relieved to see that they had returned to normal.
"I did it again, didn't I?" she gulped. 
"Huh?"
"This must have been an incredibly important message. I normally never loose consciousness during my predictions."
"Your majesty, what just happened?"
"Let's just say that beauty isn't the only gift that I received from my mother's magical deal."
The air suddenly grew cold and both Twilight and Lily turned towards the sky. Small white flakes of snow began falling from the sky and piling up on the ground.
"Snow?" Twilight gasped.
"Impossible! It's not scheduled to snow until early December. We're still in October!" said Lily. Twilight turned from the Queen to the sky as the ground began to become as white as marble.