“Initial Lockdown protocols have been carried out, my princess.” Wind Strider, bowed to Princess Celestia. “As per your orders, sky and ground patrols have been tripled. Curfew has been established. All residences have been instructed to remain indoors one hour after sunset until one hour after sunrise. I’ve also dispatched the third Unicorn division to search the city for unauthorized types of magic and the third and fifth Pegsi divisions to check for any illegal weather.” Wind Strider stood up from his bow and saluted. “Is this sufficient?”
Celestia nodded, “More than. You take great initiative in dispatching the magic search and weather patrols. I see Shining Armor has been training his second-in-command well.”
“He has confided in me that I have been picked to be his replacement should he retire. I hear with the prospect of a family coming up, he has been considering stepping down from his post to more of a desk role.”
Celestia closed her eyes and sighed, “I have not heard that. At least we will be in good hooves if such a case arises. Still, he is only one of two Unicorns that can replicate my shield spell. So until another is trained I dare say I may require his assistance in some capacity.”
“You would have to talk with him on that one, my princess. I’m just relaying what I have been hearing.” Wind Strider suddenly felt awkward. He did not like to be the one delivering bad news. “Is there anything else I can do to ensure your safety, Princess?
“My safety is not the concern. My subjects, Acting Captain, I place the care and protection of my dear subjects in your capable hooves for the rest of the night. Make sure they sleep soundly. If you’ll excuse me, I have a few matters to tend to before retiring for the evening.” Celestia used her magic to open a window and took flight. It certainly was a lovely night. The moon was particularly beautiful that evening. Little Lulu must be extremely happy to create such a calm and perfect night, the talks in Griffica must be going exceptionally well. Celestia smiled. Good news, she needed good news like that. The Alicorn flew over the perimeter of Canterlot, just to check on the progress of the nightly patrols. Wind Strider may have done a good job, but he was still no Shining Armor. When she was satisfied with what she saw, Celestia made her way back to the castle. Her wings twitched and buckled under her weight for a slight moment. It was most ungraceful of her and a surefire sign she was tired. She bit her lip and cast a rejuvenation spell. The very same spell she warned Luna about using. She mentally scolded herself for breaking her own rules, but this was an emergency. Besides, it was not as though she was going to get a good night’s sleep this night anyway. She still had work to do. Equestria was not going to remain a utopia by itself. She landed near the south end of the castle. She found herself again staring at the door to the dungeons for the second night in a row.
With a drawn out sigh, she magically unlocked the door and descended into the darkness. She climbed down the stone steps in hasty manner. She could not risk talking to Discord again, the more time she spent in his presence, the more he could influence her. However, she still could not shake this feeling of dread in her heart and there was still one lead she had close at hoof that she had not exhausted yet. The stairs gave way to a long narrow hallway, lined with empty cells. She walked past each cell and fought back a tear. The cells had once been used to house all of Nightmare Moon’s supporters when she had tried to bring about eternal night. It was quiet ironic. For as much as Luna had claimed to be lonely and unloved, several of Celestia’s subjects had switched loyalties as soon as the sun did not rise. As she neared her destination she could hear the creature’s voice. It was singing again. It was always singing.
That’s when he fell…
For his sweet belle…
With loooove’s… last… kiss…
“Her grace has graced my presence two days in a row.” Queen Chrysalis rolled her eyes, “I must be a bucking queen or something.” The Changeling leaned her hooves on the bars of the cell. “What’s the matter, Princess, getting a bit lonely in your old age?”
“Dark tides are coming. I can sense them.” Celestia turned her back to the queen, “I need to know what your swam is planning.”
The queen chuckled, “Why would you think I would tell you anything?”
“Because, you’ve lost before. You’ll lose again. The only difference is how much collateral damage is done to my kingdom. You tell me what I need to do to prevent this upcoming hardship and I’ll cut you a deal.”
The queen cracked a sinister smile, “A deal?”
“I’ve piqued your interest I see. What do you want?”
“My freedom.”
“Out of the question.”
“Then food.”
