Chapter 15 - Irritation and Negotiations
Rainbow whistled as the guard sailed directly for the castle, landing in one of the high towers with a delightful puff of dust. “Man, you think he’ll be okay?”
“He’ll be fine. The spells combination I used should at least stop the physical damage he’d experience otherwise.” I snickered, my hand resting on my brow to see clearly. “So, how about we head out and you can show me modern Canterlot?”
The remaining Elements carefully navigated the bodies of the guards, Twilight whispering slight apologies to the few who still held any consciousness. The train stewards parted away from me as I strode out of the station to the main street proper, my mental map slowly being remade with new streets and landmarks. It’s so different from the last time I came through.
We came with an army last time, and we were a bit busy slaughtering the guards of the era. Not a whole lot of chances to actually learn the city.
True.
I slowly breathed in, sighing softly. The smell of a city had been a long lost scent for me, and it brought a smile to my face, even though it seemed reminiscent of the early 1900s for me. “So, girls, lead the way, show me some of your favorite places here.”
“Oh, the Magical and Natural History Museum would be a good place to get you informed of what has happened recently!” I smirked at Twilight’s suggestion, her excitement evident.
“Darling, we should go to some of the tailors here and order some fabrics for you. I have a few friends that might be willing to cut a delightful deal for us.” Rarity did have a point. If the fabric she had didn’t work, it might be good to buy some here.
“We could go on a bakery tour, and try out the different treats they have here, ooh maybe we can find a--” Applejack put her hoof over Pinkie’s muzzle. I giggled softly.
“Uh... Girls? "Maybe before we go off and have fun, you should look at this." Rainbow’s tone concerned me deeply. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I cursed silently.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's a wanted poster of me." I turned to see a poster between her hooves.
"They’re making an event of the duel. They have DJ-P0n3 for music, and even the Wonderbolts for an opening act.” Rainbow turned over the piece of paper, showing a head to head rendition of the two of us, in the horrible contrasting red, blue and white of political memes. "This is exciting isn't it?"
I raised my hands to my face, folding them in front of my mouth as I took three deep, slow, methodical breaths. “Celestia barely gives me any notice about arranging for a duel, but she has already made arrangements to make this a sporting event." I closed my eyes for another deep breath. "Girls, do any of you know of a decent place to eat for carnivores?” I queried stoicly, bottling up the irritation for now.
Celestia, I thought we were going to be done with making spectacles.
“I used to eat at this fish and fowl place with Gilda, back when we’d take field trips here with the flight academy.” The surprised looks over the others had Nyx chuckling in the background. “Hey, It’s pretty good, don’t knock it until you try it.” Rainbow crossed her hooves before her, looking away as if she had been scolded. "Sorry, I get exci--"
"Before you apologize: don't. It's already clear you're into sports, so such an event would be something you'd want to see, despite it being a surprise." Nyx interjected, sending a violet look to the embarrassed pegasus.
"Besides, I’m hungry, and I think I'm going to follow through on my promise to Celestia.” I continued to breathe deeply despite my rising pulse. “I’m also going to need to borrow a work table of some form, once we get situated at the castle, if she'll even house me. For now, lead on, Dash.”
“Follow me then!” She turned and lazily flew up the main road, leaving the six of us to follow on hoof and foot.
Celestia always had a flair for the dramatic.Nyx mused in the back of my skull. It never could be anything less than ‘a battle for the ages’ for her.
I grumbled quietly, glaring ahead. Ponies parted around our group, guards actively avoiding looking at us for longer than necessary. I’m not even angry she wants a big event around this. It’s the first time in centuries she’s fighting in the public eye. I’m fucking livid she arranged an entire WWE-level event before we even had a chance to discuss anything. I scowled as my heart rate began to spike, my knuckles tightening, until the green aura flickered to life on me once again.
Then let’s go to the castle after we eat. We still have a few days, so we can look around for any extra tricks and tools that could help.
Fine.
“Princesses Celestia and Luna, I hate to disturb you during your private time, but I bring news regarding Illua.”
Luna’s starry magic cracked the door, revealing the kneeling guardspony. “Report, if you would.”
“Illua is currently making her way to the castle. She’s actively and willfully violating the Carnivorous Decency Laws.” The guardspony seemed visibly unnerved.
Celestia released an exasperated sigh as she set her cup down.. “Is she with Twilight Sparkle?”
“Yes.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Sister, wouldn’t Twilight have informed her of such--”
“There’s more, Princess.” The poor guard interrupted. “When Twilight was heard trying to explain said laws, her words in question were ‘Fuck Celestia’s discriminatory bullshit, I’m going to eat my god damn food.’ How should we respond?”
Celestia rose to her hooves and began walking to the door. “Please have the Chef prepare a dish consisting of mercifully harvested meat alongside the regular group meal for the Elements. Show Illua and the Elements to the throne room, and clear the nobility away. She’s already shown hostility towards them in the past. Dismissed.” Celestia closed the door, before sinking down and rubbing her temples with her hooves.
