Princess Celestia, the co-ruler of Equestria, the bringer of the sun, and the sovereign of pony kind, was deep in thought.
This session of deep thinking had come about because she was - there was no other word for it - bored.
Day Court was over, thankfully. Most of the time, she enjoyed nothing more than to converse with her subjects, even if a lot of the issues that were raised were somewhat petty; it reminded her what normal pony lives involved. Over a thousand years as a princess would undoubtedly skew her vision were it not for her little ponies, ponies she had come to view as equals rather than living ‘below’ her. Today, however, had been little more than a farce. She had kept an interested face, barely, as she had been given a detailed account of her nephew Blueblood’s latest indulgences, mediated an argument between two other nobles who had no idea what topic the discussion had started on, and endured a rather long-winded speech from a rather odd stallion who it turned out was trying to sell paper towels, but the moment it had ended, she had let out the sigh to end all sighs. And nothing further had come up to alleviate her boredom.
Normally, in this sort of situation where she found herself to be bored, she would leave the throne room and go somewhere else. The gardens were a favorite; she would lie down on the sun-soaked grass, and look out across Equestria, the perfect place to illustrate how beautiful it was. Failing that, one of the castle’s balconies with some comfortable cushions afforded much the same views but less of the ambience. Neither of these were an option; Equestria was less than a month into the spring rainy season, the grass was soaked with water rather than sunlight, and there was nothing to shield the balconies from the weather. Checking on the School for Gifted Unicorns was also enjoyable, paying surprise visits to the teachers, finding out from the students how their studies were going. It was also something she’d already done, as a matter involving one of the students teaching themselves a spell they really shouldn’t have had arisen before the court had started. As a result, the School had been evacuated, an exhaustive protection spell had been cast to prevent the said student from using the Rainmaker spell matrix again, and as she’d left, the divers were preparing to enter the gymnasium.
She had carefully kept quiet about the fact that her personal student had done exactly the same thing some years ago and that was why the castle had a swimming bath.
Her eyes wandered up and down the throne room. Rainmaker. Written during the Great Drought of the 300’s. For emergency use only. Do not cast indoors. Cast only in presence of certified pegasus from the Cloudsdale Weather Forecast. (The guard standing below and to her left, Sure Strike, was asleep.) Not intended as a substitute for drinking water. (The other one, Silent Watch, was subtly doing some knitting behind his back.) The city of Manehattan is not responsible for any damage caused by unauthorised casting of this spell. (Kink in the carpet. Slightly tattered curtain. Broken stained-glass window.)
Hm.
It was Celestia’s fault it was broken - there was no denying that. She’d actually hurled a vase through it when she’d heard of Discord’s release, in a sudden fit of out-of-character rage. She’d calmed down immediately, of course, but far too late to save the window. Such a shame, it had been one of her favorites, a genuine work by Stalleonardo da Colton. She sighed upon recalling the name. She still remembered the day he’d walked into the castle, eyes shining in anticipation to begin his latest masterpiece, such a brilliant and inspired young stallion… completely oblivious to the future that lay ahead of both him and his window. A number of modern-day artists had tried to restore it, but ultimately the window had remained empty, save for a curtain that was enchanted to keep the heat inside and the rain outside. But that was art for you. A vision only the original artist could fulfill, a mystery to everypony else. Perhaps… it was for the best that its original image was not restored.
She needed to think some more.
“Gentlecolts,” she said. Sure Strike woke with a start, and Silent Watch dropped his needles. “I am going for a short walk.”
Walking was not how her sister Princess Luna found her five minutes later; instead she was standing in the castle courtyard, soaking wet and looking somewhat dejected.
“Sister, it is raining.”
Princess Luna, raiser of the moon, ruler of the night, and ultimate master of the obvious. “I am fully aware of the weather situation, Luna.”
“Thou art-” Luna coughed, and started again. “You are going to stand outside and catch ill?” She glanced back towards the castle doors, where more guards stood, passively flanking the entrance. “Again?”
“It’s not cold. It’s actually pleasantly warm.”
“That was what you said last time.”
Celestia looked upwards, reflexively casting a miniature shield spell to keep the rain from falling into her eyes. Yes, she had said that. She had also unintentionally fallen asleep, so she’d had to spend a few hours wringing her fur dry, and then the sneezing set in. Luna hadn’t been impressed then either. She looked over at her sister for a few moments, then smiled. “I suppose I did.”
Her sister beckoned for her to follow back inside, and she did so, a slight tingle running through her as Luna’s magic washed over her, effortlessly drying her. Luna had always been more adept at that sort of thing. “We- I wish to speak with you. Walk with Us.”
Smiling, Celestia chose not to correct Luna’s habit to slip back into Old Equestrian. It had been quite a while since her return, and she had made remarkable progress on catching up with the thousand years of history she had missed. She could be allowed to make a few mistakes here and there. A previous incident involving a visit to Ponyville on Nightmare Night had been a boost to reintegrating herself with the Equestrian public, but she still noticeably shied away where and when her alter-ego was brought up. Prince Blueblood, as usual, had not helped in the slightest, and on their first meeting had insulted Luna straight to her face. Since then, Luna had been actively avoiding the prince, and when they did meet, everypony in Canterlot knew it. While her time as Nightmare Moon had changed some things about her, it had not lowered the volume of her voice; if it was possible, she was even louder.
