//------------------------------// // 20 The Die is Cast // Story: The Queen is Dead // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Princess Celestia- 2nd of Plantation '15 EoH - Midnight (2 days at sea) Just about everypony believes my sister and I split the days between us so we can get some sleep. While it’s true that even an Alicorn has to sleep sometimes, that’s never been the true reason behind our dividing the day's duties in half. The next reason a pony will think of is simply ‘Well, it’s just fair.’. That is true, there are two of us, and it is fair to split the duties of the Kingdom evenly, but that is still not our reason. Simply put, it’s not healthy to work all the time. Most everypony involved in business works every chance they can, seeking more for their families or themselves. While it’s understandable to desire more, greed being both a vice and a boon (for without greed, industry’s benefits would be greatly diminished), what us is having more if you sacrifice your time to get it? I could work every day for a hundred years and earn myself a trillion bits by spending all of my free time working and managing my finances. I would have the money, but no time to use the money for it’s purpose. Wealth is useless if you have no time to use it for anything. It’s the same with power. I rule over the day so that during the night I get the chance to do the things I enjoy. Barring an emergency, the night is my respite from the duties of my day. A pony might imagine that even though this is the main reason for Equestria’s day Court/Night Court divide, that it's a failure because I have to sleep. That’s quite untrue. After all I did have to take over my sister’s duties for a thousand years. I have a few tricks at my hoof tips to get a full rest out of a nice ninety minute power nap. Only Lulu and Twilight are aware of those tricks. I wish I hadn’t told Twilight about them, she’s never stopped insisting that I get a proper night’s sleep since. I understand her quirks quite well, I am practically her mother after all. But still, I can’t help but feel that a wizardess of her caliber should understand that using a tiny fragment of your daily magic to replace most of the effects of a night of sleep is perfectly fine. Fate forbid she learn why I prefer using that method. I do not want to hear complaints for a thousand years about my personal eating habits. Science is a wonderful thing, but so is equine agency. Not everything should be ‘optimized to run with true efficiency’. Especially not midnight tea and cake. In a world of complex problems that I must solve where no perfect solution exists, where there are monsters and terrors around each corner, and where even those with the best of intentions can accidentally bring disaster upon the world, everypony deserves a little slice of happiness. Mine is a cup of tea and a slice of cake under the light of the moon while it is directly overhead. Even before I worked out how to relegate sleep to a ninety minute segment of the morning, I would stay up until at least midnight for my little treat. Before Luna’s banishment my joy in this came from seeing her work in it’s full glory, during her banishment it became the moment when I could feel her presence and would give her my deepest apologies. It had been a long road to a full recovery for Luna. It was remarkable that after a decade she had a group of friends and was truly happy. Just five years after her return she had still been so self loathing as to create that Tantibus creature. Twilight’s ability to change others for the better is truly remarkable. I do like to think I helped as well. After Luna had returned I placed a second enchantment on my necklace to keep track of her emotional state. Not as a means to spy on her, in fact I had her do the same to me. The Idea was each of us would know if the other was in distress and could then try and stop whatever disaster was occurring before it happened. That security measure had definitely helped Lulu feel safer. I like to think that was the last little bit she needed, but I know in my heart it was making proper friends. I’m not disappointed, after all now, it was back to it had been before. After fifteen years of healing the guilt was all but gone and I could once again delight in the beauty of Luna’s work while enjoying the single best invention of intelligent creatures. Banana Cream Cake. My current souse of cakes came from a young thestrill in the employ of Pony Joe’s. Her doughnuts were terrible, but that mare made the most lovely cakes ever. One of these days I had to get her and Pinkie to do a bake off. If only to watch the judges have to calculate things to the hundredth decimal. Tonight’s cake looked a bit worse than usual. Not that I minded, presentation is not important to me. Though I did hope everything was alright with my favorite baker. I made a note to check in on her