//------------------------------// // Making a Sacrifice // Story: A Royal History Lesson // by crazyjw18 //------------------------------// "This sure is a long hallway," Celestia muttered as she made her way towards whatever her next test was. It would have been nice if Wind Whistler had given her some hint of what to expect. Hopefully this test wouldn't be any more difficult than the last one had been. "Hi!" an enthusiastic sounding voice suddenly called out. Though startled, Celestia was proud that she at least managed not to jump this time. "Hello there," she replied cautiously. "Who are you?" "I'm Fizzy!" the voice announced as it seemed to circle her. "Wow, are you really here? It's been a real long time since I last saw anyone!" "Yes, I'm real," Celestia confirmed. "Are you here to give me my next test?" "A test?" Fizzy sounded puzzled. "Oh, yes, the test! I almost forgot." "Ok, so what is it?" "What is what?" Celestia gritted her teeth. "The test." "What test?" Fizzy paused for a long moment while she watched Celestia try not to lose her temper. "Just kidding!" she finally laughed. "Sorry, but I can't actually tell you what the next test is." "Why not?" "You'll have to figure it out for yourself," Fizzy explained. "Sorry, but that's the rules." "So if you're not going to help me, why are you here?" Celestia asked bluntly. "Well, it's not like I can go anywhere else," Fizzy replied in a quiet tone. "Sorry," Celestia replied, realizing that she had hurt the invisible pony's feelings. "It's ok," Fizzy replied. "At least I can keep you company on the way there!" "Ok, thanks," Celestia said as she resumed walking. "It is kind of lonely in this dark place." "Tell me about it." Fizzy agreed. "I really miss being able to go outside and play." "Yeah, me too," Celestia agreed, remembering the carefree times before her mother had left Everfree. Already those days seemed very distant. "Hey, you're a unicorn and a pegasus!" Fizzy suddenly noticed. "That's really amazing. I've know a lot of unicorns and a lot of pegasus ponies, but I've never seen anyone who was both." "Well, my sister and I are the only ones that I know of," Celestia admitted. "There may be others somewhere in Equestria though. Most all the ponies where I live are earth ponies." "I'm just a regular old unicorn," Fizzy replied. "My special talent is making bubbles. I guess yours is making your horn light up, right?" "Well, my mother mostly has been teaching me different kinds of light magic," Celestia explained. "Like creating illusions and stuff." "Wow, I know Galaxy could make her horn light up and make heat," Fizzy mused, "but I don't think she could do anything that fancy." "Galaxy?" "Yeah, she was my friend. She was one of the few who made it out of the valley. At least I hope she did." "The old scroll that I read mentioned that there were some survivors," Celestia recalled. "So maybe she was one of them." "If anyone could have made it out, it would have been her!" Fizzy insisted. She abruptly giggled. "Anyways, blowing bubbles must seem pretty silly compared to all that." "I don't think so," Celestia assured her. "I'm sure that you're wonderful at it." "Well, I'm not half bad," Fizzy said with some pride in her voice. "And it has gotten me out of a few sticky situations." "As for me, I'm still learning how to wink places," Celestia admitted. "I'm not that good at it yet." "Oh?" Fizzy sounded surprised. "That's so easy though! Even most of the baby unicorns can do it. Except for Baby Ribbon, she has a lot of trouble sometimes. Maybe it's because you have wings?" "Maybe." "Well, just keep practicing, and I'm sure that you'll get better." Fizzy paused. "Oh, nuts, we're almost there already," she announced in a disappointed tone. "I wish we could talk more, but you probably want to go ahead and get the next test over with, right?" "Well, I am in a hurry," Celestia answered truthfully. "The fate of all of Equestria could depend on me bringing back the Rainbow." "That's how it usually goes," Fizzy agreed. "Well then, if you pass this way again, then look me up! Well, I guess you can't really. In any case I'll be around if you come back." Celestia smiled. "Thank you. I really appreciate your keeping me company." With a nod, she took her leave, continuing on her own down the dark hall. "I'm sure you'll do great!" Fizzy shouted after her. The two young ponies screamed as they fell through the collapsing floor into a dark chasm beneath. In her panic it was a moment before Luna remembered to unfurl her wings. Her descent slowed for an instant, but she immediately went into a steep dive after the little unicorn. "I'm coming for you!" Luna shouted as she raced after her former rival. "Not me, the Rainbow!" Baby Moondancer yelled back. "Save the Rainbow! It'll break!" Luna's heart skipped a beat as she glimpsed the heart shaped locket tumbling away from Baby Moondancer. "Don't worry about me!" Baby Moondancer pleaded. "The Rainbow's more important!" Luna looked back and forth between the falling unicorn and the locket. The Rainbow was what they had come all this way for. Big Sister had said Mama really needed it. If they didn't bring it back, probably something really bad would happen. There was little time to make a decision. The bottom of the chasm was looming ever closer, and it was clear that there was no way Luna could save both. Clenching her teeth together, Luna put on an extra burst of speed and shot past Baby Moondancer. After lining herself up the best she could, Luna flapped her wings hard to slow her own fall. The baby unicorn landed square on Luna's back, knocking the breath out of them both. Luna used every ounce of her strength to continue slowing them down until they hit the floor, stunned but unharmed. After a long moment the two untangled themselves and stumbled unsteadily to their feet. "The Rainbow!" Baby Moondancer exclaimed as she dashed over to the shattered remains of the heart-shaped locket. Luna trotted up to see for herself. "It's ruined," she sniffled. "Big sister's going to be so disappointed." "Now, now, don't cry," Truly said as she rushed over to the pair. "But the Rainbow...." Luna whispered. "It's all my fault." "The Rainbow is just fine, dear," Truly assured her. "Just look around you." Luna wiped the tears from her eyes and looked around. Her eyes widened as she realized that they were back in the great hall they had started in. "What happened?" she stammered. Everything looked exactly as it had before their game. Even the floor was intact again, without a single crack to be seen. