XXXVII : Celestia
The Steadfast Sky : Chapter 37
The Grey Potter
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/11495/The-Steadfast-Sky
http://cosmicponyfiction.tumblr.com/
~Celestia~
I feel…
More than a little bit cluttered right now. Ever since I asked my friends to change our course, head to Canterbury… It’s no mystery what they would answer. What reasons did I give, other than a plea to duty?
And… well…
The things Discord and Luna can do… It’s dazzling for their age. Multipurpose. The realms of magic open to them… Luna, especially. She can do so much, has so much potential with two entire two fields of magic. And she doesn’t even care. She doesn’t even notice her own powers, barely uses them. Shrugged them off once, said she wouldn’t mind if her cutie mark made them vanish tomorrow.
Discord, he knows his own limits, is constantly experimenting and expanding. He can push past whatever stops him, easily. Just… handle himself alone… Both Luna and Discord could just go off alone and be perfectly fine. That’s what they did. In Stringhalt, both escaped their bonds and fled without any help. Without my help…
And myself…
I’m just a young filly who can make little lights… Nothing more. Never anything more.
So I understand. Why even listen to my request to go to Canterbury? I’m not thinking of our little group’s wellbeing, nor do I have proof we are able to handle it. It was more than enough to entertain my concerns. I feel like they knew how I was feeling, explained it to them well enough. But in the end…. They were right. Of course they were right.
But…
I’m the only one putting the country first. Even without the ability… I have to put this country first. I have to. That’s who I believe… That is who I am. As the cutie mark on my flank so boldly declares… I am Equestria’s sun. I exist to protect it. I’ve never felt anything else so strongly.
And I never thought my denial of purpose would hurt so much.
~¤~
I once had a storybook. Colors radiating, outlines thick. Brush strokes soft, gold and silver leaf pressed tightly to the page, never to fade. It glorified the alicorns. Ponies danced in their light, dazzled by the ocean of colors, blinded by the metallic glare. The Ponies were frozen in that happy dance, incapable of seeing or conceiving of anything but bliss and peace in their future. They only knew everlasting peace beneath the wings of their idols.
I wish I could show that storybook to Luna. Make her see the alicorns behind their glittering masks. Make her see through the paintings I worshiped in my youth. The First Gods. The False Gods. The Corrupters of Equestria
There are too many shadows in the folds of the paper, too many secrets hiding behind glory. In the dark, the pictures are bright, they’re clear. They catch the eye. That’s all that matters, that all they say matters. But they’re wrong. It needs the sun to read properly.
Loyalty. The gruff hero. Always charging forward for his friends, mane painted to look like a cloudy blue sky. He’s robed in blood red, skin glittering emerald, decorative sword by his side. A General of armies with no war to fight, he seeks conflict in his own life.
Laughter. An artist, the tickled pink playwright. Mane bubbling and steaming like a base of a waterfall. For some reason, his backgrounds were nearly always blank, leaving him lonely against an empty sky. Nothing prevents him from joking around. The more tragic the situation, the more he desires to laugh.
Honesty…
Generosity…
Their pages flutter by, glossed over. Friends of Friends, the connection between Magic and Kindness. The first to know his Element, and the last to receive.
Magic. The one most interested in books. The leader, and most of the time, Deus Ex Machina for the gods. He always had something elaborate going on in his backgrounds, books and bottles glossed in a glittering aura, frozen midair. His long blue and purple mane always was painted in sparkling swirls. Like window to the stars.
Kindness.
Turn the page, let me tell you a story about Kindness.
Once upon a time Kindness was a little brown earth pony with a blue butterfly on his flank. He raised sheepdogs. He had a pink Pegasus friend and another purple Earth Pony friend. He never knew his fate.
Then the sky cracked open and he became an Alicorn, mane falling in sharp angles, like thick blades of grass.
He was assigned to manage the Earth and all of its magnificent creatures. It was what he was good at. He loved. He was loved. All was right on the ground because of his Kindness.
In the stories the book sings about Kindness, he is proudly the simple buffoon. Lost. Confused. Dazzled by his duties. Stumbling around like an idiot. Barely any magic to speak of. Noble because he is merely an ignorant farmer pony.
In the most roundabout way, the book acknowledges only a single problem with Kindness’ idiocy. He and Magic didn’t get along.
