Equestria's Messiah

by Baby Seal Burritos

The Beginning

It didn’t matter how many times Twilight Sparkle was called to the palace, she was always impressed by the grand architecture of the magnificent castle. The lofty, gentle arches of the corridors with their luxurious, intricately woven tapestries hanging above the sophisticatedly carved mantles all spoke of expert craftsmanship; droves of ponies at the tops of their fields must have worked long hours to build such an ostentatious dwelling for their princesses. The red carpet beneath her hooves led in all directions, precisely in the middle of the floor. It was made of some extremely soft material, perhaps a silk blend of some kind, which was embroidered with celestial bodies of the sun, moon, and stars. The stairways all had gilded railings that had been polished until they shone, reflecting the natural light which filtered through the enormous stained glass windows. These were truly the pride of Canterlot Castle; works of art that not only spoke of insurmountable artistic skill but also held the history of the kingdom within their panes. Twilight was more than well acquainted with the panes and their narration; not only had she spent a good amount of time right here in the castle, she was also featured in one or two of the accounts herself.

She paused on her way to the throne room to look up at one of the windows that caught her eye. It was a rendering of a pair of alicorns, wings spread out to their sides and horns proudly jutting from their foreheads before them, lifting a pair of spheres in the sky. One held the yellow globe of the sun above her, bathing her white coat in warm rays of orange; the other held a smaller orb, white as bone, above her, bleaching the dark blue hairs of her mane with the faint light of the moon. A representation of each of the three types of ponies bowed beneath them: first a unicorn, then a pegasus, and finally an earth pony. It was supposedly one of the first windows that had been made for the castle back when the princesses had taken over the duties of running the country and the responsibilities of raising and lowering the sun and moon. A gesture of goodwill on the part of the artisans of Equestria for their new rulers.

It came before the time of Princess Luna’s descent into Nightmare Moon. Before her banishment to the celestial body she had once commanded. Twilight always felt a sense of pity looking at the colorful panes and the peaceful ponies within; those long dead mares and stallions would never have known that their beloved princess of the night would lose her rights to that orb in the heavens. Even in these modern times it was rare for Luna to bring forth the moon. Princess Celestia wanted her sister to get reacquainted with the world she had left for a thousand years before she took up the pressure of the night and the tides once again. A reasonable agreement, Twilight thought, since Luna was now free to mingle with her subjects and hopefully make some friends. It did cause the small purple unicorn to wonder if the strain was ever too much on their fair princess of the sun, but Celestia always seemed strong and composed. If she was weary of the burdens she would never show it.

Thinking of the princess got Twilight’s hooves moving again. She had been summoned by her mentor to the castle all the way from Ponyville with an urgent message.

“Come to me. Quickly.”

The enigmatic nature of the dispatch frightened Twilight, so she threw a few things into her saddle bags and raced out the door to the train station without saying a word to any of her friends or to her baby dragon assistant, Spike. She had barely managed to catch the last train of the day to Canterlot, and she spent the duration of the trip mulling over possible explanations of her summons. Maybe she should have had Spike send a reply with his dragon magic, told the princess she was on her way. It was too late to fix, but she felt a stab of guilt that she had somehow managed to not consider the possibility sooner. What if the princess was waiting for a reply and she had caused her ruler to suffer the silence? She also wondered at the manner in which she had been summoned; the princess typically communed with her student through letters sent through Spike's dragon magic, but this time the letter had arrived with a small red bird that vanished into a wisp of smoke after depositing the letter in Twilight's hoof. It was odd to say the least that the princess would take pains to circumvent Twilight's assistant. Even as she wrote it off as a matter too important to send via dragon, Twilight felt ill at ease. She wished the train could move faster.

As it were, the trip lasted into the night and they arrived as the first rays of dawn peeked over the hills and spilled into the sweeping valleys of Canterlot.

Now that she had arrived at the castle she felt herself dragging her hooves, studying the architecture no less, in an attempt to delay the inevitable. She was so close to the princess, but dread weighed her down like a lead weight around her neck. She could only wonder anew what could possibly call for such a summons. She began to wonder if she hadn’t done something wrong. Maybe she had offended the princess in one of her reports. Maybe the princess was going to order her to move back to Canterlot for the duration of her studies. The clip-clopping of her hooves slowed in tempo.

