Chapter 6: Protective Deceit
Chapter 6: Protective Deceit
The sound of hooves on marble echoed through the dark corridors in Canterlot as Princess Celestia tiredly made her way to her personal chambers. The hours in court had been exhausting and the lack of progress on the matter of the magical disturbance hadn't helped to calm her nerves either. When the court finally closed for the day, Celestia had ordered her guards to leave her alone, despite their protests, and walked away from the throne room. All she wanted was to rest her head and forget her worries for a couple of hours.
Shortly before she arrived in the wing she and her sister shared and used for their private life, the solar princess felt it was time to lower the sun. She approached a window and with a flare of her horn Celestia quickly fulfilled her duty as alicorn of the sun and made room for her sister’s moon on the firmament.
Once Celestia saw the pale crescent rising over the horizon, she continued her path and showed a faint smile. Oh, how she had missed the feeling to simply marvel her sister’s work instead of doing it herself. Surely it had been a while now since Luna had returned, but the two years she was back didn't even come close to make up for the thousand years of banishment the dark princess had suffered.
Eventually, Celestia reached her destination: the royal atrium. After all of today's troubles, she deserved a relaxing bubble bath. When she entered the chamber containing the ridiculously large bathtub embedded into the marble floor, another smile crept on Celestia's lips. The princess didn't know how, but for some reason her horde of servants had already prepared everything and already left. Maybe they just had a better communication and coordination than she gave them credit for.
However, Celestia decided to ponder about this some other time and tossed her regalia aside, sliding into the tub. Letting the warm water engulf her regal form and the sweet smell of the aromatic bathing salts and oils fill her nostrils, she finally felt the tension leave her muscles. Celestia leaned back, letting out a content sigh. This was her time of the day she used to unwind and leave her crown behind for some time and she didn't plan to let anything take that away from her.
Sadly, plans like this rarely meet reality. Not before long, a scroll materialized before her in an emerald flame. It almost fell into the water before it was caught in Celestia's magical grip and laid down beside her. The white alicorn groaned and let her head fall back on the edge of the bathtub with a dull thud. She knew it was important, neither Twilight nor Spike sent letters this late if it wasn't urgent but it interrupted her time to relax nonetheless.
Listlessly, Celestia let her head slump to the side and gifted the offending scroll with a tired glare. She knew she was procrastinating but she just didn't feel like giving up one of her rare moments for herself so easily. In front of others, the princess always acted like her status as ruler of Equestria demanded. In the privacy of her chambers though, she could leave her responsibility behind and feel free of all the pressure her title laid upon her. These were the times when she could feel more or less like a normal mare and maybe sing in the shower, that kept her sane.
The staring contest with the letter went on for a while. Despite her better judgment, Celestia hoped it would simply disappear never to be seen again. In the end, she accepted her fate and broke the seal on the scroll to unroll it before her. Her eyes rushed over the parchment, still having the annoyed spark from before in them. When Celestia reached Twilight’s signature, she stared blankly at the letters and mulled what she had just read. Celestia read it again and her frown deepened as she did.
The princess’ mind raced, processing the information and digging up what knowledge she had on this problem. The letter had unsettled her greatly. Hesitantly, an idea started forming in her mind. Celestia stepped out of the water and dried herself with a spell, donning her royal insignia again and tucked the scroll under her wing. The gears in her head still spinning, she left the room, the relaxing bubble bath completely forgotten.
The alicorn strode through the silent hallways of the castle. Not many of the guards were around this time of the day. They mostly served to keep valuable items safe from the occasional thief and making an impression on ambassadors, rather than protecting the princesses anyway and in large parts of the castle, neither could be found.
Instead, the peaceful silence helped Celestia to think and plan. Most of the time, she almost immediately knew what to do. This problem, however, demanded to be thought through thoroughly. Moments became hours as the restless princess roamed the abandoned corridors until she finally came to a decision and quickened her pace, determination written in her face.
A couple of minutes later, Celestia reached her destination. The dark entrance of a vault lay before her. This was the place where all of the magical artifacts she had gathered over the centuries were stored. The princess briefly nodded towards the two guards and entered the vault. Technically, the guards wouldn’t be necessary. The entrance was sealed with an enchantment that wouldn’t let anyone but the royal sisters through but even though it was a challenging spell, even for them, it could be dispelled with enough time and talent. Better safe than sorry.
The sun princess paced through the vault. She passed ancient statues, battered armors, pristine jewels and shining weapons, yet Celestia kept looking for something else. At last, her path ended at a dusty wooden chest with metal ornaments, standing in a dark corner. Celestia took a deep breath and pushed the chest open.
“I don’t suppose you came here just to pass time, ‘Tia. What is the matter?” a voice called from behind.
Celestia jumped a bit at the sudden break of silence and spun around to face Luna. In fact, it couldn’t have realistically been anyone else but her. Still, after the centuries Celestia had always been alone down here, it felt strange to see someone else here.
“You are right. But why are you here? Did you follow me?” the white alicorn asked.
“Indeed I have. Usually, you are in your chambers after day court ends. Yet you were wandering through the corridors so lost in thought you didn’t even notice me following you. Can you really blame me for being curious?” Luna replied with a cheeky smile and tilted her head a bit.
