After the introduction, the two princesses decided to give me a tour of the castle. They explained to me that I would be allowed to explore outside the castle the next day, after they announced me to the public, as well as the knighting ceremony. So for now, they led me through the castle, showing me around.
Our first stop brought us to the dining room. It was an elegantly beautiful room, consisting of a long dining table, with candles on the center. Above it hung a beautiful crystal candle chandelier. The wall was lined with stained glass windows, depicting images of importance, one of which I recognized as the founding of Equestria and the banishing of the windigoes.
“This is the dining room. You are free to come here whenever you wish. The staff will provide you with any food you desire,” said Celestia.
“Anything, huh?” I muttered under my breath, wondering if meat was at all an option. Another worry for another time. I turned and thanked the Princesses, who then lead me to the next destination. A few of the things that the two showed me were the armory, the bathrooms (which were just chamber pots) the studies, and library. It was quite an interesting tour. Finally, the Princesses brought me to the wing of the castle that I had first woken up in.
“And this Roxas, is where my sister and I live,” said Luna. “This is my room,” she said, pointing to a door with a crescent moon engraved into the wood. She then pointed farther down the hall, a few doors down, where I saw another door, with the engraving of the sun. “And that is my sisters room.” I nodded my head to the two, who then showed me to another door. They opened the door, and led me inside, to reveal the room that I had woken up in.
“And this is the room we’ve reserved for you, if you would like that is,” said Celestia.
“Sure. Don’t really have anywhere else to go, do I?” I joked. I walked to the mirror and took another look at myself. I started wondering… the princesses are pretty powerful, right? Maybe they could send me home, undo whatever’s been done to me. Maybe…but what if it can’t be undone? Or, what if, whatever happened to me was meant to be? Did I have some sort of destiny here? I mean, you don’t just wind up in a new world with strange new powers by cosmic accident. I’m really not sure what to think.
“Roxas, are you alright?” Celestia’s voice rouses me from my thoughts, and I turn my head to face her.
“Yes, yeah sorry. I was just thinking,” I replied.
“Any thing important?” questioned Luna. I hesitated for a moment, before replying.
“No, no it’s nothing.”
“Well, if you’re sure. Come, we would like to show you something,” said Celestia. My interest perked, I followed them out of the room. As they led me through the castle, I made sure to attempt to memorize the layout of the castle. It would probably come in use in the future. I followed them, until we came to a large door. Celestia opened it, and the three of us stepped into the outdoors.
I instantly felt the fresh air blow against me, and I could smell the scent of the flowers in the air. It was nice, I hadn’t really gotten a chance to sample the weather until know. The two led me into a beautiful flower garden, until we came to what appeared to be a group of statues. Not as many statues as there were in Canterlot, in the show, more around five or six. But what drew my attention was him. The two sisters stopped in front of the statue, and looked up at him. I followed shortly after, stopping in between them. The three of us stood there, staring at the statue of Discord.
“Here he is,” said Celestia.
“Finally, the Spirit of Chaos can no longer cause problems for Equestria,” said Luna.
“We couldn’t have done this without you,” complimented the lunar princess.
“Yeah…without me….”
“Something wrong?” asked Celestia.
“Well its just…being trapped in stone is pretty severe. How long do you think he’ll be stuck like this?”
“For as long as possible,” said Celestia, with a slightly aggravated tone.
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? I mean does he really deserve ETERNAL punishment?”
“Yes, Yes he does,” said Celestia, in an angry tone. I looked back to her, with my mouth slightly open. Celestia looked to the side, still looking mad, before she turned and made her way back towards the castle.
“Was it something I said?” I asked Luna.
“Discord…well, he has a long history with Equestria, most of it is very unpleasant. He has terrorized us for a long time, and has caused much suffering. Celestia harbors some ill feelings against him.”
“I…I’m sorry…I just, well, I don’t feel that eternal punishment is ever justified, no matter how heinous the crime. Punishment is only punishment if the one being punished eventually gets a chance to apply what they’ve learned.”
“I admire your forgiving nature. I know if I was in Discords place for thousands of years, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Perhaps someday, we can see about offering Discord a chance at redemption. But for know, I must attend to my duties. You are free to explore the castle grounds, but we would request that you stay within this area, until we unveil you tomorrow.”
“Thank you Luna.”
“For what?” asked Luna.
“For giving me a place to live, and making me a knight. It’s an honor…I promise I won’t let you down.”
“Thank you for accepting, and helping us in our time of need. I’m sure, we will be good friends. If you need anything, anything at all, let us know.”
“Will do,” I replied. Luna then turned around, and left, leaving me alone with the statue. As soon as she was out of earshot, I looked back up to Discords statue. I looked down to the right, before turning back to him.