“I’ll have the chefs prepare a four course meal fit for myself.”
“Not that disgusting pile of grass and sugar you call food. Real food. Food I can eat. Find me a loving pony couple and bring one of them to me so I can drain them of their love… and life.” The queen stared down Celestia.
The princess broke the stare and looked down at the floor in contemplation. There were several couples in the castle that would be able to… fulfill… the queen’s order. Am I seriously considering this? Celestia shook her head, “I can’t do that. I won’t let even one Unicorn, Pegsi, or Earth pony suffer under your fangs.”
“Griffins have the concept of love, and they’re not ponies… Dragons, Diamond Dogs, Zebras… Alicorns. At this point I don’t care about the source. I’m starving.”
“You’re asking for a tall order. First you tell me about what your swarm is up to and then we’ll cut a more suitable deal.”
“My swam? The one you killed?”
“I didn’t kill them.”
“Oh, that’s right. That Unicorn did. Him and your bucking niece. They were flung far away from me. They can’t fend for themselves. They all starved. All of my children. Dead. I blame him and his whole family. Which, last time I checked, includes you.”
Celestia looked at the floor, “But… if your swarm is dead.... Then where is this feeling coming from?”
“How should I know? I can’t see into the future. Clearly, or I would have killed the pink princess first, instead of trying to save her for a snack.”
Celestia shook her head, “You can’t. But I can.” The princess turned her back on the Changeling and left the dungeon. The queen leaned back against the wall of her cell.
And so my face I did reveal,
And to my power he did justly kneel,
When he saw my real face…
I gave him just one sweet taste…
Of loooove’s… last… kiss…
Twilight and Luna stood huddled together. Luna’s wing was draped over Twilight’s back, pulling her close. The ground heaved and bucked around them. The grassy field folded up into a box, engulfing the two ponies. The dirt around them formed into wood and brick. Soon they found themselves in the Ponyville schoolhouse. The chairs and desks sprung up and grabbed Luna and Twilight. They were forced to sit down, facing the front of the classroom. Discord summoned a mortarboard, a black gown, a long pointing stick, and a chalkboard. He tapped the chalkboard with his claw. The draconequus scrapped his claw against the board and let it screech. He walked slowly from one side of the board to the other, dragging the claw in an even motion. Luna and Twilight banged their heads on the desk, their ears folding down to try and muffle the noise. Twilight felt a terrible shiver sprint down her spine. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.” Discord laughed.
“Let us go Discord!” In the back of Twilight’s mind she had the faintest memory that she could overpower the draconequus, but her thoughts right now were so clouded with images of Luna getting hurt.
“You mean you, not ‘us’. And I'm Sorry, but I can’t do that. You see, now that I know your mind is finally starting to catch up, I’m unfortunately going to have to speed up our lessons. I would so much like to avoid another incident like we just had.”
“Anything you could teach us would be not worth learning!”
“There you go with that ‘us’ again.” Discord walked over and patted Luna on the head. Twilight squirmed against her bonds.
The Unicorn screamed, “Don’t you touch her!”
“Oh, Twilight,” Discord said in a condescending tone, like the one used by a magic-kindergarten teacher. “I just don’t know what I’ll do when you finally realize that this thing is just a mindless doll. The real Princess Woona is still sleeping next to you while you toss and turn.” Discord looked up at the sky, “Disgusting, she’s snuggling with you….”
Something the draconequus had said confused her, but her mind was foggy. The only thing she could see now was Discord stroking Luna’s mane, “Get your claws off of her!” Twilight growled.
Discord sighed, “Anyway, back to our lessons. I’d love to taunt you more, but your lucidity might come back. And we can’t have that.” Discord started drawing frantically on the chalkboard with his tail. He drew crude depictions of ponies of all types. He drew the sun and the moon and the Alicorn sisters. Discord snapped his fingers. With the wind from a hurricane, Twilight was sucked in to the chalk drawing. She felt the air squeezed out of her body as she became flat. The colors of the world gave way to green and white and the concept of perspective changed in a way she could not even describe. If her mind was not so foggy, she would have been happily jotting down notes on the shift from three dimensional spaces to the second dimension. Discord’s laugh echoed throughout the area. If she looked in a direction that no longer existed, she could see the face of the draconequus chortling.
