The Truths We Deny
Chapter 5
Celestia struggled against her bonds. She tried to access her magic, attempting to free herself from the restraints, but found she was unable to conjure even a single spark.
“I am afraid that will do you no good,” the stallion said. “These bonds are meant to sever your connection to magic, rendering you, well... helpless.” He giggled. “They were a gift, intended solely for you, Princess.”
“Release me!” Celestia shouted in anger. “I have a very important mission to accomplish!”
“I think not. No, I most definitely do not think releasing you is in my best interests at all,” the stallion said. “We have so very much to do, after all. So much to do indeed...” He turned to the wall and lifted a hoof. “You see, these are my gifts. All for me, Princess. I'm very generous though. I gave them something equally lovely back.”
“What did you do to them?” Celestia snarled through her teeth.
“I made them perfect,” the stallion uttered. “They weren't perfect before. They were... flawed. I made them better.”
“By killing them?” Celestia replied.
The stallion cackled. “Killing? Oh dear me, no. You can't kill the dead, Princess. No... I've trapped their souls here in the wall. They feel nothing, but they are perfect beyond measure.”
“But you've opened them up,” Celestia noted. She grimaced, averting her eyes from the disgusting display. “You... you're sick. Why would such a soul be here of all places? Why are you in the Summer Lands?”
The stallion paused and thought for a moment. “You would really have to ask yourself that. After all, you put me here.”
“I am afraid you are mistaken, pony. It was my sister, Serenity, who allowed you access to this realm, but now I am not sure why,” Celestia said. She struggled against the magic sapping bonds, feeling her strength waning. She had to figure out a way to free herself, but how? She stopped struggling and tried to calm her mind. The stallion was too busy giddily admiring his... collection to notice that his tools were just within reach. But she couldn't move a muscle, how could she grab them?
Her answer came in the form of two red eyes gleaming in the rafters. A lithe body descended from above on two tiny wings. Celestia nearly gasped.
“Pix?” she whispered. What was the imp doing here? How was he surviving in the Summer Lands?
The imp looked over at the crazed stallion and down at the tools on the table. He picked a particularly nasty bladed one up and turned towards her captor. A sharp grin emerged on his lips, showing rows of shiny teeth. Celestia's eyes widened as she realized the imp's intent.
“Pix, no--!” she started to shout as the imp lunged at the stallion.
Within mere seconds, it was over and the stallion lay twitching on the ground. Pix stood and turned to regard Celestia.
“We don't have much time before he wakes back up,” he said, bringing the blade to bear over Celestia's bonds. He moved quickly, severing each bond in turn.
Celestia began to feel her magic return, little by little. Once she was free, she angrily picked up Pix with a flare of her horn. “What have you done, imp?”
“Saving your life. An eye for an eye. You saved me, I save you. Now we're even,” Pix said.
“Why did you do that to him?” Celestia said angrily.
“Because he was going to hurt you,” Pix replied. “The ponies on his wall, they're just like every other resident of this place. They're not alive, they're dead already. You can't kill a soul. He was just torturing them.”
Celestia grimaced, standing. She released her magic, allowing the imp to go free. She glanced down at the stallion's twitching body. “If you can't kill a soul...” Her eyes widened. “It would seem that you are correct, we don't have much time. We must be free of this place. But first, I must perform some housekeeping.”
The Princess of the Sun's horn glowed brightly, wrapping the stallion in a metallic box that held him firmly in place. She turned her attention to the wall and began attacking it vigorously, exercising her power as ruler of the Summer Lands to return each soul to its place. The stallion's collection began to disappear, one by one.
“The box will not hold him for long once he has awoken,” she said to herself. “I will have to seek out a more permanent method later. Right now, the item I seek is drifting further out of my hooves. I have no time to ponder on this pony's existence here.” Her horn glowed again and she disappeared, taking Pix with her.
They reappeared outside in the town. Celestia turned her head towards the everlasting sun above the Summer Lands, noting that it was now a very deep red. She looked down at Pix.
“Do you know what to make of that?” she asked.
The imp shrugged. “Not sure. It was like that when I got here,” he said.
Celestia grimaced. Something was wrong with the Summer Lands. Something very wrong. How had she never noticed it? She had always been so careful to make sure everything was in order.
“Pix, what are you doing here? Why did your master send you?” she said.
Pix's eyes widened. “You know about that,” he said.
“He told me himself. Through the spell you planted on me,” Celestia said. “I do not care for being spied upon.”
“Tirek can't do much from where he's at,” Pix replied. “No... someone else sent me back here. Told me you might be in trouble.”
Celestia arched an eyebrow. “Who sent you then?”
