Celestia
Celestia sat outside on one of the lawn patio chairs and tried to relax as everything seemed to be okay. A nice slice of regular chocolate cake rested beside her. She used her magic to take a small sip of the wonderful new hot cocoa with chock full with the fluffy white bits that had been introduced to Equestria.
Luna was resting on her own Lawn patio chair with an umbrella over her head to block out some of the harsh glare of the sun. She was reading a book as the sound of a foal playing could be heard in the background. Normally the sounds of foals playing about would bring a smile to Celestia’s face as she had been thinking about getting an apprentice, but Star Swirl told her that she wasn’t ready to take on an apprentice. Something about the difference between teaching a group was different than teaching an individual.
Wasn't the difference focusing more on the student and adjusting the lessons to deal with one foal instead of a group of foals?
“Is everything alright dear sister?” Luna asked sensing her sister’s unease.
Celestia smiled as she tried to banish her unease “Just was thinking about taking up an apprentice.”
Luna simply nodded as she let Celestia take a sip of her hot coco before saying “If you wish to take care of a foal then why don’t you simply have one?”
Celestia managed to take an impressive spit take as she sprayed most of it at her sister… who already had a magic shield spell ready. Celestia hit her own chest a few times as she tried to recover from Luna’s sudden and rather confusing statement.
“You know I can’t have foals.” Celestia replied with a mixture of fear and sorrow.
“More hot chocolate?” a robbed figure replied standing taller than Celestia. Where he came from she didn't know as she pushed the thought away as he poured another cup of hot coco for her.
Celestia took a small sip from it as she couldn’t help but feel unease about the figure. Still diamond dogs were becoming more common along with Griffins these days. She didn’t want to accidently offend the… whatever he was.
Luna stared back at her book “Why not? You haven’t found a stallion you liked?”
Celestia felt her check blush as she tried to change the topic “It’s because we rule as equals… if I suddenly had a foal than the other nobles would start asking about succession issues… or if they had the same status as we do or if they are placed somewhere else on the social hierarchy.”
The robed figure chuckled “She’s just afraid that her foal will not be blessed with the same lifespan as she does. If the foal is not born an alicorn than the foal then Celestia would be forced to watch her children and possible her grandchildren grow older and slowly wither and die from the curse of old age while she retained her youth.”
“The curse of immortality is not the life you live, but the lives you leave behind…” The robed figure pulled out a silver tray and presented it to Luna “Pancakes?”
Luna clapped her hooves together “Thank you.”
“I live to grant your heart’s desire Princess.” The robed figure chuckled as black feathers fell from his robes.
Celestia coughed as she tried to change the subject… and get her mind off the strange robbed figure. It would not be befitting of a princess to feel unease around one of her subjects. Besides the fact it could bring up some of the unease and resentment the three tribes still had with each other… it would be cruel to the pony… creature that wasn’t causing any problems.
Celestia took a deep sip of her hot cocoa and finally said “I never thought you would tell me to try having a foal.”
Luna smiled as she pulled out a small set of foal’s pajamas from somewhere “I made them for my own foal.” Celestia felt a shiver down her spine “I told my husband we wouldn’t have to keep our marriage a secret and if our subjects could handle us then why not one of our foals?”
Celestia gulped as the gray pajamas had a small cutie mark on it’s side in the shape of a heart. Why should she… Princess Celestia be afraid of a little foal?
The robbed figure chuckled “Princess Celestia is just worried how the public might react. You have to admit that a pregnant alicorn isn’t a common sight in Equestria.”
Luna shrugged “Much less giving birth to the foal.” Luna slouched back in her seat “Earth pony foals never calm down as they are constantly kicking and waking you up at odd hours of the night. Pegasus foals tend to be a nightmare trying to give birth to… and as long as the Midwife make’s sure the unicorn’s head goes out first to deal with the horn…" Luna shivered at the thought "but none of them have anything on alicorn foals.”
Celestia coughed as a piece of cake went down her windpipe instead of going to her stomach. The robed servant produced a handkerchief and a glass of water as Celestia slowly managed to recover.
Luna glanced at her sister “Are you alright dear sister?”
Celestia nodded as she said “I was just… surprised that you are putting so much thought into this.”
Luna nodded as she folded up the pajamas “I’ll admit the first few months were rough and… I did look a little foolish wearing all those dresses to hide the changes, but I wouldn’t trade my foal for anything in the world.”
Celestia started to sweat as the sound of a foal’s joyful laughter grew closer “You had a foal without my knowledge? How…”
The robbed figure sighed “Well you never really gave her much attention. You never really spoke with her. In fact lately you weren’t so much “sisters” as… ruler and servant as you keep the ponies happy while your sister deals with the dirty work.”
Celestia shook her head as she tried to defend herself “It isn’t like that! We both share equal responsibility!”
The robbed figure nodded “Yes 'equal responsibility'… you take care of meetings while Luna watches over them at night. You shake hooves with the ponies and make them happy before dumping the issues of protection and dealing with the monsters that attack at night to your sister. When she’s in charge everypony knows it’s bad because that’s when the predators attack, but when you’re in charge everything is alright.”
Luna shrugged “You had your reasons just like you always do Celestia. You claim to be the all compassionate teacher, but in truth you’re a statue. You bask in the praise of your ponies giving them new heights to strive towards, but anypony close to you knows you have that your heart is also made out of stone.”
Luna’s eyes changed as her fur grew darker as Celestia shouted “What’s happening Luna!”
The servant chuckled as he stood back “Why she is getting her wish dear Princess. You wished for the love and adoration of your subjects as you would prove that you are not some puppet or prop for the masses to look up at. That you are an actual princess while Luna… she simply wished for her dear beloved sister to notice her.”