“Tell me, Twilight, how much do you know of Equestria’s history?” The chalk ponies began to multiply and move about in a flickering fashion. “Do you know where Alicorns come from? Do you know how Luna and Celestia are able to control the sun and moon? What about the three pony tribes? Do you think they always existed?”
“Alicorns are born just like any other pony. There just aren’t any more around now.”
“Oh and is that what Luna told you? You shouldn’t believe everything she says. She’ll lie in a heartbeat if it serves her purpose.”
“Luna’s not a liar!”
“Really? What do you think she told Celestia when she left the castle?” Twilight bowed her head. She really did not have anything to say against that.
“Let’s go back, back over Equestria’s time line.” A large line drew itself underneath Twilight’s hooves. “Now most recently, there was the Changeling Incident.” A picture of Canterlot surrounded with a bubble of magic appeared. “Well done on dropping the ball on that one. Couldn’t make it to the Elements of Harmony in time, huh? Good thing your big brother was there to clean up the mess like always. What was the nickname your parents had for you? Twilight Stumble? Always with her head in the books; bumping into things. Who’s a silly pony? You are!”
“Shut up!”
The image of Canterlot was messily erased into white streaks of chalk. “Alright, moving on. Next we have, what in my professional opinion as an educator, was the best day in Equestrian history!” A brilliantly drawn image of Discord singing appeared, “My return! Oh what a great day that was! Truly so. You have no idea how stiff your legs get when you’re encased in stone for just over three thousand years.” An image of a colorless-chalk rainbow wrapped itself around Discord’s image. “Then you had to go and ruin it. Ah, c'est la vie, as the fancy say.” The image was erased. “So let’s skip back a year or so,” the line under Twilight’s hooves was yanked out from under her as it sped by, “Ah, here we are! Nightmare Moon’s return!” An image of Luna and Nightmare Moon appeared with Twilight standing in between. “I wonder if you would have acted differently if you had known you would have been snuggling noses with the beast only a few years later?”
“Nightmare Moon is gone. I freed Luna from her.”
“Oh, right. My mistake, you still believe that silly lie told to you by Celestia. The fact of the matter is, as we covered just a few sessions ago, is that Nightmare Moon is very much alive. The real question is why did you think she was gone?”
“The Elements of Harmony banished…”
“Oh!” Discord laughed, “I’m sorry what? You thought…! Oh well this is just silly!” Discord’s laughter died down. “Have you ever stopped to wonder what the Elements do? Where did they come from? Or perhaps who made them?”
“They… have always existed, right?”
“Well I wouldn’t say always. But they are certainly older than me and I’m the oldest thing on this little planet! Let’s go back to when ponies first found the elements, back before Equestria was founded….” The line was again yanked out from under Twilight’s hooves. It whirled on by with increasing speed. The chalkboard seemed to age, it became covered in dirt, rust, and dust. Finally the world stopped spinning so fast the chalk line settled back down on the ground. “It was Celestia, back when she was just so young. Still several times older than you though, as was her sister. Think about that next time you lock lips with the princess of the night. And this was thousands of years ago. Back when giant lizards roamed the earth! Do dragons still do that? Oh, I’m off track again…”
“Is that…?”
“Tartarus? Oh, most certainly.”
“The pit in which all evil is kept? Guarded by Cerberus, the three headed dog?”
“Yes. Which, if you think about it, should tell you something that Celestia doesn’t keep me in there….”
“But… Tartarus is home to the most violent beasts in all of the Known World.”
“Who do you think put them there? After she retrieved the Elements from their resting place, she filled the pit with anything she deemed too dangerous for her new world….”
“How could the Elements of Harmony come out of a place so evil?”
“Oh what is evil anyway? If you had to define it, what would you say, bookworm?”
