//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Lessons for a Benevolent Tyrant // by Hustlin Tom //------------------------------// The Tent of Meeting wasn’t actually all that much bigger than any of the other teepees surrounding it; it could house a family of about six buffalo reasonably well, even though that was not its purpose. All the great business of the community was held here, including the ceremony that the Princess was about to receive. Chieftain Mournful Sparrow sat on a rug made of buffalo hair and stared into the fire that was placed in the center of the teepee. Two rugs were placed on the ground on the opposite side of the fire from the Chieftain for the honored guests. Starswirl raised his right hoof once again to signify his greeting to the Chieftain, to which the buffalo nodded and returned the gesture. Chieftain Mournful Sparrow looked to Princess Celestia with expectation. So prompted, the Princess raised her golden horseshoe clad hoof out in greeting, to which the Chieftain smiled and repeated the greeting. He motioned for them to sit on their floor rugs; Starswirl sat on the mat to the right, while Princess Celestia sat on the rug on the left. Many silent moments passed before the Chieftain spoke, “You have come far to learn, and to know.” “Yes, we have.” the Princess replied. She glanced at Starswirl, “I have been told by my friend that you and your herd are very wise, and that you can offer me some lesson to learn. I do deeply appreciate any teachings you may have to offer me, Chieftain Mournful Sparrow.” “He speaks truth; we can offer our tutelage. Please, don’t sweeten your words with me. The more the words, the hollower they become.” Taken aback, the Princess meant to protest this rude behavior, but Starswirl motioned for her to be still and wait. She huffed silently and waited, as the silence in the Tent of Meeting continued. “Truth is found in the least amount of words. Deception relies on many empty words for food. Simply let ‘yes’ mean ‘yes, and ‘no’ mean ‘no’.” “Very well,” the Princess said with resignation, as she tried to throw her decorum of flowery, eloquent thought and language out the proverbial window. The Chieftain nodded, “Ask your questions now.” “What can you teach me of Honesty?” “Nothing.” The Princess was more confused now than ever, “But you said you had something to teach me, and Starswirl said you’d tell me about Honesty!” “Stop,” the Chieftain commanded. He did not raise his voice; his body language didn’t even suggest he was agitated. “Honesty is to be truthful. It is what one achieves on their own; it is not taught. I can teach you about truth.” The Princess tried to hide her growing frustration, “What is truth?” “Truth is. All good things grow from it. No lie can be good. No truth can harm; it can only free.” The Chieftain cast his hoof over his field of vision, gesturing out to the rocky soil, canyons, and mountains beyond all of their sight outside the Tent of Meeting, “This land is true; it offers no lies. Life and death exist in harmony here. Our ancestors sought truth here, and we’ve found it.” Chieftain Mournful Sparrow locked eyes with Princess Celestia, “To know honesty, one must also know deceit.” At some undetermined signal, a shaman buffalo had brought in a bowl of crushed herbs, several small crystals, and a water skin. The shaman stomped on the crystals until they were a fine powder, which she poured into the bowl of crushed herbs. She slowly began to pour the water into the bowl, and she stirred the contents with a small pestle in her mouth. The shaman placed the bowl near the fire, allowing the hot burning embers to heat the contents into a warm mixture. “Truth is found all around us,” Chieftain Mournful Sparrow continued, “But to look out, you must first look within. Inhale the fumes, and we will see you.” “But you can already see me,” the Princess said bluntly. “We will see the true you. Light cannot hide or conceal; it must shine. Look inward, let go of the lies, and from there, embrace truth.” The Princess skeptically looked down at the bluish grey liquid in the small bowl in front of her. “Go on,” Starswirl quietly said to ease the Princess’ mind, “he said it will not harm you. He has no reason to lie.” The Princess glanced down at the brackish soup again, and sighed deeply. She lifted it up with her magic to her nose and began to breathe in the fumes deeply and slowly. The backdrop of the tent, the Chieftain, the shaman, even Starswirl faded into greyness. She could feel her mind slowing down as the fumes began to take hold of her. “What do you see?” a voice called out through the murky delirium of her idled brain. Princess Celestia looked around, searching