Luna Wants a Windigo

by Lazauya

Tension

"This is really bad, what just happened?" Astatine quivered worriedly.

Blythe only looked at him with concern for his well being.

"Princess Celestia just... she just... she just killed her sister! Oh my Celestia!" he shouted as he held his hooves to his head. He looked down at the palace grounds below, still floating. "What's gonna happen to Equestria? What does any of this mean?"

Blythe put her hoof to his forehead. It will be fine. I am sure the night princess is okay. She must be.

"No way! Didn't you just see her get launched across the valley?! She hasn't gotten up!"

We should check.

Astatine was hyperventilating, but was trying to calm down. "Okay, okay, okay."

The two floated across the valley to reach the princess in the crater as fast as possible. It was a much further distance than the monster princess had made it look when she threw her sister.

Astatine could only replay the events that had just transpired. His mind raced to discover what it all meant. He knew much about the history of the princesses; story books were one of the few delights he had while he lived with his mother. He had read all the tales many times, including the Hearth's Warming Eve tale, the Tale of Two Sisters, The Tale of Tirek and Scorpan, and many others. He liked to believe that, at least in some small way, he understood the princesses after hearing so much about them. But everything he knew had just been turned on it's head. In particular, images of Night Mare Moon came to mind while looking at the transformed Celestia. He had heard her use the name "Solar Flare", but he couldn't bring himself to use that name. It felt too perverse—as if, if he used that name, the old Celestia would truly vanish. At least, that had seemed to be true for Princess Luna.

And then, it hit him. Even if Princess Luna was dead—a thought that brought bile to his mouth—the Elements of Harmony were still in action. Surely when they saw the demonic form Celestia had taken, they would take action. He only hoped that they were able to see that something was wrong before Princess Celestia got to... use Princess Twilight Sparkle for her plan.

But the matter at hand was Princess Luna. He did not feel a particular connection with any of the princesses, but Astatine had internalized them as symbols of stability. Indeed, even when most ponies saw the return of the moon princess as "stirring things up", Astatine, with his deep investment in the legends, only saw the return as adding more stability. Whether or not he realized how he saw the return was another question.

After some time, the duo reached the crater. The two could see the princess's hoof sticking out from under the rubble. They rushed over and started digging.

Finally, they could see the princess's face. Astatine brought his face to her chest to see if he could hear her breathing. For a few tense moments, he waited to catch the rhythmic rise and fall; but eventually he detected the signs of life he was looking for. He let out a sigh of relief at the recognition. "She's alive...."

He felt a hoof placed on his shoulder. It is like I have told you. Everything will be alright in the end.

"I.... How can this be alright? This is.... This is all wrong...."

But why do you care? We have each other. What the ponies do doesn't affect us. Blythe asked, genuinely confused. When she first saw the colt's reaction, she could understand why the scene made him so uncomfortable. He was never confrontational, and so he had voiced to her not even an hour ago that he did not like to see ponies fight. She supposed that it had something to do with his life in Canterlot, but she wasn't sure.

This new reaction, however, completely puzzled the creature. It was as if Astatine had a connection to the princesses or to Equestria that she just couldn't fathom.

"No! You can't say that! I'm a pony! This is my...." Astatine paused, "This is my—where I was born. If...."

Blythe only looked to him with further questioning.

"I can't let all this...."

She continued staring.

"I don't know! I don't know, okay? I don't feel good when I think about losing all of this! It can't all just end like this! I know it doesn't affect me anymore... but... don't you feel anything when you see a country—no, anything fail? Well... not anything, but... it's... it's complicated. I don't understand it, but when I think about Equestria... failing... I get so... scared. I just—"

The windigo put a hoof to his mouth, I do not understand. I am not like you. But I understand how you feel. I do not want you to feel that way. So I will help you do whatever you want to do.

Astatine almost smiled at her words. He was still terrified, but the reassurance the little windigo provided helped keep him calm. He sat in contemplation for a long time.

There's no way I can stop Celestia.... Who can? The Elements... The Elements! They can stop Princess Celestia, I'm sure of it. But... we have to warn them! If we don't... if we don't get to Princess Twilight first, who knows what will happen!

Astatine started flying as fast as he could in the direction of Ponyville. Blythe followed without question. As they started, Astatine explained, "We have to go tell Princess Twilight Sparkle about what we saw! Celestia said she wanted to use Princess Twilight in her plans! I don't know what she meant, but there's no way it's good! We gotta get there fast!"

Blythe merely nodded.

---

It was around noon when the pair could tell Ponyville was approaching. On their way, they hadn't seen Solar Flare. They had seen her take her wings, but they also knew that she could have very well teleported mid flight if she chose.

