//------------------------------//
// Princeps Autem Solis 
// Story: Regression 
// by chief maximus 
//------------------------------//




Argos




The full moon is due tonight. It is identical to countless nights before, only this time, there is a tension I've not felt in many hundreds of years. Something is wrong. A storm has been brewing on the horizon, and I fear my sister knows of it as well. What's truly worrying, is that she refuses to acknowledge it. The impeding worry covers her like the heaviest cloak, and yet, she pretends everything is fine. She may ignore it, but I believe I know what is coming. 

The blades are coming. Another case has been reported in Manehattan. The EIA has been exceptional at concealing the cases from the general public, but they're mounting. They can't be hidden forever. 

Celestia refuses to renew the covenant. We renewed it once before. Discord, Celestia and myself all gathered in the Hallowed Ground. It cost us dearly. Epona can be a cruel deity. She demands so much from us to keep our children safe, to allow them the same gifts that we have enjoyed. 

I'm afraid my sister's tolerance for the renewal has disappeared. I cannot lay blame upon her. It is truly a dreadful process, to be renewed. For the kingdom, it is good. Wonderous, no doubt. The lethargic are granted energy, the sad are given joy, and the angry are given peace. But for us, there is naught but misery. A torment beyond comparison, beyond the mere words of any language awaits us for every bargain struck with Epona. Our life, the lives of all creatures on this planet flow from her, and through her. It is only through her grace that we live, and it is only fitting, that through her grace, we should recede. 

I proposed a different solution. What if Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence took on the covenant? Bonding them in sisterhood as we had been bonded would allow all beings to continue to thrive, while freeing us from our burden, and allowing us to join our ancestors after such a long and arduous journey. 

She wouldn't dream of it. Celestia vehemently denied her credentials. I had seen this way of her before. With former students, she had the tendency to become attached. I knew why. I would be a terrible sister if I didn't, and I confess I had shared this pain of hers from time to time. 

Celestia desperately wanted the one title she could not have. The title of 'mother'. She presided over untold thousands of our subjects, and thought of them all as her children. But alas, the personal proteges received the most doting. With Twilight reciprocating the feelings of maternity toward Celestia, it only made it worse. She would not have her would-be daughter suffer the agony of what she and I had endured. To even think it put her in a sour mood indeed. But I had to press the issue. Soon it would be too late for us. Soon, there would be no pony left to stem the black tide that would soon wash over the globe like a tidal wave, sweeping all of our achievements away with it. 

I must show Twilight Sparkle the rituals of the covenant. The ancient texts are hidden away, but I know how to access them. Even if Twilight decides not to renew it, I can go into the dark of night knowing that the end of the world was not my choice alone. 

The pages had been torn out past that entry, leaving only a single page at the very back of the book, with a short, but horrifying sentence scribbled on it.

Celestia has doomed us all. Damn her...

Argos jumped, the small book tumbling from his grip and beneath his chair as a guard opened his door. 

"Sir, the Princess has requested your presence at the royal dining hall this evening. Shall I tell her you'll be attending?"

"Uh, sure," Argos managed, still a bit surprised by the intrusion. It had seemed only a few minutes ago that the guards had shown him the room in the first place. Once the guard had left, he picked the book up and examined it. It seemed to be the only thing in the old room that wasn't bolted down, the last vestiges of a wealthy noble finally shuffled off this mortal coil. Only, Argos knew that this room wasn't just any nobles. It was the queen of the night's herself. Princess Luna was known far and wide, well beyond the borders of her own kingdom. 

He recalled studying in his international history classes in high school about the equine civil war. It was said that Princess Luna had built a fearsome army of bat-pony hybrids, capable of feeding on the blood of their enemies and stalking the night in search of hapless sources of food. Of course, this was over a thousand years ago, and some historians were prone to embellishment. Before the war of the Night and Day, as it would come to be called, was over, untold thousands of ponies had died, and entire cities were laid to ruin. Only after Princess Celestia managed to banish her sister did the healing finally begin.

