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Darkness Gathers7,514 words
World's Biggest Super Slide5,183 words
The Starlight Festival5,783 words
The Spoiled Princess Celestia5,452 words
The Search for Luna7,237 words
Scaling the Lhorse Mountain4,220 words
Scrub the Floors7,878 words
Tragedy and the Common Stallion6,745 words
Breaking Point5,162 words
See the Weeds for What They Are4,485 words
Blood Stained Hooves6,344 words
To Train a Princess7,622 words
First Mission5,942 words
The Nexus4,942 words
Nightmare Moon6,064 words
Dusk and Discord8,131 words
Epilogue2,839 words

See the Weeds for What They Are

Starswirl entered the grand castle of Canterlot. It had been many years since he set hoof in the castle. Nothing had changed, not that he had noticed. The ponies around him went about their business as usual. He didn’t mind however. He was on business. Even if he wasn’t, his mind was too preoccupied with the past. Every time he came to the castle, he was reminded of his father figure, the late king. His death had taken a toll on everypony that knew him, and Starswirl was not spared the pain. It had given him many sleepless nights, stating that he could have saved him and failed.

His master had told him that some lives were not meant to be saved. At first, he didn’t understand what those words meant. He thought it meant that he was a failure and should simply accept it. Now that he was older, he understood it perfectly. But it did not mean his heart felt any less pain.

Starswirl had been so wrapped in his thoughts that he didn’t notice a mare coming straight for him. The two gently bumped into one another. Starswirl quickly apologized. As he looked up, he noticed the mare was the same alicorn he met all those years ago. The little filly with the little red ball. Celestia, the princess of Canterlot. Her eyes glared at him as she trotted away.

“Keep your apologies,” she replied. “I don’t want them.”

As the mare trotted away, Starswirl couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. The sweet little pony he had met all those years ago had transformed into a very rude, very obese brat. His heart sank as he turned away, secretly wondering what could have happened to turn her into such a rotten child.

He found the entrance to the queen’s room. After stating his business with the guard, he was allowed inside. As he entered, he found the queen standing by the window, her face soaked in tears. He bowed his head, “My queen, you summoned me?”

The queen was silent for a moment. But then she turned her head.

The first thing Starswirl noticed was that the years had started to take their toll on her. Her once youthful, bright face was slowly becoming weary. The years had taken much of her former beauty replacing it with wrinkles. He felt guilty about such a wonderful mare aging like this. The secrets of the disciples allowed him an increased longevity. But that was both a blessing and a curse.

“Do you have any children?” the queen asked.

“No,” Starswirl shook his head.

“To see a child leave is the most painful thing in the world,” Queen Faust explained. “And I’ve been forced to do it twice.” Her voice was broken by her sobs as she struggled to continue.

Starswirl didn’t know what to say. What could he have said? Queen Faust had lost her family, one by one. Her husband, her younger daughter, Luna. And now even Celestia was gone. She had been through more losses than any family member should have. And he did not have the courage or strength to tell her what fate had befallen Luna. Part of him wished that Dusk was here. Only a small part, though. At least, he would have told her. He would have been blunt about it, but at least she would know. Starswirl admitted to himself at being a coward. About running away from reality when he could not face it.

The queen took a deep breath as she attempted collected herself. “I ask a favor.”

Starswirl’s ears perked themselves up. “My queen, you have already invoked the Right of Generosity. There is nothing my master can-,”

“I’m not asking him!” The queen snapped, tears still soaking her face. “I’m asking you!”

Starswirl was a little surprised at Faust’s abruptness, but he quickly forgave her. He couldn’t imagine the pain she was going through. It mirrored his own pain. He had lost much during his time as a disciple. But even if he could do anything, his master would not help him. The Right of Generosity, the right that every powerful unicorn, who has proven their worthiness by the Lords Above, could invoke, but only once.

Queen Faust closed her eyes as tears continued to stream down her face. “As my friend, I beg you… watch over Celestia.”

The queen turned back towards the window. “She may hate me.” She was silent as those words sunk into Starswirl’s mind. Perhaps, he thought, they were doing the same to Faust’s. “I may have been forced to banish for the good of my kingdom, but that changes nothing of how I feel about her.”