The smaller blue princess chuckled softly, covering her muzzle with a hoof. “You did say she was an agent of chaos.”
“And a fine agent she is!” A plume of smoke erupted from the spout of the teapot, slowly forming into the cross legged form of Discord as he planted himself on a chair. “I just adore how freely she expresses herself, and surprisingly with no harm done to her environment!” A sip from the globe of tea he held, and it slowly shrunk between his claws. “But I’m not here for a delightful chat today.”
Discord’s finger snapped, and pulled out a little envelope decorated in white, gold and pink, with Celestia’s signature in dark, dried blood on the front. “What is that, Discord?” Celestia returned to the table with a careful eye on the anarchic spirit.
“Remember that little favor you asked of me, when Illua was burning Canterlot a few centuries ago? See, I’ve taken a shine to the revolutionary, and I would prefer her alive after your duel.” Discord’s claws detached from his wrists to present the frilly and stained envelope. “Take this, and you agree that you will not kill her as a result of your duel, be it during or after. I won’t hold you to it if she tries to kill you after your cute little event. Deal?”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Celestia, you made a deal with Discord? How long have you held this arrangement?” Her horn lit up with her azure magic once again, glaring at the two other immortals.
Discord chuckled. “She made the deal with me when she nearly died by Illua’s hand, a little over three hundred years ago. As such, this favor has been up my metaphorical sleeve for all this time.” Discord’s detached hand twirled the envelope upon the tip of his claw, while he poured himself a proper cup of tea from the floating globe. “However, I don’t make this call for my own agenda. Rather, I am calling this favor in much the same manner as Celestia. To protect a life.”
Celestia glared at the draconnequs. “And should I not accept these terms and conditions? What then?”
Discord’s grin split wider, becoming rows of jagged knives. “Then I will personally ensure that you would have died that day, all those years ago, releasing your domains into the wild to find new successors who may find themselves upon thrones of their own.” The spirit of chaos licked his teeth, sending sparks as the blades began to whirl around his mouth like a chainsaw for a brief moment. “You’d make a lovely plushie for my cosmic bedroom.”
Luna slammed her hooves on the table, cracking the marble slab. “Discord, thine jokes remain intolerable as they had the millenia prior!” Her wings spread as her azure magic turned black and smoky, snatching the chaos spirit. He smiled as he glimmered green, warping two feet to the left.
“My dearest Luna, I haven’t felt the touch of Death in ages. I’m glad to see you kept that. But you know as well as I that it holds no hold on me, just as my domains hold none to you or your sister.” Discord sipped the cup he poured, before turning his gaze back to the solar diarch. “Your call, Celestia. Either you do not kill our human friend and her allies, or I go back and change history. Perhaps for better, perhaps for worse. Now, choose.”
Celestia’s glare hardened, as her eyes turned golden with sunlight. “Fine. Leave us Discord.”
Discord giggled with glee. “Oh joy! I just knew you’d accept! Now Celestia, keep the contract in the arena when you fight. Perhaps have Luna here hold on to it. When you are no longer bound by its effects, the contract will burn up on its own, leaving that point in time fixed. Ta ta.” Like a smear on a windshield, he was seemingly wiped away from view.
Luna turned and looked at Celestia with that same glare. “How many times have you done this, Celestia? How much do you owe Discord?” Luna’s wings retracted. “How could Illua have even threatened you? The only things that could overcome any of the three of us are Harmonious Elements or--”
“A weapon containing the essence of the Void.” Celestia interjected, shuddering as she rolled her wing a bit. “That’s why Illua scares me, Lulu. She has a weapon that could truly kill you, me, Discord, Cadence… Even Twilight, should she want to. Lulu, I--”
“So you asked Discord to use what little control of his domains he had while imprisoned to imprison her, thus inadvertently allowing his escape before.”
“Luna, you know as well as I that Discord and I have never truly agreed on much. You know how much it hurts my pride to have asked him to help me.” Celestia’s gold magic hovered the bloodstained envelope before her, her lips turned into a pensive frown. “Outside of that, I have never asked him for anything, nor has he asked of me. I’m frankly surprised he didn’t use my debt to allow him to freely go.
Luna set her now empty cup down, setting the silver spoon alongside it, closing her eyes as her breathing slowed down. “Do you remember Mother’s wisdom about ‘Only Once, Never Again’?”
“Of course. ‘Just the once, you get what you want, but you reap what you hath wrought. Never Again is the cost of your greed, only then will you know what you need.’ Of course I remember it, my dear sister.”