The ponies were certainly fortunate to have such a powerful monarch. He recalled many nations were allegedly eyeing the pony lands with envious eyes, armies ready to sweep down from the hills and mountains at a moments notice. However, out of either fear or respect, not a single nation crossed the remaining princess for another thousand years. 

Argos stepped towards the door, taking a last glance at the interior of the room. He couldn't help but marvel at how a society lifted to such spectacular heights could have fallen so quickly. 





Eros





Although he had just met these fillies, Eros felt a connection with them, and seeing one of them meet their grass-fed sister was not his idea of a good first adventure. 

"Sweeite... I know how it looks, but Twilight's working on a way to fix her." Scootaloo could only say so much. They all knew ponies lost to the grass, but until now, only Apple Bloom had to witness her loved ones regress to grazing. Eros couldn't fathom what she must have been feeling, but tried to keep his chin up all the same. He was here with his father, and he knew his father would do what he could to help these ponies. Whether that simply meant getting the word out, or foraging for food during their time here. 

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Sweetie Belle dried her tears. "I knew this already happened to Mom and Dad, but... I always thought Rarity would figure out a way to get through this." The white pony exhaled heavily through her nostrils, beginning to gently lick the young filly's cheek. Sweetie Belle stood up, nuzzling her older sister before stepping back. "Do you think she remembers me?"

Apple Bloom put a foreleg over her friend's shoulder. "Ah'm sure she does."

Sweetie smiled, tears still occasionally falling from her eyes. "I think we should go." 

Eros nodded. He had remained silent, but something about the grass fed ponies unnerved him. It was as if they were simply husks of the vibrant creatures they had once been. In history class, he had been taught that most, if not all non-equine civilizations grew in the shadow of Equestria, who had progressed by leaps and bounds since the dawn of recorded history. It was from them that the Griffons derived mathematical formulas making tall buildings and magnificent castles and towers possible, the know-how to forge iron and steel and the most efficient way to distribute food and administer a nation. 

Eventually, the Griffon Empire united all feline avians beneath the Emperor's banner, and cooperation and the occasional war was had. Until this. Back home, he had heard nothing of the plague that had swallowed all of Equestria. In the Iron Mountains, business continued as usual. Some ponies lived there, and they were none the wiser. He wondered how news of this would effect them. Some of his friends had friends that were ponies. Would they rush back home, only to fall to the blades that had claimed so many already? Would they stay in the empire, running from the grass? Was the grass here the same as the grass back home? Too many questions for Eros to handle at once raced through his mind as he led the crusaders down the stairs they'd climbed by torchlight.

They found themselves back on the ground floor, the stained glass of the heroes hall filtering the dim twilight a pale blue. 

"Now what?" Eros asked, sensing the mood for fun and games had all but evaporated. The fillies looked at each other. "I dunno... I'm gettin' kinda hungry," Apple Bloom replied, her stomach rumbling in agreement.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a big dinner tonight?" Scootaloo asked. 

Sweetie Belle seemed to perk up a bit. "Yeah, I overheard Fluttershy talk about it."

"We should go see how that's coming along," Apple Bloom suggested. 

With a nod, they set off down the hallway, Scootaloo leading the way this time. 

As they walked down the empty corridors, a ruckus from outside drew their attention. They climbed up to a window ledge with some of the glass missing. Outside, Eros saw what he could only describe as madness. 





Argos





The dining hall was well maintained, in comparison to the rest of the castle. Argos understood that Princess Twilight didn't exactly have her usual compliment of housekeepers on staff, but it seemed extra attention had been paid to the royal dining hall. Banners of the races still hung from the arches, their colors flashing brightly in the well lit room. At the head of the table, Princess Twilight sat, with a pegasus with a mane of many colors, and a timid pegasus with a pink mane seated next to her. Twilight stood and greeted Argos, and introduced her friends. 

"Argos, so glad you could join us! These are my friends, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy." 

One greeted with just a nod, another with a meek wave of the hoof. "Very nice to meet you both," he replied, taking his seat. The massive hall before him could have accommodated hundreds of guests, but at present, only three rather short tables had been set. "It seems I arrived a bit early," Argos said, observing the emptiness of the hall. 

