//------------------------------// // 03 // Story: Pandora's Box // by Rocinante //------------------------------// Celestia stood on her chamber’s balcony, watching a little purple speck trot across the white marble courtyard. Twilight had made quick time getting here. She promised Twilight answers months ago, after the incident with the Apple family, and now it was time for her to deliver. Still, she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation. Ponies always reacted badly to being told that they are part of a plan that was set in motion twenty generations ago. Striding back into her room, she went to her book case. ‘Books, Twilight is always comforted by written facts,’ she mused to herself as she plucked a few relevant tomes. Her sister’s voice snapped her out of the thoughts, “How are you going to explain the eclipse to her. I do not think she will accept that you took a nap.” “I will tell her the truth,” she sighed. Luna gave her a cocked eyebrow at the answer but remained silent. “How much truth, we will just have to wait and see.” A hard double thump on her door, told her a scheduled visitor was here. “Would you like me to leave?” Luna asked. “No, please. You should be here for this conversation too.” Celestia replied. Reaching out with her telekinetic grip, she opened the great door to show two guards and Twilight standing on the other side of the threshold. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “please come in.” Twilight crossed through the doorway with a nervous chuckle. It was a familiar room. But that was a bit more of a welcome than she was used to. The guards seemed equally surprised by the gesture. The door closed itself as she entered the room. Now alone in Celestia’s chambers she paused for a moment, unsure of herself. “We are alone Twilight. No formalities, we’re friends here,” Celestia said. Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and unceremoniously dropped her saddlebag on the floor. Lifting out the book and a stack of notes, she laid them on a nearby desk. Hoofing through them and rereading some of the questions while she collected her thoughts. The sisters stood quietly and watched Twilight shuffle through her notes. Celestia almost chuckled, she felt like a desk and a chalkboard should be in front of her. But no, she held her quiet. This was how Twilight calmed herself. Twilight turned away from the desk, and faced the two sisters. She worked her mouth a few times, but words never formed. Luna lowered herself to the floor; a conscious attempt to be as approachable as possible. Celestia followed her example. “How did you force the Elements of Harmony to take scions,” Twilight said with a sudden resolve. ‘There,’ Twilight thought. ‘One question that tells her what I know and what I want to know.’ The two alicorns sat in dumb silence for a moment. Celestia looked over to her sister, only to find her already looking back. “Twilight,” Celestia said, pausing a moment to gather her thoughts. It had been many years since a pony had spooked her. “How do you know that?” “I was there,” Twilight twisted, like a foal admitting to something. “In the field. When you were talking with your... mother.” “You three... She said ‘you three’ right before the spell collapsed,” Luna said. Her regal poise and lulled over into a half-laying posture as she stared at her sister’s student in amazement. “How did you-” “I don’t know.” Twilight answered. “It was a vision. Right after the total eclips” “Forced is a str-,” Celestia stopped herself. “No. Twilight, I will not lie to you. Forced is a perfectly accurate word; if not a bit simple.” Luna and Twilight both focused their attention on her as she spoke, “Ponyville was the culmination of my plan to heal Luna,” she nodded with a smile at her sister. “For generations, I cultivated ponies, strong in mind and body. The Apple family was only one piece of the puzzle. Once I gave them land, I saw to it that my cultivated ponies found their way there. The village of harmony grew as I needed it to and the fruits of my efforts bloomed” “Sister? If you gave them land. By the old laws, that makes them barons,” Luna said. Celestia paused on that thought for a moment. “Again, I needed to breed harmony. Royal titles never help with that. But, strictly speaking, yes.” “So for a thousand years, you ran a breeding program?” Twilight asked. Celestia sighed, “Yes, and no. Please Twilight, think of me as a gardener; except one of ponies, not orchards. I encouraged strong and noble souls to do great things and live good lives. I watched bloodlines and placed them near others. Then when the time was right, I planted them in Ponyville.” Twilight nodded in acceptance of the idea. “So you stacked the deck, hoping that five ponies out of the town would be what you needed. But, I wouldn’t calling that forcing.” “Harmony is a living thing,” Luna said. “A primordial force, it has it’s own will. I... I threatened the harmony of creation. So, when Celestia chose to step out of creation, it fell to you six and the elements of harmony to set things right.” “You six were strong enough to wake the elements and use their power. Though they would have prefered to remain asleep and unbound. I however, left them no choice.” Celestia said Twilight glanced back at her stack of notes. “But with all the elements in one place like that, why didn’t they try and unite like they did with Discord?” “It’s not in their nature,” Celestia shrugged. “As well, the necklaces and tiara keep them from fully bonding.” Twilight started to speak, but Celestia answered her question before she asked. “They are the manifestations of a protective spell I placed on them for just that reason.” “So, if an element was destroyed...” Twilight asked. “If the gem holding a portion of the element was destroyed. Then the bearer of the element would become the sole host of the elements power,” Celestia answered “Which is a wholly unprecedented thing,” Luna added Twilight sat and let this information wash over her. He friend, mentor, and surrogate mother had been manipulating ponies for a thousand years for a single goal. She had tricked her into becoming host to a primordial consciousness. Closing her eyes Twilight imagined the long string of lives that had been manipulated in order for this moment to come about.  “If... If no pony had been there to become the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon would have won,” Twilight said, hoping to be confirmed. She needed to hear that there was more at stake that one life. Even a god’s life did not carry enough weight to justify the manipulation that Celestia had masterminded. Luna fidgeted at the specter of her alter ego. “Everfree forest was the result of our last fight. I dare not guess at the number of ponies that died that night. Twilight, if you had not... put down the Nightmare-” Luna’s voice caught and she remained silent. It spoke volumes to Twilight all the same. Celestia pulled her sister under a wing. “Twilight. I will not ask for forgiveness. But, I will pay any debt I owe. Equestria is a stronger, better place, than it was the last time we ruled together and a very dangerous conflict was avoided. It can not be said that I did not do all the good that was in my power to do.”  ‘All the good you can,’ Twilight remembered their mother using that phrase. “Go and do all the good you can,” Twilight repeated aloud. Both goddesses snapped to, looking her in the eye with a glassy expression. Twilight felt herself wilt under the gaze for a moment, before they both blinked and shook their heads. “Sorry. Yes.” Celestia answered the non-question while Luna mumbled something. ‘What just happened,’ Twilight thought. Was that phrase so ingrained in them by their mother that it had the power to shake them? Or, was it something altogether different.  Slipping from under Celestia’s wing Luna stood. “Dusk will be here soon, and I would like to take a nap beforehand. Twilight, t’was good to see you again. Please, visit more.” Luna bowed to dismiss herself and slipped out the nearest window. Celestia watched the place where her sister had been just a moment ago. “-your brother’s children,” Twilight’s voice snapped her out of a daze; she had been talking to her. “Mmm, yes. The Corrupt Ones.” Celestia looked towards the stack of books she had gathered earlier, and levitated a thin blue tome. “Let us hope that we will not have to face them this century.”