Magic was logical. Cold and detached. Kindness was caring. Passionate and curious. Sometimes he would walk in on his friends, seeking way to help. He approached magic once, asked this very question. Is there anything I can help you with? Magic would reply that this task requires no help, Kindness. The picture shifts, Kindness dips his sharp, square little snout. Magic, I worry about you. I haven’t seen you at dinner in weeks. Are you still eating?
Of course not. Magic stomped his hoof, making the silver specks of paint in his mane spin. We no longer have to participate in such trifles.
Yes, but every pony should relax once in a while.
Not I. I’m glad to leave them behind.
Kindness trots forward, mane rustling as the pages turn. A lab of dark stone rises before him, bottles bobbing gently in the air.
Oh, it’s this again. Kindness dips his head, and with the swipe of a brush, his horn is sheathed in a warm, sparkling paint. Here, I can…
There’s a snap, the shattering of glass. A spider web fracture snaps across the page, red paint oozing from the cracks.
“Get out!” Magic shouts, rearing, wings flapping wide.
“I-I’m sorry! Please, it was an accident, Clover! Calm down!”
“Stupid! Stupid little Earth Pony…” Magic screams. “Do not trifle with magic! It is MY domain, not yours!”
Kindness snorts, squaring his shoulders. “I can cast magic as well as any other unicorn…!”
“But not as good as any other alicorn!” Magic hisses. His horn is lowered, dangerously close to Kindness’ face. “You mock our skills, you weak, stupid little simpleton! Even Paleheart knows double the spells that you do!”
“I just.” Kindness deflates, laughs nervously, I can see his fatty legs twitch as they retreat, backing out the door. He smells like dog fur. Like earthy fertilizer. “Doesn’t come up much. I’ll just keep, going, studying. Yes.”
The pages turn away from the shadows of black stone as Kindness backs away. His retreating body eventually emerges in a white hall, dazzling and bright, sun glaring from the open windows
“Oh don’t try to reason with that sourpuss!” Laughter chuckles, floating and bobbing in front of Kindness, wings a blur of pink. “He’s just mad because he never got to bone him some hot flank. Now he’s a total no-show in bed, can’t get it up at all. Got that from an insider source, if you know what I mean!”
“Jube… should you really be talking about our friends that way?”
“Who’s Laughter around here, huh? You or me?”
“Please. Not you too…”
And I get an overwhelming feeling, eyes straining from staring at the pages too long, pressing in, blurring my vision.
I wake up in my stall, forehead throbbing, mane sticky with sweat.
~¤~
I rub my forehead, trying not to smack Luna in the face with my elbow. I may have been reading too much of that story book…
I was awakened by… well I suppose they weren’t terrifying enough to be called nightmares. But my sleep was uneasy, I remember tossing and turning all night, hounded by books and pages and paper… My new obsession, part of it. Divining the truth of the past through the glorifying stories. Trying to find out about the Shadow Stallion, look for how the alicorns fell… Looking for a weakness I could show to Discord and Luna. Convince them.
But, as I stare in the shadows, head positioned uncomfortably as I’m jammed against the wall, hay scratching my flank… Clover? Clover the Clever was the alicorn of Magic?
And I never have heard of the name Paleheart…
Where did I come up with those names?
Wildly, in the heat of my early-morning drowsiness, I thought maybe it was a vision. A memory locked in the Elements, something they wanted to show me. But with all the studying I’ve done, I know there’s no evidence of the Elements doing that. Scrying, yes, that’s possible while amplified by the Elements. But for the Elements to perform magic without a caster…? Not much on that…
Maybe I was sleepcasting? A part of me wants to jump for joy at the slightest hint of another branch of magic. But wouldn’t that little lightshow have woken Discord or Luna up?
The longer I stay awake, the more I convince myself it was just a dream. A stress-induced dream… I just… I had a headache.
It’s hardly even morning when I awaken. I’m up before Discord, even Luna. With the snow still drifting outside, it was prudent to get a room for the night, lest we risk freezing… We were all packed tight into one little wooden stall, a fluffy hay bottom serving as our bed. The heat was stifling, squashed on Luna’s right side, with Discord pressed against the other wall. We would have had more space, but our wet cloaks hang from a hook behind us, soaking the hay beneath it. It still might take hours before they dry properly.
I nudged the swinging door open with a tap of my hind hoof… security clearly wasn’t an intent of this place… dragging my saddlebags behind me. Several stalls were lined up in the little stable, and I could see figures under the cracks in the doors. Plenty of ponies didn’t feel like sleeping outside in this cold. At least they kept the drafty little building warm.
