First Mission
The days before had taken their toll on Celestia, both physically and mentally. Training with these unicorns was a task unrivaled by any she could imagine. And now, after all that her training had put her through, she felt unmatched power flowing through her veins. Every twitch, every move she made, felt as if she could crush the sun with her hooves. The power of the gods themselves, with access to magic far exceeding the unicorns of any other time.
And yet, as Celestia leaned over her sister’s bedside, continuing to watch Luna take in breath after slow breath, she felt as powerless and as helpless as a dainty flower in a blizzard. Despite everything she had learned, she was still unable to do anything to help her. All the untapped power at her disposal and Luna was still beyond saving. Still, she refused to give up. Celestia forced a smile on her face as she gazed upon her.
“I changed my hair color, Luna,” she said out loud, running her hoof through her hair. She wondered if Luna could even hear her, wherever she was. There seemed to be no way to tell. No matter what was said or what was heard, Celestia still couldn’t tell what Luna was feeling, only that she was miserable.
Maybe her voice did reach her and that Luna felt comfort from it. This thought brought Celestia a small amount of relief, since she felt there was nothing she could do. Not that she hadn’t tried.
She conjured every cure she could think of. Every spell she was taught, but it seemed impossible. She didn’t know why she was so surprised when she failed. The Ancient One, the most powerful unicorn, perhaps even being, in the world, and yet even he was powerless. If the Ancient One could not revive Luna, what chance did she have?
Still, whether she could or not, Celestia felt better talking to her, imagining how she would respond. “Do you like it?”
She imagined Luna opening her eyes and saying that her hair color was a strange choice. Celestia giggled and lowered her gaze. “I just thought it was … time for a change. In more ways than one.”
Celestia held her sister’s hoof tightly, a tear building in her eye. The numerous times to awaken her sister using what she had learned only seemed to make her feet more distant. It was as if her failures piled on top of each other, weighing against her back like a thousand plows. Her efforts, if they achieved anything, had made her condition worse. Luna was now tossing and turning, muttering something under her breath. Celestia had tried to make sense of it, but it was too soft to be heard. She prayed to the Lord’s Above for an answer, but her questions remained just that. It seemed that she was all alone and nothing she could do would save her sister. A sharp pain found its way into her heart as the tears ran down her face. The pain of the truth started to overwhelm her. All she wanted to do was sink her head into the bed and let her tears stain the sheet.
But she knew that would do nothing to help Luna. She shook her head, trying to dispel her depressed thoughts. She wiped the tears away and took in a deep breath.
“Celestia,” Starswirl’s voice came from behind her. “We are needed.”
She leaned forward and kissed her sister on the forehead. “I’ll be back. I promise.”
She placed her hoof on her heart, crossing it. Then raising it to her face, she covered one of her eyes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celestia and Starswirl made their way to the main hall, where everypony had gathered. It was to be her first mission. Her first official task since joining this group of unicorns. It was something that both excited and filled her with dread. The anticipation of not only leaving Sanctuary, but a chance to do some good with her new powers. However, she had heard stories of ponies who had not survived such ordeals. A chill slithered up her spine as the stories were told, fearing that she too would have to partake in such risk.
Dusk spoke to the group about the mission parameters. A creature had appeared in Canterlot and they were being sent by the Ancient One to deal with it. Beads of sweat rolled down Celestia’s neck. Confidence seemed to waver. Perhaps it was her nerves. Perhaps it was complete fear of the task ahead of her. She wanted to speak up, but her tongue wouldn’t allow her.
Celestia had hoped that she wouldn’t have to encounter any kind of monster, but she knew that was futile. If she was going to be a part of this organization and help Luna, she was going to have to face these terrible creatures.
“The creature is heading for the castle of Canterlot. Our mission is to kill it before it gets there,” Dusk explained.
Celestia’s heart began to sink into her chest. Thoughts of her mother roamed into her mind. Would she allow me home? Would she welcome me? Celestia wondered. She thought of the last words exchanged between them and how they had probably hurt her. It was one of her many regrets. However, she admitted to herself that it was unimportant what past events had occurred. The only important task was making sure the creature did not harm any more of her family. A monster had already taken her father from her when she was a child. She refused to let another take her mother too.
