8. A Race Through Dark Places
“Master,” a golem said.
Grogar glanced to the side, and saw a trio of golems standing before him. He was at a point in the ritual where all it required now was power, rather than precise concentration. His golems had nevertheless been ordered to not interrupt him unless something important came up, so for them to be here meant that Bray had probably failed him again. “What?” He asked.
“Ponies – and alicorn – have entered – the city – Master. There – have been – explosions – Master.”
“Where?” Grogar asked, as he stole a moment from the ritual to create an illusion of the city. The golem pointed at two locations – the outer guard barracks first, then another location several blocks away.
Grogar wasn’t fooled. “They know about the passage. Where is Bray?”
“Prince Bray – is taking – golems to – the courtyard – to guard – the passage’s – exit – Master.”
It was little surprise to Grogar that Bray had been able to deduce the ponies’ plan of attack; he was an underhooved creature and so was familiar with underhooved tactics. He was also, however, prone to failure. “Go and gather thirty more golems, then return here and guard me until the ritual is complete.”
“We – obey – Master.”
---
Celestia stared at the ponies trotting in front of her, and tried to understand them. But as hard as she tried, she couldn’t.
The blue one, Trixie, was her sister’s apprentice, her hoof-chosen student in, as Celestia was given to understand, the art of politics and rhetoric. She all but oozed vanity and arrogance. Yet, at the same time, she seemed to defer to her compatriots as often as take charge. She bore the Element of Magic, yet her magic seemed limited to mere illusionary glamors and ghost sounds – tricks of light and sound that could be duplicated by any fool. Even stranger, despite her bearing the most powerful of the Elements, she seemed as much a follower as a leader.
The one she followed was, more often than not, Cheerilee. Celestia’s eyes narrowed as they closed on the earth pony mare, the one carrying the Element of Laughter for reasons that Celestia could not comprehend, given that all her attempts at levity had been low forms of humor. And her continuous insinuations…did she not realize who Celestia was? Was this how commoners addressed the nobility and royalty these days? In Celestia’s time it would have earned her a week in the stocks to make such base suggestions of the Princess.
Then there was Raindrops, the pegasus who had dared lift a hoof against her. She was barely containing her emotions, Celestia could tell, trying to keep a calm veneer despite the very real anger she felt just beneath the surface, anger at more than just Celestia, though she was currently its target. Raindrops had not taken her eyes off of Celestia for very long since their impromptu alliance had begun, and her wings had not settled by her side, instead remaining slightly raised, fluttering in agitation on occasion. She was ready for action, for betrayal by Celestia. Well, she would be disappointed. Celestia truly did not intend to break their alliance as long as she had no other means of combating Grogar.
Ditzy Doo’s eyes – one of them, in any event – had also not left Celestia, though for different reasons, she suspected, than concern over potential betrayal. The disabled pegasus was clearly still thinking back to her daughter. On some level, Celestia could both understand and admire the very obvious dedication that Ditzy felt for her foal, but on the other hoof, Celestia was reasonably certain that the pegasus was no fit mother. Even beyond her disability, the fact was that even with Celestia’s threat and the foal firmly in her possession, Ditzy had come after Celestia all those months ago. Celestia had not truly been bluffing when she had threatened the foals’ lives, but only because she had never even considered that any parent would be so foolish as to try and call it. Had things been a little different, and had Celestia been forced to carry out her threat…
Of the five mares, only Carrot Top had been anything approaching agreeable – this made at least a little sense, given that she depended upon Celestia’s Sun for her livelihood. Somehow, even more so than Ditzy, Carrot Top appeared to be in well over her head with both the current situation, and in opposing Celestia. She looked and carried herself as no more than a simple farmer, and whatever her herbal knowledge, the farm was clearly where she belonged. Only misplaced loyalty to Luna had dragged her to this island.
One of the mares was an arrogant, abrasive showoff who nevertheless commanded her sister’s respect, and those of her comrades. One was an irreverent pony who would prefer to make light of every situation than treat them with the seriousness they required. One was an untrusting mare who wore a mask of lies over the anger she felt beneath her surface. One was a disabled mother who couldn’t see the danger she put her own foal in. And one was a simple farmer thrust into a situation far beyond her abilities.
How did these ponies ever earn the Elements of Harmony, even in whatever corrupted form that her sister had caused them to adopt?
Celestia whickered in annoyance, trying to dispel those thoughts. They weren’t going to help her with her current task. “The golems I destroyed were guarding the barracks,” she said, “but there is little of interest in there for any attacker, beyond the secret passage. It is likely that Grogar knows of the passage, then, and the other end of this passage will be guarded as well.”
Trixie and Cheerilee both glanced back at her, joining Raindrops and Ditzy who wouldn’t let her out of their sight. “And the chances are probably pretty good that Grogar knows we’re coming, after your little pyrotechnics show,” Cheerilee noted. She looked Celestia over. “And I don’t think you’re up to fighting a whole army of those things.”
Celestia bristled. “I will rise to any challenge.”
“We’ll try and help if we can. Not any good for us if you collapse from exhaustion, after all. Besides, if we know what’s coming I think we can deal with – ” Cheerilee was forced to stop when, when, due to not watching where she was going, she walked right into a solid slab of stone. She stifled a cry of surprise as she stumbled backwards from it, and her attempts to remain upright only resulted in her grabbing at Trixie’s cape by her mouth and toppling over anyway. Raindrops, who equally had been paying more attention to Celestia, tripped over the two of them and ended with her dock high in the air, while Ditzy stumbled and fell on top of Cheerilee.
Celestia stared at the pile of ponies as they untangled themselves, then glanced to Carrot Top, who had managed to stop her trot in time to avoid falling over. The earth pony mare looked back ad she shifted from one hoof to another, looking like she was trying to think up some way to convince Celestia that her comrades were not a troupe of clumsy oafs. She didn’t think up anything by the time the ponies had picked themselves up, Cheerilee chuckling a little even as she did. “You did say as long as we know what’s coming…” Trixie observed as she turned around and looked at the slab that had brought them all down. “I’m guessing we’re here?”
Celestia grunted, trying to remember that these five ponies did, in fact, wield the Elements of Harmony and so were, at least on some level, a threat to her. “There should be a lever,” she provided.
Trixie’s horn glowed a little brighter as she examined the wall near the slap, finding the lever after a few moments and pulling it. The slab groaned a moment, before beginning to slide to the side. Trixie’s and Celestia’s horn-light revealed a large storeroom beyond, much like the one they had entered the secret passage from, and this one in no better condition. The six of them moved out cautiously, ears perked and alert and horn-light sweeping across the room, looking for any sign of ambush. They found none, however, only a set of stairs that would take them up to the barracks.
Once on the barracks’ ground floor, Celestia used its door and the fact that she knew it faced west. She pointed a hoof south. “The palace is that way,” she said. “Directly in front of us is the royal library, while north is the Necropolis, the burial tomb for the royal family of Tambelon.” She made a cutting motion with one hoof when Cheerilee made to ask a question. “Luna and I also emptied the tomb before exiling Grogar.”
“Good. I hate zombies.”
Cheerilee trotted cautiously over to the barracks’ main door, her hoof-steps light as an owl’s feather, and placed one hoof on the door, glancing to Trixie as she did. The unicorn needed no prompting as her horn let out a subdued flash, and Cheerilee was cloaked in an invisibility spell. Afterwards, the door to the barracks creaked open slowly, as Cheerilee looked around. After a few moments, the door closed again, and Trixie made her visible again.
“I don’t see anything,” she said worriedly. “No guards – no golems at all.”
The six looked between each other. “Trap,” Raindrops guessed.
“Can the golems lay traps?” Carrot Top wondered.