Pix shrugged. “I don't know. Didn't see their face. Do you really care? I just saved you from being shish-kebabed back there.”
Celestia grimaced. Something wasn't right. Whoever she was following was several steps ahead of her. The appearance of Generous Soul had not been a coincidence, she'd decided. It had been intentional to waylay her and to try and lay some sort of fault upon her. The Solar Princess closed her eyes, racking her brain to try and remember anything, but she couldn't. As far as she knew, Generous Soul had been admitted to the Summer Lands by Serenity. So then, why had he said she had done it herself? Nothing added up correctly.
“Princess, if I might be so bold,” Pix said softly. “But we should be moving on.”
“I'm thinking, Pix. There is much that does not make sense to me,” Celestia replied. “The crown, Tirek, Serenity. This mysterious alicorn who has the crown. There has be some sense to it all, but I cannot find it.”
“Well, that's good and all, but you might want to find it before they find us,” Pix said hesitantly. He pointed a claw back towards the center of the village.
Celestia craned her neck, following the imp's pointing. Her eyes widened. Several large shadowy beasts milled about the town square, sniffing the air. Their red eyes marked them as Tartaran beasts. Celestia wondered if she had accidentally brought more of that realm to the Summer Lands than she had thought, but dismissed the notion. She would have noticed something like that. Still then, what were these monsters doing there?
Almost in unison, the beasts turned their heads and looked directly at Pix and Celestia. They began to ululate loudly.
“Pix... run. Run, now!”
****************************************************
“We've been walking for hours and we still haven't seen a single thing,” Rainbow Dash lamented. “Weren't there supposed to be like, memories and stuff? None of this is helping us find the Princess.”
“Um... it's only been ten minutes,” Fluttershy said softly.
“And another thing, why in the heck did the Princess run off in the first place? It doesn't make any sense!” Dash continued loudly.
Fluttershy sighed and glanced over at Pinkie Pie, who seemed intent on something up ahead. “Pinkie? Is everything alright?”
Pinkie turned and smiled. “Yup! I think we're coming up on a memory. And by the twitchin' of my tail, it's gonna be a doozy!”
“Wait, a memory? Where?” Rainbow interrupted.
Pinkie rolled her eyes and pointed. “There, silly filly!”
Further up the path there had materialized what looked to be the insides of a castle. As the three ponies got closer and closer to it, the forms of the younger Celestia and Discordant Noise appeared. They were sitting together at a table. Dinner was spread out before them.
“I'm glad that you decided to accept my invitation,” Celestia said.
“Well, it's not every day that a Princess invites you to the castle. I do believe a pony would have to be mad to not accept,” Discordant Noise replied.
Celestia frowned. “Is that how you see this? A royal invitation?”
“Of course not. Please, excuse my poor choice of words,” the stallion said quickly. “I mean no disrespect. But you are indeed a Princess, and I only assumed...”
“You assumed that I had asked you here for some task of importance,” Celestia said flatly. “Does it surprise you that I asked you here because I enjoy your company?”
“Not at all. I am a very amicable stallion, after all, Princess,” Discordant replied, grinning widely.
Celestia cracked a tiny smile. “We should do this more often then.”
“Indeed.”
Celestia snickered and put her hooves on the table. “Oh, Cordy, must you always be so serious?”
Discordant grinned wider. “It's the game we play every time we meet. It's become a bit of a tradition, Tia.” He glanced down at the table. “Perhaps though, we should eat. Otherwise our food will get cold.”
Celestia sighed. “I suppose you're right,” she said. “I'm sorry, I had hoped for a bit of a better date than this. Mother has been on a bit of a war path lately, so getting out of the castle has been a headache.”
“She is upset with you still?” Discordant asked.
“She's upset with me all the time, Cordy,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes. “I just don't think she gets it, y'know? I don't want to be this big important Princess that takes care of all the ponies. Just not my style.”
“I know what you mean,” Discordant said. “My family doesn't understand my special talents either. They think I should stop the nonsense with music, and become a business pony like my father.”
“Ugh. So boring and serious,” Celestia said, sticking her tongue out. “I swear, what is it with parents?” She turned to her food and sighed loudly. “I'm not even really hungry.”
Discordant chuckled. “Me neither. They always bring us way too much food, those servants of yours.”
“Yes... I guess I'll have to let them take the rest of this home,” Celestia mused. “Mother won't like it. She's old-fashioned that way.” She pushed out from her chair and stood. “I'm really sorry, Cordy. I just... I should go. I'm not really feeling well, and if Mom finds you here...”
