Heavenly Turmoil

by TheManWithTwoNames

Chapter 4

Heavenly Turmoil

A “My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic” fanfiction

By TheManWithTwoNames

Standard Legal Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters contained in the following work. “My Little Pony” and all subsequent properties belong to Hasbro.

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The energy in the room was tangible as the protector of the peace and the spirit of chaos locked eyes. Celestia had never felt such a burning hatred for anything in her entire life. In ancient times, less powerful beings had dueled to the bitter end over mere insults; political leaders had sent hundreds of ponies to their deaths in bloody wars over territory; brother would cut down brother for a meager inheritance. Now, Princess Celestia, a relic from those barbaric times in Equestrian history, stared down with the creature responsible for countless suffering and hardship across time, whose calamitous powers had left no corner of the world unscarred. There he was, an intruder in her castle, in her private chamber, brimming with malicious excitement, grinning at her, his serpentine body stretching out from her vase.

“Hah! You blinked, I win!” Discord cheered, causing the vase to wobble as he threw up his arms in celebration. “Alright, now before I help you with your little issues, I actually need your help with something.” Before Celestia could say a word, Discord appeared in a flash in front of her, laying on his belly and looking intently at a scroll he was holding in one paw and tapping a pen against his fang with the other claw.

“So, I’ve been thinking about making my own Elements of Harmony. Only, you know, not so much harmonious. Harmonic? Harmonized?” Discord lost himself in thought for a moment before snapping his paw at the silent princess. “Anyway, I’m just going to bounce some ideas off of you. Feel free to jump in at any time,” Discord added sarcastically when he saw her expression hadn’t shifted. “I’m thinking Grumpiness, Half-Truths, Greed, Avarice, Miserliness, and Spoon. Any thoughts?”

“Spoon?” Celestia scoffed. “And three of those mean the same thing.”

“I knew you’d want to help me,” Discord said with satisfied smile, elbowing Celestia playfully and curling up his scroll before tossing it over his shoulder into the blazing vase. “Okay, so that’s my business, what’s going on with you?”

“Discord,” Celestia growled like a wolf as she paced around the nonchalant creature, “I am sick and tired of your games.”

“You’ve got to get some new lines, Celestia,” Discord sighed and sprawled himself across the carpet. “It’s always ‘enough of your games,’ and ‘this game is over.’ I mix it up every time I walk through a door, but it’s always the same conversation with you. Mix it up a little bit!”

“Enough!” Celestia shouted. The princess was at the limits of her patience and was beginning to lose focus and control over her magic -- a crack had etched along the length of the burning vase. “I have seen you dance around my kingdom, planting your seeds of chaos in my mind and watching them grow! I warn you, monster, slither back to whatever pit you dragged yourself from now, because by night’s end I will have figured out your tricks and I will have found a way to destroy you!”

“Your Majesty, is everything well?” a nervous voice called from the hall, one of those peeving guards.

“I’m fine!”

“You’re silly,” Discord said dryly. He was resting his chin on his paw and twirling his beard between his talons, making no attempt to hide his pleasure at Celestia’s whirlwind of emotions. The princess stomped around the room, muttering to herself and occasionally kicking kicking and stabbing the walls of her room with her horn. She spat acid and snorted fire, bled hatred and wept smoke.

Discord watched with interest as Celestia curled into a corner of her room and whimpered. After several minutes of listening to the terrified princess’ soft crying, he concluded that he was probably going to need to give her a gentle push in the right direction. He softly stepped over to her side, sat down next to Celestia, looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then began to flick her ear until her attitude changed. Celestia pushed him away, her tears dried and gone, and resumed her tantrum around the room.

“You are a vile, twisted creature, do you know that?” Celestia snarled.

“It comes up now and again,” the spirit replied matter-of-factly. “But can you blame me? It’s just what I am.”

“You toy with with ponies’ minds and emotions and then expect to be forgiven for it simply because that’s ‘what you are?’ What kind of demented being are you?”

“I guess I’m just stir-crazy.”

“You’re despicable.” Celestia turned her head away from the lounging draconequus and sat down to return her attention to the list she had been compiling. If she wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, she could at least be productive.

“Is this about the riddle? Because if you want a straight answer about the riddle, just say you want my help,” Discord offered.

Celestia laughed sharply before her face contorted back to revulsion, ignoring the gathering smoke in the corner of the room. “Never. I don’t need to beg anypony for help, especially not you!”