“Evil is anything that threatens the idyllic peacefulness of Equestira!”
“Oh? And where did you get that? From a book?”
“The Canterlot Dictionary….”
Discord rested his elbows on Twilight’s head, “Face it, filly. Celestia has her hooves in everything. Wake up and look around, Twilight. Celestia has spent thousands of years shaping your culture. Everything is under her carful control. And you have the gall to call me the puppet master?”
Twilight pushed Discord off her head, “But everypony is so happy!”
“Are they really happy? Or just brainwashed? They prance around like mindless dolls. So dreadfully boring. True happiness comes after victory. Victory is meaningless without strife.”
“That’s not true. I am happy anytime I spend time with my friends.”
“And when did you make friends? After the conflict with Nightmare Moon. See? Strife and chaos bring us all closer together. Celestia wants to rob the world of that. All in pursuit of ‘order’! She sculpts her nation to be entirely in her image.”
“Who cares if she defined our culture? That’s what a ruler does!”
“Or at least that’s what your definition of a ruler is… How do you know where Celestia’s ideals end and your own begin?” Discord pressed his cheek against Twilight, “Wouldn’t it just so much easier if Celestia was gone?” The image of Celestia faded away, leaving only Twilight and Luna standing next to each other, hugging. “Imagine a world with just you and Luna. Forever together and free of Celestia’s control! You wouldn’t have to hide your relationship anymore.”
“That…” Twilight knelt down and placed her hooves on her head and clenched her eyes shut, “… would be nice…”
Discord twirled into the air, “Wonderful! Absolutely spectacular! Congratulations, young Twilight! You earn a gold star for today’s lesson!”
Twilight smiled, “Wow! A gold star!” Twilight’s smiled faded, “I… wait… but Celestia… is my friend….”
Discord frowned, “Oh, cheese and chaos… so close.”
“Celestia is my mentor, she practically raised me!”
Discord started whining in a mocking tone, “Oh wah, wah. Celestia is soooooo great. Everypony loves Celestia. You think she’s just perfect, don’t you?” Twilight nodded. “Oh, but she’s far from it… I mean, how can a killer be the perfect ideal of peace?”
Twilight stuttered, “Killer…?”
“Why yes, you… Oh? You didn’t know? She never told you? How she has not just taken a life… but one of the most, if not the most, sacred lives in the whole world? How do you think she got all that power? You thought she was born with it? Oh my dear little pony, the power of a god is not given, it is always taken.”
“But Luna is just as…”
“Her too, my little pony, her too…” Discord scratched his chalky beard. “Perhaps you need to see what the world was like when Celestia first took rule…” Discord snapped his fingers.
Back in Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was pacing in her room. If Queen Chrysalis’s swarm was not the looming threat, than what was? The queen had made a valid point thought, she could not see into the future. “But I can,” Celestia said. She did not often talk out loud to herself, only when she was exceptionally nervous or worried. Celestia looked at the device before her, a relic of the ancient ones. She kept it in her room, that way she was sure it would never be used. It was a large upside down hemisphere, plated with gold. “The Dome of Vision,” she had called it. It had been found in Tartarus near the chamber where the Elements of Harmony had been found. It wasn’t until hundreds of years later, with the help of Starswirl the Bearded, that she had figured out how to work the finicky contraption. It required an exhausting amount of magic to use, even for her, and even then it only provided a small glimpse into the timelines. But the biggest reason it saw little use was not that it exhausted one’s magic supply, “Staring into the future void of time drives you mad.” Time travel to the past was difficult, but not impossible if the caster was exceptionally gifted. Still the spell was limited by interaction time and distance traveled across the timeline. Gazing into the future was against the laws of the world. She would know, she wrote many of them. Even she was uncertain if the power of the Alicorn would protect her from the effect of the device, but she had never before dared to experiment to find out.