“Bray can,” Cheerilee provided as she glanced first at the door, then back down to the barracks’ basement. “We should go back and try this from a different angle – ”
“No,” Celestia said, cutting the air with a hoof. “If they have trapped this end of the secret passage, then they have by now trapped the other as well. If we must walk into a trap, it must be one that nevertheless moves us closer to our goal.”
“So what do we do, then?” Trixie asked.
Celestia allowed herself a small grin. “Spring the trap.”
---
It was a good thing for Bray that Grogar was currently occupied with the ritual to summon Tirek, or else he might have had to tell the ram that the ponies and alicorn had made it inside not just the city walls, but the palace walls as well.
Fortunately, the ponies were not nearly as clever with their plan as they thought they were. Bray knew all the secret ways into and out of the palace – he had grown up in it, after all – and the moment one of the golems had reported to him the attack near the barracks, he knew the insurgents’ plans.
Bray stood atop one of the lower balconies of his palace, flanked by two golems and looking down into the broad courtyard that contained the former royal guard barracks. There was only one entrance into or out of the building. Bray had gathered three dozen golems to hide and wait to strike the moment the ponies exposed themselves, and he had another two dozen guarding the city barracks, while the remainder of the golems continued to sweep the city, just in case the ponies and alicorn somehow managed to evade capture.
The donkey prince – king – was growing more than a little impatient, however, as he put his hooves upon the railing of the balcony and leaned down, glaring at the barracks. He had thought that he’d seen the door creek open…did the ponies see a lack of guards, and were they suspicious? That was technically fine, they could stay pinned in the barracks and rot for all he cared, but it was certainly going to try his patience.
Just as he was about to order the golems to attack, however, the door was thrown open with a line of fire that continued forward until it splashed off against the palace’s walls. Bray didn’t take his eyes from the door, however, as Celestia and the five ponies suddenly came charging out, Celestia in front, as the six galloped towards the palace’s main doors.
The golems gave a roar and leaped from their hiding places moments later, charging forward in their loping, claws-over-feet way and closing in on the ponies and alicorn from all sides. The alicorn skidded to a halt when a wall of golems appeared in front of her, and stomped her hooves on the ground, creating a wall of fire around herself and her charges. Celestia’s eyes were glowing white with fury, her mane and tail animate flames as she snarled at the golems that skidded to a halt outside of the ring of fire…
…and something seemed wrong. The prince had a good idea of what, however, based on his previous encounter with the ponies. Bray gathered the magical power of the gem in his turban, and hurled it forward and down at the alicorn. The magic collided with the ground and spread out in a white wave, washing over the fire and the ponies…and causing them all to burst apart into blue smoke.
Illusions. Bray had thought as much. The golems looked around in confusion, but Bray smiled haughtily as he gathered more magic and launched it in two straight beams, starting at the door to the barracks and moving away in a wide field. Within moments, one of the beams caused a puff of blue smoke, and five ponies and an alicorn glanced up in surprise and shock at their invisibility having been dispelled when they were halfway towards one of the palace’s side-entrances.
The golems turned to the revealed ponies and alicorn, letting out hollow wails and charging. “Get them!” Bray shouted. “Tear them to pieces! Kill the alicorn first!”
The ponies and alicorn turned and ran as the golems set after them, and Bray laughed at the sight. Running! Ponies who bore the Elements of Harmony, and the alicorn of the sun, running from mere golems!
Bray’s laughter died after a moment, however, as another bad feeling crept up on him and wouldn’t go away. Ponies who bore the Elements of Harmony, and the alicorn of the sun, running from mere golems?
With more than a little dread, he fired off another burst of dispelling magic at their fleeing forms…and, as he had feared, they, too, burst apart into blue smoke. The golems once again halted in confusion.
The illusionist had waited for her first illusion to be dispelled, and had quickly created a second, making it seem like he had dispelled invisibility. But then where were the real ponies? Bray began firing off bursts of dispelling magic across the courtyard at random, groaning in frustration as the golems stood with their heads swiveling like idiot birds…
…and then Bray remembered that alicorns had wings. He remembered this because he saw a flash from scarcely a few feet away from him, and managed to throw himself to the floor of the balcony just as a thin ray of fire would have gone through his left eye. Glancing up, he saw Celestia, her invisibility dispelled and a look of pure hate on her face as she readied another spell…
The golems on either side of Bray reacted faster, however, charging from the balcony and leaping at Celestia with enough force to send her sprawling backwards, claws and teeth ripping and tearing at her body. She cried out in surprise as she fell from the sky and to the courtyard below, hitting the ground before she could channel a fire spell around her body and burn away the golems attacking her. By the time she was on four hooves again, however, the more than thirty golems in the courtyard were closing in on her.
Celestia would burn them away, Bray knew, if he didn’t act. Safe as he was for the moment, he got up and trotted to the balcony’s edge, drawing upon his magic once more and placing a magical field in front of Celestia’s horn just as she was about to fire off a small, pulsing yellow bead. The spell travelled mere inches before impacting Bray’s shield and detonating far earlier than Celestia had anticipated, only a hoofspan from her face. It was impossible to burn the alicorn of the sun, but she still reacted to pressure and force like any other being, and was hurled by her own explosion, crying out in surprise as she rolled along the ground. She once again began to pick herself up, but the golems were on her first.
Somepony reacted faster. Celestia was suddenly encased in a sphere of blue energy that the golems impacted against but didn’t break. They attacked the sphere furiously and tore it apart in mere seconds, but it was time enough for Celestia to stand and once more wreathe herself in flames. The golems leaped away from her as they considered how to attack her, and until then focused more on dodging her than actual attack.
Bray was more concerned with the sphere – the ponies were still in the courtyard somewhere, but he could see no sign of them. He let out a cry of frustration as he began once more trying to dispel any invisibility fields that no doubt cloaked them.
---
The five ponies stood just inside the side door of the palace, glancing out at Corona. “Do we help?” Carrot Top asked worriedly. “This wasn’t part of the plan…”
“We’d…we’d get…in the way…” Trixie panted, leaning heavily against her as her magic use finally began to catch up to her. Performing the two large illusions that had fooled Bray – the second with little warning, as Cheerilee hadn’t seen Bray initially – plus masking the six of them in an illusory hemisphere for their brief run had been a significant drain on her already-drained-by-Corona-and-just-casting-a-lot-today-anyway magical reserves. Casting a shield-spell over Corona and maintaining it against the golems’ attacks long enough for Corona to pick herself up had just about done her in as far as spellcasting, or potentially even remaining conscious, was concerned for the near future. “She just…had to…go on a killing spree…”
“No, attacking Bray was a good idea,” Cheerilee said, glancing up. The door that they had entered through was actually directly beneath the balcony that Bray stood upon, or nearly so. “One less problem if it’d worked…it didn’t, though.” From the sound of things, Cheerilee wasn’t certain whether she was glad or not – the thought of allowing Corona to kill someone, even Bray, was not a comfortable one for her. It didn’t sit any better with Trixie, nor the other three ponies, if the looks on their faces were anything to go by.
Corona was lashing out at the golems as best she could with fire, but they were nimble things, seeming to have decided that dodging a lot and allowing her to wear herself down was a better plan then charging in and risking her flames. She did manage to catch a few golems, but not nearly enough at a time – and when she tried centering a burst of fire on herself, they noticed her build up the magic and scattered out of range.
“We can’t leave without her,” Cheerilee noted. “If we run into more golems…”
“She told us to run,” Raindrops noted anxiously, hooves and wings twitching, eager to propel her into a fight. “If something like this happened, she said to leave her. Plus, there’s probably more golems on the way right now…”
There was a moment of silence as the five looked between each other. “If I told you all to run and leave me, would you?” Carrot Top asked.