As Dusk finished the briefing, Celestia’s thoughts distracting her from his voice, which she was content with, he opened a portal to Canterlot. Everypony began their journey through the portal, leaving Celestia and Dusk as the last two. As Celestia approached the portal, Dusk put his foreleg to bar her path. The two exchanged glares towards one another. “Don’t get in the way,” Dusk warned.
Celestia’s wasn’t sure if Dusk had caught on to her fear or not. It certainly seemed that way. Who am I kidding? I’m terrified to go there and face something that wants nothing, but to kill me, she confessed to herself. Her legs shook as she thought of what kind of creature would be out there waiting for her. However, all she had to do was think of the father she had lost and the mother she needed to save. That was all that was needed to spark a light of courage in her heart. Maybe it wasn’t a roaring flame of confidence that Dusk portrayed, but it was enough to keep her head held high in the face of such danger.
Celestia bowed her head. She didn’t feel like arguing with him nor was Dusk on her mind enough for her to care. Her mind was only on making sure her mother stayed safe. Dusk then lowered his foreleg and allowed Celestia passage through the portal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The great city of Canterlot had seen many changes since Celestia’s last day in the city. The simple houses that she looked down upon as a child had met with towers that sprouted to the air like a tree reaching out for the heavens. Large buildings replaced the small housing that once conquered the grounds below. While they did not replace the palace’s majesty, they seemed quite ambitious for the ponies that build them, as if they were attempting to mimic the castle’s height and greatness. Despite these changes, there was a stillness in the air all around her. Not a single bird was heard chirping, not even an insect buzzing.
There were things that were familiar however. She eyed the long chutes that Luna and she played on when they were children. Those years seemed so long ago. As she looked upon the city, she felt like a stranger, yet still felt a sense of familiarity. She found it rather strange.
Then a loud screeching sound broke Celestia from her trance. She looked to the source of the sound to see a large metallic spider-like creature in the distance, heading straight for the castle. The building sized spider crawled its way through the labyrinth of buildings, it’s legs leaping over them into the next opening. It’s metal body scraped against the structures as it passed by, causing large bits of them to break off and crash into the ground below. Despite the buildings being made of stone and the spider marching straight through them, it was showing no signs of fatigue.
It’s footing seemed to know exactly where to step or didn’t seem to care, as it continued to march across the landscape, placing its legs either in the narrow streets of the city or simply placing them on against the buildings to its side. Regardless of how it moved, it didn’t seem to slow down.
Celestia felt her pulse leap to a hundred beats as the giant continued unopposed against the helpless city. Even her wildest imaginations didn’t prepare her for the size of the creature. Her body stiffened as she continued to gaze upon it.
She was awakened from her trance as she felt a gust of wind soar past her. She noticed Dusk taking off after the creature, followed by Redeye, Starswirl, and Vibrant. Her head clear, Celestia repeated to herself the importance of her task, vowing not to be distracted again. Spreading her wings, she followed her allies as best she could.
Dusk initiated the first attack with a powerful blast of magic. The blast hit the spider with a powerful boom, but only caused the creature to stagger for a moment. The spider then turned to the sky as it swung its massive leg towards its aerial opponent, attempting to catch Dusk. Dusk quickly avoided the creature.
As Celestia eyed the creature, her eyes widened by how fast it could move, despite its large size. Beads of sweat poured from her skin. Her breathing became rapid and uncontrollable. Her body froze as if it had lost the will to move.
Redeye and Starswirl attacked the creature together, hitting it with powerful fire blasts. However, the spider seemed unfazed by their assault and continued on its route.
For a moment, Celestia was still, waiting for her courage to find her again. It did not seem to take long as she glanced up to Canterlot Castle. Silently, it reminded her of her responsibility. With a flap of her wings, she fired herself forward, catching up her with allies. She put herself alongside Vibrant and, as if reading each other’s mind, they attacked the beast together. Celestia used a powerful magical blast while Vibrant generated lightning from her horn.
However, like the other attacks, these seemed to do little more than annoy the creature rather than harm it. The creature stood high on all its legs and from its abdomen, the spider fired a large net of webbing. Celestia and Vibrant were able to avoid the spider’s attack as the web continued and hit one of the nearby buildings.
