Chapter 24: History Rewritten
Cantrip laid everything out on the table. How he was approached, the plans, the theft, the hiding, the meeting in Ponyville, the scrying, the two months in the hospital, the work in the Gap, everything he had done up to this point was laid bare. They needed to take a break during Winter Wrap-Up so Luna could raise the moon.
Then Discord stepped in. He explained what changing the page from the Book of Destiny did, how it interrupted the natural flow of time and life. He needed to return the page to the book so he could fix the book. For his part, he wanted to know how Celestia got the page and why she used it.
Celestia listened to all of it before she said something that floored all of them. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” Rarity and Slipwind were witnesses to her having the page, but she denied ever having it. They asked her several questions.
Why hold the Summer Sun Festival in Canterlot that year. Her reply: Why not? She chose different spots each year on a whim.
Why was she at the school that particular day? It’s called Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Why wouldn’t she be there any particular day?
Why send Twilight to Ponyville the day before Nightmare Moon would return? Celestia had to think about that one. She remembered writing the letter. It seemed like a good idea; as if she knew sending her would be beneficial. But maybe, with Nightmare Moon returning, her student might have been the best bet for combatting… Celestia couldn’t banish her the first time without the elements and she was an alicorn. Twilight was a strong unicorn but nowhere near strong enough to fight back. She would need the Elements of Harmony. What would possess Celestia to send her student away when danger loomed on the horizon. “I don’t know! I can’t think of a single reason I would send her on her own like that! I can remember the tears on my face from banishing Nightmare Moon, but I can’t remember what possessed me to send Twilight! Now I believe you.”
Discord pounced on this. “Perhaps you can remember how you got it with some magic work. I know there were spells that help ponies remember forgotten dreams, surely we can-”
“No, they wouldn’t work.” Everyone looked at Slipwind. “I understand enough to know this. That page changed. It’s just as likely it changed so Celestia never got the page. She did each of those steps to put Twilight in a position of power because, from her perspective, everything happened naturally. I think we’ve been asking the wrong question from the beginning. How does one get a page from the book?”
Discord crossed his arms. “Well, obviously, you’d need to know about the book. Then you rip out a page. The question is how did she find out about it?”
Rarity said, “No, we’re going to end up going in circles. There’s a simpler question. Cantrip, how did you find out it was a page and not a scroll?”
Cantrip just faceplanted into the table. “I can’t believe I overlooked it. Unslaadein, the Dragon Oracle in Manesnare Forest, I went to him so I could discover the route I should take. He’s the one that told me it was a page from something larger!”
Celestia spoke. “Very well then. We’ll have to meet with this Unslaadein… Curious name. At the very least, he can direct us to our next destination.”
“Be careful. He may ask for payment, and it struck me as his usual payment was eating the questioner. I lucked out and trapped him with giving an answer for an answer. He’ll likely not fall for it again.” Cantrip worried this was going to get very messy.
Discord stood up. “I doubt he’ll be able to eat the Spirit of Chaos. And if he does, I’ll likely give him a very bad bellyache.”
Celestia held up a hoof. “No, Discord. I understand your duties, but I will not risk anypony getting hurt.”
“No, Celestia, you don’t understand. You ponies know too much about the book already. I cannot allow it to proceed any further. I need to fix the book so life can proceed normally again. There is no debating it.”
“Discord, I cannot condone-”
Luna stopped her sister. “It is not a matter of whether you condone it or not. As alicorns, we have power that greatly exceed most in this world. However, Discord is more powerful than us.” Celestia looked at her in disbelief. “You know I am right on this. The last time we stood against Discord, it required the Elements of Harmony. In fact, the only ponies who could stand against Discord are Twilight and her friends. With one of them having vowed never to use her Element against Discord, we have no power to order him save by what he allows.”
Rarity thought it over. “It does beg the question then, how do we retrieve the page? We still don’t know who stole it. Well, who commissioned the theft, rather.”
Slipwind perked up. “What about that time spell Twilight used? Send one of us back to get the scroll after it’s been dropped off and-”
“Oh no! You are not going to drag that thing through time!” Just the suggestion angered Discord. “It’s bad enough Twilight jumped through one portal. Viewing time is nowhere near as bad as actually traveling through it.”
“Well then, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Well, you can break rules. Surely you can use that.”
Discord mused this. Using his powers to fix everything and set it right? He’d never done that before. “That might be fun. I’ll have to give it some thought. First things first, I must meet with this Unslaadein and get information from him. Cantrip? You report to Twilight everything that happened here. Rarity and Slipwind? Have fun you two. I’m off!” Before anyone could object, he disappeared.
Celestia just looked so sad. “I wish I knew what possessed me to do all this. The pain Discord feels is genuine. I would never wish that upon him.”
Rarity walked up and placed a hoof on her. “There, there, darling. I’m sure whatever reason you had, it was a good one.”
Slipwind said, “Are you sure?” Everypony focused on him. “There are only two reasons she would have done it.”
“Slipwind! What you saying?”
“Think about it. The result was to face Nightmare Moon. One reason would be to battle Nightmare Moon. The last time, Celestia required the Elements of Harmony and nopony possessed them when she returned. She could have rewritten things so Nightmare Moon was vanquished and her sister was a happy side effect. The other is her.” Slipwind pointed right at Luna. “She could have rewritten things so her sister could be returned to her, and it happened that Nightmare Moon was vanquished as well. It’s the common thread.”
Celestia shook her head. “I do not know what I would have tried to do, but if I had known then what I know now, I would not have touched it.”
“Yes you would have.” She looked at Luna. “You wouldn’t have left things to chance. If I had returned, I could have sunk the land into eternal darkness. All the possible lives would have never happened. You would do everything to protect everypony.”
Cantrip suddenly said, “We could talk around in circles all evening, your highnesses. As Discord is out of our hands now, we can only place our hope in him. I think it would be best if we rested the night and returned to Ponyville tomorrow.”
Celestia and Luna agreed and ended their meeting. It was getting late. The ponies were shown to rooms and left to rest for the night. Cantrip cast the spell he had been casting since the first day he had planned the crimes so Luna couldn’t enter his dreams. He didn’t have reason to hide the crime now, but he realized something else and he did not want Luna to know.
Discord explained Twlight was supposed to have been a great-great-grandmother. The Book of Destiny already had a plan for Nightmare Moon.
Celestia changed it so Luna would live.