"The others will be here soon enough—"

"Princess Twilight!" The old guard that had shown Argos his room burst through the doors of the dining hall. "You must come quickly, Minuette has escaped!"

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she tossed the napkin from her lap. "Excuse me, Argos, duty calls." 

As she and her two companions exited, Argos decided to follow. As he neared the main entrance, he could hear the shouts and noises coming from outside. Princess Twilight flung the doors open and stepped into the courtyard. Backed against the perimeter wall, was a light blue unicorn with a two tone mane and an hourglass mark on her flank. Ordinarily, she looked like any other unicorn Argos had seen, but what she held before her had caused four guards to surround her, spears pointed in her direction as she shook the chunk of dirt and grass she held in her magic menacingly. 

"This is it!" she shouted. "This is what you're all afraid of! You've given up your freedom because of this!" The guards made sure the citizens couldn't get too close while she brandished her toxic weapon. 

"Minuette, stop this immediately!" Twilight shouted from behind the guards. 

"I won't!" She shouted in reply. "I can't live like this anymore! I can either live like an animal in here, or I can be an animal out there! At least out there, I can go where I want!" She turned to the crowd, the chunk of grass still in her magic. "Don't you see? We're prisoners here! We can do nothing but sit here and wait for ourselves to go crazy, or starve, or we can free ourselves!" 

"That's not true!" Twilight answered. "I'm working on a cure! I can fix all of this, I know it!"

"Then why haven't you? How much longer is it going to take? How many more of us are going to starve before you figure it out?"

Argos looked to Twilight. She had shut her eyes, something between a snarl and a frown on her face. He'd seen that expression before. 

Frustration. 

"She's looking out for us, what have you done to find a cure for this mess?" Rainbow piped up in defense of her princess.

"I didn't lock anypony in their rooms for two weeks, all because I didn't want to live this way anymore!" Minuette glanced back at the grass still in front of her and smiled. "And now I won't have to." In one swift motion, she ate the grass, leaving only dirt behind. Once the grass was gone, the guards swarmed her. Once they made sure she had no more grass on her, they brought her to Twilight. 

"What shall we do with her, your Highness?"

Twilight didn't appear angry. In fact, she seemed sad. Argos felt he had seen that expression on her face far too often since meeting her. "Take her to the infirmary for observation." 

Before taking her away, Minuette looked at her princess with the same tearful eyes that stared back at her. "It can't be stopped, Princess. We weren't meant to live like this." 

Twilight turned her head sharply. "Take her away."

In an effort that seemed almost rehearsed, Twilight banished all her feelings of frustration and despair, and brightened her eyes, smiling warmly at the subjects that remained in the courtyard. "Come on, everypony, the banquet is ready!"

After such a tense display, the remaining citizens seemed relieved to get some semblance of normalcy back into their decidedly abnormal lives. The feast went wonderfully, Eros and his new friends finally showed up and ate their fill. The fare was decidedly less decadent than the dishes he'd heard having been served during the height of Equestria, but he most certainly understood the circumstances. 

As Argos ate, Princess Twilight had left the table to make the rounds, greeting her subjects and connecting with them as much as she could, especially after the mayhem that preceded this fine meal. From his side of the table, he looked over to the new ponies Twilight had introduced him to. They seemed to be having a rather heated discussion. From over the noise of the dining hall, he could only catch bits and pieces of their conversation. 

"... lunatic was right! We aren't supposed to spend out lives cooped up in a castle!"

"...only trying to keep us safe and you know it, Rainbow!"

"...care! She leaves us in the dark about all the science crap she's up to, and nopony knows if we're closer to a cure now than we were weeks ago!"

"...not trust Twilight?"

"...trust Twilight! I just... think maybe she's in over her..."

"...aren't thinking of doing what Minuette did—"

"No! Don't be silly."

"Argos?" 

He jumped. He was certainly not expecting the princess to make her way around to him so quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Twilight said with a smile. 