as I cut my fourty-nine-point-nine percent of cake. What? A slice is defined as a piece of food cut from a larger portion. Fifty-point-one percent is a majority, therefore I cut a single slice. Besides, a unicorn burns an incredible amount of calories with their spellcasting. I need enough cake to offset raising the sun so I am at full capacity in case of emergencies. The size of my portion of cake is therefore a matter of national security. That’s my excuse, it’s held up for two thousand years, and I am sticking to it. I had just stuck a fork into my slice when a wave of soul crippling terror exploded through the room! Luna was in danger! I had to act! I teleported, a slight change in the spell transporting my armor from it’s stand as well. I appeared with a blinding flash and a clap of thunder, armor materializing on me, wings flared, horn down in the most intimidating pose I could imagine. Whatever foul thing dared hurt my sister would taste the full wrath of- of the dinner fork complete with cake bit I was brandishing instead of my sword. I dropped the fork and summoned my old longsword, hoping that my flashbang-like appearance concealed my error. With my gleaming gold-plated blade leveled before me, I took stock of the situation. The room was unnatural dark, banks of fog swirled on the ground. Luna and Twilight were huddled on Luna's throne in a terrified ball, wide panic stricken eyes glued to… A sobbing albino earth pony mare? That didn’t seem right. I narrowed my eyes and focused on the mystery mare with my necklace. Perhaps it’s enchantments would strip the illusion from her and reveal her true nature. To my surprise, the spell simply displayed her name, kind, age, and current mood next to her in my vision. To my even greater surprise was the actual information. Name: Deus-Custos Dusk Vitae Kind: Lesser Aramenellî Age: Error! Integer too large! Mood: Distraught Clearly my solution to forgetting everypony’s name was malfunctioning. I’m powerful, but I am not a very good enchanter. I gave the amethyst in my necklace a tap with my hoof to reset the charm. The words faded away, then flashed back into existence. Nope. Same information. I was about to demand this master of illusion reveal themselves when the mare shifted and her cutiemark came into view. I might be horrible with names, but I never forget a cutiemark. I also have my ways of detecting changelings, and this was no changeling. That was a legitimate cutiemark. I had seen that mark almost four and a half thousand years ago. So long ago, that I had been just a normal unicorn. I hadn’t even met Clover yet. So long ago that my now long dead and forgotten older brother had been the Crown Prince, my sister and I simply ‘The King’s other children’. I had been exploring a crumbling temple, all but abandoned save for three dedicated priestesses. A longsword and a scythe, crossed before an hourglass. The mark had been carved into a monument depicting the family line of the old gods. Ether this pony was exceptionally gifted in death, or was the third child of Faust and Anhur. Given the complete and total terror on Luna’s face… The second was more likely. Meaning the old religion was correct. A fact which would shock me more if Discord didn’t fit the bill for Chaos, and Tirek’s ability to eat magic wasn’t something the old religion said was a basic tool of demons. If I remembered right, this was… Oh no… I cleared my throat, took a breath and begged, “If you are who I think you are, please, take me instead of whomever you are here for.” The literal god turned a bit, a jet black eye looking at me for a moment before turning back to the floor. “I’m not here to hurt anymore… I just wanted to be honest. Prove my identity… Now they will never be comfortable around me! Ever.” Ha! Clearly the gods didn’t know my little ponies! Ten minutes, tops. “S-sister! Keep back!” Luna warned. “I’m sorry.” Dusk moaned like a young mare who just realized how badly she screwed up. Oh. Oh! I sheathed my sword, folded my wings and slowly trotted over, stopping ten steps or so from everypony else. “There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Luna. Miss, er- I can call you Miss? I won't be struck by light-” The pale mare shook her head, “No! No one has ever- no, wait… Okay, one person… But he called my dad Ma’am.” I was a bit taken aback. I hadn’t expected causal language. That only confirmed my theory. “You’re young, aren't you? Young, alone, and afraid… I’m probably younger than you, but I think I can help. What’s wrong?” Twilight frowned, her breath slowing somewhat, “Y-you're right! She is scared!” There we were, ever logical Twilight. I knew she would work it out. The only question is what had happened here to scare her and Luna that badly? “I… I’m here on business.” Dusk said. “Not that kind of business. I… I’m here to help you two. I wanted to… I don’t have any real friends. Only