11. The Last Mistake
Celestia sighed to herself, having finished reading Twilight's report on Rainbow Dash's completed recovery. Her lone strolling through the halls of Canterlot had somehow led her to the statue garden again. Looking at Discord's statue, she sighed, somewhat perturbed. "Well, who would have believed it?" she said to the statue. "One of your spells used to help somepony...and it goes off without a hitch."
"Well of course, Celestia," a familiar voice said behind her. "You should know by now I leave little to true chance."
Celestia spun around. Discord floated in the air behind her...but he was also in the statue in front of her. It seemed he had more freedom now than she had anticipated...but she could sense him trapped within the statue. It didn't- She stopped the thought before reaching the inevitable conclusion. "It seems you were also telling the truth about the Elements," she said instead.
"But of course, Celestia," he replied calmly. "I'm not the sort to lie outright; those come abck to bite you too easily. Misdirection's more my forte, although there was none here. But there was something more you wanted, wasn't there?"
Celestia narrowed her eyes at Discord. "You mentioned you created the Elements of Harmony. How?"
Discord looked at her through half lidded eyes. "...you aren't ready for that knowledge, Tia. Besides, you don't really need it...and you ahve other questions for me. I'll decide which questions I answer."
Celestia glowered at Discord. She could tell she was being manipulated...but with him being so civil, she decided to go along to see what would happen. "You mentioned I made a mistake, somehow, when Luna became Nightmare Moon...that I let some other pony clean up my mess. I fail to see how."
Discord chuckled. "That's an easy one. Haven't you noticed that the closer the world approaches a perfect Harmony, the more Chaos appears? Bringing a new era of peace and prosperity to Equestria broke the seal on Nightmare Moon. When she was freed from the darkness, other events occured which eventually led to my release. When I was resealed, a chain of events led to the Changeling invasion of Canterlot. When that was defeated by the Pimpcess Cadence-"
"How dare you!" Celestia shouted, outraged at the insult to Cadence.
Discord just smirked. "She makes her living getting other ponies to hook up, and her spell arsenal includes more than just 'love' spells for that purpose. I call them as I see them. Now don't interrupt. As I was saying, that led to the return of the Crystal Empire and Sombre. The more Chaos you defeat, the more Harmony you create, the more powerful Chaos grows to compensate." Discord's eyes bored into her. "The world desires balance, Celestia. Life and Death. Good and Evil. Chaos and Harmony." His smile grew positively wicked. "If you truely held your little ponies of such imprtance, you would have created that 1000 years ago when you fought your sister."
Celestia glowered at him. "And how would I ahve done that?"
"By killing her."
Celestia gasped. "What? But...I couldn't kill my own sister! I would never be able to live with myself if I-"
"Exactly!" Discord said. "Had you used the Elements of Harmony to kill Nightmare Moon - and Luna - they would have bound to you permanently through their use in a Chaotic act. However, as you say, you wouldn't have been able to live with yourself, but death isn't an option for you. Most likely, you would have sealed yourself in stone to escape the pain. THeir would have been some brief dynastic turmoil, but you would be the eternally unchanging focal point of Chaos and Harmony, setting all the world free from the supernatural struggle of divine beings." Discord grinned wickedly. "It would eventually have led to the incredible advancment of both magic and technology, and all races of the world would have eventually reached for the stars. A utopia would have been born. But that can't happen now, Celestia...and all because you couldn't bring yourself to off your sister."
Celestia exploded. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! A heartless monster like you know anything about the bonds of family!"
"...heartless monster?" Discord suddenly seized her in his eagle talon and slammed her against the side of the castle. He continued to speak, his voice dangerously quiet. "You dare lecture me on the bonds of family...when I sacrificed my own wife and daughters to craft your precious elements?"
Celestia stared at Discord. "Wh...what?"