I scooted myself out of the building entirely, onto a little covered patio whose edges were rimmed with frost, wind blowing gentle drifting fingers towards the door. Why in the world haven’t the Pegasi… or the Griffins that controlled them… caught this storm? Alicorn only knows what horrors are being perpetrated above the clouds… I sniffed, cold air already settling around my bare shoulders, creeping in through the frozen wooden planks. I could ignore it for this.
I Conjured a tiny little light and opened my bag. I pushed aside the bottle of rubbing alcohol, removed the overstuffed bag of oats, and pulled out the sheet. It was heavy, thicker than it should have been. When we were walking, it weighed down one side of my saddlebags with the burden of my petty theft. I carefully unwrapped the silky cloth, and the thick volume fell gently into my forelegs.
The Way of Elements, The Way of Gods.
I flip it open, wanting a distraction, a goal in this early hour. I’ve spent too much time staring at these pages, I know I have. But I can’t help returning. Even if they offer me no real answers. No way to convince Luna and Discord of the right path to take…
~¤~
Half a day past, I had made my case to the blank stares of my sister and her friend. Maybe we didn’t know how to take him down, or how to get into the city. Maybe we’d just go to Canterbury and have to turn right around. Maybe we’d get in, and find ourselves incapable of… of putting the Stallion to rest. Under my breath, in a terrified part of my mind, I wished I had the ability to do more to the cruel tyrant…
But I had tried to explain. We had to do this. There was no way my own body would carry me to Canterlot without trying. No way at all.
And I was infinitely grateful when they both silently considered the option, weighed it as they walked.
“If you think we have to try,” Luna had said slowly, “Then we have to try.” She looked between me and Discord, looking for backup. “What if we went to Canterlot, and learned later we could beat the Stallion all along? I think we’d feel really, really awful that we didn’t give it a shot.”
“Yes!” I stammered, “How hard can this be, really? He’s obviously…” the book flashed in my mind. Weak. Buffoonish. “He hasn’t been capable of finding us. His own followers betrayed him easily. Maybe… maybe he was powerful once, but no pony’s ever, ever thought they could take him down…”
Discord squeaked, just out of nowhere. An uncomfortable little sound. I stared at him.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “That’s just… uh…” He fell silent, then huffed a sigh. “That’s just not true. It’s not.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll um…” he laughed nervously, “Man, it’s still so hard to talk about my past… but… you’re wrong, Celestia.” We walked in silence for the moment, waiting for Discord to work up the nerve to speak, to contradict me. He cleared his throat. “So. More about my life in the castle. You know…” He stopped, laughed nervously again. I wished that he would just stop stalling. “Down there, it’s all about the strong ruling society. If you were weak… well, there’s no excuse for being weak. Not even if you’re just a kid. Those who are strong take what they want, and nobody’s there to really tell them otherwise.”
“But,” he turned solemn, “Even the biggest, toughest, muscle-bound meatheads don’t mess with Father. And let me tell you, the Shadow Stallion doesn’t control us through mind tricks or charms or whatever. In a society based on strength, he dominates by its rules. I’ve seen him maybe three times… once punishing a traitor. I’ll spare you the graphic details but it was only out of Father’s mercy that the Draconequus died. So you say we should go back and face the Shadow Stallion? Just try to stop him?” He shook his head. “No. Heck no. Be stupid to try.”
Another uncomfortable pause followed, silence heavy with the snow stealing all sound.
“If Discord says it’s too dangerous…” Luna said slowly. “Then maybe we shouldn’t do it…”
“But… but we have to try!” I cried, “I… How will we live with ourselves if we don’t?”
“Pfft,” Discord scoffed, “I think I’ll manage. I like not being dead, thank you.”
Luna looked up at the two of us. Torn. Definitely torn. She knew how I was feeling, she knew me. She would defend me… No, that was only wishful thinking. She looked right at me, and she shook her head.
And that was apparently that.
~¤~
I don’t know. Dying… death… just words. Something that happens to other ponies. Discord said he came close to dying, but I don’t believe that. I banged my head really hard once, and I was convinced that was dying… Maybe he came a little closer than a banged up brain, but never, not for one moment, did I ever think he could come close to leaving us.
