//------------------------------// // 3. Secrets // Story: Equestria: Infinite (Bioshock) // by ThatMrSomeGuy //------------------------------// For the most part, Twilight was very quiet during Celestia's tale. There were the occasional questions that didn't make sense because of their time period. What is a gun? Why did the priest dunk Booker in water? All of which Celestia took her careful time to make sure Twilight understood. Other than that, Twilight was able to take all of it in pretty well. Nowadays, the description of death of any kind was unthinkable in Equestria. She was silent when Celestia told her about the corpse. She was silent when she heard about the alcohol and vision. Her first major interruption of the story, however, was when she saw a strikingly similar resemblance between the mare of the debt and a certain other Alicorn she knew. "Princess," Twilight asked the Celestia. "Were you the mare Booker was after?" Celestia nodded. "That is correct Twilight Sparkle. I was the target of Booker's mission. "As a filly, I spent my life in that statue. At that time, all I knew of the world was confined to my little home. I was kept there by order of Clopstock. He didn't want to me to leave until I was ready to go outside. Like a princess from a fairytale, I remained there. That all changed when Booker showed up. He wasn't any prince in shining armor, and surely not in any romantic relationship with me. But he had the key, the key to my freedom." The room was silent for a while. Nopony wanted to talk. In that silence, Twilight reflected on the no longer existent city. Booker was filled with so much guilt. The way he nearly broke himself down twice, thinking he'd be exposed. She placed herself in the city. She could only dream of how amazing it would be: the tall buildings spanning across the clouds, the smell of ozone, the shining light of the sun reserved to the highest point ponykind has reached. She saw no falters in the ordinary citizens. The initiation ceremony might have been over-the-top, but that was minor compared to her mentor's description that it was "blinded by their nationalism". Then she remembered, something struck Twilight as odd when she thought about it. "Princess, how was this Clopstock able to do all this? How does he know about the 'False Herder'? How did he create the city? Something so large its magic could drain every unicorn in Canterlot. Not to mention that the spell would be temporary." Celestia remained still for a second, head lowered. "Fath-...I mean, Zachary Clopstock, is known for miraculous prophecies." Twilight was ready to draw even more questions, but Celestia continued to elaborate. "Clopstock kept me there to protect me. He knew that Booker would come to release me. That's why he announced the coming of the False Herder. As for why...it is more complex. Its best told if I continue. I wish to follow up on this story tomorrow. You'll be staying in the castle's master guest bedroom upstairs. I need to get back to my daily duties. I don't have as much free time as I used to Twilight Sparkle. I shall see you here again tomorrow after sunrise. Good night Twilight." "Good night princess." Twilight turned towards the exit and began her long trip back to the surface of Canterlot's castle. As she opened the large wooden door, she turned back to face her mentor. Celestia had her head lowered. Her face turned to a frown and she stared at the floor in deep thought. Such a thing was completely against her nature. When Twilight first saw Celestia raise the sun, not only did she see the beauty in the action, but also the reflected beauty of the pony whom welcomed it to everypony everyday. The sunrise was not only an art, but a gift of jubilance. The princess Celestia in front of Twilight possessed none of those traits. This one looked saddened, as if something tore all of the happiness off of her soul. Celestia's concentration returned to the room in front of her. The two ponies met eye to eye in the silence. Both of them managed to force a simple smile. Before Twilight left, she looked at the clock in the room. It was 3:42, barely over an hour since she had entered. Twilight tried to ease her mind from all that has happened since she was at the other side of that door. What she needed right now was a bed to lay down her thoughts and let them drift through the soft cushions of a mattress. A good night's rest was something that she didn't have enough of upon arrival. As she walked back upwards, she attempted to clear her thoughts. Twilight could remove all but one image from her head, the look on Celestia's face before she left. It kept coming back. Soon, that enigmatic gear started to power Twilight's mind again. Why was the princess so sad? Why would she stop her story so soon? She managed to leave those thoughts aside. Whatever princess Celestia is hiding, I'm sure it's for a good reason. Still, though she wouldn't mentally pursue Celestia, the image remained on her mind the entire walk. * * * Princess Celestia remained in her royal bedroom, lost in thought. She had tried to