“No, but I like you,” Trixie said dryly. “You’re my friend. Corona’s not. She’s the other thing.”
“Not right this second,” Raindrops said. “Enemy of my enemy…”
“Is still our enemy too,” Ditzy objected, eyes focusing on Raindrops. “She was going to kill Dinky – ”
“Yeah, she was,” Cheerilee interrupted. “But…but Dinky’s not here right now. Lyra is. We need Corona to save Lyra.”
Ditzy’s wings flared, looking like she was about to object very strenuously, but paused as she glanced back out at the golems. About a third of the golems that had been attacking Corona had fallen, but Corona wasn’t looking good either, favoring one leg over her others slightly. Her ears drooped, and she seemed to shrink in on herself. “Th…then I have an idea,” Ditzy said after a moment, looking to Trixie. “Do you have another invisibility spell in you?”
Trixie looked at Ditzy incredulously, but after a moment leaned away from Carrot Top. “I…I won’t be able to help Corona,” she noted. She was running nearly on fumes already, and wasn’t sure what she could conjure up without sending herself into a coma.
“Right, but we’ll need wings for this, and Raindrops is better at dealing with golems than I am.” One of her eyes had drifted up, but after a moment the other joined it as she poked a hoof at the ceiling – or rather, the balcony above, and who was in it.
Trixie, and everypony else, understood her plan instantly from that, and Trixie nodded, closing her eyes and breathing carefully. “Th-this is gonna be my sloppiest spell ever,” she noted, as a blue field wrapped around Ditzy and she faded from sight – almost. A notable blob remained behind, as Trixie let out a gasp at the spell’s conclusion and stumbled, though she was caught by Raindrops. She took a few moments to center herself, then looked to Ditzy. “It’s d-dark, so that’ll help. Move slow, th-that’ll help too,” she stuttered. Raindrops helped her into a corner, where the unicorn collapsed to her barrel and focused on staying conscious.
“This is going to be fast,” Raindrops noted.
“Well, let’s just hope that it’s ‘cause we do well,” Cheerilee said with a slight grin, as the two readied themselves near the front, took in deep breaths, and then charged out shouting at the top of their lungs, Carrot Top following and Trixie looking out, watching. The golems reacted to the noise, giving Corona a chance to burn two more to cinders, but more than a score of golems still remained. Half of them let out wails of their own and charged at the ponies.
The two earth ponies and one pegasus managed to barrel straight through the golems that came at them, Raindrops plowing into one and dragging it to the ground long enough to crush its head between her hooves. In moments, they were as close to Corona as they could be considering that she was still on fire. Corona herself alternated between keeping an eye on the golems, and looking at the ponies disbelievingly.
“What are you doing, you stupid foals?” Corona demanded. “I told you to run!”
“You’re not my queen,” Cheerilee noted. “Also technically you only told us to run if we ran into Grogar.”
“This is no time for jest – ”
“Shut up and help us stay alive!” Carrot Top exclaimed as a golem charged at her. She let out a small cry of fright as she narrowly dodged it, then bucked its face in. Another golem leaped on her, but it was seized in golden telekinesis and torn from her, flung away and over the castle’s walls with a flick of Corona’s head. A golem leaped teeth-first at her throat in her moment of exposure, but Cheerilee got under it and head-butted it away, where Raindrops fell on its back with all four of her hooves and pounded away at it. She nearly fell prey to a golem, but it burst into flames before reaching her.
“Where are the other two?” Trixie heard Corona demand, as the golems settled back into their routine of feints to try and goad Corona into exposing herself, even as the ponies stepped closer to Corona for protection. “Trixie, Ditzy?”
“Trixie’s a little out of it right now,” Raindrops responded, glancing up at the balcony that Bray was on. He was readying some kind of magic spell, getting ready to sling it at them. “As for Ditzy…”
Above her, Trixie heard Bray let out a whicker of surprise. There was a flash – probably him losing a spell he was trying to cast – but then, a moment later, he soared into sigh in the air, being carried by the invisible Ditzy. The gemstone on his turban glowed and flashed across him, revealing the pegasus holding him about his barrel, wings beating furiously to keep herself aloft with the larger and heavier donkey in her grasp, who by now was screaming in fright.
The golems reacted as one, turning to look up into the sky, though they didn’t stop moving around to avoid a potential attack by Corona. Bray, meanwhile, bucked his legs against being held. “L-let me go!” he cried.
“I don’t think you really want that right now,” Ditzy said as her wings continued to beat as hard as they could. She was already feeling burn in her muscles; most pegasi could lift their own body weight and fly, but Bray was easily half again that, maybe more. “Call off the – ”
“Golems! Get away from the ponies and alicorn! Now!” Bray shrieked, apparently figuring out pretty easily what Ditzy wanted. The golems obeyed, retreating backwards and away by a dozen feet. Corona didn’t let the flames around her drop, but she didn’t lash out with fire immediately, either, taking a few moments to get her breath and center back. The ponies with her did likewise.
“There!” Bray said, twisting his head to look at Ditzy. “N-now put me back on the – gah! Your eyes! Should you even be flying?!”
Trixie’s muzzle scrunched at that, as indeed only one of Ditzy’s eyes was on Bray, while the other was looking out at the palace’s walls. Trixie was pretty sure that, had she been up there, she wouldn’t make fun of the eyes of somepony who literally held her life in her hooves. Ditzy, though, seemed like she planned to ignore the slight, and instead looked to her friends and Corona. “Get inside,” she called down.
The four did as quickly as they could. The golems moved with them, keeping the distance between themselves and their foes constant. “And,” Ditzy said, reaching forward and grabbing Bray’s turban in her teeth. “Ah’ll jsht tak thish…” Bray whickered in surprise and anger at Ditzy, and the gem in his turban lit up, readying a spell as Ditzy tried to tug it off of his head. Trixie let out a gasp of surprise – Ditzy probably wasn’t going to get the gemstone off in time to stop whatever spell Bray was trying. Whickering in a mixture of frustration and hope that her magic was up to this, she lit up her horn and cast forward a fireworks glamor – nothing fancy, just a burst of light right in front of Bray’s eyes. He cried out in surprise and lost his concentration, and didn’t get it back before Ditzy tore the turban from his head, revealing a dark brown mane. Ditzy quickly glided down to the palace’s side door, pausing only long enough to drop Bray when he was just a few feet from the ground. Her friends quickly closed the door once she was inside, though it didn’t take very long thereafter for them to hear Bray on the other side, shouting for the golems to break down the door and get them. A golden field of Corona’s make covered the door immediately before it shook from having a golem slam against it.
Corona, breathing heavily, looked to the ponies. “You…you should have left me,” she panted. “The traitor prince didn’t know where you were.”
Trixie waved a hoof at her. “Carrot Top’s…idea…” she breathed, trying to stand. She managed to get her hooves under her for just a few seconds before they gave out like a newborn foal’s, and she slipped back down to the ground. Cheerilee and Raindrops, at least, caught her before she could injure herself too badly. While this happened, golems slammed against the door two more times, but Corona’s shield held.
“Trixie, you didn’t overchannel, did you?” Carrot Top asked worriedly.
Trixie shook her head. “No, just…just tired…see, this is why it’s nice…nice for earth ponies, or pegasi. You can’t do this to yourselves…”
Corona grimaced as the golems again slammed against the door. She glanced to Ditzy, or more specifically the turban she still held. “I can use the magic of the gem to restore more of my power,” she noted, holding out a hoof. “Not enough to challenge Grogar – but enough to destroy any number of golems.”