She turned back to Starswirl. “I love my daughter. I want her alive and I want her safe.”

Starswirl lowered his gaze to the floor, “You do realize if she is made a disciple, there is nothing I can do.”

The queen’s eyes glared at him as if he told her the answer was no. “Don’t let her die. Do you understand?”

Starswirl was torn between the choice he wanted to make and the choice he needed to make. He wanted with all his heart to promise the queen he would take care of Celestia, but he knew that he could not interfere with her trials. Nothing could. It was against the rules set by the sorcerers before him. He could not break them, no matter how much he wanted to.

“Please,” the queen begged, as if sensing his thoughts. “Promise me, you’ll keep my daughter safe.”

Starswirl smiled as his eyes met the queen’s. “I promise.” He kept smile on the outside, but his heart was filled with sorrow. For he knew, the second he made that promise, he would soon have to break it.

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The cold winds that assaulted Celestia’s body reminded her of her struggles to climb the mountain. How the only thing she had to hold onto was the chance to see her sister again. However, the drive had been replaced with sorrow and pain. She struggled against the wind and the snow as she attempted to climb down the mountain, but eventually, cold drove her into the ground. She was tired and worse, she had lost the will to continue. She began to think it was hopeless. That finding Luna was an impossible task. That she was going to be alone. Forever.

She closed her eyes, and let the darkness gather around her, allowing the snow to engulf her. However, after a moment, the cold stopped coming. She opened her eyes, but when she did she wasn’t on top of the mountain. Instead, she was in a dark void. She could see herself perfectly as she stared down to her hooves, but when she looked around, she saw only miles and miles of black. Suddenly, the cold started swirling back onto Celestia’s body, not from the freezing air, but by the fear of the void. Then from the void, a whisper came from it.

“How dare you treat me this way?”

Celestia looked around to see any source of the voice, but there was only darkness. The voice sounded familiar, but it was too distorted to make out. Her heart started to beat quickly as the voice spoke again this time even louder and clearer.

“Get this filth away from me! Do you not know who I am?”

As the voice began to fill her ears, small images started to appear in the never ending darkness. They were blurred images, unable to be depicted. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to see them, but it came to no avail. She sprinted forward towards the images, hoping to see them clearer. But the more she ran, the more distant the images seemed to fade. Eventually, they faded into nothing, but not before Celestia caught a glimpse of something within them. A white alicorn with a long pink mane in every single image, revealed herself. She knew it was her within the images, but what it meant was beyond her.

A shining light came from behind her, causing her to swiftly redirect her head. She looked upward to see the moon. It was bright and big. As the moon descended to her, it began to reshape itself into the blue alicorn with a long blue mane she had been searching for. Her sister. “Luna?” she called out.

Luna’s eyes could stare at her with disapproval. “How could you be so selfish?”

Those words hit Celestia like a tree. Those were not words that she had expected from Luna. Especially not after all she had been through to find her. “Selfish? Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you,” she explained.

Luna simply shook her head. “No, Tia. You did this for yourself. The only reason you did this, was because you wanted to be accepted.” Luna then turned away, “But for what you’ve done to others, I can’t even look at you.”

Celestia’s hooves took over her body, sprinting towards Luna, but every step she took, Luna only seemed to get further away. “Luna, I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

Luna shook her head. “And that’s what saddens me the most.” Celestia stopped dead in her tracks, tumbling to her knees. “You don’t understand. You don’t see what you are like. How you treat others. How you treat mother. How you treat me…” Luna’s eyes shut tight as she was trying to fight back the tears. “It shames me…”

Those words cut into Celestia’s heart and slithered down into her stomach. The sad tone carried from Luna’s voice repeated itself all around her. It broke Celestia’s heart to see streams of tears coming down Luna’s face.

“It shames me to think you’re not the same loving sister that I once knew…” Luna turned her gaze upon Celestia, her eyes reddened by the tears that continued to flow from her face. “What happened to you?”

That sight siphoned all of Celestia’s strength and courage. Her heart felt as if it had been ripped out of her chest, leaving an empty void where it once beat. Her soul felt littered with filth and famine as Luna’s question reached her ears. Her thoughts scattered in turmoil, attempting to conjure an answer that could ease Luna’s pain. She shook her head, tears starting to develop in her eyes. “Sister, listen. I’m still the same pony I always was… I love you.”