And yet, despite her lollygagging, Twilight found herself walking through a pair of large golden double doors into the most sanctimonious rooms of the castle: the throne room. Window after glorious window shone in a spectacular multicolored array on the walls and columns and pillars that decorated the inner sanctum. The deep red carpet led straight up to the three tiered golden throne, accented by two unlit candelabras and a royal purple tapestry. Atop the throne lay the princess as beautiful as she was benevolent. Her white coat was speckled in reds and oranges as light filtered through a stained glass picture on the wall beside her, her delicate wings folded gently against her sides. Around her throat she wore a thick golden collar engraved with mild patterns and inlaid with a single beautiful amethyst which matched the one in the center of the delicate tiara she wore settled behind her horn. Her multicolored mane flowed behind her like a creature alive, undulating in waves of cerulean, sea foam green, periwinkle, and lavender. She regarded Twilight with large purple eyes. Twilight bowed.

“You sent for me, Your Highness?”

Twilight could feel her heart begin to beat harder in her chest; it almost felt like the muscle was slamming into the walls of her ribcage, causing it to become harder to breathe. The princess had this effect on her; she was stunning, awe-inspiring, and powerful. She was a beloved teacher, but Twilight still couldn’t shake the fear that had settled in her bones and sparked in her nerves. She could feel a slight tremor beginning in her legs. What was this terrifying premonition?

“Ah. There you are, Twilight. I am glad you could come so quickly. Please, come up here.”

Twilight rose from her bow and made her way, slowly, towards the throne. She couldn’t help herself from looking at the windows instead of the princess herself. There was her and her friends defeating NightMare Moon with the Elements of Harmony, Discord-- the draconicus of pandemonium-- wreaking havoc on Equestria, the princesses defeating Discord for the first time, and then there was the newest addition. She paused to glance at it, even as her better instincts warned her from keeping royalty waiting. It was centered on that creature of chaos, Discord, but the real story was told in bold stripes of color that led to six mares: two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. Her and her friends. The Elements of Harmony.

Maybe she should have told them where she was going instead of just running off like that. A chill ran down her spine as the glassy eye of Discord stared down at her. Why couldn’t she shake this feeling that something was horribly wrong?

Twilight advanced up the ramp to the throne, stopping just short of the princess and ducking her head again in a formality that she didn’t normally use. The princess was like a second mother to her and typically they acted informally, like friends. Even now as Twilight noticed the distinct lack of guards in the room she couldn’t help but feel that she would do well to keep a bit of distance. Where were the guards, anyway? Surely there was nothing they could be doing that was more important than keeping the princess safe?

A gentle hoof encased in a delicate golden slipper lifted Twilight’s chin until the unicorn was looking right into the eyes of the princess. Her eyes were unreadable; her face a stony mask of mystery.

Then the princess smiled, “My most faithful student.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. She felt a great rush of joy whenever the princess called her that.

“I have a request I must ask of you.” The princess continued.

Twilight nodded enthusiastically, her words tumbled out of her mouth in a rush, “Of course! I would do anything for you, Princess.”

The princess swung her neck back, albeit gracefully, and gestured with her horn at some object outside of Twilight’s range of vision. The alicorn’s horn glowed yellow as her magic began working to bring the item forth, hovering for a moment before the princess draped it delicately on her extended hoof. It was a necklace, a thick silver collar modeled like the princess’ own golden one, with a brilliant emerald set in the base. The polished surface caught the light and reflected back brilliant rainbows that danced on the little unicorn’s face.

Twilight said nothing, but looked at the princess, puzzled, but secure in the knowledge that her mentor would explain the significance of the object in due time. And yet the collar seemed to have some kind of ominous aura clinging it to that caused the unease in Twilight’s stomach to churn fiercer the longer she looked at it. Her eyes reflected back at her, amethyst, just like the jewel in the princess’ crown.

The princess was watching Twilight, saying nothing, the collar extended between them in an expectant silence. Moments ticked by, and Twilight’s disquiet continued to grow.

Finally the unicorn asked, “What is it?”

“A symbol,” the princess answered after a brief pause, “that I want you by my side.”

Twilight felt that flutter in her chest again. The princess… wanted her?

The smiling alicorn lifted the necklace above Twilight’s head and lowered it gently over her ears, settling it against the base of her throat.

“A token for my most faithful student.”

Emotions battled in her gut like a typhoon, each more urgent than the last. The joy of being recognized, appreciated, by the pony she admired the most waged war on the rising cry of warning that sang in her ears. Something was amiss! And yet all she could think of was how wonderful it was to be here with the princess. Wanted. Needed.

She lifted a hoof to the fine piece of jewelry at her throat and gazed at it with admiration. She had never owned something quite so fine. Rarity would be jealous, that’s for sure. The thought of Rarity brought back the sense of foreboding that was building in her temples and throbbing behind her eyes. Rarity didn’t know where she was, did she?