Ditzy had one eye on Corona, but the other one was pointed more-or-less at Trixie. “Could you give it to Trixie instead?” she asked.
Corona blanched. “Why?” she demanded.
“Because look at her,” Raindrops said, as she and Cheerilee continued to help Trixie stand up. “After whatever you did to her and all the spells she’s been using, she’s practically dead on her hooves.”
“Non,” Trixie objected, making a cutting motion with one hoof and standing away from Raindrops and redoubling her efforts to stand on her own. “I’m – I’m good. Fire’s better than smoke and mirrors right now.”
The other ponies blinked. “You sure?” Cheerilee asked.
“Pos – ” Trixie began, making to step forward, when the golems again crashed into the door from the other side. The sudden noise made them all jump in fright, but in Trixie’s case she ended up stumbling over her own hooves and falling to her haunches. “Might…” she said after a moment, “might need somepony to carry me…”
“Yeah, no,” Raindrops said, looking at Corona. “Trixie needs the help more than you.”
Corona eyed Trixie for a long moment – she was picking herself back up and straightening out her cape and hat – before letting out a beleaguered sigh. When the golems next impacted the door – splintering it and the golden shield that maintained it, though it held – Corona quickly dropped the shield, then wrapped the gemstone in Bray’s turban up in her aura. The turban itself was burned away, while the gem shivered and shattered.
White-golden light flowed from it and into Trixie, and she gasped, eyes widening at the feeling. It was at once like feeling fire burn through her veins, and at the same time a cold blast of air on an already cold day. But unlike those, it didn’t hurt, or feel uncomfortable – far from it, it was invigorating, as she felt her magic return to her in a burning wave. “Wow,” she managed to say after a moment, standing. “Just…wow. Never had magic just fill up like that…” she looked to her hooves. “Tingly…”
Corona rolled her eyes as she reinforced her shield over the door. “Let’s go, now,” she said. “Sooner or later Bray will remember that the palace has other doors.”
---
“Why doesn’t this place have any doors?” Lyra demanded as she and Zecora entered another section of the palace, this one distinguished from the previous maze of hallways that lead nowhere by the fact that all the windows were on the right side of the hall instead of the left. Lyra was actually seriously considering putting those windows to use at this point as an alternate means of escape.
Zecora trotted over next to one of the windows now, getting up on a wide bench set before it and glancing out. Somehow, the two of them had managed to climb only up, not down, and were now on the palace’s fifth level – out of how many, Lyra had no idea. From the way she was eyeing the drapes that flanked the windows, she was equally considering just tying a rope together and trying to climb. “Learned scholars the Tamberlaan may have been, but this palace’s layout is the worst I have ever seen,” she remarked.
“Been in many?” Lyra asked.
“I have travelled far and near, across all this world’s frontiers.”
Lyra nodded absently, as she joined Zecora at the window, looking it over and finding a latch easily enough. She opened it with her horn’s magic easily enough, and a cool night air began to blow into the palace. She then backed away, and began tearing down the drapes from all the windows in reach. “Think these can hold a few hundred pounds?”
Zecora eyed them. “No, I do not believe so.”
“Got any better ideas?”
Zecora smiled weakly and shook her head as she took up two of the drapes in her hooves and, with considerably more skill than Lyra had ever seen a non-unicorn pony manage – or even many unicorns – tied the ends together into a secure knot. Between the two of them, they managed to get a long rope tied together in just a few minutes, anchoring one end by using a bench in front of the window – it was wider than the window – and taking a moment to look out again. The drop was at least sixty feet, probably more – and they were asking a lot of the bench and drapes both in expecting carry several hundred pounds of equine as they descended. Zecora looked to Lyra. “We must take this climb one at a time,” she said.
“You first,” Lyra said, pointing at her horn. “You’re heavier, but I can catch you if I have to.”
Zecora nodded, wrapping her forehooves around the makeshift rope and climbing up onto the windowsill. Taking in a deep breath and saying something in Zebra – a wish for luck, most likely – she began to lower herself over the side, rear hooves scrabbling against the stone walls of the palace as she tried to descend as slowly as possible – which was not very slowly at all, the zebra sliding down her first twenty feet far faster than she probably intended, only her teeth biting onto the rope stopping her descent. After taking a few moments to collect herself, and probably curse like a sailor in Zebra, Zecora began descending again, Lyra keeping a close eye on her, horn glowing and ready to grab if need be. Unfortunately, the two hit a snag – Zecora ran out of rope, near a second-story window.
Lyra cursed herself for merely eyeballing the length of ropes they’d need. “Climb back up, try again?” Lyra called down. The zebra was still a good ten or fifteen feet from the ground – too far to safely jump without risking a broken leg.
Zecora steadied herself against a wall, and glanced up. There was no small amount of sweat on her features as she shook her head at Lyra’s suggestion. “If I were to attempt to do that, I am certain that I would fall flat,” she answered, then looked back down, at the window. “But this is nevertheless progress…I believe I can gain access.”
Not sure if you can rhyme ‘progress’ and ‘access,’ Lyra thought, though she didn’t say that aloud as the zebra fumbled with a rear hoof against the window’s base. She wasn’t entirely certain what the zebra did, but whatever it was, she managed to get the window to open, and swing her way inside. A few seconds later, she leaned back out, and waved Lyra to follow.
Lyra sucked in a breath at that, as she looked down at the makeshift rope. Wrapping it carefully around the fetlocks of her forehooves, she slowly began to lower herself over the side, bracing herself with her hind hooves and grabbing the rope with teeth and telekinesis. The stone under her hooves, however, was nearly smooth and far too expertly grafted – there were few nooks or crannies to catch, and Lyra found that she was mostly using her forward body strength rather than her rear to climb, or rather, controlled-fall. She let out several gasps of fright as her descent became basically a matter of letting herself fall a few feet, and then grabbing the rope and trying to stop, only to repeat the process. She was certain she bruised her fetlocks and strained some foreleg muscles, and it was a miracle she didn’t lose a tooth – but, at length, she reached the window Zecora had opened, and the zebra helped to pull her inside.
“Let’s not do that again,” Lyra insisted, panting and trying to will her heart to stop trying to explode from her chest. Ponies were not meant to climb. “Never, ever, ever again.”
Zecora only grunted, looking around. Apart from the second floor being dominated by red-hued carpets and drapes rather than blue, there was little to distinguish it from the hallway they had just exited. Lyra, meanwhile, looked at their makeshift rope. “I can probably grab that and – ” she began, when a crashing sound interrupted her.
Jumping, Zecora and Lyra turned just as a door in the hallway was thrown up, and a donkey – Bray, but missing his turban – came running in, followed by a dozen golems. “Hurry, you rag-dolls! If Grogar find out – ” he began, when he and the golems following him skidded to a halt at the sight of Zecora and Lyra.
The two escaped prisoners stared at the donkey prince and his entourage, as Bray stared back, eyes wide. At length, one of the golems spoke up. “Prisoners – have escaped – Prince Bray.”
“I can see that!” Bray exclaimed, thrusting a hoof forward as Lyra and Zecora turned tail and started running. “Capture the pony! Kill the zebra!”
The two had already reached a bend in the hallway and taken it. Lyra glanced over her shoulder as she ran, and saw the golems giving chase claw-over-foot, taking the turn by sliding, some of them colliding with the far wall but barely slowing down, instead pushing off and immediately resuming their run. Lyra and Zecora seemed faster, but they didn’t know the castle’s layout, and unlike the golems, they’d get tired eventually.