Luna shook her head and turned away. “I wish I could believe that… But I can’t! You’ve changed so much! I don’t recognize you anymore!” Her voice trembled into sobs.

Celestia picked herself up off the ground, her legs heading straight for Luna. Luna started to fade into the shadows that surrounded them. Celestia picked up her pace even faster, but there was no sign that she was approaching her sister. “Don’t say that! We’re together again! Everything will be right!”

“Good-bye, Tia.” With those words, Luna was consumed by the darkness, leaving Celestia completely alone.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted. “Luna, please come back! Don’t leave me!” The darkness echoed her cries, but never revealed her sister. Celestia toppled to her knees, her sobs filling the air around her.

How could Luna say such things? After all that they, as sisters, had been through together, what would possess her to say such awful, cruel things? Her mind began to remember the times together that they had. They would laugh, play, comfort one another, listen to each other’s stories and secrets, stay up late and watch the moon, get up early and watch the sunrise. All these memories seemed to fade away as quickly as they appeared, melting like a snowball in the fires of Hades. She didn’t even have a chance to enjoy the memories. She could only watch, helplessly, as they vanished into the darkness. Her head fell into her hooves, sobbing as her heart felt another jolt of pain.

Celestia then felt a pair of hooves wrapping themselves around her. “This is no time for tears, my little one.” Celestia felt the hooves lift her off the ground, picking her up as if she was a filly. When she opened her eyes, she saw the image of a large white Pegasus with a golden mane. The image of the stallion she had lost when she was young. Her father.

“Daddy?” she asked the stallion as she looked down to her body. She didn’t see the tall body she was used to. Instead, she saw herself as the young filly who would ride on her father’s back, flying through the air like a bird through the sky.

“Come now, dry your eyes,” he gently whispered as he wiped a tear from her face. His touch felt warm and dry as they rubbed against her tiny cheeks. Celestia smiled as she looked upon the strong and gentle face of her father.

“Let me show you something,” the king of Canterlot said as she placed Celestia on his back. It was just as they used to do. Celestia would ride her father’s back as he soared through the sky at incredible heights. She wrapped her hooves around her father and gave a giggle. The king spread his wings out as far as he could and took to the air.

As Celestia looked down, she noticed that she was back in Canterlot. High above the little village that stood outside the castle, she looked down to the ponies below her. The king dove for the city, staying just barely above the village houses. The ponies looked up to the sky with a smile on their faces as they beheld the king and his young daughter. They waved, they cheered, they shouted their praises as they soared above the sky.

Celestia felt an overwhelming joy in her stomach as the ponies continued to express their joy. They were happy. And it was because of her and her father. Her father then flew high into the air, with Celestia still holding on. But rather than screeches of fear, she was laughing and expressed cheers of delight, which were mimicked by her father.

He flew higher and higher, until they were higher than the tallest tower of the castle. Celestia’s eyes widened with wonder as she looked upon the horizon. The sun was starting to set on this beautiful day, filling the sky with beautiful reds, oranges, and purples. Celestia's smile almost overtook her face as she beheld the amazing sight.

She then felt her father playfully toss her into the air, only to catch her not even a moment later in his hooves. Celestia couldn’t help but laugh as was now eye to eye with her father. Her father smiled to her. “You see that, Celestia? That will all be yours someday.”

Celestia smiled as she turned around and looked at the kingdom below. She felt happier than she had ever been in her life.

“But remember, a princess' duties are to her subjects,” her father explained. “Not the other way around. Can you do that for me Celestia? Can you be the princess that loves and helps her subjects?”

Celestia turned towards her father and nodded. “Don’t worry, daddy!” she closed her eyes and smiled. “I’ll be the best princess ever!”

Just then a voice came from where her father should have been, but it wasn’t his. “Oh, will you?”

She opened her eyes to see the image of an obese pony who looked exactly like her. No, there was no mistaking it. It was her.

Fear started to manifest in her heart as she stared into the glaring pink eyes of her other half. The mare just smiled as she held her over the city, hundreds of feet below her. Within a moment and without warning, the mare dropped Celestia, causing her to plummet.