"That's right," Discord said quietly, his face and body starting to show strange cracks. "The spirits - the life force - of my wife and daughters are what make the Elements work. When I first became the spirit of Chaos, I held the power back as long as I could. Chaos and Harmony were new forces to this land. To protect the land from their dreadful power, I took the entirety of Chaos into myself, becoming immortal. To protect me, my family took Harmony into themselves...but they did not gain immortality." Discord dropped Celestia as he began to cry. "My wife, Ma'jel, saw what was happening to me as the Chaos tore me apart inside...and knew I would not survive after they all died. So, after an intensive family discussion, we made the decision to create artifacts to house the power of Harmony...one each for my wife and five daughters.
"This was done through the rite of blood sacrifice."
Celestia gasped in shock, but Discord acted like he didn't hear.
"The power of Harmony was bound to their very life and soul. It was the only way...and despite what they knew this meant, they all told me to do it. ...it destroyed me inside to do it, but I knew they were right. Ma'jel was first under the knife, as it plunged into her heart, binding her soul to the Element of Magic through the rite she created for just that purpose. Then my daughters, from oldest to youngest...T'rune...F'dalia...G'vaine...K'nderr...and then the youngest, my baby, G'lara." Discord ahd broken down into full weeping now. "And as I held the knife over her, still stained with the blood of her sisters and mother, do you know what she said to me? She said it was okay, that they would all be immortal now, like me, and be with me forever."
As Celestia actually moved to offer comfort, Discord suddenly snarled, slamming Celestia into the castle wall again. "Now do you see why it so enrgaed me when that brat of your sister shattered the Elements? My family's souls were in them...and I have no way of finding out if their souls are even still intact, because I cannot touch them!" Discord's body was showing even more cracks now. "No more could I touch the elements that day of their creation, when my last sane act was to scatter them to points throughout the world to balance the forces...before in my grief driving the knife into my own ehart, relesing the twin spirits of chaos."
Celestia stared at him in shock. "T-Twin?"
"That's right," he said, as his body continued to fracture. "Twin. There is Discord, the spirit of true chaos, the random chance events that cannot be explained, the chaos of the moment, of the now..." The dragonequess body before Celestia suddenly shattered.
She could see nothing now, but she felt an overwhelming presence. Discord she had always hated, sought to battle and destroy. The spirit she sensed now, however...filled her with fear.
A voice continued to speak, a voice that echoed within her very bones in it's very unassuming nature as it sounded in her soul. "and the spirit of the chaos of eternity, the chaos from which all things spring and to which all things will eventually return...the spirit of ENTROPY."
Celestia shuddered, falling to her knees. Discord had always been playful in his chaos. This spirit, however...she could feel it in her bones, the true terror of its total absence of anything resembling emotion.
The voice continued. "discord knows only of the now. beyond the occasional plan for an especially good prank, he has no knowledge, no memories, no true malice. i, on the other hand, remember everything. i remember the beginning, as all things first began to form. i remember the end, when all things will return to me. and i remember everything in between. all of time is known to me, sun princess...and if things remain as they are, this world will exist no longer."
Celestia shivered. She knew this presence was one she could not - dared not - fight. "What...what must I do to fix things?"
"there are three paths open before you."
Celestia looked up. "What are they?"
"the first is the simplest. all supernatural force - chaos and harmony - must be cast into the abyss. without them, magic will leave this world, and all threat of supernatural harm to your subjects will cease."
Celestia shuddered. The idea of Equestria without the magic in each and every pony...
"the second option is the most dangerous. the harmony bearers are now the living vessels of harmony. that power will pass to their heirs, wether their actual descendants or family members who show the same qualities. so long as no heir dies before a new heir is marked, equestria will continue to be at peace as harmony and chaos remain in balance."
Celestia sat in thought. "That would be difficult. I couldn't put the bloodlines under royal protection, as that would result in the children of the lines not developing the qualities that would make them viable heirs...but I could hardly leave the bloodlines completely unprotected, either."
"exactly. the third option is the safest. the essence of the elements must be returned to the artifacts that housed them for so long."
Celestia looked up. This seemed to be the wisest course. "And how would I do that?"
"the artifacts must be reenergized the same way they were created." A book appeared in front of Celestia, an ancient magic journal. "you will find the blood rite recorded in these pages." The sense of Entropy's presence faded.