Celestia turned to notice several ponies were trapped in the webbing of the creature, struggling against their restraints. Vibrant made her way to them and started to cut through the web with her magic. When Celestia started to approach her.
Vibrant turned her head back to Celestia. “Join the others, I’ll help them!”
With that, Celestia followed the massive creature.
Celestia then looked down and noticed hundreds of ponies fleeing in panic of the massive behemoth. Celestia felt that she should try to head down and help evacuate them. However, she soon spotted Redeye and Starswirl were already down there attempting to keep the ponies out of harm’s way.
Starswirl glanced up at her. From that brief moment when their eyes met, she was able to tell that Starswirl wanted her to stay with Dusk and deal with the creature, while Starswirl and Redeye keep the civilians safe.
It was not a comfortable thought. Her working together with Dusk, a pony who clearly despised everything about her. Perhaps this is my chance to prove myself to him, she thought to herself. She wasn’t certain anything she did would change how he felt about her, but if there was even a small chance, then she would follow his orders. Celestia nodded and continued towards the spider, who had completely forgotten about her.
Dusk and Celestia fired several blasts at the creature, finally catching its attention. The spider reached up towards them with alarming speed, but they were able to avoid its leg in the nick of time. Dusk unleashed another magical blast at the creature’s face, but it still had little effect.
Redeye and Starswirl joined Celestia’s side as the three of them fired a wave of fire at the creature. After a few moments, they surrendered their assault when the spider simply continued on its unstoppable rampage. Celestia turned towards Starswirl. “Any first mission advice?” Celestia asked, her speech interrupted by her heavy breathing.
“Be ready for anything,” Starswirl stated as he followed the creature and Dusk, who was still hitting the beast relentlessly.
Vibrant came from behind Celestia, gaining speed fast, followed by Redeye, with Celestia bring up the rear.
The spider marched down the main street its march undeterred. Ponies of every size and age were running in panic as the massive creature stomped its way passed them, breaking apart the ground with every step it took. As it continued its march, Celestia began to wonder if they could defeat such a beast. Nothing they did seemed to slow it down or stop it. Attacks seemed to bounce off its massive body.
Celestia looked forward to see figures coming from the distance. The sight of a group of pegasi approaching the creature brought a sense of dread to Celestia’s heart. She recognized them as the royal guard of Canterlot. They were the finest warriors in all of Canterlot. Nopony could question their skill, however, if she and her companions couldn't stop this beast, what chance did they have?
Maybe they knew it was suicide? Maybe they were doing it for their country? It was a reason Celestia didn’t understand.
The pegasi raised their lances and unleashed a vicious battle cry. As they ran their spears at the spider, the tips simply bounced off the spider’s armored hide. However, the royal guard refused to give up. Again and again, they would attack the spider’s hide, but again and again they would fail to even scratch it.
Whether by annoyance or something beyond Celestia’s ability to understand, the spider started to aim for the flying pegasi. Some were able to avoid its fangs. However, there was one who was not so fortunate. He screamed in agony as the creature’s fangs ripped into his body, blood soaking into the spider’s mouth.
The mere sight alone was enough to cause Celestia to become sick. Celestia couldn’t let them sacrifice themselves, no matter how noble it was. Celestia pushed herself forward even faster, passing her companions.
She then unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning at the spider. While it didn’t look damaged, the spider did turn its attention to Celestia. The creature let out a screech as it pointed its mouth towards Celestia. Celestia prepared herself for an attack, however at the last second; Starswirl shoved her out of the creature’s path. Only a millisecond later, the spider’s mouth erupted in flames and shot in a line where Celestia use to be.
Celestia’s mouth dropped as the creature continued to spew fire from his throat. “That was unexpected!”
Starswirl turned towards her. “I told you to be ready for anything.”
“How many spiders do you know breath fire?!” Celestia snapped.
“Quite a few,” Starswirl stated as he continued towards the fire breathing armored spider.
Celestia, with the thought of more than one of these creatures frightening her, followed Starswirl.
Dusk uprooted a slab of earth from the ground and tossed it at the creature’s body, which did nothing but stagger the creature. After regaining its balance, the spider shot a blast of web at Dusk, forcing him to move away.