The Shadow Stallion wouldn’t, he couldn’t kill us. If he truly had once bore the Element of Kindness, then there was no way he could bring himself to hurt us, to hurt children barely out of foalhood. Corrupted by a nightmare or no. He would not. Inconceivable.
And honestly…
There are some things worth dying for, aren’t there?
I just wish I could make Luna and Discord see that.
Not that it was a distinct possibility… but… Oh, Celestia, you’re just thinking in circles now. Going round and round your head for the magic words that will change their minds. Make them see that the mission isn’t as dangerous as they think it will be. It’s making me go crazy. Everything is. Obsessing and fussing over so many things.
My magic being not up to par for what I desire to do.
The truth of the Shadow Stallion, and the rest of the Alicorns.
Trying to go and save this forsaken country!
All these things spinning around and around my head! If we could just go and defeat this damn tyrant, then that would be one problem solved! The rest we can take months, years to sort out and find answers for! But this issue, this issue needed to be addressed first and I would not let it just be set aside!
I’d…
I’d just…
~¤~
“I’d sooner go and confront the Stallion myself!”
Discord jerked awake, snorting as he fell off Luna’s back.
“Celestia…?”
“I’d do it! I’ll go and face him alone if I have to!”
“Face… what?”
Luna yawned, “You’re up early…”
“I’ve been up for hours! I can’t sleep! You two… I just, I can’t not go face the Shadow Stallion! I just can’t!”
“Celestia,” Discord stated bluntly, “It’s friggin’ suicide. Let it go.”
“No! I refuse!”
There was some grumbling, not from either Discord or Luna. Another pony bucked the side of our stall, made us all jump.
“Big sis!” Luna giggled loudly, “Shouting!”
“I still mean it!” I whispered furiously. “I’ll go to Canterbury all by myself. Chance or not. Hope or not. I won’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least try!”
Discord snorted.
“You got something to say to me, Discord?!”
He stared, stunned. “What the heck has gotten into you?”
I squared my shoulders. “Duty! The duty of a Princess!”
He laughed, poorly covering it up as a cough. I showed him I didn’t buy it, glaring a hole right through his funny looking head. He frowned back.
“Well then.” He yanked down his cloak, shook it free of droplets. “Canterbury’s, what? A week or two away? That’s a week or two that you can take to come to your senses, and head off to Canterlot. We’re in no rush, are we?” He stared at me, eyes level. “Is that a plan you can be happy with, Celestia?”
“Oh, I will be.”
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Dude, where are all the fans?
1137127
??? In the story or in the comments....?
Assuming comments: I only get like, between 8-12 comments per chapter, and thats after maybe a few days after the chapter goes up. You're just early to the party
Assuming story: They're not going to find many unless they manage to make it to Canterlot
1137163 In the comments.
Your avatar is creeping me out now.
1137283
Buh?! Why???
1137163
Is this only for fimfiction?
How many comments do you get per chapter added up for all the sites where it gets posted? (Got to count eqd here considering you also put it up on googledocs for them ;) )
Something tells me the Stallion won't be so easy to take down, Celestia. Just sayin'... dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Luna_apple.png
1137440
I dont get many comments on EqD, maybe one per three chapters. My entire fanbase has pretty much all migrated to Fimfiction by now, I only have maybe.... ten or so people that still read on EqD?
Discord's being a bit of a naysayer... Living up to his name for sure
1137473
Interesting.
I must admit I am kind of suprised about the comparatively low number of comments and likes considering the excellent quality of the story because so far I never realy checked.
Awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Celestia's goin' crazee!
1137702
Just... Personal observation? Might not be true? The reader population on EqD care about maybe five or ten fics at a time. Project Horizons, CRISIS Equestria, Anthrpology, Shipping and Handling... They flip when those stories update, and complain when they dont. Any other fic that gets up there is pretty much just background noise, things people wonder about but never really read. Quality doesn't really count for much. It's mostly about what people want to spend time reading. And The Steadfast Sky isn't really a story or topic that interests many bronies, lovers of fanfiction or no
That came out far more bitter than I intended
I'm grateful for EqD getting me out to a readership in the first place, but I've pretty much grabbed all the attention I'm ever going to get from there. The Steadfast Sky's growth is now going to primarily come from the Fimfiction crowd, not EqD
good chapter by the way.
1137811
PEOPLE NOT LOVE THIS STORY? HOW?!