“Oh, that’s right,” Discord clucked as he lurched over her. Celestia tried her hardest to keep her focus on her paper, but she kept finding her eyes drawn to the draconequus. “The proud, wise ruler of Equestria doesn’t need anypony’s help. Why would you? You’re obviously so much more capable than anypony else, am I right? What could they tell you that you don’t already know?”

“Stop it.”

“You’ve ruled Equestria for thousands of years, and handled the last thousand without any help. But I bet it’s easier when there’s no family members trying to go behind your back and steal it all from you, right?”

“I said stop it.”

“But it gets lonely, doesn’t it? Who in all Equestria could equal you? Me? Well, I’ll admit my social skills aren’t what they could be. There’s not much time to practice the little things like personal space when you’re a statue.” Discord demonstrated his point by dropping down to his side, just a few inches away from Celestia’s nose and staring into her eyes with unnerving purpose. “Your sister? Maybe, though she’s been a little bit stunted by her whole ‘eternal banishment’.”

“Stop it!” Celestia shouted, shutting her eyes tight and wishing like a child that the monsters would just go away.

“But that’s right, you do have somepony! Twilight Sparkle,” Discord purred. Celestia hated herself for shivering at the sound of his voice; she was the great Princess Celestia! So why was she trembling like a frightened filly?

“Twilight Sparkle. Oh, such a pretty name. What drew you to that particular unicorn in the first place? Was it her profound magical talents? Or was it nepotism?”

“What?” Celestia opened her eyes and was startled to find herself standing in Twilight’s old home in Canterlot. And there she was: the bookish unicorn was surrounded by tomes of all sizes and colors, scattered around her in tall stacks, staring intently at the open pages in front of her. She called out to her student, but Twilight didn’t respond.

“Twilight Sparkle, all alone in her tower in Canterlot, learning and reflecting on the wisdom of the past,” Discord’s voice echoed from inside her head, “but never taking an interest in the modern world. Never giving the time of day to other ponies.”

There was another flash and Celestia was watching Twilight talk to three other smiling ponies her own age.

“Oh, sorry, girls, I’ve got a lot of studying to catch up on,” Twilight replied to some unheard question. She smiled nervously and then dashed past the trio with her book securely in her pack. Another flash, and they were back at Twilight’s tower. The purple unicorn was chastising her dragon assistant Spike for buying a present for somepony’s party.

“She has her little servant, but everypony else is just a distraction. Unnecessary. You don’t see any sort of connection between you two?” Discord asked as he appeared out of thin air.

“That’s not true in the slightest!” Celestia shouted, shaking her head resolutely.

“Well, not anymore. Not after her friends.” Another flash, and Celestia watched with nervous interest as images of Twilight’s adventures around Ponyville flashed before her eyes. A slumber party, climbing a mountain, Winter Wrap Up, Fluttershy and Rarity confiding in her, group hugs, and much more, appearing and vanishing faster than she could process them. Celestia blinked and she was back on her bed.

“Those friends that take her away from you, that fill her head with all their nonsense.” Discord snapped his fingers and Twilight’s latest letter, the one Celestia never finished reading, flew from its place by the fireplace to his hand. With a loud honk, the draconequus blew his nose in the paper, leaving it a soggy, dripping mess before discarding it in the fire. A smokey image of Twilight Sparkle trotted out from the flames and headed for Princess Celestia.

“Those friends that are undoing all your work to make a perfect little Celestia clone. The one pony in all of Equestria that you could feel some connection with, and you were the one who set her adrift.” Twilight passed through Celestia like a ghost, walked into a wall, and was gone.

“The lonely princess, left alone again,” Discord mused. Celestia was speechless. She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to believe a word of those lies. But it was true. It was all so true. She had met ponies that she found disagreeable in her life, but she had never found herself ever hating any of her little ponies… until she met those five miscreants Twilight had begun to associate with. That fat-tongued bumpkin, that yellow milquetoast, the arrogant diva who insolently tried to imitate a mere shred of her majesty, that braggart with her meager excuse for “flying”, and, worst of them all, the noise.

And yet, Twilight cared for them with all her heart, writing to her weekly of their invaluable friendship. They had saved Equestria when she couldn’t harness the power of the Elements of Harmony. And yet she hated them. The smoke from the vase was spreading around the ceiling. She was the oldest, wisest, most powerful being in all of Equestria, the most knowledgeable pony history had ever known, and she hated them. There had to be a reason why. They were taking her Twilight away.