Celestia shouted at the servant “Stop this!”
“But why Celestia?” came the dreaded voice of Nightmare Moon replied before her “Why do you wish to not notice me anymore? Do you prefer nopony to notice me… to see me or even care about me!”
Nightmare Moon leaped forth at Celestia as the Elements of Harmony protected her. Celestia heard her sister scream before a flash of light blinded her. When she finally opened up her eyes it was nighttime as the dreaded image of The Mare in the Moon could be seen now. Even more disheartening she could hear the sound of a ball dropping on the ground.
Celestia turned around and saw a small black or dark blue foal staring up at Celestia as his green mane drifted down to his shoulders. The small foal stared up at her with large eyes and had such an innocent smile… a smile that had yet to encounter despair.
The foal replied in such a happy cheerful voice Celestia couldn’t help but feel sick as he said “Aunty Celly! Aunty Celly! Have you seen Mommy?”
Celestia opened her mouth as words refused to come out as the small foal crawled onto Luna’s patio seat as he stared at the pajamas in confusion. The robed figure lifted the foal up by the scruff of his neck and just sighed not in sorrow, but in slight irritation.
The servant turned to face Celestia as a beak managed to emerge from the hood of the robes “Looks like Luna left you a mess. Want me to toss him out?”
The servant didn't care about the foal. He didn't try to help ease the pony's fears or try to comfort him. No he simply viewed the little foal as garbage to be taken out and tossed away. The foal was simply a mess left by somepony else that he was stuck having to clean up.
The foal struggled in panic “What happened to Mommy! Where’s Mommy!”
Celestia felt tears starting to form around her eyes as her mouth felt like somepony had used sandpaper on her throat. The foal stared up into the sky and simply stared at the moon in confusion as the foal couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Why would he as just a few hours ago he was playing around and having a fun like any little foal his age. He shouldn't be forced to grow up so suddenly and face the harsh reality of this cruel new world.
Celestia coughed “Mommy… Mommy just left for a little while.” She gulped as her unease grew “She loves you very much, but… Mommy’s work just… she’ll be back soon.”
It was a lie of course. A big fat lie ass Celestia had no idea when Luna would return, but she could deal with breaking that news later to him. She just had to get him to calm down and try to explain what happened. That he was going to be okay...
The servant sighed “What was that bit about the old tale again? One wish spoken to be twisted about… One truth told to shatter their faith… One pact made to start their death… So beware the Raven Nevermore for he shall bring ruin to your kingdom once more.”
He smiled as his yellow eyes glowed from underneath the hood. His beak twisted into a grin as he taunted the little foal “Little Lock… Your mother didn’t leave to fight and defend Equestria or to help other ponies out there… Aunty Celly banished your mother because she became a threat to her rule.”
The foal now looked at Celestia in terror as the monster continued to whisper “And now… she wonders if you’re worth the trouble of having around. What do you wish for little foal?”
The foal started to cry “I just wanted to be loved!”
Raven Nevermore laughed out loud “Should have went for World domination! At least you would have a better shot at that happening!”
Celestia swung her hoof at Raven Nevermore only for the world to vanish. With a deep breath she realized that she was dreaming… that it was all a dream… Lockeart now stood in front of her with his standard illusion altering the colors of his natural coat.
What was different about him this time was that he was smiling instead of the constant look of disinterest or “meh” he normally wore. Still there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes as the smile just filled Celestia with a sense of unspoken dread.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.” He apologized to her “I never blamed you as I understood that you had your reasons, but it’s time for me to go.”
Celestia opened her mouth and tried to say something only for her voice to be silent.
Lockheart blew a stand of hair that fell in front of his face “I guess it’s time to finally tell the truth. I’m a liar, a thief… I’m someone who only looked out for himself and…” he chuckled “I could never be the pony you thought I could be.”
The ground shook as Celestia saw Tirek’s looming form behind him “It’s funny… I knew I could never be a hero, but…” He wore a foolish grin on his face “I think I could be a martyr after all it’s not such a bad thing to die for honor instead of living in shame right?”
Lockheart turned his back on her and laughed “Oh if anyone asks… just tell them I was some crazy pony you once ran into!”
Celestia screamed in frustration as her voice was still silent. She tried to move to stop him only for a crowd of ponies to hold her back. She could see the fear in their eyes as they didn’t want to risk losing their princess. They let Lockheart sacrifice himself as they prevented her from stopping him.
Lockheart paused for one second and turned around “And about that bit with Luna… Don’t worry… She’ll forgive you as you are her beloved big sister.”
“But what about you!” Celestia finally managed to shout.
Lockheart just grinned “I’m just some crazy stallion you once ran into...” He turned to face Tirek “Nobody wants to die… but sometimes you don’t get to decide.”
Lockheart disappeared from her sight as a cruel laughter filled the air. A unicorn large skull now stood in front of her. Icy winds howled around her as a castle frozen in ice stood in the distance as Windegoes swarmed in the air as the very air itself was filled with an ancient hatred towards the world.
The skull stared at Celestia as it said “You took my General. I killed your puppet.”
Celestia slammed her hoof on the ground and screamed “He wasn’t a puppet!”
The skull laughed “What other use is there for an unknown you can’t control? You ponies claim to believe in peace and tolerance, but it was your kind that the ice sprits were drawn to… your kind that had festered a hatred great enough to freeze your own kingdoms into ruin.”
The skull glared at her “I see everything you worthless mortal. This land is mine! These souls are mine! The very world belongs to me!”