Discordant stood and made his way to Celestia's side. He pulled her close and hugged her. “It's okay, really. I know you try your best to make our little dinners special. When you can get out of the castle, we'll hang out, alright?”
“Okay,” Celestia said softly. “You... you're good to me, you know that right? I hope you know that. You really get me.”
“Of course I do,” Discordant replied. He leaned in and pecked the alicorn on her cheek. “Until next time, my Princess.”
Celestia nodded and walked away, disappearing into mists.
“Gag!” Rainbow interrupted.
“I think it's very sweet,” Fluttershy replied.
“You would,” Rainbow said.
“Shh! There's more!” Pinkie shouted, pointing at the memory.
Discordant stood there by himself for a few moments before the point of view shifted, showing him from the front. Celestia stood just outside the hall and watched him. The stallion moved to leave the room, but found himself joined by another mare.
“Serenity?” Celestia whispered to herself.
“Hello, Discordant,” Serenity said, smiling. She reached and kissed the stallion on the lips, much more forcefully than he had to Celestia. “Miss me?”
“Serenity, I told you already. Not inside the castle,” Discordant said.
“What's the matter, Cordy? Afraid my sister will find out?” Serenity said, rolling her eyes.
“Yes,” Discordant replied. “You know how I feel about this. I don't want to hurt her. I... I care for her.”
“But you love me, right?” Serenity said, batting her eyelashes.
“Yes, of course I do,” Discordant said. “But until we can tell her and make her understand that we are in love, I do not want to hurt her. So not in the castle, understand?”
“Don't you get it, Cordy? She won't understand. She's a Princess,” Serenity said. “You know what that means, right?”
“That she's used to getting things her way?” Discordant asked. “Or do you think she's too good for me?”
Serenity grimaced. “You don't actually know do you?” she said. She sighed loudly. “Look, being a Princess means that she's immortal, Cordy. She's never going to die. But you and I? We will. We'll pass on, and become a minor footnote in her long life.”
“So? Does that mean I should care less for her?” Discordant replied.
“No. It means that you and I are destined to be together. We're mortal, we can share our whole lives together. She can only share part of hers with you,” Serenity said.
Celestia's eyes burned with tears. She stepped into the room. Discordant's eyes widened as he noticed her.
“Celestia?” he said.
“Serenity,” Celestia said angrily. “You... you think to steal my love from me?”
“Celestia, wait. I can explain,” Discordant said.
“Be quiet,” Celestia said. “I wish for my sister to tell me the truth.”
Serenity grimaced and shook her head. “It's true. I love Discordant as well, but I never sought to steal him from you. It just... happened.”
Celestia growled under her breath. “Liar! You have cast some spell over him! I have seen you practicing your magic. Perhaps I will tell Mother that you have been tinkering with the minds of other ponies.”
“I did no such thing!” Serenity protested. “I am not toying with his mind, Celestia!”
“ENOUGH!” Discordant shouted, stopping both mares cold in their tracks. He turned to Celestia. “It is true that I led you on. For that, it is my fault alone. I promise you that I never intended for you to be hurt. You are one of the truest friends I've ever had. But I do love Serenity. And I should have told you. We should have told you.”
Celestia paused. “But... I... I love you.”
“I know,” Discordant said. “I... I love you too, just... not in that way. You are an amazing pony, Celestia, and a wonderful friend. One of my very few, really. I only hope that you can forgive me.” He stepped forward towards the alicorn mare.
Celestia took a step back. She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. “No. I cannot. I... I have to go. Mother will be cross with me if I'm not studying. I... I'm sorry.” She turned and started running towards the end of the room.
“Wait!” Discordant called out after her.
“Just let her go, Cordy,” Serenity said softly. “I... I'll try to talk to her for you. I don't know if she'll listen to me, but I'll try.”
“You would do that? Knowing how she feels?” Discordant said.
Serenity nodded. “Just because you aren't romantically interested in her, doesn't mean she can't be your friend. Everypony needs a friend.”
The memory dissipated, leaving the three ponies watching it looking very confused.
“I don't get it,” Rainbow said. “Why in the hay did Discord lead her on like that?”
“Ponies have very complex feelings, Rainbow,” Pinkie replied, sighing. “He was probably feeling very confused. On one hoof, he still loved Celestia as a friend, and didn't want to see her hurt. On the other, he probably knew he had to tell her at some point.”
“We should keep moving,” Fluttershy said softly. “Find the other girls and tell them about this.”
“I agree with Shy,” Rainbow said. “This place is boring. Let's go, Pinkie.”
“Alright,” Pinkie said, smiling. She took one last look at where the memory had taken place and then started after her two friends.