*cough* Sorry. This is one of those few I'm really obsessed with. I squee with delight every time it updates. I always look forward to reading the new chapters. (And by the way, I freaking LOVE Luna in this fic. LOVE HER.)
Okay, I think I'm done fangirling out.
1138020
I MEAN 
I write good fic, what say I?
When people do read the story, they do love it! You guys are the bestest, most excited fans I've ever had!
Problem is trying to get bronies to read it. When they do, the magic spells I placed in the words will take effect and...
Yeah... This story is FRICKIN' AWESOME!
I only really started reading it because I searched for Luna stories (Princess Luna is best pony!). I was on a mission to read every story that has Luna in it, but I gave up when I got to this story. Getting me to stop a mission is extremely hard to do, so well done!
I shall say it again, This story is fantastic!
1137811 Personally, I've mostly migrated away from EQD for story updates. I still use it to discover new stories, but there are literally only two stories I'm reading on EQD which aren't also on FIMFiction (both of which may be dead, given that they haven't updated in ages), and FIMFiction has such a superior update-alert system (at least for me, since I keep gmail open in another tab almost constantly while browsing) that I never actually need EQD for update alerts.
1138315
i.imgur.com/EBIvu.gif
EqD's system of updating every 24 hours definitly can't beat FiMfiction's up-to-the-minute updates, along with authorial creative control... Another reason why a fanbase is more easily grown on FiMFiction
1138359
Agreed. I've never even been on equestria daily. So I guess my agreement doesn't mean much. I dont really have a standard to compare anything to.
I really love this story, I just wanted to say that I read all these comments and to try to help you, I wil post this beutifuly done fic in a brony group with over a 100 bronies that most know each other. But we are from argentina, so the number of people that can understand the fic very well will be smaller.
Good luck with the fic and life.
'Tia I feel for you... I can't wait to see how this is going to be resolved.
This fic is really killing my feels.......
1137295 IDK...
I just find that staring photo creepy in some way. Something about it just......irks me. It's weird.
16 (now 17) comments already without counting the thread creator :P
"...so much potential with two entire two fields of magic."
You wanna rephrase that?
All I wonder is how did Discord get turned into stone if he acted like this when he was young?
And are they ever going to meet the other bearers of Harmony?
1142742
So much potential, because she has two entirely different kind of spells she can cast, Shadow and Sonic.
1143724
Oh for boops sake I read that sentance like ten times and didnt catch the error! for the love of boop!
Celly, noooooo~~~~~!
At least get the full set before you insist on rushing the castle!
I'm getting kinda curious as to what the nightmare actually is...
Something inherent to the elements? Outside entity drawn to them? Just alicorns living for so long they go slightly bonkers?
Celestia is becoming an interesting character to read about... She seems to feel the burden of the elements in a similar or worse level than Discord, she is putting too much weight onto herself and still keeps beating herself up for not being able to do more, to do what she is supposed to do or what the whole world expects her to do. And all of this comes from a filly's POV (a teenager at most) which makes it... Quite crushing.
I think I need to read more about the book before making some conclusions but whatever is in there is messing her up... Badly. For some reason she doesn't seems to be able to relate the book version of Kindness with the Shadow Stallion. Or maybe she thinks she can beat the Stallion because if what the books say is true then it means 1 element bearer alone could defeat another (if the stallion was the last one to remain he had to seal whoever was behind him alone)... I need more info to be able to tell what is really going on here.
ps: for a moment I had a theory of Celestia actually wanting to save the Stallion since he has spent a lot of time alone with his own nightmare and she felt bad for the colt of the book, but we've been in Celly's head today and these things don't seem to be on her line of thought right now.
absolutely love this fic, cant wait for the next chapter
1137163
I dunno about you, but I think this chapter on this site alone has far more than 8-12 comments.
1162317
That's cuz I started a discussion, dangit!
1144355
Seconded!
This is a really dumb mistake on her part... I understand the Element of Loyalty may be driving her to this, but half the Elements--how are they going to do anything to the Shadow Stallion himself when they could barely resurrect a dead bush? 
1138091
Aye, he speaks the truth!
So. With half a set of elements that are supposed to work together; without even Magic, the uniting force, and as one foal, one teenage filly, and one teenage draconequus, they plan to attack an alicorn known for his evil. FORMER element of kindness... with an element that turned to rock until Discord found it. Not a recommendation.
This can only end well.