Celestia stared down at the tome, afraid to touch or open it as she felt her gorge rise.
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About a week later, Celestia sat on her throne, smiling as Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy sat around her. "Hello, my little ponies," she said happily. "I'm glad you came so soon in response to my letter. ...but where is Rainbow Dash?"
Twilight coughed. "Well, your letter said to come at our earliest convenience, but...Rainbow said today wasn't convenient for her, since she'd promised to spend the day with Scootaloo."
Pinkie Pie spoke up. "Her exact words were, 'If Princess Sun-butt wants a get together all of a sudden, she can have the decency to schedule it a week in advance. But don't tell ehr I said that.'" As Twilight turned bright red and Applejack facehoofed, Pinkie tilted her head. "Why would Rainbow Dash call you Sun-butt?"
Celestia managed to supress her blush. "Because Luna has been talking too much. It was my father's nickname for me when I was Scootaloo's age."
As Pinkie giggled and the others tried to control their reactions, Celestia sighed. In a way, she was glad that Rainbow hadn't come today. It meant she wouldn't need to address the situationjust yet...or choose what to do.
As everyone chatted, telling Celestia of how things had been recently with them,she found herself looking at Twilight. Twilight had grown quite well, and was much more sure of herself now. Celestia could still remember the day she first began to teach the purple unicorn. In all the time of teaching her, Celestia had developed a soft spot for the little filly, to the point she almost thought of her as a surrogate daughter.
Entropy's words through Discord's lips suddenly came back to her. "You dare lecture me on the bonds of family...when I sacrificed my own wife and daughters to create your precious elements?"
Celestia chocked on her tea, tears coming to her eyes unbidden. Here she was, being asked to consider sacrificing Twilight, who she saw like a daughter...she knew she could never do it. She loved her too much. She could not begin to imagine what it had done to Discord/Entropy to sacrifice his entire family. The hatred she had once felt for Discord faded away, to be replaced by pity, empathy...and a level of respect and awe she hadn't felt for anypony since her parents.
"Princess, are you okay?" Twilight had come up to her, worry filling her face, eyes and voice.
Celestia managed to smile. "It's alright, Twilight. I just...remembered something painful, is all. Do continue with what you were saying."
"A-all right." Twilight continued to watch her mentor in concern as they all talked.
Celestia began to rearrange her thinking on Discord. With what he ahd sacrificced for the world, one could see where he might feel the world owed him. As the spirit of Chaos, it was his nature to spread it, and he found it fun. It was only reasonable that he would seek some form of fun that could fill the void in his heart left by what he had done. Carefully, Celestia locked these realizations in her heart. She couldn't tell anypony; such changes to Equestria's dogma and history would probably tear the nation apart.
Sighing, she smiled as Twilight continued her explanation on what she had learned about chaos magic.
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Rainbow Dash smirked down at Scootaloo. "You sure, Scoot? I said today was your day, to spend however you wanted. You sure this is what you want?"
Scootaloo nodded vigorously. "It's been too long since you really flew, sis. I want to see you really fly again!"
Rainbow chuckled. "Alright squirt. Here we go. Keep your eyes peeled, and don't miss a thing!" With a powerful downstroke, Rainbow launched herself into the air.
Scootaloo couldn't have picked a better thing for Rainbow if she'd tried. She had been out of practice, and she really didn't want her skills to wane. She began with basic speed flying, back and forth with a few loop-de-loops. As her confidence returned and Scootaloo's cheers grew, she began throwing the more intesne tricks into the action, as she began to pull out all the stops. Within the hour, she'd gone through nearly her entire repetoire.
Down below, Scootaloo was yelling herself hoarse with her cheers, shouting encouragement and begging for more. With a grin, Dash decided to indulge her and shot up into the sky before going into a steep dive.
She felt the speed of the wind's passage as she shot towards the ground. The mach cone formed in front of her face. She grinned, eager for the moment when the cone broke and released the Rainboom. This Sonic Rainboom was for Scootaloo.
But something was wrong. The cone wasn't arcing properly. It wasn't growing sharp enough. Then Rainbow realized, her dive wasn't steep enough.