“Any ideas?!” Lyra asked of Zecora as her horn glowed, grabbed a nearby golem, and shoved it against another. The golems all stumbled as they fell, but they’d be up in just a few moments, Lyra was sure. Zecora, meanwhile, only grunted a negative as the two kept running through the halls, hooves scrabbling on the carpeting as they took another turn – and Lyra nearly plowed muzzle-first into Corona the Tyrant Sun.
Only a quick snap of Corona’s wings, moving her to the side, prevented Lyra from bowling straight into her, an action that probably would have injured the mere unicorn. Instead, Lyra went careening into the ponies that followed the Tyrant Sun – Cheerilee, Trixie, and the other Elements. They stumbled but didn’t fall as Lyra glanced at them, then Corona. “Uh – ”
“You’re okay!” Cheerilee exclaimed, grabbing Lyra tightly in a hug. “But – wait, why aren’t you in a dungeon somewhere?”
“Uh – ” Lyra repeated, still staring at Corona.
The alicorn rolled her eyes in annoyance. “We are in alliance until Grogar is dealt with,” she said, then glanced to the zebra. A look of vague surprise passed over Corona’s features – Lyra imagined that whatever had happened between her friends and Corona to make them ally, it probably hadn’t involved the alicorn’s concern for the well-being of her servant.
“Wait,” Raindrops said, glancing between Zecora and Lyra. “What were you two running from?”
Lyra opened her mouth to explain, but the golems arrived before she could, taking the turn and not pausing a moment on seeing themselves confronted with more ponies then they had previously needed to deal with. The six ponies let out shouts of surprise, and Trixie instinctively let loose a fireworks spell from her horn as the golems closed in – a fireworks spell that produced a real explosion and real cinders. None of the golems went up in flames, but they all stumbled and fell, several of them with small flames dancing on their bodies.
Lyra’s head whipped to look at Trixie, who’s horn was glowing blue but with little sparks of gold that had never been there before. The other unicorn’s mouth was hanging open. “Since when did you know how to make real booms?” she demanded, as she was passed the Element of Loyalty by Ditzy, and her lyre by Carrot Top.
“There must be some…side-effects,” Corona explained as she stepped forward, horn glowing gold and conjuring up a solid wall of fire that stretched from one end of the hallway to another. Lyra noted that her wings were sagging a little, and her head somewhat as well – she looked tired.
“You could have warned me!” Trixie exclaimed, looking up at her horn warily.
“Trixie was running on empty but Corona used Bray’s magic gem to restore her,” Cheerilee explained quickly to Lyra.
“Celestia!”
Lyra ignored Corona’s correction as she glanced again at the Tyrant Sun, even as she put her Element on and held onto her lyre telekinetically and tightly. “We’re allies now?” she asked.
Zecora bowed her head. “Glad am I to see that the thought occurred to more than Lyra and me.”
The five ponies besides Lyra eyed her warily; they remembered all too keenly, as Lyra still did, Zecora’s betrayal of them when they had first met. Nevertheless Lyra held up a hoof. “She’s been nothing but helpful, and we both know that our working together won’t last longer than it has to anyway.” Lyra said, then glanced to Corona, eyes narrow. She couldn’t forget that Corona had kidnapped Bon Bon, threatened her the way she had Ponyville’s foals, but… “And I guess,” she said at length, “I guess I can get behind working with her…for now.”
Corona looked behind her, at Lyra. “Then hopefully you can be of some use,” she said. “Where is the demon ram?”
Lyra’s eyes widened, remembering where he had been not too long ago, what she and Zecora had seen – and what Grogar had told her. “Tirek,” she said, prompting Corona’s eyes to grow even wider than her own. “Tirek! Grogar’s trying to summon Tirek! That’s why he wanted one of us alive!”
Corona’s mouth opened and closed a few times, before she grit her teeth and turned back to her wall of flame. She dispersed it, then shot a bead of fire forward, into the group of golems waiting beyond it. The beat exploded in a flash of heat and light; when the explosion cleared, several of the golems had fallen – having nowhere to run or dodge in the hallway – and the remainder were quickly picked off by Corona, with Trixie giving her apparently new pyrokinetic powers a try by releasing her own explosion amongst them a few moments later. It had more sound and light that real heat or force, but it was enough.
The next thing Lyra knew, however, was that Corona was all but on top of her, glaring down at her. “Where?” She demanded.
“Uh – I – I dunno, this place is like a maze, but…big room. Really big room. Had balconies looking down on it.”
“The throne room,” Corona reasoned, pulling away from Lyra and glancing around, then setting off, not waiting for the ponies or Zecora. Taking a moment to glance at one another, they followed as quickly as they could.
“Tirek?” Cheerilee asked as they galloped after Corona. “The Tirek? The one with the legates and the Cabal and the just generally not fun times for anypony when Equestria was first founded?”
“No, some other Tirek,” Lyra responded with a snort.
Cheerilee chuckled. “If only,” she mourned, then glanced down at her Element. “We can take him. And Grogar too. We’re not going to run into anything else, are we? Lavan? Squirk? The Red Cloud?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to say ‘no’ just in case I’m wrong.” Her eyes narrowed, however, as she glanced back at where they had come from. “Hey…I didn’t see Bray. Did any of you?”
“No,” the five answered. Ditzy continued, “we got his magic gem, so he can’t cast anymore spells. Maybe he’s gone off to hide.”
“Or get reinforcements,” Raindrops grunted.
“Or that,” Ditzy admitted.
---
Corona lead them unerringly through the palace’s twists and turns. Lyra was right, the palace was like a maze, with little apparent sense to its arrangement; the six ponies couldn’t help but wonder if that was original to the palace, or if Grogar had done some redecorating since taking the place over. Regardless, it was only a few minutes before they found themselves standing before a broad double-door, one that Lyra confirmed as being the one through which Grogar had been conducting his ritual. Corona didn’t pause a moment before running into it shoulder-first, throwing it open –
And there was a flash, and suddenly the alicorn, the zebra, and the six ponies found themselves standing in a throne room full of donkeys, a regal-looking king sitting at a throne. Sitting beside him was a queen, and all around in smaller but no less regal chairs were other donkeys, a half-dozen in all, who all bore a resemblance to him – the royal family, no doubt, given that Bray sat amongst them, the second-youngest out of four jacks and two jennies total.
Standing in front of the king was a ram, as tall and as powerfully built as Grogar, but with natural green eyes, normal teeth, and fur that was more white than gray – it was Grogar as he had appeared before the city of Tambelon, when Bray had first brought him in.
“No!” Corona exclaimed. “Not – not now!”
It was another of the imprinted memories. Corona fell back to amongst the ponies and zebra and quickly surrounded them in fire and magic, glancing around nervously. Even her magical sight couldn’t penetrate the image – and the golems were invisible to it, probably because they lacked a mind of their own.
“What do we do?” Trixie demanded.
“Help me maintain this shield,” Corona responded, “and be ready to act!”
Trixie and Lyra both did as Corona asked, using their magic to supplement Corona’s own. Meanwhile, the white Grogar had just risen from a bow before the king of Tambelon.
“Grogar,” the king said, his voice both regal and paternal, “I understand that you have a demonstration for us?”
“Yes, your majesty,” Grogar responded, his voice lacking any hint of malice as he trotted smoothly to the center of the room. “But first, a story.”
“Ooh, I love stories!” One of the princesses exclaimed.
Grogar smiled, a completely innocent and honest smile. “Once, when I was travelling along the coast of the southern ocean,” he said, “I came across a small pony town that made its living on seaweed-harvesting. Next to this village was a beach, naturally enough – and on that beach was a great whale, that had stranded itself on the shore, trapped. The villagers were struggling mightily to keep the whale wet, and alive. The pegasi had gathered rainclouds for the purpose. The unicorns and the earth ponies, meanwhile, were trying to drag the whale back into the water, so that it could swim away.
