//------------------------------// // The Mare in the Moon // Story: The Pony Beast // by HareTrinity //------------------------------// In the small village of Fillydelphia the Summer Sun celebration was in full swing and everypony was wide awake despite the late hour. The pegasus ponies had done well; not a cloud in sight and the warm weather had brought most parties outside. Away from most of the bustle was Celestia and a selection of Sisterhood members, waiting for the princess' key role at dawn. Aunt Chestnut, the only earth pony to be the Sisterhood elder in a long time, smiled to herself. She remembered joining the Sisterhood and learning the shocking news that, without Celestia, the sun had always risen... The crazy conspiracy to convince ponies of otherwise must have been something to behold at the time. Still, if a god lands in your kingdom you may as well make it your god, and why not with every power of the old texts? Generally ponies had been taking those powers less literally before Celestia came but the Sisterhood founders were not to be put off, insisting on those parts of the text as literal fact and, smart ponies as they were, shifted and reworded other existing myths and indeed celebrations to fit their story and praise their princess. In particular the Harvest Renewal, rebranded as the Summer Sun Celebration, was celebrated with extra gusto. With the joy of the parties, stroked pride and the kingdom's growth came less questions asked, and eventually such questions were forgotten. Certainly nopony in Fillydelphia seemed to have anything but joy on their minds, and why should they? Lately ponies had believed that the village had a lot of economic growth coming its way and the Sisterhood had planned for Celestia's visit to help with that. The princess herself stood upon a small grassy hill watching the moon. The Sisterhood had more or less gone along with Celestia's insistence that her sister was THE Mare in the Moon. The story now went that her little sister, "Luna", was hiding as a shadow cast upon the moon. She was hiding as she'd been naughty but she was still there for her sister, a true family member. Celestia had seemed to take much comfort from the concept and Aunt Chestnut felt rather proud of herself. It seemed Equestria would be safe for a while longer yet... There was someone else. Someone else was by the princess. Aunt Chestnut started heading towards the pair; she had not agreed for anypony to talk to the princess before sunrise, what was- It was Gold Fleck. The Sisterhood elder broke into a gallop, joined by Dewdrop and her mother as they rushed to stop whatever disaster the former Sisterhood member could trigger, to stop him from-! Too late. "...-PID, STUPID, MONSTER! I WAS THERE! You have no idea what you are, do you? What you did to Sister Gem? How much pain you bring EVERY pony EVERY day! You KILLED her, you awful, TERRIBLE, BEAST!" The three mares slowed to a halt as they heard the end of his rant. Celestia hadn't moved or even talked since the mares had noticed Gold Fleck, but her eyes were upon him, her bizarre mane and tail flowing though the light breeze had altogether stopped as the stallion yelled at her. Dewdrop's ears lowered as she watched the scene. Something was happening to Gold Fleck. His mane had stopped before the wind had and it looked strange, like it was shortening. Under his skin something seemed to flow. He was trying to talk again, but no words were coming... Celestia spoke. "I..." Something was happening to the stallion's legs now, they looked like they were dripping, he seemed to be seeping into the ground... "Don't..." Dewdrop's mother covered her foal's eyes and shut her own as tightly as she could. "Believe..." Dewdrop heard somepony gasp. "You..." Aunt Chestnut gritted her teeth and charged forward, "CELESTIA!" The white mare was looking back at the moon now and by the time Aunt Chestnut reached her there were tears streaming down the princess' cheeks and the ground beneath them was starting to heave as if the land itself were breathing. "She... She's coming, Aunt Chestnut..." "No, Celestia, LISTEN TO ME!" Around them the wind was picking up, quickly becoming loud and fierce. "I... She's done horrible things, I..." "FIGHT her, Celestia! STOP HER, use the Elements of Harmony!" Nearby trees splintered in half as if an unseen force swept through them. "She's... She's so powerful...! I don't think I-" "She's your little sister Celestia, you're the responsible one, PROTECT YOUR KINGDOM! If she will not follow your rules then STOP her! BANISH HER!" "My own... Little sister... Banish? Aunt Chestnut, I can't-... This is her HOME, I-" A quake ran through the ground and the sky itself shook. "She's a creature of the MOON Celestia, SEND HER THERE!" Squinting through her windswept mane Aunt Chestnut saw Celestia gasp, the white mare's wide eyes still fixed on the moon. The Sisterhood elder bit her lip, had she gone too far? Was the whole illusion, the illusion of Celestia herself, about to break? All at once a bright light emitted from Celestia's horn and around the filly five floating stone orbs appeared. Celestia was mumbling to herself, "...Honesty, for I lie to nopony... Kindness, for I look after all... Laughter, for the joy I bring... Generosity, my plentiful kingdom... Loyalty, I will forever protect my subjects... And my greatest power, MAGIC..." At the last word the sixth orb appeared above her, her wings spread and Celestia's brilliance truly became that of a sun goddess. From her came a bright light that filled the entire area and all who looked upon her dazzling form forgot the quaking ground and howling winds, they forgot their confusions and worries, forgot their hopes and loves, they forgot their own lives at that time and it mattered to them not, for in that moment it was only Celestia... It was over. The scene had ended abruptly as a waking dream. The ground lay still and Aunt Chestnut found herself, in one piece, on the grassy hill as it had been before. She looked to her princess to see a smile creeping over the tear-stained face. "I... I did it, Aunt Chestnut... I sent her there..." The Sisterhood elder looked to the moon and her jaw dropped. Clearer than ever before were its Mare in the Moon markings, dark and distinct upon its surface. Swallowing hard and picking her words carefully the elder responded, "She'll be safe there, Celestia... You know where she is, she's far away but you'll always be connected because she's your family... Everything is safe like this..." Celestia nodded happily. A few hours later the rising of the sun ritual went ahead as planned, revealing a surprisingly cloudy day and many damaged trees, though thankfully the buildings of Fillydelphia and its inhabitants had suffered no major damage. Anypony who had seen strange things happen with Celestia on the hill quickly had their stories set straight. The frightening events had in fact been caused by her younger sister, not Celestia herself, as Princess Luna had come to try to stop the celebration, to keep it as night forever. Luckily, everypony was told, the great and wondrous Celestia had used the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister to the moon. There her sister could enjoy her nights and Equestria its days. The Sisterhood and its influence had insisted this was a happy ending to the matter. There was little in the way of objections but, after an entire morning selling that story, the present Sisterhood members were looking forward to leaving Fillydelphia as planned. As the crowds dispersed one young Sisterhood member found the time to quietly approach Aunt Chestnut, checking over her shoulder before whispering, "I can't find anything on the hill, I-" "Don't worry yourself about it, Sister Dewdrop." "But the body, was it cleared or-?" "There is no body. I was watching. You should not dwell on the matter. The princess is waiting and we must be strong..." The young pony felt a slight chill as the words sunk in and she watched her elder head towards where the chariots awaited. It had been scary enough to hear of Gem, and to see... Whatever she did see happen to Gold Fleck. Yet Aunt Chestnut had watched it all and then saved everything. No major thanks and already she was going back to the monster she had defeated, to act like all was well... Dewdrop herself had long regretted joining her mother's special club and hoped to withdraw as soon as she was allowed to, but... She couldn't help but feel a strong sense of pride. She and the rest of the Sisterhood; the unsung protectors of Equestria, protecting it from its own mad deity. At the princess' chariot, Aunt Chestnut smiled and gracefully thanked her ruler once again. Yes, at last... Celestia seemed happy, more sincerely happy than she'd ever seen her. Maybe everything was indeed safe...