"No," she whispered as her flight slowed. "No," she said as she stalled. "NO!" she cried, as the spell rebounded upon her, propelling her into the distance.
"Rainbow!" Scootaloo called, racing after her as she rebounded...straight for teh Everfree Forest.
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As Twilight was telling Celestia about her latest research project - the possible correlation between chaos and changeling magic - Pinkie suddenly let out a shot. "My Pinkie Sense is tingling!"
Everyone turned towards her. At first, it began to look like the combination for 'the doozy', but tehn ehr body froze. She landed on all four hooves. Her mane deflated, her tail puffed out like a spiked club, her entire body began to quiver as her eyes went incredibly wide.
She spoke then. "F...flat mane, puffed tail...b-body sh-shakes, quivering eyes...no, not this one..."
"Pinkie? What's wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asked in concern. "What's this one mean?"
Pinkie continued to shudder. "It means...somepony close to me - as close as family - is going to...fall asleep."
Rarity blinked. "Now dear, we've fallen asleep numerous times since we became friends. What are you say-"
"Not like this," Pinkie said quietly. "This sense...I've only felt it three times before..."
Celestia stared down at Pinkie. "Can you tell us about those times?"
Pinkie nodded. "The first time, it was back on the rock farm, after I got my Cutie Mark. I was...playing on the rock pile, and then...I kicked the wrong rock. This kicked in as they were starting to fall on me, but Mommy pushed me out of the way. One of the rocks hit her in the back of the head, and she fell. M...my tail went completely flat. D...Daddy cried a lot, and told us Mommy had gone to sleep, and that we'd have to go stay with Granny Pie. He...he told me that Mommy loved it when I made her laugh and smile, so I should keep doing that for everypony, to make Mommy happy. When i asked if that would help her wake up, he nodded."
Everypony was speechless as they stared at Pinkie. Celestia spoke up. "And...the second time?"
Pinkie continued. "It was a couple years after we moved in with Granny Pie. One day, this sense kicked in while I was sitting with Granny Pie. She smiled sadly, saying it was about time, since she was getting tired. Daddy came and picked us up. He...said Granny Pie had to go to sleep, too. My sisters cried, but I didn't. I told Daddy that I'd just work extra hard to make everypony smile and laugh, cause Granny Pie loved that too. She'd taught me so much." Before Celestia could speak up, she continued. "The third time happened a few months later. Daddy saw it, and...sent my sisters off to live with different distant relatives. Then he took me to Sugarcube Corner. He told me the Cakes would take care of me now, after he fell asleep. I promised him I'd make the whole world smile and laugh, and let the world's joyous laughter be his and mom's and Granny's alarm clock. He smiled at me, kissed me on the forehead...then he clutched his chest and went to sleep."
As everyone stared in horror, Pinkie's smile - which she'd stoically tried to mantain through her story - broke. "Mommy, Daddy, Granny, why won't you wake up?" Tears fell from her eyes. "I've worked so hard, made so many ponies smile and laugh, made so many friends...isn't it enough?" She threw back her head and began to bawl. "I want my Daddy! I want my Granny! I want my Mommy!!"
Tears in her own eyes, Fluttershy pulled Pinkie into a tight embrace, trying to offer comfort. Twilight, however, forced her own emotions aside to think, to interpret Pinkie's message. "But who could it be for this time? Close as family, it's probably not her sisters, since from the sound of it they've grown distant...and we're all here..."
Rarity gasped. "But darling, Rainbow Dash isn't!"
Pinkie gasped. "DASHIE!" she called at the top of her lungs. "DON'T FALL ASLEEP!"
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Rainbow Dash groaned, pain shooting through her entire body. She tried to fold her wings, and gasped in pain at a tugging sensation on her right wing. She turned to look.
The thin end of a branch impaled ehr right wing, right at the wing joint. Her left wing moved fine, but her eyes followed the branch down it's length...to where it passed completely through her body right where she folded her wings against herself.
"Oh sweet Luna, no..." she whispered, unwilling to believe.