Celestia seeing the web heading for a group of civilians, quickly changed direction and unleashed a beam that disintegrated the web before it could reach the populace.
The ponies turned their eyes skyward, with their mouths open as they watched Celestia’s action. She couldn’t tell what expression they had on their faces at her height, but she could tell that their eyes were fixed upon her. She thought about the last time the citizens of Canterlot’s eyes were directed towards her. They were glaring and full of spite for what she had done. Reflecting back on herself, she could hardly blame them. She decided to ignore their stares and turn her attention back to the metallic behemoth.
Dusk unleashed a powerful gust of freezing winds at the beast. The cold seemed to slow it down, but it did nothing to stop it. However, the spider turned its attention towards him and unleashed a fireball from its mouth. As the fireball approached him, Dusk used his magic to divert the fireball away from him. However, as he did, the spider’s attack rammed into a nearby building. The force of the blow caused the top foundation of the building to rupture, threatening to fall to the ground below.
Redeye, Starswirl, Vibrant and Celestia all pulled away from the creature to focus on the building. Redeye and Vibrant swiftly made their way to the collapsing building. At each of the windows, they formed a slide made of pure magic for the ponies to ride to safety. Ponies were pushing and shoving each other as the building began to crackle and rock with instability.
As fast as the ponies were evacuating, Starswirl knew it would not be fast enough. “Celestia!” Starswirl shouted through his teeth. “Evacuate the base floors!”
Celestia nodded and made her way to the ground. The front entrance was blocked by a pile of rubble. Voices came from inside the building, screaming for salvation. Celestia’s horn shined, causing the rubble to rise from its foundation. The rubble revealed a group of ten ponies who could be seen clearly, with more in the distant hall. She gave a smile. “You are safe now. Everypony evacuate the area in an ordered manner.”
The ponies nodded. One after another, they fled the structure. Celestia repeated to them to remain calm and to evacuate as quickly as they could. The ponies seemed to be taking her direction well. Perhaps it was because they recognized her. Perhaps they were just happy to see somepony saving them. Regardless of the reason, it worked. And that’s all that mattered to Celestia.
Within a few moments, Celestia had evacuated the area surrounding the building. She flew up to the building and aided Redeye and Vibrant in getting ponies to safety and away from the building.
A few moments later, as the last pony was taken to safety, the building collapsed, leaving a pile of smoke, dust and fire.
Starswirl created a small rainstorm that quelled the flames, preventing them from spreading into the rest of the city.
Dusk had finally appeared before them. His eyes glared at them, his jaws clenched together as if he was staring at the armored spider rather than them. “What are you doing?! The creature is getting away!”
Redeye stammered as he spoke. “Dusk… these ponies, they-“
“These ponies are irrelevant!” Dusk shouted. He then pointed to the distance where the spider was. “Discord, the most powerful being in the universe, is coming here! Get that through your heads!”
Celestia was told of Discord and his coming, but she didn’t have many details on him. She didn’t think to ask. She was simply too focused on saving her sister. She sort of wished she had asked.
“And make no mistake; the Ancient One will not be able to stop him this time!” Dusk ranted, as the unicorns gave blank stares to one another. “None of us, therefore none of them, are safe unless we can stop that thing!”
Dusk started towards the creature. “Now come on!”
The unicorns looked at each other, uncertain what to say. Celestia’s heart sank into her chest. If their opponent, Discord, was as powerful as Dusk said he was, then their top priority would be to stop him from being released. But what about everypony else? Celestia asked herself. Should we sacrifice the few to save the many?
Starswirl came to their side and spoke. “I have an idea.” After quickly explaining his plan, they finally joined their ally.
The spider had made its way to the last part of the city and was almost within striking range of the castle. Only a large wall stood in its way. Hundreds of arrows flew at the creature, but they might as well have been shooting cotton. Not one arrow was able to harm the creature. The spider opened its mouth as flames started to gather at the back of its throat.
However, before the beast could fire, its legs were lassoed together by Starswirl, causing the creature’s attack to be knocked off course by the sudden shock. The blast fired away from the wall and the castle, shooting, harmlessly, off into the sky.