The wind stopped howling as Celestia looked upon in horror at the thousands of bodies from every race known were frozen in ice.
Celestia closed her eyes before opening them again as the air was unbearably humid. The frozen dead world was now replaced with a swamp as vines covered an abandoned village. Celestia saw a Yak coughing as he had been reduced to a withered husk.
The yak stared at Celestia “The sun princess?”
Celestia nodded “My name is Princess Celestia… what happened here?”
A voice chuckled from behind her as Celestia turned around only to see the large changeling from the Everfree Castle. Behind her stood dozens of changelings… no… that wasn’t right as these changelings didn’t look anything like the ones residing in Canterlot as they tried to make better lives for themselves.
These changelings were more… savage… feral… they looked more like wolves or trained attack dogs than actual equines. If they held any spark of intelligence it was only how to harm others instead of trying to build a better world. These were the creatures that mothers told to frighten their foals.
The large changeling from the Everfree forest suddenly appeared as she held the dying Yak close to her “Why should you care? After your incident you decided to bury the past and set up walls. They denied you access to their libraries when you searched the lands trying to figure out what happened to your sister as you refused to believe that she wanted to kill you. It had to be some sort of outside influence that manipulated her."
The changeling queen was mocking her "The Yaks feared you would end up becoming just like your sister… they called her a monster right in front of your face… don’t you remember how your kingdoms cut off all contact from each other after that incident? How you two refuse to still talk to each other after all these long years... you must have left quite the impression Princess.”
Celestia slammed her hoof down “Let go of him.”
The changeling ran her hoof down the Yak’s neck as he shivered in fear “You lost the Crystal Empire. You lost your own sister.”
Her mouth opened up as she turned the Yak into a withered corpse leaving his body to hit the ground. Then she pulled out a small napkin and wiped her mouth as the building fell behind her revealing the Yakyakastan in ruins.
The changeling smiled “But don’t worry Celestia. I respect you because you’re just like me.”
Celestia shook her head “You’re a monster.”
The changeling held a hoof to her chest “A monster? I just told a few lies to help guide my little subjects towards the greater good. I focused on the big picture as I knew that the Elements of Harmony were worth a few sacrifices. It’s not like you haven’t told a lie or two during your reign. I’m just doing what you do.”
Celestia pointed at the ruined city around them “You destroyed an entire nation!”
The changeling laughed “What’s a few lives when compared to the bigger picture? You’re just annoyed that I thought ahead while you’re still playing catch up.”
The changeling continued to laugh until everything disappeared again. Celestia grabbed her head as it started to hurt.
The world around her now changed as now she stood back in the halls of Canterlot Castle as a small unicorn stood before her shouting “Make me an Alicorn!”
Tears ran down her eyes as the small unicorn stood in front of Celestia in defiance… no… sorrow, betrayal, the pony before her was upset.
“Cadance is an Alicorn!” the unicorn shouted in heartbroken sorrow “So why can’t I be an alicorn? She wasn’t even born an alicorn.”
The world shifted around one last time as she was now standing in the Everfree Castle. Luna stood next to her as both of their thrones were being built before them.
Luna stared at them in slight confusion “Do you really think we can do this sister?”
Celestia felt herself smile as her mouth said “Of course dear sister. The time of war is over as we are no longer need to take lives on the battlefields or stopping enemies that wish to destroy our kingdom. We have finally achieved peace in our lands dear sister.”
Luna tilted her head a little as she stared at the thrones “Still two of them side by side? Since you will work during the day and I work at night… wouldn’t it make more sense for there to be one throne?”
Celestia shook her head “It’s so that our subjects will see us rule side by side. So that they will always know that even if one of us are resting or sent to deal with problems far away… Both of us are looking after them as we rule together.”
Luna chuckled a little “And what if one of us were to have foals? Would you have us make smaller thrones for them so they too could sit with us while we dealt with our respective courts?”
Celestia couldn’t help but share in her sister’s laughter “That would be a lovely sight to see wouldn’t it? We would have our husbands standing beside our thrones looking after our foals as we spoke to our subjects.”
Would it matter in the end?
“What?” Celestia spoke out loud in confusion.
Luna glanced at her sister “Would it matter who gave birth first? I mean in the end the foal would be of our blood.” Luna had a soft smile appear of her face as she spoke with joy “If one of us grew tired or had to deal with some problem away from the castle… then we would be safe with the knowledge that our little one was still being taken care of by our sister.”
Celestia sighed as she glanced at the thrones.
Luna wrapped a wing around Celestia “Do me a favor sister… and wake up.”
******
Celestia woke up as it felt like she was waking up with a migraine. She always woke up with a migraine when her own nightmares mixed with her gift of foresight especially when the two possibly blended together… something that was becoming more frequent these past few days.
With a deep sigh Celestia went to grab her dream journal nearby only to find one of the books that she had moved from the Everfree Castle to the Canterlot archives. The dust covered book was actually an old diary from her youth.
The journal was shared with her sister Luna as the two would write down what they would name their foals… or what their “prince charming” would look like and of course… some of the old foal tales that had been told to scare them.
Raven Nevermore… the enigmatic being that searched for lost souls granting them their deepest wishes… only to twist the wish around or used the innocent wish to destroy their kingdom. Raven Nevermore was a story that had frightened Celestia when she was young as the purpose of each tale spun about the creature always ended with how the enigmatic creature could destroy a kingdom by letting slip a small truth that should never be spoken or by granting a wish that would lead to their destruction.
The creature itself always seemed to change from story to story as the monster was just a metaphor or a disaster given physical form to help drive the story forward… a villain to hate and place blame upon and yet a creature that didn’t exist in real life.