ponies who serve me with a smile hoping for a better deal… I wanted to start honestly. So I proved my identity. Showed them well… me. Not really me, what I am on the outside.” She said through sniffles. “But… forgot how mortals react to seeing death… thought it was less… horrifying.” “I see…” I didn’t see, not exactly, but I got the basic idea. I walked over to Luna as Twilight slowly un-terror-glomped herself to stand beside the throne with a frightened, but curious expression. Putting a hoof gently on Luna’s shoulder I pulled her head against my neck. “It’s okay sister. I’m here. She’s not going to hurt you.” “I saw the end of everything…” Luna whispered. “Every star, the sun itself, every world cold and lifeless… I saw my own grave…” “It’s okay. She’s not here for you.” I comforted. Twilight took a few timid steps forward. “So- I um… How exactly do you… you know… Exist? I mean, no offense, the universe is explainable without well… a creator.” “We didn’t make it.” Dusk muttered. “Why does everyone assume we made it? We’re it’s children. Just like you. Only with more… Oh forget it you wouldn’t understand.” I couldn’t help a small giggle at that. “Try her.” “I’m not just a historian.” Twilight informed, her face was slowly taking on her trademarked ‘I must understand this’ expression. That’s my student! Afraid of death for a few seconds, then asking it questions. “We’re six dimensional energy based life forms. You are three dimensional matter based lifeforms. We are both the product of the universe's workings. It’s just we are from it’s first cycle, and you are from it’s thirty first. So we’ve been around for, well, time. Also you know, we can do things you can’t.” Dusk said in a tired tone, wiping a tear from one eye. Twilight’s ears perked, completing her ‘science time’ expression. “Then the Nellis-Lighttrot Hypothesis is correct! How many spacial dimensions are there?” A quill and parchment appeared in a flash of magic at Twilight's side, ready for note-taking. Ah Twilight, still the same filly I started teaching twenty years ago. You're wasted on Flash... Even if you are cute together. “Wait… you’re not scared of me?” Dusk asked, looking up curiously. “Well, no, not now! It makes perfect sense that an equine brain would panic trying to comprehend a six dimensional object in three dimensional space, and you said you’re not going to hurt anypony. So, about the number of spacial-” “Fourteen.” Dusk said smiling for a brief moment. “I um… I’ll talk more later. But I sort of kinda am here on business.” “But! But! Science!” Twilight protested, shaking the parchment she had summoned. “Ponykind hasn’t seen anything like you for five thousand years! Now you just show up out of nowhere for whatever reason, and I’m not going to wait-” “I am here to make friends because I am… I’m the outcast. Well, if you discount Discord. But he discount’s himself so… Look, I mean literally after I do one thing here. But it’s private, for them. Twenty minutes tops.” Twilight’s ears drooped back in embarrassment, “Oh! Sorry…” A heartbeat later her curious expression came back. “Do you mean about twenty minutes or exactly-” Dusk slapped a hoof to her forehead. “Okay, how about this. I can’t be in the same place at the same time, but I can be in the same time in different places. The radius is about four kilometers. You teleport home, and when I’m done here I’ll go back in time to your house thirty seconds from now. Okay?” “Can you actually do that? Or are you just trying to get rid of me like Applejack during Apple bucking season?” Twilight asked, while jotting notes. “Yes. I can do that. It’s just time, not making Republicans agree with Democrats.” Dusk said with an eye roll. Luna, Twilight, and I gave her a deadpan stare. She sighed, stood up and shook her head, “Time Turner would have gotten that… Just go home, I’ll be there.” “Okay. But I’m coming back if you’re not!” Twilight informed seriously before teleporting away. I decided to count off a few seconds. After ten I gave Dusk a little impressed nod. “So, you really can travel through time.” “Yes. It’s… Look, you can push an object and it moves. It’s just like that for us. We can’t change our own actions though. So I can’t just go back and not… uh…” Dusk shuffled her hooves nervously against the floor. Then grit her teeth, “No bad Dusk! That would just make it worse…” Luna stirred against my shoulder, gently pushing herself out of my grip. She turned to look Dusk in her eyes and demanded, “Why would you do that? Why show me? A being of your wisdom could have found a better way to prove themselves!” Dusk’s ears drooped, her tail tucked down under herself, her eyes even shrank, just like somepony who had been yelled at by somepony they had a crush o- Oh! Oh dear. This could end very very badly. “I… I… Look, I’m old, but… In pony years…” Dusk babbled in embarrassment. I quickly turned to look at Luna. I