With the loss of its legs, the spider tumbled to the ground. The creature screamed in rage as it struggled against its restraints. The others began to wrap their own magical lassos around the creature’s body, dragging it away from the city and into the air. The group tugged and pulled with all their might, hoping to drop the creature off in the middle of nowhere. There, they hoped to battle it until they discovered a way to pierce its armor while keeping innocents out of harm’s way.
However, the spider was uncooperative as it struggled and fought against its prison. The creature unleashed a stream of fire from its mouth. Vibrant, seeing the oncoming flame, moved out of the way in the nick of time, causing only a few hairs on her tail to be burned.
However, as Vibrant moved, her concentration weakened. While it wasn’t for more than a moment, the spider took advantage of it. The spider was able to free one of its legs and with a swift swing, it cut through the magic lassos, allowing it to fall to the earth.
The spider smashed into the ground, causing a huge tremor. The buildings shook violently as they felt the force of the impact. The creature had left a huge crater where it had hit, with smoke emanating from the hole in the ground. Within a moment, as the smoke cleared, the spider crawled out of its hole, and continued its march.
Dusk gave Starswirl and Celestia a look that spoke of his disapproval. “We did things your way.” He turned and shot towards the spider with alarming speed. “Now we do it mine!” He formed a powerful lance of magic. As it formed, he threw it with all his might. The spear collided with the creature, causing the beast to stagger. As it attempted to reclaim its balance, it slammed into one of the nearby buildings.
The building started to shake, threatening to collapse. Ponies started to evacuate the building as quickly as possible. The building, however, would only stay stable for a few moments. Dusk didn’t seem to notice or didn’t seem to care, as he continued to attack the spider with a powerful blast.
The spider attempted to smash Dusk with his leg, but Dusk was too quick. However, when the leg smashed into the ground, the tremor caused the building that was already unstable to vibrate violently. Starswirl, sensing the building’s imminent collapse, made his way into the building. With his magic, he started to reinforce the building, holding it up as best he could.
Vibrant and Redeye attacked the creature with powerful beams of energy. The spider screeched as it fired its web at the two. The movement was so swift and the unicorns were so close, they were unable to react. The web sent the two into the side of a building, where they were trapped.
The spider then turned its attention to Starswirl, who was seen through a small opening in the building. “Starswirl!” Celestia shouted, but her voice didn’t seem to reach him. The creature fired a blast at him.
Starswirl, finally, noticing the creature’s attack, quickly brought forth a force field to protect him, but he knew his magic couldn’t hold the building up and protect him. The force field gave out, as the wave of fire came over him. His scream filled the air as the fire consumed his body. With that, the building began to collapse, turning into a pile of rubble.
“Starswirl!” Celestia shouted as her friend disappeared in the rocks before her eyes.
Dusk zoomed past her and unleashed another powerful attack towards the creature. Celestia was about to intercept, but then something in the air told her to stay. That her friend, Starswirl, was alive. But her heart feared that he wouldn’t be for long. She wasn’t sure if she could save Starswirl and everypony else on her own. She needed help. And the only pony left was Dusk. Still, she had to chance it. For them.
Celestia made her way to Dusk’s side. “Dusk, Starswirl’s alive. We have to help him.”
“He knew the risks as do you!” He replied, not even bothering to look at her.
“But, Dusk-“
Dusk turned to her violently. “Listen, princess! You are not in command here! You will do as I say when I say! Now watch my back!”
Dusk turned his attention back to the spider without giving Celestia a second glance. Celestia pondered her move for a moment. She was afraid of Dusk. He was far more powerful than she was and disobeying him wasn’t something she wanted to do. However, there was still a chance that ponies were alive, but still in danger in that pile of rubble that was once a building.
Proving myself to Dusk by following orders? she asked herself. But what happens when those orders mean I have to leave my friends behind? She felt as if she was pondering this question for a millenium. Debating back and forth which was the wiser option. However, only after a second, she had made up her mind.
Celestia, against her fears, turned back towards the rubble and with lightning speed made her way to where the building that housed Starswirl once stood. “Starswirl!” she shouted.
A voice came from behind the rocks, but it wasn’t Starswirl’s. “Help us! We’re trapped!”