Thankfully the “Raven Tales” eventually died out as time passed… but it had been a while since she had a nightmare involving the enigmatic creature taunting her of her weakness before speaking one twisted but true statement that would harm Celestia or turn her kingdom to ash.
While the nightmares involving the strange creature always bothered Celestia she knew that it wasn’t just a sign of ill omen… but the nightmare involving the creature always appeared when something deeply bothered Celestia. Raven Nevermore would appear in her dreams taunting her about the problem that weighed heavily on her mind before saying something that would trouble her. In a sense the evil creature was a physical/metaphorical representation of Celestia's own nightmare.
She sighed as she pulled out her dream journal… something she had to keep close to her these days as it was getting harder to tell the difference between her nightmares and possible glimpses of the future that kept randomly popping up. The journal was also one of the few things she could vent her problems to.
A part of her began to wonder if she should pull out one of her old aliases and try finding somepony to talk to or just to help simply... vent. The constant nightmares were certainly not helping her sleep at night... and the frequency of the nightmares seemed to only be growing.
Celestia slowly wrote down the details involving the frozen fields and the Changeling that were attacking the yaks. She made note of the unicorn that talked about… Cadance… the pony Lockheart had pretended to be. Was that small pony important… or was she just a part of the nightmare that Celestia was having? The easiest thing to do would be to simply ask Lockheart of when he knew about Cadance and then take it from there.
Of course that would mean she would have to talk to Lockheart again and try to figure out what to say to him. Ever since he asked his question a week ago it had been hard to talk to him. Lockheart would find ways to avoid talking to Celestia. He spent most of his time in the Star Swirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot library trying to find something. The few times they did manage to speak…
Celestia sighed as they didn’t really talk. All they really did talk about was work or how his progress or lack of progress with earth pony magic was progressing. He would update her on the work he was doing and Celestia would then get the final say on what would happen next.
Celestia stared at the dream journal as she didn’t know if she should write about the parts involving Lockheart as they bothered her the most. The parts involving Luna only filled Celestia with a sense of guilt and unease especially when she thought about Lockheart. Then there was the part with Tirek which didn’t make much sense. Why would Lockheart be the one sent to fight Tirek instead of the Canterlot Royal Guard?
Celestia shook her head as she didn’t have anything against Lockheart… it was just… he struggled to fly in a straight line and Celestia had not only fought Tirek before but she had also won. If Tirek had regained his full strength Celestia would know and in his current weakened state the Royal Guard would be more than enough to take him down.
Hopefully it was just a nightmare as Lockheart in those final moments… that wasn’t a stallion getting ready to fight for glory, fame, or honor. That dreadful expression she had seen on countless ponies in the battlefield. That was the look of a pony who knew there was no chance of survival, but they did their job not in hopes of living… but to buy time so that everypony else could live.
Celestia felt a lump in her throat as she glanced at the moon outside her window. It was clear that she wasn’t going to get anymore sleep tonight.
******
The sun drifted into Celestia’s work office. The troubles of last night were soon forgotten with the rush of work and the complaints left by day to day ponies. Quick Note her helpful assistant was already trying to prepare Celestia for the coming day and the problems that she would soon face.
Quick Note poured Celestia a cup of tea and said “Leaving Golden Brand who wishes to discuss about the issues involving the Night Guard.”
Celestia nodded “What exactly is his complaint?”
Quick Note put a lump of sugar into the tea “Apparently some of the changes involve deviation from the old Equestiran doctrine of war. Since the Night Guard lacks earth ponies and unicorns who are normally transferred back into the Solar Guard or left with the same shift as the Night Guard as punishment… Lockheart has also lessened the requirements for applying for a position in the Night Guard.”
Celestia rubbed her chin “He was allowing it so that ponies not native to Equestria could join the Night Guard.”
Quick Note coughed “And apparently allowed it so that non-equine groups could also join as a couple of changelings have applied for positions in the guard… as changelings.”
Celestia simply closed her eyes as she prepared for the bad news “The issue is with the changelings isn’t it?”
Quick Note nodded “Apparently the changelings that join are doing so to secure their… identify for a lack of a better word. They want to be seen as themselves… but they also want to ensure that the guard protects them in case of any backlash involving the feral looking ones. Golden Brand on the other hoof sees it as a threat due to the previous changes allowed with the Night Guard and Solar Guard. He wants to ensure that a member of nobility does not have to take orders from a non-equine… of course his exact words I’m not allowed to repeat.”
Celestia hung her head in both annoyance at Golden Brand’s actions… and at the fact this was going to be another action forcing Celestia to look over one of Lockheart’s actions before applying her judgment. In the past when a new alicorn was added to Canterlot it was meet with praise or hidden concern. They knew the alicorn had been ascended into an important position and very few ponies would argue against them.
Lockheart? If they had a complaint they would bring it straight to Celestia and complain loudly. Maybe it was the unrest or lack of sleep caused by her nightmare last night that might have been clouding her judgment, but Celestia had a rather strong urge to simply tell Golden Brand to “Stuff a sock in it! If the Changelings wanted to try to join the Night Guard to be accepted by Equestrian Society then let them! If they go up in the ranks then tell your brat to work harder instead of complaining to daddy!”
Celestia couldn’t help but smile as she could picture Golden Brand’s face right before she grabbed that stupid frilly shirt he always wore and simply tossed him out the window and right into a nearby garbage can.
Quick Note cleared her throat “Rough night?”
Celestia shook her head “Is it that easy to tell?”