“I admit that in since our- my return, I have been… ‘restricting’ myself to certain areas of the castle,” Luna explained, as they walked one of the halls. “Earlier this day, I decided to rectify this, despite what may have happened in the past.” Celestia was well acquainted with the feeling; there some places in the castle where even she hadn’t been for years. There were memories in those places, memories that would overwhelm her if she were not careful. “I have noticed some… changes.”
“Do tell.”
“As a start-” Luna turned, and walked into a wall. “Ouch. We are sure there was a door here.”
“Really? I don’t recall one.” (There had been. The room beyond was now the lower level of the swimming bath.)
Luna looked skeptical, but decided to drop the issue, much to Celestia’s relief. It seemed that the younger alicorn didn’t remember the old music room, not that there was much to remember about it besides the terrible acoustics. When Twilight Sparkle had unleashed a storm inside it, nopony mourned, and the event had been the impetus to finish renovation of the Upper Canterlot Music Hall. With no need for the doors, they had been removed and replaced with walls matching those on either side. All that remained of its existence were the murals around the balcony, and they had been left in because they actually looked quite nice.
The tour went on for a while. Celestia had to admit that even she hadn’t noticed some of the smaller changes, ones that had to have been at least a hundred years old. Repurposed rooms, replaced columns, differently spaced windows… It just went to show that Luna’s memory was more infallible than hers. Celestia had once, privately, suspected that Nightmare Moon had been a positive event for her sister’s psyche, but Luna’s mind was Luna’s business, and Luna’s business strictly did not involve Nightmare Moon.
It also did not involve looking where she was going, when she tried to walk into a tower that had been destroyed centuries previously.
“…and then there is the matter of this.”
For a moment, Celestia was lost, and mentally slapped herself for zoning out. Luna had been doing a lot of talking. Then she realized where she was, and sighed. “Oh, yes. The Meditation Chamber.”
The Meditation Chamber was so called for its tranquility, an effect compounded by the magnificent views it afforded over Equestria below. Time ago, the room would have been private, for use of the royals only; today, it was more commonly used by students seeking quiet study. The large, arched windows, the circular strip skylight, the whispering pool on the central raised dais… all of those plus its distance from the busier areas of the city only added to its reputation as a place of relaxation and silence. Celestia had been here many times while tutoring Twilight, and had no doubt this place held special memories for the unicorn too.
“This room has changed more than most others in the castle in the last thousand years. We- I remember it being more… colorful.” Luna paused, her eyes taking in the room, noting all the little details. “And Our telescope is gone. Sister, it was hoof-crafted by the smiths of the far north, and was one of a kind.”
And it had been a beautiful thing, a perfect piece of Crystal Empire engineering. It had once sat where the pool now was, a spherical device of infinite apparent complexity. Celestia remembered it well, and remembered having it religiously maintained and cleaned after the Incident. It had been a thread to cling on to, to remember Luna by, and it had lasted so long… but not long enough to see its mistress return.
She gestured for her sister to sit on one of the cushions that had been placed around the back edge of the room. “You will remember that I informed you of a magical Interruption that occurred near here, eleven years ago?” Luna nodded. “It was responsible for a great many immediate problems, one of which was major damage to this chamber. By the time I was able to attend to it, your telescope was gone.”
They sat in silence for a while, save for the rain on the skylight, the birds, and the little clicking noises that indicated Silent Watch was standing guard outside. Celestia savored the moment; few and far between were the times she could share such moments with her sister. There had been times when it was always possible, but like most, those times had gone.
Luna eventually spoke. “There was one other matter.”
“Hm?”
She pointed across the room, at the broken tablet beneath the windows. “That was not there the last time We were in this room.”
Both alicorns beheld the cracked sandstone, rather out of keeping with the marble much of the rest of the room was constructed of. Words danced across it, faded with age, clearly only a remaining part of a whole. “I did not place the prophecy there. It…” Celestia wasn’t sure when exactly it had appeared. From the moment she had first noticed it, it seemed as if it had always been present, a hole in her mind. It unnerved her. “I do not know of its origins.”
One of Luna’s eyebrows raised, a habit that she’d copied from watching Celestia in the Day Courts. “It is a prophecy?”
“So when the day dawns on the great spark’s morn, the past will rise with a thousand eyes,” Celestia repeated. She’d memorised it back to front in an effort to understand it, but nothing had come of the endeavor; either it wouldn’t come to pass, or she was not the one meant to interpret it. “When the chime is heard, fourth before third, do not put all of your faith in the star-shine that shows you everything. I believe it is also a passage in Predictions and Prophecies, though the missing fragment is not in the book either.”
Luna turned to look at her slowly. “There is such a book? Prediction magic is very, well, unpredictable, sister. It is unsafe, even for we.”
“It is a collection of folklore and cultural mysticisms, many of which are considered old mares’ tales.”
Her sister’s expression went blank.
“Myths.”
“We… I see. And pray who has the book now?”
Celestia did not answer, but instead rose, and walked to the window. The rain was starting to show signs of lightening. It would be a pleasantly refreshing though somewhat damp evening. From there, she could see much of the land below, and if she just squinted hard enough, she would be able to pick out the buildings of the town of Ponyville in the distance. While there were various abridged copies of the book around the kingdom, there was only one full copy of Predictions and Prophecies in existence. It had proved instrumental to her student once before. Maybe it would again.