Finally, the Crystal Castle only appeared a few blocks away. Astatine's mind was racing with how he would explain everything. He wondered if Princess Twilight would even believe him, considering his appearance and his presumably outrageous claims about the sun princess.

Astatine came upon the door. Remembering the urgency of the situation and his own abilities, he phased through the door like an apparition. When he got inside, he heard shouting.

It was Solar Flare, talking in her raspy and metallic sounding voice. "Where is Twilight, Starlight Glimmer? Have you done something with her?" she asked accusingly.

Astatine rounded the corner and could see the two discussing. Starlight took a defensive stand as she replied, "I don't know, but I don't think that she would want to see you."

Celestia grimaced. "Do you wish to die?"

"Who's—" Startlight was interrupted as Solar Flare charged a beam of energy, before quickly discharging it at Starlight, "Asking?!" she finished, blocking the technique in time with a newly cracked magic bubble.

"Hm? So you defy me twice?! Tell me where my Twilight is, and perhaps I'll spare you."

Starlight looked appalled. "Luna was right.... You're insane. And you're definitely not a good guy right now."

Her comment enraged the sun demon. "I'll show you!" she said as she clasped the smaller pony in her magic.

As soon as Starlight felt the pressure, she teleported away. This had the effecting of multiplying the demon's rage. The crystal around her started to glow and sag as the heat intensified. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE TWERP?!" she screamed.

Realizing that he still had a chance, he flew through the ceilings and floors and walls in a desperate effort to discover the princess first. He flew to as many rooms as he possibly could, until he saw the pony that had been arguing with Solar Flare. He immediately raced over to her to query the whereabouts of Twilight, not questioning the being Starlight was cradling in her magic. "Where is Princess Twilight? Princess Celestia wants to do something bad with her!"

Starlight was startled at the outburst, not having noticed the colt enter the study. She turned to him with wide eyes, "Who are you?"

"I'm—" Astatine pondered how to answer, "I'm just a windigo who happened to see what Princess Celestia did in Canterlot.... She almost killed her sister, and now she wants to do something to Princess Twilight!"

"So that is Princess Celestia? What happened to her?"

"I-I don't know!" Astatine cried, "I don't know, but I don't think she's nice anymore! She killed all her guards!"

Starlight was shook. She had been interrogated by the one calling herself Solar Flare only moments ago, and had an inkling as to her true identity. Hearing the list of atrocities she had already committed only worked to intensify her angst. "Okay, okay. Twilight said that she went to the market. We can explain everything there. Lets go." Before Astatine could protest, Starlight's horn lit up and they found themselves in the center of the market. Meanwhile, a confused windigo found herself wondering where her pony friend had went.

Starlight used her magic to lift herself up, scanning for the princess. She saw the telltale purple of her coat among the crowd, and rushed over.

Twilight looked over to her student floating down. "Starlight? What's going on? Did something happen?"

"Twilight, there's someone who needs to tell you something. Something has happened to Celestia." Starlight pointed to Astatine.

"Princess, Princess Celestia—there's something seriously wrong with her! She tried to kill her sister, and then afterward, she killed all her guards! She's calling herself 'Solar Flare' now! I don't know what happened, but now she's looking for you! She said she needs you to give you your gift or something!"

Twilight was dumbfounded. "What now?"

"Listen, Princess, please. Princess Celestia has turned evil, and she is coming for you."

"How? What happened?"

"I don't know! All I know is that she is dangerous now, and she's looking for you!"

Twilight thought for a moment. "Where is she now?"

"She's at your castle, probably still looking for you," Astatine said, finally. He sighed internally as he completed his mission.

"Starlight, you should take your child somewhere safe. I'm going to go talk to the princess."

Starlight's face fell. "Twilight, you can't go alone. She's dangerous. Wait for me, please. Don't do this alone. I fought with her, and I know her strength."

"You know mine too, don't you? If it starts to head south, I'll get out immediately."

"Yeah, but... this is different."

"No, it's not. She is important to me, but I'm not going to put blinders on just because of that. Trust me, okay?"

Starlight hesitated. "Okay."

"We should meet up... at Rarity's boutique, if I can't solve things."

Starlight nodded.

"And thank you..." she turned to Astatine.

He turned away. "No one important."

Twilight thought it strange, but realized she didn't have time to pry.

Both of the mares' horns lit up, and in a flash, had disappeared.

Astatine flew back the Crystal Castle to find Blythe.

Author's Note:

Idk, maybe two more chapters until Night Mare Moon shows up. I'll just have to see how long the next one is.

Comments

[BruhMoment23232]

I'm loving this story! Can't wait for more!

[LEGION55]

.....Needs a Dark tag now.