“It affects you subtly. Slowly your thoughts begin to betray your ideals. Voices whisper in the back of your skull. It’s a tickle at first, as your senses begin to cross. A taste in your mouth you can’t quite remember where you’ve heard before. The smell of static electricity burning through your eyes. Oh, poor Starswirl. I should have destroyed this relic long ago when it claimed your life. Then at least there would never be the temptation to use it.” Celestia levitated a bottle from one of her shelves over. “A liquefied sundial once made of sandstone and boiled in the noonday sun.” She poured the bottle into the dome. Another bottle floated near, “The mist that rolls off a waterfall bottled in the moonlight.” A small bowl of water floated by and Celestia pulled out a small guppy and tossed it into the dome, “A fish out of water, as is the viewer out of their time.” Celestia opened a small chest. Waves of frosty mist plumed out of the box as she removed several frozen flowers, “The petals of a spring daffodil, the stem of an autumn aster, the center of a summer dandelion, and the thrones of a winter frostrose, and all grown from the era of chaos.” Celestia glanced over to the windowsill. She opened the windows gentle and looked out at the city. She let out a low, soft whistle. In an instant a swarm of butterflies crowded her window. Celestia focused her magic on one and pulled it inside the room. It struggled against her levitation spell before its wings were torn from its body. “Finally, the wings of the monarch butterfly, the keepers of the time stream.”
Celestia closed her eyes and focused magic into her horn. Light softened in the room as she absorbed it and channeled it into the dome. A mess of blue electricity arched and sparked inside the dome. Sounds of thunder echoed throughout the palace. In a flash of blue light, the electricity settled into a swirling vortex of blue liquid. Celestia stared over the device, and braced herself. She inhaled deeply and dunked her head into the dome and opened her eyes:
Nighttime…. Flash…. No stars…. Flash…. Storm clouds…. Flash…. Thundering noise, no rain…. Flash…. Canterlot in ruins…. Flash…. Shield missing…. Flash…. Empty city…. Flash…. Smoke in the distance…. Flash…. Tear rolls down a purple Unicorn’s cheek…. Flash…. The Elements of Harmony scattered…. Flash…. Luna crying…. Flash…. Luna shouting…. Flash…. Castle tower falls to ground…. Flash…. The sound of thunder…. Flash…. Sun falls from sky…. Flash…. Nightmare Moon stands on top of rubble…. Flash…. Laughter…. Flash…. Sun falls off horizon…. Flash…. Nightmare Moon…. Flash…. Young foal runs from falling rubble…. Flash…. Nightmare Moon…. Flash…. Luna crying…. Flash…. Sun crashes off the edge of the sky…. Flash…. Nightmare Moon….
Celestia pulled her head out of the dome and gasped for air. She inhaled deeply and coughed, spewing glowing blue liquid from her throat. She staggered over to her bed and tried to steady her fit of coughing. “No…!” Her eyes welled with tears. She broke down in another fit of coughing. “Luna’s changed…! The dome is never wrong but… How could my sister still want to bring about eternal night?” Celestia kicked a vase that sat on a nearby drawer. “This can’t be possible! She couldn't match me without the power Nightmare Moon…. But Nightmare Moon would only attack if… if Lulu truly desired eternal night.” Celestia flopped onto her bed and let her head roll to the side. She stared at an extravagant painting of a teal colored Earth pony. Luna had painted it so long ago, and it had never left Celestia’s room. None but the ruling sisters had ever laid eyes on it. “Did I not pay enough attention to her? Did I not give her everything I could give her? It’s not my fault the other ponies prefer the day to the night! I’ve tried…. I’ve tried so hard…. What should I do?!” Celestia pounded her hoof on the bed. “Oh, my dear sweet mother!” Tears stained the bed, “Where did I go wrong? How could she still resent all that we’ve worked for? I’ve tried so hard with her…” Celestia buried her head in her pillow, “I’m just not you… I’m just not you….” Celestia pulled her covers over her head and curled into a ball, “I’m trying to take care of her… I’m trying…. I wish you were still here…. Mother…. Mama… Selena is being bad again…. It’s not my fault…. I wish you were here....” Celestia began to sing. In the castle, a sorrowful song could be heard for the second time in a month, its lyrics in the ancient tongue.