Quick Note blushed a little as she replied “You had you’re… Tossing a pesky noble outside the window… smile on your face… you were even chuckling a little.”
Celestia took a large sip of tea as she tried to wake herself. Today was going to be a simple day. She would deal with the complaints in morning court… then the complaints involving the nobles… after that she would finish up her paper work and finding Lockheart and simply asking him who his parents were or if he was adopted.
Once Celestia knew about his heritage everything would be fine.
******
Some days were easy days while others felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain with your wings tied behind your back. Some days made Celestia wish she had simply replaced all the wood, mortar, and stone in her room with cotton so she could freely bang her head up against the wall.
Brown Muzzle continued talking as he suffered from a rare medical condition that even surprised other nobles in Canterlot. Some ponies could simply block out or ignore certain comments they didn’t like to hear, but Brown Muzzle was unique. Celestia could right out tell him NO and yet his brain would find some way to ignore her comment and then pull some obscure fact, comment, or law that allowed him to say yes.
It was times like these that made Celestia wish she could simply pass a law making it so that nopony could say no to her.
“As set by Brown Nose the Third this legally allows me to take control of the trains in my territories to do with what I see fit.” Brown Nose stated
Celestia took another sip of her tea as the back of her mind wanted to skip formalities and simply toss him out the window as Golden Brand could at least be reasoned with! Brown Muzzle on the other hoof somehow managed to find the unique position to be required to have Equestria deal with him. Mostly this was because of his numerous backroom deals or certain key pieces of Equestria economy that were owned by his family.
He was the type of pony that made Celestia wish she was some twisted tyrant that hired assassins who exterminated subjects she didn’t like. It was a shame that she preferred being seen as the kind and caring pony as she actually cared about her subjects… of course Brown Muzzle was closer to a zit or a scab that one merely tolerated as they couldn’t wait for the day they suddenly disappeared. Poking at it only made it worse.
Celestia tried to stay calm as she replied “But as you must have realized the trains have gone through a couple of changes and are being used to transporting items instead of nobles.”
Brown Muzzle nodded “And the law issued and passed allows the noble or the one in charge of the train or territory in which the train runs on to use the items aboard to the situation needed despite use, cost, or ownership of materials being carried to alleviate the situation.”
Celestia’s smile now started to hurt as she replied “Yes, but using all the items just to throw yourself a party is not required, needed or count as a life threatening emergency Brown Muzzle.”
Brown Muzzle had a small chuckle as if Celestia had made a joke as he replied “And while the unruly complaints are directed towards my establishment I must remind you that these are biased rumors sent against me only because they have no physical proof stating me for their loss. One must simply assume that they are trying to recoup their losses by launching this war of misinformation in an attempt to damage my reputation for their lack of resources.”
Brown Muzzle straightened his back as he firmly stated “As one cannot bring complaints to a messenger or blame a package delivery pony when a shipment had been delayed or claim that the postal service had “lost” a package that had never been sent. One cannot blame me for their own problems on the trains that run through my territory unless I have complete ownership of the trains. Otherwise the trains themselves should be counted in much the same way a package delivery pony is which still solely places the blame on the establishment instead of the local area.”
Celestia hated when he started twisting things about as she replied “Yes, but some concern may be warranted when the loss continues to happen in your territory.”
Brown Muzzle shrugged “Then I shall do my best to give notice to the current train system or threaten their removal from my area. If a method of transportation is to be blamed for the situation than the demolishment of the establishment must be made so that a new and proper method of transportation can be made.”
Celestia openly blamed him. The ponies sent to investigate him were always the same ponies who took his bribes. Every time when a problem without any physical proof was brought to attention the problem would be dismissed… or “fixed” as another group would suddenly appear right when the Royal Guard came to throw somepony in jail.
It was always “amazing” how a group of bandits or criminals would be captured who had just enough physical proof on them to make them the responsible for the mess as Brown Muzzle would leave with his hooves clean of the whole affair.
“I could taste the deceit.” Lockheat’s voice whispered in the back of her mind.
Celestia stared at Brown Muzzle for a moment as she debated on sending him over to have Lockheart “help” with the train situation just like he "helped" Silk Scarf. Maybe he could even…
No! She was trying to help Lockheart and try to show that she cared about him. She was not going to simply shove an unsavory pony to him simply because Celestia wanted him to clean up the mess. One simply did not give another pony trash when they wanted to help improve relations.
Brown Muzzle simply smiled at Celestia as she wanted to hit him across the face with Discord’s statue and hope that he turned into a newt or some sort of small creature she could accidently step on after the incident.
For now she just had to figure out a way to catch Brown Muzzle in the act. Hopefully sending a small group from the Night Guard for… training exercises near Brown Muzzle’s territory would help.
******
It was late in the afternoon as Celestia discarded her illusion of “Bright Smile” the cheerful Canterlot unicorn as she walked into the building hidden just a couple of hooves away from Canterlot Mountain. The guards quickly checked to make sure Celestia wasn’t a changeling before allowing Celestia deeper into the hidden complex.
Celestia couldn’t help but shiver a little as she hated this place. The ancient hidden laboratory of the unicorn tribe was a place that refused to die. Before Equestria was founded this was the sanctum where unicorns would cast some of their more secretive magic or experimented in less than moral ways.
It was in these chambers that many gifts and curses of the unicorn tribe had been created as every experiment made was always for what was claimed for the Greater Good of Equestria. Sometimes ponies infected with a plague would be brought down here away from the general public where they would try experimental cures as the sick ponies would be safely quarantined from the general public… other times a group of ponies would get together and try to create some new type of magic.