Celestia gave a soft chuckle. “Not really. But you know as well as I that you are sneaky enough to follow me and stay hidden even if paid attention,” she admitted.
“I guess I can’t deny this.” Luna grinned before getting serious again. “Why are you really here though? Is it about the fluctuation?”
“It is. You might want to read this,” Celestia stated and floated the from under her wind towards her sister.
The dark princess quickly skimmed over the letter. Celestia took the opportunity and turned to the chest she had come for. She retrieved six inconspicuous amulets before closing it again. The amulets were rather small but a closer inspection showed how masterfully they have been crafted. They resembled a burning snowflake and had a pristine gemstone embedded in the center. Celestia couldn’t sense anything special them by merely looking at them but she knew they were imbued with powerful protection spells from the time when the princesses’ reign was still young.
“Darkling... I have not heard this name before but the description seems familiar..." Luna muttered.
"It should. We have fought them before. Sombra called three of them his allies," Celestia confirmed.
"The creatures that guarded his throne, I suppose?" Luna asked.
Celestia nodded, summoned a new parchment and a quill and started writing a letter.
"Then what is your plan? Why did you dig out those pendants?" her sister inquired.
The sun princess briefly looked up to Luna. "Those are for Twilight and the other Elements. I won't take any risks here," she answered and continued writing. Luna fell silent and stepped beside her to read the letter as well. Soon, Celestia had finished and skimmed over it, checking for errors.
My dear Twilight,
Your diligence in matters of research is admirable. I am very proud to call you my student but I have to warn you. Darklings are not to be underestimated. Take these amulets and distribute them among your friends and yourself. They will protect you from most harmful spells and extreme temperatures. Always wear them and don’t lose them. They are valuable relics from the last millennia.
Refrain from searching on your own and wait until anything else happens. If you encounter one or see any signs that one is near, don’t hesitate and send me a message. Keep a safe distance and wait for my or Luna’s arrival.
I will ask Discord to stay around Ponyville and keep an eye on you. Try to keep him from causing too much chaos.
Yours,
Celestia
Satisfied, Celestia furled the parchment around the amulets and sealed it. She closed her eyes and flashed her horn to set the scroll ablaze with an emerald flame. It was pretty early and it would probably wake up Twilight and Spike but this was too important and Celestia knew they wouldn’t take it badly anyway. Despite her age, Twilight still looked up to her like she did as a filly.
“I have a question, sister,” Luna spoke up, “We have fought darklings before and even though they are worthy foes, they are still no real match for us. They are wretched creatures, born from greed and hatred and should be purged from this world. Their masters already paid the price for their foolishness and the knowledge how to create new ones died with them. Why don’t we just fly and hunt them down?” The dark princess finished.
Luna loved her night and the security the veil of darkness brought. For this, she resented anything that took that away. The darklings, such as all sinister beings of darkness, incurred Luna’s loathing all the more for defiling her realm.
Celestia sighed. She lowered her head and trotted towards a weapon rack nearby. Wearily, she glimpsed over the tool of war, waiting to bring death upon Equestria’s enemies once again.
“I already did that, Luna. The last of the darklings fell to my spear 600 years ago. Whatever it is, it isn’t a darkling.”
Luna’s eyes widened. “Then why didn’t you write this in the letter? Shouldn’t the Elements be informed?” the princess of the night asked, clearly taken aback.
A sad smile adorned Celestia’s lips as she walked back to her sister. “It is my responsibility and my burden to keep them safe and calm. I assured the former with the amulets. Even I could barely pass their barriers. For the latter…”
Celestia took a deep breath before she continued. “One of the lessons I learned during my rule is that the unknown is feared more than anything else. A powerful foe, even if he seems to be overwhelming, causes less terror among my subjects, if they know what he is. This is the reason I will call this entity a darkling until we know what it really is.”
“As much as I hate it, sometimes I have to leave them in the dark to prevent chaos. After all, ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?” the sun princess asked with a bitter laugh.
[/hr]
On the edge of the Everfree, the creature they had dubbed a darkling looked over Ponyville from afar. The encounter with the draconequus had been more than unsettling. As if the irritating pink pony that somehow was able to see him through his invisibility spell hadn’t been enough, the mind of the chimera had been able to resist the darkling. Granted, it had never before seen one, let alone delve into the mind of one. It wasn’t exactly relieving that the supposedly subtle spells the dark creature used, seemed to be not that subtle at all in this strange world.
However, the brief contact with the draconequus had stirred more memories. Pictures and feelings had flickered through the shadow’s mind and some of them still lingered there. The ruin in which it had entered this world in earlier days, painted and decorated. A frozen cavern, deep under the earth, containing artful masterpieces shaped from clear ice. Two ponies, one with white coat, the other with a dark blue one, donning regal garments. Feelings of pain, rage and betrayal.
The darkling mulled over all of these new, yet familiar sensations and images. Why did these even exist? Were they real? Eventually, it decided to find the truth. The dark creature viewed the small pony town, the creature memorized its location. It might be of interest later and there had been some intriguing specimens in it. With a last glance at the quiet buildings it turned around and flew away into the night.
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Same. I never come up with an exact plan, I just have a rough cut and improvise from there.