“Not that you’re wrong to think that way.” Celestia had forgotten there was someone else in the room. Still grief-stricken at this realization, Princess Celestia looked up in misery at the relaxed draconequus floating in the air.

“You didn’t hear it from me, but the problem’s not limited to your number one student. Even your little sister isn’t the most trustworthy of confidants,” Discord whispered into her ear without even moving his mouth. “She and I were good friends, you know. Well, as good of friends as two immortals who once battled each other and then were ultimately banished from their own kingdoms and bore burning resentment against a single pony could be.”

“You’re a liar,” Celestia said weakly. She hadn’t the energy to put any more passion into her voice. “Do you really expect me to believe that you were able to communicate with her after being sealed in stone by the Elements of Harmony? Or that you could convince me that Luna would ever want anything to do with you?”

“Me? Celestia, I wish I was able to decide when we’d have our… chats,” Discord grimaced at the memory. “While I at least could watch when ponies walked in the garden and do some pony-watching, your poor sister was up there all on her own. Sometimes, it’d just get too much for her, and then who does she decide to bother?” Discord jabbed his thumbs into his chest. “This guy.”

Discord snapped his fingers, and after the light faded away, Celestia saw that he was made of stone and standing on his old pedestal, frozen in the same position he had been in when he was first defeated by Celestia and Luna, belting out the last note of that obnoxious song he had kept up through the entire battle. An alien ringing noise filled the air, and the fossilized Discord dropped his arms in frustration and pulled out a strange object from behind his back. It looked like a red box, with a banana-shaped appendage vibrating on the top. Discord put the appendage to his ear and winced away from whatever was inside of it.

“She’d wake me up in the middle of the night, and I mean the middle of the night, just to whine, whine, whine!” the draconequus roared, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. “I don’t know why I feel this way! What am I supposed to say? I don’t know why she feels this way!”

Discord shook himself like a wet dog, and the gray stone coating him flew around the room, splattering and coating the walls like paint. Celestia looked up and saw Equestria revolving gracefully in space -- she was on the moon. Having figured out the illusion by now, she made no effort to communicate with Luna as her younger sister stomped around the barren satellite, kicking rocks and shrieking at the sky. Her fur was black as night, her mane was a dark purple cloud filled with stars that shone menacingly, her wings were like a bat’s, her eyes like a snake’s. She was cursing the world, cursing the sun, cursing the ponies, and above all else, cursing her sister. Celestia could barely stand to see her sister in such a furious state.

“I complain, but talking about you was always fun,” Discord said as he grabbed a moon rock and bit a large chunk off before offering it to the princess, who passively refused. “Huh. Cheesy. That reminds me, has she tried to poison you yet? She said that she’d love to watch you twitch.”

Celestia wouldn’t allow another word against her sister. “You’re lying! That was Nightmare Moon! Luna would never hurt me.”

“Now you’re just deluding yourself,” Discord said acrimoniously. “Makes sense, though. You have to protect yourself from reality somehow. Because,” the draconequus strugged to stop himself from laughing, “if you ponies really had any idea of what was going on in your brains...” Discord couldn’t hold it in any longer, and he exploded in laughter. His voice became many, and ponies crawled out of the moon’s crust, howling with vicious laughter. Twilight’s horrible friends, her most trusted guards, even the burned and marred corpse of the filly from Canterlot and her father; but the worst was her faithful student’s cruel betrayal and Nightmare Moon’s maniacal cackling.

Then all at once it ended. Discord twirled his furry finger next to his temple and then mimeographed an explosion, spitting a bit on the princess. “Hohohoooh, wow. I would be out of a job.”

“Luna would never want to hurt me!” Celestia repeated, widening her stance and aiming her horn threateningly at the spirit of chaos.

“It’s not as funny the second time,” Discord growled without any hint of humor in his voice. “Look, I’m just going to lay flat what you already know -- ready for this? There is no Nightmare Moon! There never was!” And as he spoke, her sister changed before Celestia’s eyes. Her pitch black fur grew lighter, and her starry mane was now light blue hair. Her entire body had shrunk; the raging Nightmare Moon had regressed to the younger, innocent Luna she knew and loved. Resting on her curled legs, she stared at her beloved home floating in the night sky and cried out in anguish.