"No problem, Princess." 

"The kitchen is closing, did you and Eros get enough to eat?"

"Of course, it was wonderful, thank you."

Twilight nodded. "Glad to hear it."

"Oh, princess, before you go..." Argos must have been seized by a fit of madness, but curiosity is often one of the many forms madness can take. "What's going to happen to that mare?"

Her warm smile faded. "She ate the grass... all we can do for her now is watch and wait."

Mercifully, he decided not to bring up the house arrest the crazed mare had mentioned during her rant. However, he figured the diary he'd found in his room might be of some use to the Princess. "Also, I believe I'm staying in what used to be Princess Luna's room."

Twilight's frown deepened. "I told them not to use the princesses rooms..." she mumbled.

Argos couldn't make out what she had said under her breath, but pressed on all the same. "I think I found her diary. It mentioned something about the blades, but I didn't get any farther than that. If it interests you, it's in the writing desk drawer."

Twilight seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Thank you, Argos, I'll send a guard for it." 

Argos smiled with a nod and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, your highness, I'm going to round up my son." 

"Of course."





Twilight





The stunt Minuette pulled was not what she needed right now. Though the diary had been a bit of good news, she doubted it contained any profound secrets. She had already torn through every book in Canterlot looking for information on the blades, but there was none to be found. All her research had to be done from scratch.

She retired to her chambers after the feast, her cramped and cluttered writing desk mocking her in the corner. So far, her only hope in discovering anything remotely useful about the blades lay with Apple Bloom. Twilight was eager to get started, but she decided to give the filly the rest of the day to relax with her friends. She had to keep in mind that this was one of her best friends little sisters, and she was not just some test subject. 

Inside her waited the key to unraveling this mystery, Twilight just knew it. All she had to do was attain it. After a few minutes alone in her study, a guard knocked on her door. 

"Yes?"

A guard that turned out to be Spike. "Princess, Minuette has been secured in the infirmary. It seems the grass is already beginning to take hold."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. It usually never acted this quickly. The fastest she'd seen it take effect was nine hours. 

"Take me there," she replied, following him out of the room. She had to observe such a rapid transformation for herself. Had the blades somehow gotten more efficient at turning ponies into animals?

Before long, they reached the gloomy and dimly lit infirmary, where Nurse Redheart stood by the heavily breathing Minuette, her forelegs and hind legs secured to the bedframe. 

"How do you feel?" Twilight asked.

The rabid defiance had left entirely. Now, she was simply terrified. It showed in her eyes as bright as the noontime sun. 

"I shouldn't have done this, I shouldn't have eaten the grass!" Tears were beginning to well in her eyes as she pleaded with her princess. "You have something that'll help right? A cure? Something you think might work? Anything?"

Twilight shut her eyes and sighed, the loss of millions of sentient beings weighing heavily on it. "No, I'm sorry."

"Princess, please, I'm scared! I don't want to go to the other side!"

Twilight put a hoof on Minuette's to try and comfort her. "I'm sorry Minuette... I let you down." She felt a scaled claw on her shoulder. 

"Please, don't let me go, don't let me become a grazer, please!" It was horrifying to have to sit through this. This was Twilight's fourth subject that had become a grazer before her very eyes. Twilight leaned in and hugged her, if nothing else than to let her know she wouldn't have to got to the other side alone. "I'm sorry..." Twilight whispered. 

Minuette's breathing picked up, her chest nearly heaving as Twilight held on, her tears now beginning to streak down her cheeks. After a minute or two, her heavy breathing stopped, and normalized. The Princess raised herself up, and looked down at a creature whose eyes no longer held fear, sadness, hope, or joy. 

They held nothing. 

The pony before her snorted, whinnying and struggling with her restraints. The guards removed them, and allowed the creature to stand. It sniffed each one of them, before trotting into the corner and laying down on a spare mattress laying in the corner. Spike drew Twilight into a hug as she continued to cry. 

"It wasn't your fault, Twilight. You tried to save her." 

"I know, Spike. But trying isn't good enough."