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry that we had to play such a mean trick on you," Truly apologized. "It was all part of the test, you see." "Wasn't the test just to catch Baby Moondancer?" Luna asked. "It was actually a test to see if you would give up the Rainbow in order to save Baby Moondancer," Truly revealed. "And if I may say, you passed it with flying colors!" "You were awesome!" Baby Moondancer agreed. "Really? None of that was real?" Truly shook her head. "It was all just an illusion." Luna frowned. "If I passed the test, does that mean I can have the Rainbow now?" "Well...," Truly replied, "to be honest, you still have to pass a few more tests. Sorry, sugarcube." "More tests?" Luna groaned. "Are they all like this?" "Each one is different," Truly answered. " I'm afraid I can't say any more than that." "It was really fun playing with you, Luna!" Baby Moondancer said as she started to disappear. "Please come back soon." "What's happening to her?" Luna cried out. "The magic was only able to keep her visible during the test," Truly hastily explained. "Now that it's over, she's just going back to the way she usually is." "Truly, should I go back to the nursery now?" Baby Moondancer asked in a reluctant tone. "Yes, go on ahead, dear," Truly answered. "Tell everyone I'll be there as soon as I get little Luna started towards the next test." "Good luck!" Baby Moondancer's voice faintly wafted back. "Well, are you ready to get going?" Truly asked. "Sure," Luna agreed nervously. This was all turning out to be a lot more complicated than she had hoped. "What is with this place?" Celestia wondered to herself as she stepped gingerly across a pile of rubble strewn across the floor. The large dimly lit chamber she had entered was in very bad shape, with a multitude of scratches gouged into the floor and large chunks of the walls and ceiling missing all around. It was quite a change after the mostly pristine condition of the castle so far. The worrying thought quickly occurred to her was that whatever had dug its way in through the Smooze in the first place had somehow managed to penetrate this deep into the castle. Her suspicions were nearly confirmed as she stepped through a wide doorway and spied the massive destruction up ahead. Almost the entire next chamber was filled with debris. From the looks of things she figured that she was now directly below the big hole that she and Luna had descended through earlier. Luckily there was just enough room along one of the walls for Celestia to squeeze through. She carefully made her way through the narrow path, making sure not to scratch her flanks on the jagged stones. After several minutes she finally emerged back into a relatively clear area, though there was still quite a bit of damage and clear evidence that someone with sharp claws had been around. "It sure would be nice if some invisible pony was here," she said nervously, hoping someone would respond. But it seemed like she was really on her own for now. As she rounded a corner, Celestia suddenly skidded to a halt and ducked back out of sight. Shaking with fear, she peered around the edge to confirm what she had just seen. To her dismay her eyes had not been mistaken. Snaking across the floor just up ahead was a long scaly lilac tail with green spines that emerged from a massive pile of rubble. Judging from the tail's size the creature it was attached to had to be gigantic. She kept a look out for several minutes, but there was not the slightest hint of movement from the great serpentine tail. Perhaps whatever it was had been killed when the roof caved in. In fact it could have already been dead for years now. Celestia could only hope that was true. There was only one path forward, and it led right over the top of the pile of rubble. Gathering up her courage, Celestia slowly approached the remains of the ceiling, taking care not to get too close to the motionless tail. Emboldened by the continued lack of reaction, she leapt into the air and started to flap her way across. It wasn't until she was nearly to the other side that she sighted the front half of the creature. It was definitely a dragon. The long angular snout brimming with sharp teeth, the finlike ears, and the huge bat wings partially buried in the rubble left no doubt of that. It appeared that most of its torso had been buried underneath the collapsed roof. The giant creature's head lay at an odd angle, and to Celestia's relief the eyes were tightly closed. As she silently stared at the fallen creature, Celestia couldn't help but feel sorry for it. Fearsome as the dragon looked, this must have been a very lonely and painful way for it to die. She could only hope that its end had come quickly. Despite her misgivings, Celestia's innate curiosity forced her to take a closer look. After all this would probably be her only chance to see a real dragon up close. Especially since she had once read that the world's dragon population was in a decline from what it had been in the old days. She fluttered gently down next the dragon's head, careful not to touch it. Once again she felt a wave of pity wash over her as she studied the creature's limp form. There was no telling what had led such a magnificent creature of the skies to burrow so deep under the ground. Look as she might, her eyes found no trace of any fabulous treasure being hoarded nor any other reason for it to have sought sanctuary way down here. As she turned her attention to the elegant bone structure of one of the dragon's wings, Celestia suddenly had the distinct feeling that she was no longer alone. She froze, her hoofs making a tiny clopping sound as she dropped several inches to the floor. Slowly turning around, she found herself looking directly into an enormous pale green eye. To her great horror the dragon was alive, and it appeared she had just woken it up.