Celestia screamed as the ground slowly grew closer and closer. She flapped her wings with all her might, but they couldn’t even slow her down. She pushed even harder, but her wings were too weak to keep her airborne.

She closed her eyes, just before hitting the cold hard ground. However, despite the pain, she was still breathing. How could she have survived, she wondered. She opened her eyes to see the black void she had once been imprisoned in. Tears started to swarm down her face. Not from the pain, but of fear. Fear of what she had experienced. How could anypony do that to another? How could she have done that? To a little filly, no less.

Celestia examined her body and found that her young body had been restored to her adult state. She cried out for her father, for Luna, for anypony. But in the infinite void, there was no response. She curled herself up into a ball, begging for anypony to come and find her.

“Get up! You have no reason to cry! You did this to yourself!”

Celestia looked around sharply to see the source of the voice, but there was nopony around only the darkness. The voice was incredibly familiar, but she wasn’t sure why. “Who’s there?”

Then out of the darkness, she saw a figure coming from it. It was her. The bloated version of herself. “Who are you?” she finally worked up the courage to ask.

“I’m you,” the mirror image spoke.

Celestia lowered her head and whimpered. “Why are you torturing me?”

The image simply glared at Celestia. “I am only doing what you have done for so a many others!”

Celestia stood silently. The more radiant image of her current self’s horn started to glow as images haunted her mind. How she had disregarded her sister’s wishes just so she could have fun. How she had mistreated her mother and every pony back at the castle. How she had attempted to rob good ponies of their hard earned product. How she had cursed every pony she met. The images came so intensely, they caused her to shrivel down in tears.

“I… I really… did those things?” Celestia asked, her sobs breaking her words.

“You don’t deserve anypony. You deserve to be alone.” With those words, the mirror image faded away, leaving only Celestia to sob in the void.

It seemed like hours since she had started crying. Hours since she had realized what a horrible pony she was. If she had cared to count the time, it was only a few moments. But time didn’t seem to matter to her anymore. All she could think of was how alone she was. How she had pushed everypony away and that she was going to be alone. She cried out to the darkness for anypony to be beside her. But despite her cries, the void never answered. Despair began to sink deeper into her heart.

“Anger,” a voice came from the void. As the voice started to speak, Celestia found herself surrounded by the garden she remembered at the castle. The same grassy field, the same single tree, the same stone walls that surrounded them. “Pain, loss, guilt.” A figure appeared in the garden in the form of the Ancient One. He stood under the tree only a few feet from Celestia. “These are the weeds that surround your garden, Celestia.”

Celestia turned her head, tears still streaming down her face. She wiped one away and spoke, “Is this another dream? Or is this real?”

“It is as real as you allow,” the Ancient One replied.

Celestia looked down at her hooves and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Like many things, what you have seen is not set in stone.” Celestia’s eyes stared back at the Ancient One as if he had provided her with a glimmer of hope. “Like the garden, these things are subject to change. Subject to growth. But only if you allow it.”

Celestia’s mind didn’t understand most of it, but what she did understand was there was a way for her to change her ways. That was all she needed to hear. But one question still stuck in her mind. “How?” Celestia asked.

“See the pony you wish to become. Then take the steps necessary to become that pony.”

Celestia turned her gaze away once more as her head fell into her lap. “I thought I knew what kind of pony I was.” Her mind was reintroduced to her painful memories. Memories of her cruelty and her callousness towards others. Even her own family. How can she change that? How could others forgive her? How could she forgive herself? “Now… I don’t know what to do. I’m so lost and confused,” she sobbed.

“And that is what has prevented you from growing.” The Ancient One took a step towards her and placed his hoof on her head. “See the weeds for what they really are. And then pull them from the roots.”

Celestia looked up to see the Ancient One started to trot away as the garden slowly turned back into the snowy mountain. Once again, she felt the cold winds rushing against her.

As the Ancient One disappeared, he spoke. “You have the seed in your hooves. The question is; what will you allow to grow?”

Celestia then felt something in her hooves. She opened them up and looked down. Inside her hooves was a tiny seed.