Luna’s eyes barely opened, but she wasn’t focused on Celestia. “Just the once, I met with the Nightmare, in the hopes of receiving the love, attention, and validation I needed from you and our people. You know where that led, Celestia.” She stood and turned to the balcony, opening the door to the afternoon air. “Now, having spent a millenia away from everything but that fragment that clung to me, I saw all that I lost from a horrifically magnificent view from my moon.”
“Luna…” The Night princess held up a hoof to stop her sister, her stony gaze upon her sibling.
“Just the once, you allowed the nobility to blind you to the plight of the populace. Just the once, you refused offerings of treatise from the one you fear. Just the once, you made a deal with the bearer of Conflict, Time, and Dimensions.” Luna turned away. “Why didn’t you use your domains to fight Illua those years ago?”
“I did not want to repeat my mistakes. The Everfree is dangerous enough as is.”
“And yet, you somehow keep it contained, Bearer of Nature, Energy and Balance. Did you really need Discord’s help?” Luna looked back at her sister, a mixture of disappointment and pity in her gaze. “I’ve seen the turmoil in her dreams. I’ve seen how she’s suffered in our world.” A slight smile graced her muzzle. “If I wasn’t the keeper of Death, Mind, and States, I would say she’d be a great bearer of Death.”
The dark princess' smile faded. “I pray your arrangement will be worth it, Celestia. I will see you in the throne room.” Luna took to the air to greet their soon to arrive guests.
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Illua, don't give Celestia an 'out' during your duel. Show her you're better than her by just kicking her ass and humiliate her. Don't let her get away with it easy by killing her. Let her stew in her humiliated defeat
new chapter poooog
Happy birthday dude, I loved this chapter
ooo I love this chapter a lot! Celestia, you're digging yourself so many holes.
And this is why criminals win most of the time when they violently attack. Celestia goes in knowing she is going to kill Allua. Allua goes in trying to defeat Celestia.
A criminal knows, when he attacks you, that he will keep beating or stabbing you until you submit and he gets what he wants. If you die, you die. It was your fault for fighting back. They go in expecting to kill you. The average Joe has seconds to defend himself, and always starts trying to knock his attacker 'out' or 'down.'
By the time the average Joe realizes it a fight to the death, he has already lost. Regular people have to switch gears from defense, into "I have to kill right now." That takes precious seconds. Seconds he doesn't have. What goes through the average persons mind and what takes far too long, is a two part mental process. First he has to realize that the fight is lethal, and he has to kill. Second, he has to emotionally become OK with that decision. I attended several classes of our local Police Academy. One of the classes covered some criminal psychology. It was eye-opening to say the least.
As for the story, I think Allua is screwing around too much. Taking things too lightly. She is acting like things have changed, and they have clearly not. She needs an eye-opening experience before she gets shanked in the back. If it's not going to be Celestia, it will be her loyal guards. Personally I hope that void sword has the effects of Hind's Blood.
In western mythology, the hind was a magical creature much like a unicorn. It was discovered by the gods that its blood when poured on a dagger, gave it the power to kill the gods. And more interestingly, cuts from the hinds blood dagger never healed, they kept bleeding.
The Monk
“You’re right. Violence is never the answer.” “Violence is the question.” “And the Answer is YES.” -Illua
10821348
I disagree, she should kill Celestia as fast as she can. Don't think she will do it though.
More's the pity
Monk
"Yes, I will eat the Fear Turkey." -Illua
Please, I hope this story won't go like the others where Celestia is a clear villain and a bitch.
Every author clickbait's with Celestia's villain and promises of her death or heavy revenge but doesn't have the balls to follow through and later in the story act as if nothing happened.
It either ends with a scapegoat, out of nowhere forgiveness, forgetting what she did, or deciding not to kill her or punish her because "plot"
You know this is a clear example where the whole displaced system should have been used by the displaced.
Calling for help to deal with Celestia by god displaced or a god killer displaced.
Maybe it does take the stakes from the fight but it's a logical thing every human would do, me, you, etc
10821348
10822543
If , if, she really really has to let her survive she should at least amputate her wings and horn, for precaution also using permanent methods so they won't be able to regrow or put back together by surgery, magic or Discord
I smell heavy retcons.
“Let’s make mc be antihero and fought against equestria”
“W-well but she needed to speaks with mane6.”
“Yes luna bestgirl too, let’s celestia be only bad guy”
“Displace, I want displaced but she didn’t have token…. Discord! Yes I’m genius”
“That crossover was fun… but what I am going to do again? Yes, more displaced storyline!”
“Eh… I don’t wanna maimed Celestia anymore… let’s make her not completely bad guy… by turning Luna into a sociapath and Discord into her limiter!”
Honestly, my biggest problem is the magic system itself. It’s already demonstrated that siege of Canterlot is the extended of Celestia’s full power, with how desperated she was. She’s a coward in her mortal combat and a single thought about unleashed her full potential didn’t even cross her mind a little bit? The fact these ‘domain holder’ feared simple atomic explosion is an icing on top.