Celestia stared at disgust as the stained walls of one of the rooms… one of the times she tried closing this place down only for a group of nobles discover it and start trying to experiment on a way to ensure they would always have the unicorn foal they wanted… by experimenting on pregnant mares.
Of course currently the purpose of this place was back on it's morally gray point of view again. What exactly was it with secret underground facilities that made ponies suddenly lose grasp of their morals?
“How are you doing Celestia?” Remedy Cross spoke out loud
Celestia relaxed a little as she said “I just came to check up on your report.”
Remedy nodded as she motioned her to follow “We found two things that you might want to see… it’s easier to show than explain.”
Celestia followed Remedy down the hallways as their hooves clicked against the stone floors. Celestia didn’t like what they were doing down here, but at the same time she couldn’t discount the value of their work. She didn’t mind keeping secrets, but she preferred to know what she was doing.
The twisted tree growing in the middle of the basement room did little to ease her mind nor the fact that earth ponies were tending to the tree instead of letting it wither and die.
“What exactly is it that you wanted me to see?” Celestia asked out loud. She already had a fire spell prepared in the back of her mind.
Remedy shook her head “They moved it around again…” she glanced at the tree “Well this is the second tree we found.”
Celestia didn’t like the sound off that “Where did you find it?”
“Near the edges of Hayseed Swamp.” Remedy reported “But the odd thing about it is… the changelings in the area were fighting each other. The… demon bugs were trying to defend the tree while the other changelings were trying to destroy it. They left when the Royal Guard went to secure the area.”
Celestia glanced at Remedy “Can you clarify on why you mean by other changelings?”
Remedy rubbed the back of her head “That’s sort of the problem… according to the ones who discovered the tree… the other changelings did not match the reports of the adventure or the “normal” changelings that arrived in Equestria.”
Celestia stared at the new tree with mixed feelings now. There were more of the feral changelings being spawned... or grown. To make things worse the new group of changelings were acting odd. Were they a new foreign group or gad some of the Adventure changelings started a scorch and burn campaign against their feral cousins?
“Of course that’s not the biggest issue here.” Remedy replied with a hint of interest in her voice “It’s what has happened to the tree itself.”
One of the ponies nearby was carting over a corpse… a corpse of a changeling like creature except it was even further removed from Equine form.
The body stretched across two tables as it took an almost dragon fly like form. The eyes were still the solid green color. The wings were now almost dragon like but still made out of the gossamer like wings except with small bat like barbs at the end. The two most terrifying aspects about the creature was the large barbed tail that seemed that was dripping some type of liquid… and the almost python like mouth.
One of the ponies pushing the tables stopped for a moment as he stared at Celestia in fear until Remedy sighed in relief “This is one of the things I wanted to show you… what was the current name?”
The Pegasus stallion coughed “Uh… I believe they called it the Infester…”
Celestia stared at the abomination against nature “I take it the barb at the end does something.”
The Pegasus Stallion coughed again as he nervously replied “The creature grabs its prey and wraps around their body pulling them tight to their body with their wings… sort of like a fruit bat holding an apple… then it either swallows the prey alive to carry back to it’s hive and release it… or the creature injects them with the barb.”
Celestia glanced at the barb as she said “The barb injects them with it’s eggs.”
“Not exactly…” the Pegasus nervously replied “… it injects them with parasites that grow in under one day. The parasite then burrow out of the host’s skin and start attacking everypony else before wrapping them up in cocoons… these smaller parasites are then filled with the stolen emotion or magic before being feed to the rest of the demon bug hive.”
Celestia stared at the creature “How does it reproduce then?”
“It doesn’t.” Remedy Cross flatly replied “This creature was made as a weapon of war and lacks higher intelligence. I'd say this creature is about as an intelligence as a trained animal except they lack a self preservation instinct. The good news is that they can only be made from the tree itself so that if they lose track of it… the creature won’t be able to reproduce.”
Celestia understood the implication. The tree before had been modified to create monsters to be used for war… The changeling from the Everfree forest was making monsters.
Remedy motioned for Celestia to leave the room “As a precaution we have set around one of Stardust’s incendiary mixtures and planted them around the base of the tree… if anything should happen then we are prepared to incinerate the entire room at a moment’s notice.”
A pony whispered something to Remedy “Ah… the real topic of concern has just been found.”
******
The second room that Celestia had been brought to confused her a little. An Amber colored mare with chestnut mane was currently reading a story to a bright eyed changeling foal. The main difference between this changeling foal and the other changelings that had been seen before was it’s body.
Instead of a black chitin body it had a soft or almost “cheerful” dark gray chitin body. The wings now resembled more like butterfly wings as the changeling lacked any holes in it’s body. Even the mane seemed fluffy as it was aqua green. The fangs on the changeling were also less pronounced as they were more like canine teeth than actual fangs.
The room was full of toys for little foals as they had somehow managed to paint the walls to a respectable white right up until the little changeling found some of the paint as foal like drawings now covered the room.
Remedy stared though the window and said “Amber made a… discovery. The changeling foal inside the room… it came from the first tree.”
Celestia stared at the foal who hugged Amber with the same enthusiasm of a normal foal… no… that of a foal hugging his mother. The thought pained Celestia for a small moment as she tried to push the thought away.
Remedy scratched the back of her head as she was a little bit uneasy “Turns out during the process of… experimenting on the tree from the Everfree Forest… one of the pods had yet to fully grow.”
Celestia glanced at the changeling foal “Give me the short version.”