“I helped, of course, lending my magic where I could. And after six or seven hours, we finally got the whale into the water.”
“Good show!” The king exclaimed.
Grogar, however, held up a hoof. “Your majesty, I am sad to say that the story isn’t over. You see, less than an hour later, the whale beached itself again. This time, being more experienced with the matter, we were able to get it into the water much faster – but it promptly beached itself a third time. We couldn’t understand it. Finally, we examined the whale in detail, and here is where I found its problem. Its flippers and tail were all paralyzed. How, I do not know, but the whale could barely swim or stay afloat. If left in water too deep, it would sink beneath the waves and drown. The whale beached itself, therefore, to keep breathing – even though its great weight meant that, on land, it would suffocate. It would merely take longer to die. But faced with the choice of drowning in minutes or suffocating for hours, the whale chose to suffocate. Because it would live longer.”
The royal family, and the other donkeys in the room, looked more than a little morose. Grogar bowed his head. “The lesson I learned that day was this – that it is only natural for a living creature to do everything in its power to stay alive for as long as possible. The will to live is the strongest of all instincts.”
Grogar turned to a magic circle he had etched into the floor. “As you know, your majesty – I am a necromancer. And while on the mainland, such magics are considered base and horrifying, here, you have granted me a place to learn, to study, to perfect my magic. Because in your wisdom, your majesty, you know that all knowledge must be pursued.”
The king nodded. “Indeed,” he said gravely. “And the magic of death, perhaps most of all. For without understanding death, can we ever truly understand life?”
“Most philosophical,” Grogar said in agreement, as his horns glowed. “Life is strength. This is not to be contested, it seems logical enough – you live, you affect your world. To grow old and sickly, to wither, and to die…death is a weakness. One that I have long sought to transcend. And your majesty, I am proud to announce that I have found a way.”
The king leaned forward in his throne, eyes widening. “Immortality?” he asked.
“Immortality.” Grogar agreed, placing a hoof inside the magic circle. “Your majesty, I have found a way. I am going to live forever.”
“Wonderful!” The king exclaimed. “With your knowledge…Tambelon can last forever, too!” He looked to his family. Bray had pulled some kind of charm from his robes, and was holding it tightly in his hooves. “Us…and every citizen of Tambelon. The richest and most learned city in the world for all eternity! This is a great gift you have granted us!”
Grogar paused a moment at that, before his eyes narrowed. “No.”
As the king stared in confusion, Grogar looked to the magic circle. “Optatio.”
The world went white…
…and when it faded back in, the ponies and zebra found their shield surrounded on all sides by golems, dozens of them, the throne room dark and lit only by torches, and thirty feet from them, standing before the magic circle and beside a magic bell, Grogar, the demon ram, no longer in disguise. He turned to look at the ponies, zebra, and alicorn, eyes narrow as his horn glowed white, channeling power into the pentagram.
Corona let out a shout of defiance, exploding her fiery shield from around her. But the golems had learned that trick – and how to counter it. Half the golems leaped in front of the others, becoming shields that blocked the flames from destroying their brethren, though at the cost of their own existence. The golems that burned didn’t seem to care, nor did the ones that remained, as the moment the flames were gone they leaped forward, claws reaching out not to cut the ponies, but to knock the Elements from them.
Raindrops and Ditzy stayed out of reach, leaping high into the air, wings beating. Carrot Top and Cheerilee also managed to keep their Elements safe, Cheerilee with aid from Zecora, while Carrot Top’s thick mane meant that the golem that attacked her only ended up with a clawful of hair before the earth pony was able to buck it away. Lyra used telekinesis to throw away the golem that attacked her.
But Trixie’s Element was different – it was a tiara, not a necklace, and very little other than balance kept it on her head. Two golems came at her, and while she stopped one with gold-flecked telekinesis that cause small flames across its body, the other was on her, grabbed her Element, and threw it away and towards Grogar before Trixie could react. Trixie, Lyra, and Corona all cried out and tried to grab it with telekinesis, but Grogar reacted faster, grasping it in his own and pulling it to his hooves.
The ponies were about as used to fighting golems as the golems were to battling them now, though. Corona burned away several, Ditzy and Raindrops fell upon any that tried to come up behind their friends, Trixie and Lyra used telekinesis to hurl them away for Carrot Top and Cheerilee to trample, and Zecora herself was too lithe and quick for the golems attacking her to catch easily, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from the ponies. The golems gave as good as they got, biting and tearing at them when they could, and they all earned more than a few bruises and cuts, but at length, the last golem fell, leaving the ponies, zebra, and alicorn breathing heavily, but alive.
Grogar seemed completely unconcerned, however, as he raised a hoof, and struck it against the bell next to him. A loud, low clang reverberated through the chamber as Grogar’s horn stopped glowing. “Plana conligatio – Tirek,” Grogar said.
“No,” Corona breathed.
The air over the pentagram suddenly grew pitch black, as one by one the torches that lit the room sputtered and died. The unicorns and alicorns lit up their horns to try and provide light, but though they succeeded the effort needed to perform such a simple cantrip far exceeded what it should have. They could barely see Grogar’s silhouette.
Then there was a roar. Great orange flames that seemed to provide nearly no light burst from the pentagram, stretching up to the ceiling. After several long moments, the flames died down to nearly nothing, leaving behind a plane of glowing hot coals within the pentagram. And atop the coals was a black-and-red form. It had a lower body much like that of black-coated pony, albeit one that was larger than even Grogar. Its upper body, meanwhile, was like that of some kind of red-skinned, black-furred ape – broad-shouldered, with arms that ended in long-clawed hands. Its face was flat and beastial, crowned with long horns, and a tusked mouth. Wild, black hair sprouted from its back like a mane.
But something seemed…wrong. Even Grogar’s silhouette seemed to notice it, as he turned to look at the thing in the circle. It was on its knees on hocks, while its arms were bound to the floor by thick, black chains. A similar restraint was fastened to its horns, keeping it from looking up more than a little. And despite its size, it looked unhealthy in the extreme – emaciated, with flesh clinging tightly to bone, yellow eyes sunk into its skull. Its body was covered with scars and barely-healed lacerations. Far from being an imposing, terrifying force, it seemed almost pathetic.
Corona had started to charge forward, but halted at the sight of the thing in the circle. “What?” she asked.
Grogar seemed equally confused. “Tirek?” he asked.
Tirek looked at Grogar, then to Corona. He flinched at the sight, but then he cast his gaze upwards, and seemed to shrink into himself. “Luna – no!” he exclaimed. Despite his apparent terror and weak form his voice still reverberated insidiously through the former throne room. Tirek strained against his bonds as he leaned towards Grogar. “Why did you take me from Tartaros? I was safe there!
“SEND ME BACK!”
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Huh, not the twist I was expecting.
Ironic, Corona is underestimating the Six´s worthiness as Bearers just as Twilight did before.
Methinks Tirek still has some...issues about what Luna did to him a thousand years ago. I guess that's only to be expected considering...
3613003
Almost as ironic as Tirek begging to be sent back to Tartarus.
Ah, well. She has plenty of time to see them for who they are after the end of Season Two.
3613194
Grogar´s reaction must be priceless too, specially after all those thousands of years of efforts, plans and sacrifices. I can almost see a "Dafuq?!" in his face
3613219
I know, right? All that hard work for pretty much nothing.
Huh...Nightmare Moon saves the day 1000 years in advance.
3613194 How do you know this?
Is the Tirek's first in story appearance in the lunaverse?
Who or what is the Red Cloud?