for something of significance. She then looked up, and into the greyness appeared her sun, in the exact image of her Destiny Brand. All around her she could see grey forests and fields, seas and rivers; all life was lying about her. “I see nature. I see all of creation. I see the sun.” The sun rose into the sky, reaching its highest height in no time at all it seemed. “It’s noontime.” From out of the sun appeared her face, and her double’s eyes were looking down at her with flaming grey pupils. “I am the sun.” The eyes of her astral doppelganger burned with great intensity, as they stared down at the world from the skies above. The trees shuddered and the fields cowered; the lakes and streams tried to leap over their banks, as if they were terrified animals trying to escape the glance of a predator. The sun god’s eyes continued their unceasing burning, but the color of her searing pupils changed from grey to a dark, bloody red. The sun had stopped at its height and had remained there for some time, not following its natural course by descending into the horizon. The crimson pupils bored down into Princess Celestia, down into her very soul, and fear gripped her heart as to what the penetrating gaze meant. Out of the corner of her eye she saw flailing red. She turned to see the forests were consumed by ruby flames, the fields were wroth with flickering fire, and the seas and rivers boiled in the appearance of blood. “No!” The Princess called out to her effigy above, “Please stop! You’re ruining it! Everything is burning!” The sun god stared down at the world as it burst into flaming charred ash and boiling gaseous saltwater, and said nothing. The earth cracked as it dried, almost as if it were screaming in pain from the heat. The very air was bursting with energy as oxygen and hydrogen melted into superheated gaseous plasma. The flames of the sun beat down without mercy or restraint; all was alight with the red hellfire. “Please!” the Princess called up to the sun, herself, “Go away! Just go away, damn you! There’s nothing left now! Why couldn’t you have stopped?! Why didn’t you stop?!” The sun god looked down at Princess Celestia, unblinking, “I just wanted to make everypony warm.” The Princess abruptly snapped back to reality. She was hyperventilating, her eyes were filled with tears as she sobbed, the sobs becoming dry heaves. She felt sick; she wanted to be sick. Starswirl was at her side as she continued to cry, comforting her through it all. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s done. You won’t have to see it ever again. It’s gone. It’s gone.” She barely registered what he was saying; all she could think about were those burning pupils. “You have seen what you once were,” the Chieftain said with sympathy in his voice, “Truth is not kind in the act of revelation, but it is in the aftermath. You are no longer Sol Invicta. You must, however, remember that you were. What she was is still within you. Be on guard that she does not return.” Starswirl teleported the two of them back to his guest suite in Canterlot castle. The Princess collapsed to the floor; she was still in a horrid state from the strange elixir that she had inhaled. “Why,” the Princess shivered all over as she spoke, and she tried to regain some sense of control over her emotions, “Did you do that to me?” Starswirl was truly hurt to see his friend in such a miserable state, “I’m so sorry, Princess, but it had to be done. No amount of witnesses or friendly advice could compare to experiencing what you were firsthand. As the Chieftain said, while you are no longer Sol Invicta, the ideas she represented still exist within you, and you must be forever vigilant against those ideas. You are now able to be honest with who you were, and that will help you to be honest with others about who you really are; in the future it will benefit both you and your subjects greatly.” The Princess’ eyes still flowed with tears, but she had composed herself, “What changes must I make so that Sol Invicta never rises again?” “You must disband the Solar Cult, and revoke your title as deity. Mournful Sparrow said that lies cannot be good, and that means even the well-intentioned ones like the one you founded your great society on. A society based on deceit cannot stand. You must end your lie.” “I’ll do it,” the Princess vigorously nodded, “If it means I am never like that ever again, I’ll do it.” The unicorn got down on all fours, and wrapped his forehooves around his friend. “Oh Celestia,” Starswirl regretfully said, “I’m so sorry that I had to do that.” The Princess returned the embrace, and they share it for some time, until she was calm once again, and her tears were at an end.