Queen Galaxia’s death sent a ripple throughout Equestria. Rumours, gossip and conspiracy theories were abound, as to the whereabouts of Grogar, his motives for killing the queen, and how he got in and out of Canterlot Castle without being caught...
“I heard he’s hiding out somewhere in the Griffon Kingdoms…”
“Why did the guards not apprehend him?”
“This was all planned out - it’s a conspiracy I tell you!”
And all this talk and banter regarding the Queen’s demise hit Celestia the hardest. Having been born slightly earlier than Luna, and since Galaxia had not specified which daughter was to become queen, the title of queen automatically fell to Celestia as (technically) the eldest child of the family. She was hardly out of school, too, and the Queen’s death had also brought unceremonious new popularity. Now everypony was bragging about how they went to school with the Queen of Equestria trying to get close to her, and it was beginning to get hard to grin and bear it every day…
Before, Celestia had awaited her ascension with bated breath… But now that she was in that position, that heavy title of “Queen of Equestria” weighing down on her small, childish shoulders, she wasn't so sure, It just felt wrong to sit where she sat, to wear what she wore, to be called “Your Majesty”. And it showed - Ever since that fateful night, Celestia was a very different mare. The bubbly and generally bright personality that was once her trademark was gone, now replaced by irritability, gloom and cynicism. She regularly began snapping at guards for the smallest of things, and even when she was in a good mood she never smiled.
“Your Majesty!”
Celestia was brought out of her little world by the door banging open, and the new Captain of the Guard, Spark Sentry, entered. He was a Pegasus of typical size, with a dark blue mane an an auburn coat. Presently, there was a roll of parchment under his wing.
“We've been over this countless times, and every time I say it: Don’t call me that!” Celestia replied, coldly.
“But, what else…”
“That is an ORDER, Sentry! Just call me Celestia, for Faust’s sake!”
Celestia had become easy to provoke like that, and poor Spark had been the target of many an attack.
“I'm sorry, Queen Celestia…”
“No ‘Queen’ either!”
“I'm sorry…”
“Good. Now that’s settled, what do you want?”
Swallowing, and prepared for another verbal assault, Spark cleared his throat and began speaking…
“Today we received a message which we believe to be from the Unicorn known as Grogar.”
At the mention of this name, Celestia’s ears pricked up.
“Continue…” she said, her voice now filled with curiosity.
“Well… I think the best way to explain it would be to read it out. The contents are… disturbing, to say the least.”
With that, Spark Sentry pulled the letter out from under his wing, opened it out on the floor, cleared his throat again, and with a heavy sigh began reading…
“To the Queen of Equestria…”
But he had not even started reading before Celestia had yanked it away from him with her magic.
“I CAN read, Sentry. So don’t assume you have to do everything for me.”
With that, Celestia began reading herself…
To the Queen of Equestria…
My my, you have come far, Queen Celestia… You have most certainly grown from the young filly who wanted to be queen more than anything else, to restore the balance of Equestria… But now that you’re there, sitting where your mother sat, on that great throne of gold… I wonder if it’s really how you imagined, sitting there, with all the power in Equestria, still only a young filly…
Every word that Celestia read made her want to plant a hoof in Grogar’s face. But nevertheless, she kept reading, intrigued.
But in any case, this is besides the point. Now, you may or may not know that I have devoted my life to the study of the “taboo” as your mother or any one of the members of the Council of Science that you now hold power over would have called it… The study of reanimation, or “bringing dead ponies back to life”, in language you’re more likely to understand.
Celestia’s angered breath grew even more after reading this patronising statement.
Only recently, however, has my research come to true fruition. The magical energy that I drained from your mother has given me the means to reanimate corpses. And with every alicorn I kill - sooner or later you shall receive this news - my army of undead grows. Know this, Queen Celestia, for soon my army shall arrive. And when it does, all Equestria will fear me.
Have fun being forced to send countless ponies to their deaths…
- Your Worst Nightmare.
Spark, noticing that Celestia had finished, spoke again.
“Over the past few weeks, Grogar has been targeting and murdering alicorns across the continent, presumably for his undead army. We believe that he is intending to wage war on Equestria.”
At once, Celestia’s anger was replaced with unbridled and undiluted terror. She knew that Grogar had been reanimating corpses, but creating an entire army to attack Equestria, using her mother and murdering Faust knows how many more alicorns to serve as his power source? This was too much for the young queen to take. She dropped the letter, her body beginning to quiver slightly, a fearful expression on her face.
Spark attempted to cheer up the Queen. “Don’t worry, your m-- Celestia. The War Council will take care of this for you - Equestria’s entire armed forces is mobilising to defend you and all of Equestria from this threat. Grogar shall not have his victory!”
‘Being forced to send countless ponies to their deaths...’
“You are dismissed, Sentry.” Celestia spoke, finally.
Not being one to go against his Queen’s good judgement, he bowed and left the room.
After ensuring that nopony else was in the room, Celestia fell to her knees. Now, countless ponies were going to die, protecting her and their country. All because of Grogar and his pointless vendetta against the Alicorn race. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and once again broke into great sobs of despair.