“Sure, she looks more like jailbait now after your favorite little ponies were finished with her, but she’s the same pony she was when you stuck her on the moon a thousand years ago,” Discord said, bringing Celestia back to reality. “And all because she wanted a little attention.”

“It would have meant the end of all life in Equestria if Luna had her way!” Discord couldn’t hide his grin.

“Well, Celestia knows best. But I’m just going to say this: ‘Nightmare Moon’ spent a thousand years alone on the moon as punishment for wanting to be appreciated, and then she was smacked down again during her shot at revenge. Maybe you should keep an eye on her.” Discord’s expression hardened, the draconequus looking frighteningly serious. His nostril flared and he turned his nose up. “But I’ll be honest, you probably shouldn’t stay here, what with all the smoke in the air.”

Celestia’s eyes teared at the burning cloud that stung at them. She coughed violently as the poisonous fumes filled her lungs and dropped her head low to the ground. Discord was gone. Good riddance. She kept her head low to the ground even as she walked through the dark hallways as the eerie hush of night stalked her every step. She didn’t have the concentration to stay quiet and simply resorted to magic, casting a spell on herself that would stifle her every sound. She scratched around the empty hallways, not finding a single soul in the castle. Did she not have guards? Did she not have servants? Had the ruler of Equestria truly been left completely alone in her palace?

“L-luna?” Celestia called in a hushed voice and was met with disappointment. She should have known Luna well enough to know that her sister would be outside, enjoying her night. Celestia slowly stepped through her castle, walking alone for what felt like hours, until she saw a trace of light at the end of the hall. She approached cautiously -- there wouldn’t be anyone awake at this time of night, not while the rest of the castle was empty. Not in Luna’s own room. Waiting for another of Discord’s tricks, Princess Celestia slowly extended her neck to open the door when a noise gave her pause. Two voices. Two nervous, hushed, terrible voices that Celestia could never mistake. She brought her ear to the door and spied on her sister and her student.

“...attacked me in the gardens this morning.”

“What? There’s no way!”

“I have the scar to prove it. Twilight, I know that your loyalty lies first and foremost with Celestia, but I ask you to consider the fate of Equestria.”

“I... I don’t know. Couldn’t we try to talk before we--”

“I’ve been trying to talk, and you can see where it’s gotten me. I don’t want to resort to this, but I’m afraid if things don’t change soon, there may be no other way.”

“But shouldn’t we at least... I mean, are you sure that... I just... I just don’t know...”

Celestia heard her sister sigh sympathetically and wanted nothing more than to charge in the room and confront the two. But she was stunned still. Even Luna was working against her. She was taking her Twilight away. Her only friend was leaving her.

“I know you’re scared. I am too. But I wouldn’t even suggest this if I didn’t think it was right.”

“...I’ll have to think about this... and talk to the others, see what they think.”

“We have to be brave, Twilight Sparkle. For Equestria.”

Celestia returned to her room, coughing as she walked through the smoke, dropped ungracefully to her bed, and fell asleep. And for the first time in her life, she was truly loathing the idea of morning.

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Morning came early. Celestia trudged to her balcony and lifted the sun, and slammed the door as she entered the hall. She kept her head low under the smoke. Curiously, all of the ponies in the palace were doing the same, covering their mouths with their hoofs and joking with each other about “the princess’ latest culinary accomplishment.”

Her face lacking the usual smile she wore in the morning, Celestia stomped to the kitchen. Throwing open the doors, she could hardly believe her eyes. Two different ovens were filled with flames, smoke was blanketing the air, bowls and plates were smashed on the ground, every shelf was a mess, ingredients were strewn left and right. Luna and Flour were working their hardest to put out the flames, laughing like fools the whole time. Celestia cleared her throat purposefully, and the two ponies were startled by the sight of her. Celestia’s horn flashed and the fires dwindled and died. Luna greeted her sister warmly, and Flour bowed respectfully, allowing Celestia to examine her.

The slightly plump unicorn was shorter than average, and her vanilla fur contrasted with her chocolate mane. Her coat was stained with so many white splotches of baking powder that Celestia wasn’t sure if Luna was really such a disaster in the kitchen or if the chef’s cutie mark was actually a shapeless blob of white powder. Was this really the mare who was allowing Luna to run wild with her food?

“Good morning, sister!”

“Good morning, your highness. We were just having a bit of early morning excitement, nothing to worry about,” Flour said, nodding submissively.