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The Ancient One gasped deeply as he awoke from his trance and unleashed a series of sickly coughs from his throat. Starswirl came to his master’s side, but stepped away as the Ancient One held up his hoof, signifying that he would be fine. As his master tried to collect himself, Starswirl looked out the window. His sight beheld Celestia entering the gates of sanctuary. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought that Celestia was leaving for good. Something … or somepony… brought her back. Starswirl turned toward his master and raised his eyebrow. “You helped her?”

As his coughs died down, the Ancient One turned and smiled. “Just a little.”

Starswirl shifted his gaze towards the floor, biting his lip. “But that’s against the rules, isn’t it?”

The Ancient One nodded. “You are correct. And one day, I shall be made to answer for it.” The Ancient One made his way towards the window as Celestia started to dig at the ground with the brown bucket. “But I assure you, the choice to return was her’s alone.”

As the two looked upon the pony, who continued to work throughout the day, the Ancient One finally spoke. “She is ready.”

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After a long, hard day in the field, Celestia made her way to the dining hall as she had in days past. But this time she could barely eat. Her mind was distracted with hundreds of questions flowing through her mind.

What could possess me to act out that way? Was it all true? Was that what I was really like? Celestia's mind found images of ponies being belittled and ridiculed by her and every time they flashed before her, her heart sank even more. But the Ancient One has been inside her mind, had spoken to her. While she didn’t understand all of it, he had mentioned a way to change who she had been. A chance to set things right. What frustrated Celestia is that she was still unsure how to do it.

As the evening went on, she could barely finish a single bowl of soup, no matter how wonderful it tasted. Her mind simply couldn’t focus on food. She made her way to her room expecting her stack of hay and blanket. However, when she opened the door, she saw a large wooden tub filled with water. Next to that, was a smaller bucket of water with bubbles coming from it. To the left was a set of large towels. At first Celestia was confused, but as she slowly approached the tub, she began to see that the water was steaming warm.

A bath?! Celestia smiled as the thoughts of a warm bath filled her mind. She couldn’t remember the last time she had bathed, but she couldn’t have been more excited. She slowly placed her front hoof into the warm water, which at first was discomforting, causing her to twitch in pain. But as her foreleg slowly descended into the tub, it became more tolerable and, by the time the rest of her body was submerged, relaxing. She let out a soothing sigh as she let the water tickle her skin. As she looked to the small bucket below her, she noticed that it was soap for her bath. She picked up the bucket with her magic and poured with her hot water. Almost immediately, bubbles began to form around Celestia’s body.

Lords above, this feels wonderful, Celestia silently praised. She almost laughed at herself, being excited over something as simple as a bath. She dipped her scalp into the water, soaking her mane. The warm water sent a tingling down Celestia’s spine as it touched her scalp. As she ran her hooves through her hair, she could already feel it getting cleaner and it had barely touched the water.

A cycle of washing was repeated throughout her whole body. Her hair, her horn, her wings and her hooves all received the same treatment as she continued to bathe. Scrubbing the scum from those various places had never felt so wonderful. It was like being reborn as a clean, pure filly as if all her troubles were simply being scrubbed away.

As the moments went on, after she had scrubbed her body clean, she found it very easy to simply lie in the tub and relax. And with relaxation setting in, her mind began to wander once more. Her mind was filled with questions on what she had to do to fix who she was and who she wanted to be. She wasn’t sure what the right path for her would be and she was afraid of making the same mistake or even a worse one. She looked down to the water to see her reflection.

What kind of pony am I? she asked herself as the image of the bloated pony in her nightmare appeared before her. Her mind was clouded in a fog of unanswered questions, ones that she wanted answers to and ones she was afraid to face.

Author's Note:

Hey, guys. Spideremblembrony here. Hope you enjoyed this newest chapter. I know it's been a long time since I updated and I hope to update it more often and hopefully it will be finished for you to enjoy/ridicule/hate.

Again, huge thanks to Avenging-Hobbits, The Invincible Iron Brony , and Lunar Avenger for proofreading for me. I really appreciate them. All three of these people are so talented and so great. Please click on the links and go check them out. You won't regret it.

Again, wonderful gentlemen and I wish them the best. That's all I've got for now and I'll catch you guys later. Take care.