The events regarding Tambelon, and the relationship between the king and the necromancer Grogar, is inspired somehow in the kingdom of Xerxes from "Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood"?
she did say nighmare moon used tireks power.... never said he got it back.
All in all, that was a pretty effective trap springing. They made it into the palace and they got Bray's turban away, that seems like a pretty big win if it's how he was doing his magic.
Ooooo, reunion time.
Talk about the right question.
Now that was a nice twist to end the chapter on.
Fantastic chapter (what's the read cloud, sound Eldrich) the race through the palace, Bray's strategy, Corona trying to save/protect the L!6 and them coming to save her, the Ditsy Bray scene was awesome and there were just so many twists and turns throughout, keeping a fast exciting pace that it was just awesome! Loved the flashback as well, very interesting stuff and wow, I was thinking 'something' might have happened to Tirek given he had his powers stolen, this is an incredible twist! Of course there are still the whispers (assuming he survives) and Grogar is not going to be happy he lost his chance at immortality. Can't wait for the next one!
Oh I also liked what you did with Trixie getting magic pumped in and it being powerful but hard to control and the golems smartening up was good and intimidating as well.
3613599
It's his first appearance in body but, Hero of Oaton, makes use of him/his powers and he gets mentioned in Early Reunion.
Cool twist. I wasn't expecting that. And whether it was intentional or not I do really get a 'Xerxes' vibe off of ol' Tambelon.
3614731>>3613635
It's sort of intentional, though it's worth noting that FMA isn't the first to pull something in this vein. Still, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking of Xerxes.
3614707>>3613622
I pulled the name from Wiki's list of past MLP antagonists. According to it, "The Red Cloud is a cloud monster who came to Ponyland to claim Ponyland if he found something red but luckily the ponies and Spike hid everything red and the Red Cloud disappeared."
He was from two G1 comic books, specifically the three-part story "Pony Land in Danger" in the comics Trickles to the Rescue, Dream Castle Spring Clean, and Home For a Cuckoo.
I just got tired of always using the Smooze and Lavan when mentioning previous monsters. I want to use Arabus in the modern day at some point, so I didn't mention him; so i just dug up Red Cloud.
Presumably, in the Lunaverse, the Red Cloud was a tad more dangerous than in the G1 comic.
3615361
I think someone used Arabus, or an Arabus inspired villain quite recently, but i'm not sure you've read the fic yet as it was part of a monthly writing event, though the author did want it to become canon.
Regardless, thanks for the clarification, I really appreciate it ad yeah Smooze could get a bit repetitive.
3615361 That's true. Nothing is original, or so they say. Still, the way Tambelon was described in a previous chapter, the one where Celestia/Corona was stuck watching everything go down in the flashback, gave me the thought of Xerxes. That's not a slight in any way.
Wait... I thought the golems couldn't be fooled by Trixie's illusions? And that Grogar needed a sacrifice to complete his ritual??
3612905
Nor I. The question now is, what was he safe from?
3615596
I...don't think I've had them not be fooled, per se. I think they can figure out the same tricks if Trixie uses them repeatedly - like if Trixie keeps creating illusions of herself, they'll know that most or all of them are probably fake - but if they, say, find themselves with a burst of light in their eyes, they're gonna be blinded; or if Trixie digs a pit and covers it with an illusion of solid ground, they'll be fooled.
Very nice. Love how you're developing Corona a bit here and even Zecora has had some fun bits. The ending leaves me a bit confused but I'm anxious to see where it goes! Thanks for sharing.
*nerdgasm*
...wait. Was this really an event from the past, or something else?
Didn't see that coming.
Here we have it, absolute proof of Corona's madness.
Is Tirek scared of Luna or of Nightmare moon? A part of her might still be out there, the pony of shadow maybe?
3618388
A mother who travels through a nightmarish forest filled with monsters and dangers, and faces a dragon and physical goddess, all in order to save her daughter? Unfitting, indeed.
As I said before, both Corona and Twilight had a strong opinion of how the Elements Bearers should be, and since the L- Mare Six don´t fit in their mold, they believed it must be some sort of cosmic mistake.
3615761
Luna, judging by the way he looks skyward and screams her name in terror. Luna used to be pretty hardcore, after all.
Well a millennia or more in Hell would do a number on anyone.
And.. you've just shoved Celestia firmly and irrevocably into the villain camp for me. Dead. Serious. Those thoughts right there scream complete monster to me and she needs a beatdown.
Also, what you did with Tirek does not sit well with me. Never has, never will.
3631345
Hmm? This is the first I'm hearing about your problems with Tirek...
3631391 Before it was... off to the side. Now it's right here and seeing one of the best big bads of MLP in this state is just... it feels wrong to have him as basically a Magic Mushroom for Luna. It feels disrespectful to the previous generation to have one of their biggest bad guys used up and reduced to such a state.
I dunno. Maybe it's just me, but that's how it feels.
3631345
I was a but discomforted by Corona's thoughts for a bit as well, but it's worth remembering NMM, or Luna, was quite happy to commit mass genocide on the entire planet, which includes children, because she felt unappreciated. The only difference is was that the issue was never brought up or addressed.
3635401 And that is was one night instead of two seasons and she never actually physically held children or anyone else hostage.
And thanks to that she didn't have thoughts that, yes, she'd KILL THE CHILDREN! 
You cannot in any way justify that to me or try to make it 'better' by comparing it to Nightmare Moon. Just because one character did something bad doesn't somehow make what another character did any less bad.
3635438
I wasn't trying to say that because NMM tried to do something terrible that, that makes Corona;'s attempted villainy any less evil, though it is of a comparatively smaller scale.
So was Corona holding the foals hostage, she got stopped after one night and before she could hurt anyone, the difference is that yes she got away, but again, her plans are not genocidal.
I understand the emotional reasoning behind 'A million is a statistic' but from an outsider perspective NMM was set and ready to kill far more children than Corona with an even more selfish justification.
3635456
Equally, it is worth remembering that Corona is insane. She is not fully responsible for her actions; she's not right in the head. That doesn't absolve her of anything, but it is worth remembering.
And in any event, her line of reasoning here is, she hadn't really planned to actually kill the hostages, as she'd never even considered that ponies would seriously put her into that position. And if she had been forced to call her bluff...
...and then I faded out with an ellipses because I wanted to leave it deliberately ambiguous. She doesn't say that she'd have killed them all, though nor does she deny it. She isn't really sure herself. What we do know is that if you read LNLD she herself never actually said that she'd kill them, and that in LNLD her bluff technically was called but instead she went "but behold that I am merciful!" and made a point of saying that she was only going to kill the L6 due to them not actually being in Ponyville at the time.
3635501
Excellent points, I hadn't even noticed the hesitation, though in hindsight it seems obvious, thank you for reminding me.
I kind of love the 'logic' she's using to justify not making good on her threat here, shows she's still trying to do/be good on the inside. Even as warped as it is.
3630062
Plus Luna draining A LOT of his power to build up Nightmare Moon. Power which dissipated and was lost forever by the Magic Rainbow.
And suddenly everyone starts to re-evaluate just how scary Princess Luna can be, when backed into a corner...Apparently, it's physically-rip-the-dark-magic-from-a-god-of-evil-and-use-it-as-a-distraction-against-my-crazy-sister levels of scary.
3771410
Okay, I'll give you that point. But 'Because Destiny says so' is still a horrible reason for siding with the insane sun goddess.
Something that has been bothering me for a while now - why is Corona still mad?
I get that she went nuts from stress about a thousand years ago. But how is it that even after being given a thousand years to calm down, she is still a raving nut job?
I mean think about it. This is a pony who has spent 1000 years as a raging psychotic. And unlike with Nightmare Moon - who was just an alter ego of Luna's born of dark magical intoxication - it was all the result of a completely natural psycological coping mechanism.