could see it in her eyes, she saw it too. The surprise which stamped itself on her face was more than enough to show she also picked up on the fact that this person liked her. “I’d be about thirty two… So you know, adult plus a year.” Dusk finished. “H-How can you be… however many years old as you told Twilight, but only be barely an adult!?” Luna demanded incredulously. “Well, we don't die. And we count our age in the bang-freeze cycles of three dimensional space… I mean… Diamond Dogs are emotionally and physically mature at twelve. It just takes us a lot longer is all. So we can be very experienced, but not really all that wise for it... “ She cleared her throat softly. “I uh… I’m sorry for… I didn’t… Um…” Well that settled it. Deities were just people. Death was flustered over bucking up meeting her crush. I was about to interject and save the poor mare from what was one of the worst ‘god kill me now!’ moments I had ever seen somepony go through when suddenly Dusk conjured and held out a small black and dark blue rosebush, in a Luna themed pot. “I’m-sorry-please-don’t-hate-me-have-plant!” She blurted in a mild panic. Luna took the potted plant and used it to block her face from Dusk’s view as she bit back a laugh. “I can’t believe I was afraid of her!” she whispered softly to me. I coughed to try and cover up the whisper and quickly asked, “You uh, said you had business?” “Yes!” Dusk said beaming me a grateful look. “Would you girls like to see your parents again? Cuz mom said I could let you see your parents again.” “What!?” Luna and I asked in unison. “Oh… Well…” Dusk cleared her throat and put on a more business-appropriate face. “I can’t bring them back to life, that’s not possible. The spell that petrified them is… Well we have rules. But I can let their souls walk freely around their bodies! So you could talk to them and stuff. As long as you were near their ‘statues’ in your garden at least.” “That would be wonderful!” I exclaimed, mind buzzing at the thought of telling my father everything Luna and I had accomplished since Discord- “Hold on a moment!” Luna objected, “If you have rules, and Discord is one of you, why was he allowed to rule over us with an Iron hoof? His rule is the reason they were petrified to begin with!” “He’s the second oldest of us. Also he’s Chaos, that makes him more powerful than most of us. So you know, unlike a mortal he could kill us if he wanted.” Dusk explained, timidly tapping her hooves together. “He gets to do what he wants. I’m… I’m sorry.” “Ah. I see.” Luna said apologetically. “I’m not responsible for death. My brother is. I just sheppard and protect souls really… I can let people live longer though.” Dusk admitted. “But right now what’s important is that I can allow your parents to haunt their remains as ghosts. They’ve been between living and dead, so I can let them stay here. If they had passed on… It’s pretty much one way.” “Would they be in pain?” I asked, “And would it be better to send them on?” She shook her head, “They wouldn’t be in pain. Though they might be distressed by not being able to interact with objects. As for moving on, they can’t. Petrified isn’t dead. They have been there trapped and unconscious the whole time.” “Oh.” Luna said, setting the plant down in front of her. “W-well… Would they be able to rest when they wanted?” Dusk nodded. “Then please, free them.” I asked. “I will, but I have a rule with these things, and I can’t break it. I’m not a mortal. I’m not able to break rules that govern my own existence.” Dusk explained slowly. “We need to make some kind of deal, each of us must exchange something of equal value to the other.” “I will not sacrifice anypony!” Luna said firmly. “Oh no!” Dusk objected instantly, “Nonono! I just need a favor!” Luna and I exchanged a look. We both would enjoy seeing our mother again, but anything a god would call a favor… The price might be too steep. “I need you to move the bulk of your military to the Zebrican border, about three kilometers into the badlands directly north of the fertile crescent. They should be geared for battle.” She elaborated. “Why?” Luna asked. “That would likely provoke a war with Zebraca. Even to return my parents to some form of life… I will not risk a war without reason.” I nodded in agreement. “The price is too high.” Dusk nodded, and to my surprise conjured a piece of paper and a pencil, and made the pencil write as she spoke. “I understand. Trust me, I will talk to the Zebracans. It will be fine. This is simply a show of faith thing. My mother wants to get involved in mortal affairs again, at least a little bit. She’s not doing this herself because well, brokering deals with mortals for souls is my bit, also I really wanted to say hi to your cu-eep!” Dusk’s ears perked upright in alarm as she quickly changed topic, “I mean, I admire the way both of you protect ponies… I modeled how I care for