An odd expression settled on the princess’ face. Twilight tried to puzzle out the emotion there, but she was still trying to sort through the static that was firing in her brain. Danger. Danger. Danger.

“Now,” the princess sat on her throne again and allowed a smile that seemed more like a grimace to grace her muzzle, “you can never leave me.”

“Leave you?” Twilight asked, “What are you talking abo-”

The first spark leapt fiery red off the glistening silver of Twilight’s collar, falling and fizzling out on the floor between her hooves. Twilight only had half a second to wonder what it could have been before pain seared through her, exploding behind her eyes and scorching the marrow of her bones. Red sparks flew off the collar with reckless abandon now, arching high above her head, landing on her back, and surrounding her in a sphere of sputtering light. Twilight could hardly stand to stagger backwards as she felt her muscles devolve into some kind of useless gelatin. She fell. Her jaw clacked audibly on the floor; the taste of copper filled her mouth as she bit through her tongue. Screams ripped from her throat bounced obscenely around the empty throne room as dozens of smiling glass ponies looked down on her with empty eyes, watching. Tears began falling, trailing wet patches of fur down her face. Her screams faded into chest-wrenching sobs as her limbs began jerking around underneath her.

The sparks began to die away, and slowly the pain receded, leaving Twilight weak and trembling on the floor. The unicorn tilted her head back so she could see the emotionless face of her mentor staring down at her.

She managed to form a single word, “Why?”

The princess looked at her small, trembling apprentice with a disapproving frown, “Now you are mine forever.”

Twilight retched all over the beautifully embroidered carpet.

Celestia glided over to stand above the bedraggled, weeping pony and stroked her sweat soaked, indigo mane with gentleness that seemed repulsive for the situation.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. And when you’re better you’ll realize that this is what you wanted all along.”

Discord smiled down at Twilight from his glass pulpit, maneuvering the strings that guided the ponies below. It seemed a pity; the ponies would never know who was guiding their hoofsteps until it was too late.

~~Author's Note~~

Whoops. This isn't a Twinkie romance story. Silly burrito!
I actually began this project a while back, long before I was writing anything romantic, because I was inspired by the PMV "This is War." In particular there is a part where Twilight appears on the screen and the singer heralds her as "The Messiah" and it just seemed very powerful. Twilight is the glue that holds the Elements together, the spark that ignites them. What if she was gone?
I spent days drawing storyboards: beginning somewhere in the middle, bouncing to the end, and finally coming to this part. It pained me to draw it, but it hurt worse to write it. The whole story that I've planned is not happy. It's the very opposite of the sappily sweet things I've uploaded before.
To be honest, I didn't want to upload this yet because I'm having a huge writer's block. I have two "chapters" finished after this one, but I'm so stuck that it's almost making me want to just throw in the towel and go home. But this section... Call me what you like but I love this section. I am so proud of this little piece of prose. My friend says that if I post it people will want to read more and I'll have to finish it. I suppose we'll see how that goes.
I hope you enjoyed. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Comments

[Fulgor Ignis]

Oh yes! Ominous detector off the charts...

I believe I must track. Keep it coming when you can.

i.qkme.me/kp8.jpg

[Evilpresident]

Tracking this. I must know where this will lead!

[Baby Seal Burritos]

326971
I know right? Who knew?
We all know this will somehow devolve into a clopfic eventually.

[10000 B_C]

Uhh...
I hope this doesn't go into grimdark territory. If it doesn't, though, it's a definite track, because you wrote this very well, I must say. I especially liked the part where it said the empty eyes on the wall watched her... chilling.
Although I noticed a few things that slipped by spellcheck, and maybe you can get to them before many others read it and think bad of you for them.
Onward!

>polished until they shown, reflecting
Should be 'shone', not 'shown'.

>It came before the time of Princess Luna’s descent into NightMare Moon.
'Nightmare', not 'NightMare'.

>head and lowered it gently over her ears and settling it against the base of her throat.
Maybe put a comma after ears and remove the and, or else it's a run on.

Anyways, they didn't detract from the story at all, and you should continue!
No grimdark though, or I will hurt you.

[Tonto the Trotter]

This looks interesting, let's see where this goes.

[Baby Seal Burritos]

327348
Whoops! Thank you for pointing those out.
I'm really not planning grimdark. Grimdark is gratuitous violence and gore right? Not really my area.

[10000 B_C]

327714 Yyep. *Phew*. I don't need to call another hit, then.

[godzilla54]

I'm slightly confused as to if celestia is under discord's control, or if he is now a good guy. But I have to keep reading to find out. Must keep reading.