Celestia’s horn began to glow as the rubble started to move out of her path. When she finally saw the ponies, a bright blue energy field surrounded them, protecting them from the rubble. However, it was slowly weakening. “Everypony get out! Now!”
One by one the ponies rushed through the exit. Celestia felt a sense of relief when two of the stallions started to carry Starswirl out of the prison. However, her relief turned to panic when one of the ponies screamed in terror. Behind them, where Redeye and Vibrant were caught in a web, the building had begun to collapse.
Celestia quickly used her magic to hold the building up as best she could. However, she was straining her concentration as she attempted to focus on those being evacuated from rubble and holding the building up.
Celestia continued her efforts, but was slowly dwindling to her knees as her focus slowly became more difficult. Moments felt like hours as she clenched her teeth together as hard as she could, concentrating on keeping the buildings together. Finally, when all those trapped by the rubble were clear, Celestia released the rubble and focused solely on the building. She took a slight breath of relief as the task had become infinitely easier, but there were still lives in danger.
As she took to the air, she could see ponies evacuating the building. She held up the building until every pony was able to escape. Meanwhile, she would cut through the webbing entrapping Redeye and Vibrant. When she freed them she noticed they were unconscious. She figured the spider’s web colliding with them and sending them into a wall knocked them out.
After placing the two safely on the ground, she set herself on the ground, taking in heavy deep breaths. Ponies began to gather around her. She could hear them whispering to one another, but she could only make out some of what they were saying.
“Is that Princess Celestia?”
“I think it is.”
“What is she doing here?”
Celestia wasn’t certain what to say. The last time she was here, she was disrespectful to these ponies. They remembered her, yes. But she wasn’t sure she was ready to declare it a good or bad thing. A little filly came to her side as she took in slow breaths. The filly gave her a smile. Celestia found it odd, despite everything that was happening around her the filly was able to smile. This, in turn, caused her to smile as well.
Her trance and rest were broken, when a fireball came straight for the crowd. The group screamed in terror as the flaming projectile came towards them. In panic, the filly clung to Celestia, like a child to its mother. Celestia called forth all her magical might and created a force field. It was able to protect the surrounding area and the ponies behind it, but the strain caused Celestia to collapse to the ground.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The creature unleashed a powerful blast of fire from its mouth, slamming into Dusk’s body. He fell to the floor, his body trembling in pain. His body shook as he steadily put his hooves on the ground. That useless witch! I told her to watch my back! She can’t even follow a simple order!
Dusk picked himself up off the ground, steadying his stance. He glanced upward and watched as the creature continued to march on its path. Launching himself into the air, he followed it.
Dusk fired a powerful blast at the creature’s body. As before, the creature did not even feel his attack.
Lords Above! It’s armor is indestructible! Dusk roared to himself. He analyzed every attack the group threw at him in their battle. Wind, snow, fire, lightning, energy. Nothing seemed to affect it. He growled under his breath as he dove for the creature, unleashing another blast of magic from his horn.
The spider simply turned away from Dusk and continued to march forward. It’s armor can’t be damage! Then a thought came to him. He smiled as his mind had finally conjured the answer.
He dove for the creature again, who was slowly marching away from him. His horn shined brighter and fired a beam of energy at the spider. He continued to force it against the creature until it finally turned around towards the source of its attacker. With a powerful screech, the spider generated a fireball out of his mouth.
Dusk swerved out of the way and flew straight for the spider like a lightning bolt from the sky. Conjuring a force field around him, he dove straight into the spider’s mouth, where its jaws closed up behind him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The air was silent as the flames died down. Redeye and Vibrant were just waking up, as was Starswirl. They searched the air for sounds of the creature, but there was none to be heard. As they looked towards the distance, all they saw was Dusk, covered in what looked like saliva and blood.
Dusk made his way back to the group. Celestia was able to open her eyes and stand upright. “Dusk?” Her eyes met with his as he glared at her.
“Did you kill-?” Her voice cracked as something wrapped around her neck tightly choking her. She attempted to remove the magical string connected to Dusk’s horn, but she could only flail in fright, as she struggled to breathe.
“Do you have any idea what you nearly caused?!” Dusk shouted as he leaned over the now kneeling Celestia.
Celestia attempted to respond, but her voice could only crack in pain as she desperately tried to free herself.