people in the afterlife off it.” The paper floated over into my view. I took it in my magic and quickly read it over. I’m breaking a rule of my people to protect yours. I’m writing this in case they are listening. I'd feel them watching, they are not, but they could be listening without me knowing. I honestly don't like my kind much. We’re kinda jerks. I do like ponies though, and want to help you. I set a trap for Chrysalis and her Swarm. If you put your army there, you will save three lives, acquire a very important magical artifact, and be in position to repel the Swarm. When my father sees the battle, and notices Chrysalis has become more powerful than a mortal should be, he will order me to destroy her, and I can then remove this threat to your kingdom without being destroyed for insubordination. The Swarm will follow my three helpers wherever they go. If you would rather not fight, I can have them get to safety elsewhere. I quickly passed the note to Luna. Luna set the note down and nodded slowly, “Well, I suppose that seems reasonable.” “Yes, quite reasonable.” I added. For five years now Luna and I had been trying to get the Sovereign's Guild to arrange a united Strike Force to deal with Chrysalis before she returned to attempt to destroy our kingdom again. Thus far the Griffons had blocked every attempt by voting no, such an action requires a unanimous vote… “We will move our soldiers immediately, unless you wish us to also move the guard?” Luna asked in that sly, commandery tone of hers. Dusk blinked in confusion, “There’s a difference?” “Yes,” Luna explained, “We have the EUP Brigade, which is our proper military, and then the Guard, which is a military reserve that doubles as a police force.” “Ah… No need to move the Guard then. No reason to invite lawlessness. So, we have a deal?” Dusk asked. Luna and I nodded. “We do.” “Then upon your troops arriving, your parents ghosts will be living within the center of your garden. They may walk twenty meters in any direction, they can see and hear, but not touch. Oh and if you have any magic which can put a soul into a body, you know, try it. But you didn't hear that from me…” Dusk said, giving Luna a wink. It was meant to be a sly wink, that much was obvious. Also obvious was the fact that it morphed into a flirtatious wink half way through. “Er-,” Luna said squirming in her seat, “Suppose we need to talk to you again? Is there any way we can reach you?” Dusk nodded twice, “Yes! Hold on.” After a second a pair of colorless gemstones appeared, simply floating in the air within the reach of our magic. “Just give one of these a spark of magic and it will work like a scrying crystal, but two way.” “Thank you.” I said taking them gemstone from the air. “ANd thank you! Feel free to say hi anytime! I’ll make the time to talk, or maybe go do things, you know. If you want to.” Dusk said taking a step backwards, “But I need to go. Deal’s made. I don't want to get in trouble for staying too long. Goodbye” She vanished. No flash, no sound. Just gone. Luna let out a held breath and grabbed my by the shoulders, “A deity has a crush on me! What do I do!?” “Give her a chance.” I said hopefully. “W-why?” Luna asked, face scrunching in confusion, “There are so many ways-” “Luna! We both saw today that gods are clearly just people with incredible powers!” I scolded, “Besides, I can’t remember anyone being attracted to you for the last hundred years.” “I was in the moon for the last hundred years!” Luna protested, giving me a fake pouting look. “Yes. Where nopony was around to crush.” I teased, only for my ears to droop. “I’m sorry that was mean.” “It’s fine Sister. The sooner we can joke about it, the sooner it is completely behind us.” Luna comforted sincerely. “My point is, well… I’ve outlived four lovers, and as I remember you outlived two. You have an opportunity to be with somepony who will live as long as you will.” I informed, truly happy for her chance. “You’re right, I didn’t think of that… I suppose I should at least try one date. We might work out. Besides! How many mares can say they had a date with Death?” Luna asked with a laugh. My eyes widened. “Luna, I beg you, make a date for next Tuesday at three pm.” “During the Equestrian Council meeting?” she asked raising an eyebrow. “I NEED to see everypony’s face when you jump up and announce, ‘Bah! Enough of your squabbling, I have a date with death!’ Then run out the door, only to come back later having been on an actual date.” I said, not quite holding back the giggles. Luna grinned, “Yes! I will do this for you, my sister!” We shared a quick laugh. Half happy, half nervous. While the night was happy as we would be able to say hello to your parents again, it was also sad. The Swarm was a real threat, and with a god on our side, or at least Luna’s side, there was no better time to confront that threat. But war… Well, war never changes.