Remedy shrugged “Amber took the most care out of the tree and changed it from something out of a horror novel and into something more… normal. Then just a few days ago the foal just popped out. We have currently dubbed her… Azalea for now and while she hasn’t figured out how to speak… she’s intelligent.”
Celestia watched the changeling foal suddenly turned into a miniature version of Amber before being tucked into her crib as Amber smiled making it clear that the earth pony also cared for the little changeling.
“Is the changeling a threat?” Celestia couldn’t help but ask in regret.
Remedy shook her head “No… in fact if it wasn’t for the fact one of the moving attempts broke open her pod she would have continued maturing at an accelerated rate.”
Celestia braced herself for the bad news “There’s other pods?”
Remedy took a deep breath “No… but one of the earth ponies did claim that the tree might start to ‘bud’ during the spring. Nopony knew what to do since Azalea is just a carefree foal, but… changelings have a reproductive system so technically they don’t need… the tree and medically speaking… the changeling foal is healthy.”
Celestia hung her head as she understood the real issue “You want to know how to proceed with the tree.”
Remedy nodded “In the Everfree Castle the changeling queen dubbed ‘Gaichu’ had made the tree create the ‘demon bugs’ that are trying to fillynap ponies in Equestria. The Hayseed Swamp Tree is a modified version that breeds monsters. The new modified Tree under the care of earth pony specialists and Amber… well you can see the results in that room.”
Remedy motioned towards the next room which revealed what looked like a large willow tree, but not one that came out of a swamp filled with monsters. No this tree looked like an old ancient tree that withstood storms and created a nice spot of shelter for foals to rest underneath as some of the vines hanging down from the branches almost resembled a swing.
This was an experiment to study the tree and see how it reacted to Equestrian magic. Now they had one tree that was currently being prepared to be incinerated as they studied the monsters it spawned… and another one that gave birth to a changeling foal that mistook one of the tree’s caretakers as her mother.
Celestia remembered her nightmare “How many of these… trees would you say there were?”
Remedy scrunched her face for a moment “The changeling called… Cuddle Bug claimed Gaichui only had access to three seeds.”
Celestia nodded “And…”
Remedy shook her head “Their rare… but there has been reports of certain changelings being chased by demon bugs. It would be safe to say that she is trying to acquire more seeds to experiment on so the actual number of seeds is unknown.”
Celestia nodded as she made a mental note to send a scout party to see how the yaks were currently doing.
******
It was late at night as Celestia woke up. A few papers thatwere stuck on her face fell back onto her desk. She yawned as she couldn’t figure out what exactly woke her up… but thankfully she didn’t have any nightmares or warnings of the future.
Then again she did feel a little bit proud of herself as she had finally found one of the books that held a method to cure Cockatrice petrifaction… sadly this method also required a live Cockatrice meaning she would have to either send some guards or procure a Cockatrice from the Everfree Forest herself.
It wasn’t much of a solution, but it did not require the use of the original cockatrice that turned Valkyrie to stone. Still a small smile came to Celestia’s face as she at least had some form of good news to inform Lockheart about current condition of his friend. In fact she could take this opportunity to lead a group into the Everfree Forest and simply unwind a little.
Celestia knew enough spells to stop the creatures in the Everfree Forest without harming them… It would be seen as a sign of good faith that Celestia had personally went out of her way to secure the cure for Valkyrie when she could have simply hired or ordered somepony else to do it… and it might be fun to release some of her pent up stress fighting one of the Everfree Forest creatures.
Celestia glanced at her stomach and poked her belly with a hoof for a moment… it was true that she wasn’t as… fit as she was back in Equestria’s founding. Then again it wasn’t her fault that kind words, combined with skilled politics were better at stopping wars and creating peace. Even then with all the paper works, treaties, reports… It was hard to stay in top fighting shape when you were almost chained to a desk.
Maybe she could find some way to set aside some time to do some exercises… or find a pony willing to spar with her. She could always try cutting down on her sweets…
The sound of hoof steps outside broke Celestia’s sleep deprived train of thought as she opened up her balcony doors and noticed Lockheart lying on his back on the ground outside. He wasn’t wearing hid disguise anymore as his black coat blended with the dark night as his green mane almost shinned like morning dew.
When he got up his horn glowed for a second as said “Come on work…” A small flash of light covered his body as he chuckled “Memories… just one stupid spell to remember…"
His horn started to flare as he dug his feet into the ground “One spell to… Just play everything back and find the part that doesn’t fit!”
Celestia stepped flew down from her perch and landed on the ground without making a sound. She could see him struggling with his magic as he stopped the spell for a moment before glancing at the scroll again. Lockheart was attempting to modify a spell built to work on two ponies. The caster would cast the spell allowing the second pony to remember moments they had shared together.
“Just one memory. Just one moment…” He replied to himself in frustration.
Celestia did her best to stand tall and smile as she said “Need a helping hoof?”
Lockheart turned around as he stared at her in surprise and horror as his horn flared.
******
Celestia’s vision returned as she saw the Elements of Harmony standing before her.
“One, two, three, four, five” Lockheart’s voice counted out loud “Where is the sixth… oh right. Magic BS machina.” The room tilted a little “Or possibly just on the other side of this thing.”
It took a few seconds before Celestia realized what was going on as she was experience one of Lockheart’s memories!
“When you say it like that it doesn’t seem that bad.” He chuckled to himself from some random thought he had “To bad she’s off somewhere else.”
His horn glowed as he brought the Element of Harmony over to him. Celestia could sense his unease as he was actually frightened of them. Magic washed over his forelegs giving him dragon like claws.
She could feel his unease as he said “I’m just going to borrow you. Evil Villain. Friends in danger. Celestia should be alerted by your theft letting her save everyone else… I mean everypony.”