Imagine that - a thousand years. Three hundred and sixty five thousand days. Eight million, seven hundred and sixty thousand hours. And all of it spent in a state of constant hateful raging psychosis. Never once did she manage to calm down enough to stop and wonder (semi - objectively): "How the buck did it come to this? Where did it all go wrong?".
This is despite having had thousands of years of life to acquire some degree of self knowledge, balance and awareness of ones own flaws/limitations. Not to mention that alicorns seem capable of recovering from/enduring just about any physical or mental upset thrown their way.
The point is I understand how Celestia went mad and became Corona.
(Granted in real life stress related mental breakdowns usually make the person ineffective and ill inclined toward dealing with others and/or stressful situations. But the whole 'go nuts and turn evil' bit is a fiction classic.)
What I don't get is how (without any form of dark magical or external influence) she is still crazy.
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You're not going to like the answer.
Part of me wants to come up with a reason, get all psycho-analytical, wax philosophical, theorize on the nature of an immortal brain, etc. But ultimately, the reason is this: because I want her to be crazy, for the sake of the story, until such time as the story would be better served by her not being crazy anymore.
(But if it helps - throughout the rest of Season 2, she's going to be, for lack of a better term, "calming down" and gradually realizing that something is wrong, and that something might be her).
(If I was to get all philosophical, then I'd say that, as much as I don't think 1,000 years in the Sun is enough to drive an alicorn crazy by itself, I do think it's enough time for an alicorn that was already crazy to reinforce that craziness over and over again).
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I suppose that is as good a reason as any. But, it kind of leads onto another issue: psychological convalescence.
Corona isn't like Nightmare Moon. She instantly turned back into Luna once her system was effectively pumped of dark magical intoxication. But Corona isn't Celestia drunk on the dark side. Admitting that she is wrong will be the first step on her road to recovery, but that recovery might well take years. Mental illness doesn't simply vanish in a poof of smoke.
For example lets set up a ficticious scenario where some time prior to season two Corona had an epiphany. She realised she was in the wrong and surrendered to Luna.
Later she comes to Ponyville wearing magical power suppression chains, designed to minimise the fall out if she snapped again. Her shrink told her that it would help her recovery if she apologised to those she wronged. First on the list is Trixie. But her apology comes across as rather forced. When Trixie calls her on this, her response is:
Corona: "What? Did you think we'd suddenly be best buds just because I owe you a debt of gratitude for stopping me? I am not a nice pony. I haven't been a nice pony for a very long time. And I likely won't be a nice pony for quite some time to come either. Step one is admitting you have a problem. Step two is getting help. Step three is what I'm doing right now and I am not enjoying it.
I know that I was in the wrong. I know that I have little right to be upset. But acknowledging something on an intellectual level and acknowledging it in here (taps chest) are two very different things.
When I realised the Truth I was shocked. And more angry than ever before. Angry at all the problems and mistakes that led me to this point. Angry about all the time and energy I had wasted on a glorified delusion. Angry about all the harm my madness had caused. But most of alI, I was angry at myself.
The Truth as they say is bitter. And the fact that I literally have no one and nothing else to blame but myself makes it all the worse.
But I must accept and understand the situation for what it is. I know that I am a very bitter, angry unpleasant mare. This is unlikely to change for some time to come. Such is the way of things. Now if you'll excuse me, there are a lot of other ponies for whom I need to force contrition today."
Point is a heel realization may not quarantee that Celestia's personality will be restored. At least not for some time.
Additionally, if her Corona persona really does shatter, there is the issue of what effects the whole experience might have upon the restored 'Celestia'.
For example:
(a). An aversion to emotional/psychological negativity.
Possible Scenario:
Celestia feels angry/gets suspicious/disagrees with somepony about something. But this triggers flash backs to her time as Corona and the emotional state associated with it. She has no confidence in her own judgement having been completely wrong about everything for over a thousand years. Additionally she is extremely guilty about the way she treated everypony. Thus she suppresses any and all negativity, suspicion and ill will toward others to the point of of becoming little more than a good natured doormat. And nopony is too keen to stress her or push her outside her comfort zone as that was basically what caused the whole Tyrant Sun mess in the first place.
Unfortunately bottling up ones feelings like that isn't healthy. Things come to a head when she attends a commemerative festival in ponyville along with several foreign dignitaries. Unfortunately several changeling infiltrators set out to sabotage the event (for whatever reason). Things quickly go down hill due to a combination of the changelings trickery, inept but well meaning towns folk, Trixie getting suspicious (correctly believing that something is amiss but incorrectly assuming Celestia is to blame) and Pinkie Pie (who is working alongside Trixie in organising the festival) adding to the confusion. Celestia goes through a series of confusing and humiliating experiences but keeps telling herself 'Nothing is wrong, your just being paranoid, there is no justification for getting mad, etc'. She manages to keep it together until to end of the day. Then the cake stand collapses. She finally snaps and rants at everbeing present, before cornering Trixie and Pinkie to whom she delivers a particularly disturbing diatribe.
Basically the whole thing ends in tears.
(b). She stops caring.
Possible Scenario:
After a thousand years of completely pointless emotional turmoil born of desire, fear, rage and love Celestia is burnt out. She becomes unfeeling and apathetic.
The sun shines that bit less brightly and the world becomes that little bit more cold - in every sense of the word.
(c). Celestia is prone to relapses.
Possible Scenario:
Celestia suffers from brief but reoccuring psychotic breakdowns. She must take a special medication to keep these in check. One day she forgets to take her medicine.
Anyway, you see what I'm getting at with this?
On an unrelated note, it has been observed more than once that ideas and, in particular, strong emotions can be used to generate powerful magical effects. E.g. Corona's mane and tail (Is that a Fiendfire type deal or something?), the elements of harmony, Love energies, etc.
So would having a raging insane alicorn, trapped inside a massive magical ball of light and fire that circles above the planet, for over a thousand years have had any unforseen side effects for the world and it's races as a whole? Besides Equestria, I mean.
Because I'm getting a kind of Warcraftian vibe from the situation:
Corona is trapped within the Sun. Corona is trapped as the Sun. She hates and she fears and she loves and she burns. She feels and she burns. And she feels and she burns. And she burns. And she burns. And she burns...
Wild and visceral passions that would annihilate a mortal in their intensity, wrack her now metaphysical body. During every second of every minute of every hour of every day.
Her mind is a maelstrom of delusions and delirium. Her soul screams and thrashes within it's undying inferno. So has it been since antiquity. So must it always be.
But something is amiss. The bars are breaking....
Pain... Agony.... My hatred burns in the Hearth of the Sun. The world below bathes in my torment. Its wretched kingdoms bask in the light of my rage... But at last... The whole of Equinity will know their true Queen... ...And all Foes shall burn beneath the radiance of my wings...
WOw, what happened to Tirek?
This line actually gave me pause. What in the world was Trixie doing? It didn't seem like Trixie had any arrogance to her at all by this point in the story. Maybe just a few shreds of confidence regarding their chances of winning the day, but yeah...
finds
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Tia met all of the Bearers when they met. So I guess it's a matter of first impressions. Something Trixie didn't give too good of, when she first met the mad goddess.
Wow, you set up this ominous, oppressive atmosphere only to have Tirek wimp out? I'm confused.
The earth pony mare looked back ad she shifted from one hoof to another, looking like she was trying to think up some way to convince Celestia that her comrades were not a troupe of clumsy oafs
look at Trixie, who’s horn was glowing
more sound and light that real heat or force
Corona lead them unerringly through the
1. As.
2. Whose.
3. Than.
4. Led.
And the plot thickens