hold back the memories of the city. Even one millennia ago seemed to be days now that it all reemerged. She let single teardrop fall onto the floor. "My, my. That was such a lovely story-" "-and you didn't even spend much time talking about it." "I would love to know how it ends-" "-if there is an ending at all." Celestia raised her head to see two figures she hadn't seen for a while, a purple mare and a white stallion. "I had a feeling I would see you two again," Celestia said. "What are you doing here?" "What a wonderful question," the mare said. "What are you doing here?" The colt redirected the question to Celestia. "That was such a marvelous story. We all know it must continue-" "-one way or another. After all, she was able to open and pull back the tear." Celestia just sat there, completely at the mercy of the events to come. "I will keep going. I just don't want her to end up like the rest." "Understandable", the mare said. "It'd be foolish not to show care for her." "Perhaps there will be a way-" "-where one Celestia and one Equestria could coexist without links to the others." "Unbound by the chain." "A win-win." "We shall see how her events will go along." "Let's see if there are variables." The colt tossed Celestia a silver coin. On his neck was a tallied t-chart, twelve marks under the word heads, none for tails. On her hoof was a tray, waiting for the landing of a coin. Celestia spun the coin in front of her, observing the ancient engravings of the artifact from the floating city. "Heads-" "-or tails?" * * * "Must she go through with it now? Look at what she has been through ever since her arrival. Must we take that all away from her?" "There is no other choice. Now that she has the Elements-" "-we will give her the tear." "If she succeeds- "-you know she must go." "Yes, but a tear altering her friends' cutie marks!? There must be another way." "Do you have doubts she will succeed-" "-or do you have doubts the course can no longer be hindered when she does succeed?" "You both know what must happen when she makes it out." "Bring us the mare-" "-and wipe away the debt." * * * "No! There must be some other way!" Twilight shot awake, taking in the setting after that horrid nightmare. The dream she just had was unlike any other dream. She felt as if she was there. She sensed the emotion in her voice in her wake. There were no images either, just voices. Even now, Twilight couldn't tell what she got so worked up about. The conversation didn't help her piece together the dream either. What exactly were the ponies tearing? Then, she remembered the last words she heard. "Bring us the mare, and wipe away the debt..." Luna's bright night calmly illuminated the floral tiles of Twilight's bedroom. Twilight pulled the sheets off her to rinse her face in the bathroom. She opened the door and heard a light scratching noise. She light up her horn to reveal an oval shaped box on the floor. attached to it was a spinning record. Twilight remembered entering the bathroom before. The was no portable record player before. She turned around half expecting the culprit to reveal them self from behind. Instead, the light breeze of the open window still showed no sign of anypony tampering with the room. A pegasus could have entered through the balcony, but the detection spell there remained armed and untouched. The front door's walls were sealed as well. As the appearance of the object became a bigger mystery, the record inside kept spinning, piercing the quiet silence. In front was a large red button, just waiting to be pressed. Twilight slowly made her way to the machine, and tapped the button. "Voxophone log number 312: I have finally decided to end it. As of tomorrow, the family name inherited throughout countless generations known as 'Starswirl the Bearded' will cease to exist. I shall be the last descendant of that name, and he will be nothing but a relic. Instead, I shall continue 'his' works under the real published name, Lutece. A new age is dawning for quantum physics. I shall devote my time to the future of scientific exploration. I see a new era dawning for ponykind, and I plan on setting its roots. I have even gathered the interest of a certain pony. He goes by the name of Clopstock. I can already tell. He and I will be the bridge between the olden age, and a new one beyond the horizon. This is Rosalind Lutece, and I shall take my first step into a better world." The quality of the message itself wasn't bad, it was the message itself that was somewhat unusual. This pony was claiming that Starswirl the bearded was a hoax, an alias for a family line. This pony, this, Lutece, was planning on working with another pony, a pony who was set on creating the city of Celestia. Twilight wasn't often one to take a side without some kind of basis. All of this was just a recording. There was no proof that Twilight's role model was made up. Twilight placed the portable record player in the trashcan. She would figure more of this out by the following morning. For now, she washed off the blood from her nose and went back to bed.