Celestia could feel the hesitation he felt as if he expected the Element of Harmony to sudden attack him. His mouth was dry as he carefully brought the Element of Harmony to his claws and touched it. Then to both her and Lockheart’s surprise pain shot through his entire body as he screamed in agony. She could feel the doubt and confusion rushing to his mind as terror filled his entire being.
Then to both their unspoken horror Discord’s voice rang in his ears “Just take an Element of Harmony.”
Green flames danced around the Element of Harmony as Lockheart stared at it in fear. A large rectangle appeared before him as Discord was dancing in joy.
“It was never about giving him an Element of Harmony or even keeping one… just taking one.” Lockheart cried out in a mixture of sorrow and pain.
Celestia could feel a burning pain across his chest as the Element of Harmony drew closer before his body screamed in agony.
Celestia closed her eyes as she tried to block it out. While she could make it so she couldn’t feel his pain anymore… she couldn’t block out the feeling of him trying to scream as his voice no longer worked.
“The Element of Honesty for one who always lies. Nice Pick!” Discord’s voice replied in mocking laughter.
Celestia opened her eyes as Lockheart muttered in pain “You suck.”
Discord was still in the small floating box as he grinned “You shouldn’t care about a few tiny scrapes considering you have your whole life ahead of you now! Oh and one last thing…”
With a snap of his fingers Lockheart was forced to watch the entire stand holding the other Elements of Harmony disappear as she could feel the sense of dread that washed over Lockheart.
“Now you don’t have to worry your head wondering if it’s an Element of Magic, Honesty, or any of the others from the collector’s set.” Discord’s voice sang cheerfully as he taunted Lockheart “Oh and the guards properly noticed that. If you want you can tell Celestia that you have one of the Elements locked away inside your heart… and just hope that she doesn’t try ripping it out.”
“Cover your heart Indy!” a voice shouted
Discord laughed out loud wiping a tear from his eyes “Come to think of it… Lockheart really does suit you now. Is it referring to the locked away piece of magic trapped in your heart? Maybe it’s some two bit tale of destiny about somepony opening up the heart you locked away from the world? Which let’s face it… it’s going to hurt. Have Fun!”
******
Celestia now stood in front of Lockheart as the memory had ended. He was staring at her in wide eyed terror now. The scar on his chest was now clear to see as the memories she had seen were fresh in her mind… yet the last thing she remembered was banishing Luna…
He saw her banish Luna and she saw his memory involving the Elements of Harmony.
“Lockheart!” Celestia shouted in panic.
Green flames flared in between them as a stone wall separated the two of them. Celestia quickly opened her wings and took flight as she had to explain yet… he knew Discord and he had even talked to him. The Scar on his chest… he stole an Element of Harmony...
Celestia shook her head reminding herself that Lockheart had been tricked by Discord. Memories of the betrayal still burned in her mind along with the painful memories of Celestia seeing Luna turn against her and transform into the monster called Nightmare Moon. The pain of banishing her sister was made fresh again as it felt like it had just happened yesterday.
Celestia spotted Lockheart flying through the sky as green flames danced across his body making him look like a comet in the night sky. Each beat of his wings slowly made him go faster as she could practically feel the amount of magic he was burning through trying to escape her. Still Celestia was a much better flier than he was as she started to catch up.
“Lockheart stop!” Celestia shouted in frustration.
Lockheart turned his head for a moment as he saw her. Instead of stopping he suddenly dove towards the ground. Celestia mentally cursed herself as he mistook it as rage, hatred… he thought he was going to suffer the same fate as Luna... or worse.
Lights flared on as the ponies beneath them tried to figure out what was going on. Celestia felt panic as the ground came closer as Lockheart had yet to pull up. Celestia opened her wings as she slowed her descent only to watch Lockheart try to pull up only to be too late. She couldn’t help but wince in pain as she saw his body slam into the ground. She heard the sound of his body skipping across the ground as he left a trail of blood, fur, and feathers.
Celestia landed on the ground preparing to treat his injuries and explain her actions only for green flames to cover his body. Patches of fur and feather fell from his body as his beaten form turned to stare at her. The flames slowly flickered about his body as she couldn't tell if it was an attempt to protect him from the fall... or to fix his broken body.
Celestia couldn’t help but take a step back as Lockheart no longer looked like the pony she knew. A mixture of black chitin and fur covered his body while his cuite mark stood out against the darkness as if somepony had etched it onto his body. More than that was his eyes… they had the same unearthly gaze Nightmare Moon had.
Lockheart wasn’t seeing Celestia standing before him. Instead of the blind hatred and furry that replaced her sister’s eyes now stood terror. He saw her as the terrifying monster that stood before him. His wings stretched out for a moment almost giving him a therstal like appearance as his horn flared to life.
A green light washed over the streets as Celestia held her ground and struggled against the spell he had cast. She recognized it as one of the spells from the Crystal Empire… except instead of being fueled by the love of two ponies and helping bringing them together it was using the terror of the ponies around them.
Ponies rushed out into the streets shouting in panic “Protect the Princess! She’s injured!”
Lockheart took off to the skies as Celestia tried to chase after him only for the ponies of Canterlot to stop her. The unicorns held her with their magic as the earth ponies grabbed hold of her. Pegasi flew in defensive formation as they blocked Lockheart from her view as they tried to defend their princess against the monster before them. The nightmare that she had was playing out before her eyes…
Her own ponies were preventing her from going after Lockheart… tears fell across her face as she remembered her nightmare.
One truth to shatter their faith.
I killed your puppet.