“Luna,” Celestia spoke sternly, “perhaps you should try a different hobby.” Without another word, Celestia turned out the door, leaving Luna and Flour to stare at each other speechlessly. Perhaps she had been harsher than she intended, Celestia thought to herself as she walked to the garden, but she wouldn’t let herself be bothered by it. She had put off her royal duties two days in a row now and she wasn’t looking forward to the rush of meetings she’d see today.

“Minister, who shall I honor with my audience today?” Princess Celestia asked the well-dressed unicorn keeping pace behind her.

“The mayor-elect of Hoofington would like to speak to you about possibly making a public appearance in the near future,” he replied.

“Yes? And what else?” Celestia asked expectantly.

“That’s... all for today, Princess Celestia,” the minister replied, biting his lip nervously when he saw the princess stand stone still. Thoughts buzzed around her head like an angry swarm as she tried to decide if she should be grateful or insulted -- she was the princess. Was it not her duty to oversee her land? Did they not think she was capable of helping them? What was she going to do with her day?

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“So, Ms. Suffolk,” Celestia began conversationally as she stirred some cream into her coffee -- she typically couldn’t stand the drink, but she typically wasn’t haunted by her greatest enemy and in the process of uncovering a grand conspiracy arranged by the two ponies in the world she had complete trust in. “I am told you want me to make an appearance in Hoofington.”

“Yes, your highness,” the mayor-elect of Hoofington answered nervously. She had never held any sort of high office before, and she still wasn’t the true mayor of Hoofington yet. And yet, here she was, drinking coffee with the princess. “With all that noise about Ursa Majors resting in the immediate area spread by Hoofington’s own prodigal daughter, the citizens are starting to fear that there could be some truth to it. I’ve tried to assure them that there is nothing to fear, I’ve had several hunting parties investigate the forests surrounding the town, and I’ve reminded them time and time again that Trixie gives truth to her name in more than one way, but nothing seems to be getting through to them. But perhaps if they heard it from you, they’d put all that silly business behind them.”

Suffolk suddenly felt very uncomfortable as she realized Princess Celestia had been staring intently at her for their entire visit. She cleared her throat, hoping that the princess would change her expression. She didn’t.

“Here comes breakfast!” Suffolk thanked the stars as Princess Luna came trotting out of the castle with two servers at her side. Her smile faded when she saw the new face at the table, but she kept a pleasant expression as she greeted the young politician. “I’m sorry, I didn’t make enough. I wasn’t expecting a guest this morning. Oh, not that there’s any problem!”

“Here, she can have mine,” Celestia offered, sliding her plate in front of the mare. She was only being accommodating. It had nothing to do with Luna.

“So, you’re the mayor from Hoofington, aren’t you?” Luna asked with interest. “Suffolk, isn’t it? Are you excited for your first term?” Celestia was surprised with her sister. Luna seemed to have a greater understanding of political goings-on in Equestria than she gave her credit for. Celestia rose to her hooves, ignoring the uncertain looks of the two ponies as she returned to the castle.

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Celestia hated her throne room. She hated the emptiness, the isolation, the boredom. But she loved closing her eyes and dreaming. And that’s just what she did. She was tired; she knew she hadn’t been sleeping well. But could she be blamed? No, no one could blame her, she thought to herself as she curled on her bed. The day had gone by without event. She had eaten lunch and dinner alone when she knew Luna was occupied by her hobbies, and spent the day catching up on some much-needed rest.

She delighted in the sensation as her eyelids grew heavier and the world around her felt fuzzier. She yawned peacefully, anxious to sleep. Not even the billowing smoke above her would keep her from her reward. Her eyes closed and the night took her.

There was a thunderous blast of noise that nearly threw Princess Celestia from her bed.

Comments

[worst day with sunny sky]

Your story is amazing.
Can i make a fan made trailer?

[ThatClosetBrony]

Could the vase stand for Celestia's mental state? We'll see...

She had met ponies that she found disagreeable in her life, but she had never found herself ever hating any of her little ponies… until she met those five miscreants Twilight had begun to associate with. That fat-tongued bumpkin, that yellow milquetoast, the arrogant diva who insolently tried to imitate a mere shred of her majesty, that braggart with her meager excuse for “flying”, and, worst of them all, the noise.

Truth, gently drifting down upon the soft breeze of insanity. Ne'er have truer words been spoke.

Discord's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Just truth the whole time through.