“We should all count our blessings that I was able to stop that creature, because if not, every single life you saved, disobeying my orders, would have been wasted!”
Celestia could feel her body going numb, her vision was darkening, and senses were deafening. She felt as if she was going to die. She almost knew she was.
A moment later, the magical tie that prevented Celestia from breathing was severed, allowing Celestia to gasp deeply for air. She hacked and coughed as her breathing attempted to regain consistency.
“That is enough, Dusk!” Starswirl shouted.
Dusk’s face painted a picture of pure rage as he made his way to Starswirl. “She disobeyed my orders!”
“She saved our lives, Dusk! Which is more than you have done!”
Dusk looked around him and every single pony there, young, old, earth pony, unicorn and pegasi alike, were all glaring at him. Their eyes expressed their disapproval to him so callously throwing them away, dubbing them ‘irrelevant.’
Dusk turned away from them as his horn produced a portal. “Return to sanctuary.” With those words, Dusk entered the portal, disappearing from sight.
Starswirl made his way to Celestia and helped her to her feet. “Are you alright?”
Celestia shook her head. “Is Dusk right?” She lowered her head to the ground and took a step away from Starswirl. “Should I have helped him destroy the creature rather than have come back? Was what I did the wrong choice? What if-“
Suddenly, Celestia felt something wrap around her leg. It wasn’t very tight, but she still noticed.
She looked down and saw the small filly who smiled at her, hugging her leg. She then looked up to her and gave a smile. “Thank you.”
Celestia returned her smile and wrapped her wing around the child. “You’re quite welcome, my dear.”
The mother of the child then called out to the filly, urging her to come back. Celestia released the child from her embrace and allowed her to rejoin her mother. As Celestia’s eyes came to the crowd, they were stomping their feet and cheering to her. The actions she took during their crisis did not go unnoticed.
An old stallion with a grey mustache and a pair of glasses stepped out of the crowd and smiled to Celestia. “Nice work out there.”
Celestia smiled as the crowd continued to thank her for her efforts. She then felt Starswirl’s hoof on her shoulder.
“Do you still think you made the wrong choice?” he asked.
Celestia shook her head, casting all doubt from her mind. If she had made the wrong choice, would she have felt so good about her decision?
A huge thank you goes to InvincibleIronBrony and Lunar Metal for proofreading. Thank you again gentlemen. You are, as always, invaluable. 
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
1,027 users online
240,785 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This......... Needs............ POWER METAL!!!!!!!!
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMWkqGenCig]
I love Celestia's character development, especially the acknowledgment here.
Celestia wanting to prove herself to Dusk rather than ignoring him or getting back at him is a great step up.
Dusk is a little obviously evil, but that's necessarily bad.
Giant monster rampages are always a plus, and the fight flowed terrifically.
As a fan of Vincent for more than 10 years I have to say that the story is kinda creepy
.............But I really enjoyed, somehow you make me remember of Dikto and Englehart when they were the writers of Doctor Strange, I have to say......Well Done.
4940103 Thank you. I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. I hope it lives up to your expectations at the end.
I'm really hoping that you are still progressing on this awesome story! I've no idea why there are so few likes on this story but it is really good! Your building of characters so far feels just right!
Good job!
4973969 Thank you. I really need to get back to this story. It's taking me a lot longer than I thought it would to finish it. I already know what I want to do with it, but I just haven't done it yet. Hopefully, we will see another chapter soon, but for now, know I haven't given up on it
5200440 Because it doesn't have sex in it.
More serious note, I really don't have any idea why it isn't. Just the way things are I guess. Anyway, I appreciate your time for reading it and I hope to see your thoughts on it when it is finished, which should hopefully be sometime after the holidays.
5201164 Well, regardless... I'm definitely enjoying it so far, and I look forward to your next update. This is one of the few Warrior Princess Celestia fics on FIMfiction and I hope to see it get more recognition.
Keep up the great work.
IGAF-kun
5204265 Thank you. I am glad you are enjoying it. Hope to hear more of your thoughts soon.
i was going to read this but i want wait until its finished
5213929 Of course. I want to get this done really soon, so I'm hoping that after the holidays, I'll have more time to work on it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.