“Hey Discord. I know you can hear me. I know you can see me. Listen, I know you may not think very highly of me, what with helping imprison you in stone, but I want you to know that, I’m not happy about you being imprisoned in stone for hundreds of years. I don’t feel you deserve it. I mean, yeah, you terrorized a bunch of ponies, but all punishments should have their limits. I guess, what I’m trying to say is, I feel you deserve a second chance. You may not believe me know, but I now that someday, you’ll get a second chance. Someday, you’ll learn that causing chaos isn’t all there is to life.” I stood there in silence for a few moments, before speaking again. “That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll try to look in on you from time to time.” I turned and walked away from the statue, back towards the castle, leaving Discord behind, to consider my words.
It was late at night, my first night in Equestria. I didn’t sleep though, I couldn’t. Too much was running through my mind. My heart felt nothing, but my mind recognized just how amazing this all was. I was in a world, I had thought to be entirely fictional, a bronies dream, and to top it all off, I had the powers of Roxas to boot. I had helped defeat Discord, and now I was going to be knighted. It was all like a dream, and yet, it felt so real.
I tried to close my eyes, and relax, but I couldn’t. I opened my eyes, and sat up. It was know use, I just wasn’t tired. I decided to go for a walk, to clear my head. I got up, and stepped out of my room. I was about to head down the hall, when I heard something coming from down the hall. I stood still, holding my breath, listening to the sound. It sounded like…crying? I looked down the hall, and could hear that it was coming from…Celestia’s room.
I slowly made my way towards the door, and when I made it to it. I saw the door was slightly open. I put my head near it, and could defiantly hear the sound of Celestia’s sobbing. I slowly and quietly opened the door, making my way in. I looked into the room, illuminated by a single candle on a drawer next to the bed. And on the bed, was Celestia. She was devoid of her usual regalia, which were lying on the drawer. Celestia, she was just lying there on her bed, crying. I slowly made my way into the room, but Celestia didn’t notice. So I made myself known.
“Princess?” Startled, the Alicorn jolted her neck up, and looked towards me.
“R-Roxas?”
“I’m sorry, I heard you crying, so I came in to check on you. Are…are you alright?” She sniffed a few times before responding.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” I said, walking further into the room.
“Why’d you ask then?”
“Just something you do I guess,” I said, as I stood in front of her bed. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I-it’s nothing…you wouldn’t understand.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But I definitely won’t if you don’t let me try.” Celestia turned her head, and hid behind her mane. I slowly sat down on the bed next to her, and gently started to stroke her mane with my hand. Her mane felt smooth like milk, it was amazing, even with my gloved hand. Startled, she turned to face me. “You can tell me,” I said. She sniffed, and then spoke.
“I-it was during today’s battle. It was the day Discord decided to strike against our capital. He unleashed his wave of chaotic monsters on us, and they started terrorizing the citizens. We sent out our guards to try to help them, while Luna and I took on Discord. The Captain of the Guard was a young unicorn, named S-solar Shield.” She took a minute to hold back the sobs, before regaining the strength to continue.
“He was a close friend of mine. I knew him ever since he was a colt. He was such a good kid. He looked up to me you know. He’d come to the castle, and wander around the gardens. It was there that I met him. He-he wasn’t afraid to approach me. He saw me as a pony, one he looked up to, but he wasn’t off put by the fact I was a princess. We became good friends over the years. Then he joined the guard. He trained hard, harder then anypony I’d ever seen. It was on his graduation day that he told me he wanted to be a guard so he could keep me safe…he wanted to make me proud. And I was. He…he was a good stallion.” Celestia let more tears come, sobbing louder than before. I didn’t need to hear the rest of the story to know how it ended.
“H-he didn’t make it…he was killed by one of discords stronger monsters.” It was then that Celestia started breaking down in sobs. She buried her head into my shoulder, letting the tears flow. I just sat there, stroking her mane for what felt like hours. When she regained some composure, I spoke to her.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t know when I spoke earlier, that some ponies had gotten hurt.”
“I-it’s not your fault. It’s just…I’m going to m-miss him! And, I know I’ll never see him again!”
“Well you know…where I come from, a lot of…ponies believe that there is life after death. That those who lead a good life would find a place in paradise, where there every wish is granted.”
“That is a comforting thought. But even if there is an afterlife, I know I will never see him in it. I’m an Alicorn. I’m immortal!” cried Celestia.
“You might be right, but…. well, I’m sure he’s looking down, watching over you. And…and if I were him, I wouldn’t want to see you sad. I’d want to see you smile, and make new friends to bring you joy. I wouldn’t want to know you’d be mourning over me for eternity.” Celestia looked up, and into my eyes. She sniffed, and wiped away her tears.
“T-thank you Roxas. I’m sorry I got mad at you when you spoke of forgiving Discord.”
“It’s alright. I didn’t know what you’d been through.” She sniffed, and then gave me a sad smile.
“You…you have a good heart Roxas,” she said. I offered a sad smile back to her, continuously stroking her mane. The two of us just sat there, embracing each other, until the two of us fell into a blissful slumber. But one thing kept resonating in my mind as I tried to sleep. “You Have a Good Heart.” As I drifted off into slumber, I wondered if that was true at all.