The Future of Equestria

by The Parliament of Flies

3 Celestia The Mad

Rainbow Dash groaned as she slowly regained concioussness. She felt herself being dragged along the ground by her front two hooves. She opened her eyes to see a pristine white hallway with beautiful statues of Celestia at either side of the hallway at regular intervals. She was being dragged by two plain white stallions in matching blue uniforms. They dragged her for several minutes before they arrived at a pair of golden doors with another white stallion stood in red beside it. He opened the door and they dragged her inside. The room was filled with luxurious treasures with every colour of the rainbow. Celestia was sat on a multicoloured throne, her eyes wide, her mane ruffled and a manic smile on her face.

"Rainbow Dash! My beautiful little Rainbow Dash! Where have you been?! I have been waiting for sooooo long!" She cackled with glee, throwing her head back as she laughed.

"Celestia...? What's wrong with you... are you ok...?" Celestia pointed her hoof at the door and the guards that were holding Rainbow Dash dropped her to the floor and left the room. Dashie slowly climbed to her feet and looked up at Celestia, who was staring down at her from her throne.

There was a minute of silence before Celestia began talking again. "Ok, you are going to tell me exactly what happened when you left me all those years ago, and were the rest of you are right now."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Celestia! All I know is that I drank this potion that Twilight made and the next thing I know I was being dragged through this weird place by those strange ponies!"

"Hmm, it seems you're going to just start making up information to avoid telling me anything. Very well. DITZY!!! TAKE HER TO THE DUNGEON!!!"

The doors opened once again and a colourless Ditzy Doo with no cutie mark entered and walked up beside Rainbow Dash. Dash stared in horror at her stern face.

"Derpy? What did Celestia do to you?"

Ditzy turned to Rainbow Dash and struck her across the face with a hoof, sending her crashing to the ground with a rather nasty gash in her cheek. "I no longer go by that name. Celestia has made everything better here." She tied down Rainbow's hooves and wings and grabbed the long rope attached to her hooves and began to drag her.

Rainbow Dash wept silently as she was dragged along several identical hallways. After what seemed like forever they arrived in a room full of cells. These cells contained ponies who still had their colours and cutie marks. Dash's bonds were removed and she was thrown into a cell with a silhouette of a large pony in the shadows. Ditzy locked the cage door and left.

Rainbow Dash slowly picked herself up, staring at the shillouette. After an eternity of stillness, the shadowy figure left the corner and revealed themselves; it was Princess Luna.

"Rainbow Dash, you're back! What happened to you all?!" Rainbow Dash explained all that she had experienced to the best up princess of the night. "I see, well. I'd best full you in on what has happened while you've been gone. After you left, something inside Celestia snapped. I was unaware of how much emotion she had welled up inside of her, though I suppose she has been put through a lot.... After you left she got her elite mages to create some form of device which can steal a pony of their individuality; stripping them of their colour and cutie marks. She did it to just about everyone, except a select few."

"How come she hasn't done it to you yet? I would've thought you'd be the first target."

"She must wait, there is one night each year when the sun and the moon both appear in the sky at the same time. She is going to use her magic to create a lunar eclipse, then she will use that energy to steal everything that makes me, me."

"Wait, what's a lunar eclipse?"

"A lunar eclipse is basically what occurs in a solar eclipse, except the moon travels in front of the sun."

"I don't listen to Twilight often when she spouts her science stuff, but I've heard her enough to know that the sun and the moon are way too far away from each other for that to happen. Plus, wouldn't that destroy everything?"

"Celestia has the power now, she has the power of everypony she's sucked the life out of to add to her own; and yes, a lunar eclipse would surely mark the end of everything and everyone we know and love."

Rainbow Dash walked up to the small barred window and stared out into the city. Everything looked white and clean, the inhabitants emotionless; as if they were under some sort of trance. A small tear appeared in the corner of her eye, the whole situation beginning to catch up with her. The most stable and reliable pony she knows had gone crazy and was about to bring about the end of Equestria and everything else through her insane actions. She wiped the tear away and took a deep breath; her friends were still out there and she knew they'd help her out of this prison. Together they had been through many hard times, and their bond they have created with one another had proved to be a force which was near unstoppable.

They had stopped many villainous beings in the past, and Rainbow was sure that Celestia was going to be one of them.