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1) - Foreword and The Fall of Discord3,156 words
2) - Mutual Hostility2,956 words

2) - Mutual Hostility

Chapter 2: Mutual Hostility

The sun was beginning to rise upon the world as Celestia and Luna marched on through Everfree, the once tranquil paradise of their memories now lost to the poisonous wild the world had become under Discord. Luna was walking a stride behind Celestia, unsure of whether or not to ask the question which choked up her throat in fear as she thought upon it. She peered anxiously towards her sister in front, trying to gauge her sister’s emotional state by examining her body language. Celestia gave away nothing keeping a steady stride, but not out of confidence or determination. Rather, it was out of a forced discipline, almost like that of a soldier or warrior. Luna decided to take her chances though, deciding that that which bothered her was far too pressing to wait.

“Tia, may I ask you a question? It is about something that is deeply troubling me.” Luna barely managed to maintain her tone as she began to speak, her body tensing up with anxiety.

“Of course Luna, what is it you wish to ask?” Celestia’s voice was even and calm, too calm. Luna suspected she knew what the question was going to be.

“Tia, for years beyond count Discord has ruled these lands, he has only ever brought misery and suffering to all those within them. After all this time, how can we expect anyone to greet us with open arms?” Celestia stopped dead in her tracks, snapping her head around to meet Luna’s gaze. Her eyes gave a quizzical stare, desperately masking a deep unspoken fear. Celestia knew exactly where this was going.

Luna continued; “After all this time, how can we expect ponies to be able to form a kingdom, a country, a society? How can we expect them to yield so easily to our authority when the last ruler they had was one who abused power as if it were coal to a fire? How can we know that these ponies that once lived and loved are still capable of such things after all they’ve been through? What do we do if the chaos that was sown from Discord has taken root in them?” Luna turned her face to the floor as she finished speaking. She panted for breath trying to fight back the rising panic.

It was at that moment that Celestia began down the only path left.

“Luna, we will come to them in peace. We will come in love. We will come to them with our hearts open wide. But if they refuse us then I am not sure what we can do. For too long has chaos reigned but we cannot let it reign any longer. Discord is gone now, but he has not lost yet. I fear that in order for the greater good, sacrifices may have to be made…”

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Luna had been afraid of this for longer than she could remember. She had had countless sleepless nights over the years, desperately trying to find a way out, but she never had found one. The years of Discord’s reign had hardened ponies, leaving what once existed of the pony heart as little more than stone. Luna knew that it was not long before she and Celestia would begin forging a kingdom, the only chance at peace in a broken world. Luna also knew that there would be a struggle, ponies were going to resist and there would be blood. Years of turmoil and war had turned Celestia and Luna into soldiers, they had lost that touch; the thing which made them distinctly pony. Luna feared that they were now more like monsters, shadows of their former selves. But Luna also realized that she and Celestia had to bring pony-kind together before there could be a civil war. Luna just desperately hoped that time would heal their wounds.

Luna and Celestia had not spoken for over an hour. Luna followed as Celestia kept pace. They were nearing the edge of Everfree and were coming into earth pony territory. The forest was starting to thin out, the sprawling metropolis of the undergrowth giving way to a much thinner forested area. Clearings began to appear every so often, letting rays of sunlight pierce onto the shadowy ground below, revealing a greatly detailed forest floor engrossed in a mesh of roots and ferns. The calls of wildlife began to grow fainter as screeches were replaced by the thundering of a river up ahead. Luna looked up towards her sister.

Celestia was walking silently, her head bowed but her gaze fixed ahead of her. Celestia walked with a purposeful stride now, she knew they were nearing their destination and she did not want to be caught unawares. Earth ponies had a knack for knowing the land and Celestia feared an ambush. She was tempted to spread her wings and take flight. She quickly dismissed the thought from her mind, she wanted to meet the earth ponies on peaceful terms and that would be near impossible if she flew in to meet them. Earth ponies were proud, too proud, they let their keen dislike of pegasii get in the way all too often, meaning that neither group was particularly on good terms with one another.

Celestia halted abruptly. Luna didn’t see her stop in time; her horn collided with Celestia’s rear causing Celestia to keel over onto her face with a sharp yelp. Luna was about to apologize when she looked forward and suddenly saw for herself why Celestia had come to a halt. In front of them lay a bear, an extremely large bear, with huge fangs and a cosmic coat. The bear was dead. It should have had a scalp. Instead its head was peppered with an array of scorch marks and three deep claw marks were deeply ingrained from the tip of its nose right through to its left ear. The skin upon its head had been torn back to reveal a skull reddened with blood and large recesses where chunks of skull should have been. Each hole in the skull had jagged edges and was smeared with thick, black bile and grey matter. Whatever had killed this Ursa Major had not done so in an efficient manner. Luna felt herself heave but managed to compose herself before she could vomit. ‘She had seen worse’ she reminded herself.

Celestia pulled herself up off the floor to sit on her haunches. She stared upon the corpse of the beast and took it all in. She attempted to look for clues about what might have killed something so large in such a vicious way. Her eyes furiously flicked over the body looking for clues, she spotted one, in fact better than that. On top of the Ursa sat a reptilian figure, a dragon. Tall, slim and lean the dragon was built like an arrow, his scales were a dark crimson and his spines and black like coal. The dragon was sitting upon the Ursa looking decidedly bored, staring up into the clouds. He didn’t notice as Celestia began to move towards the corpse. Luna glanced over to her sister and realized what she was doing but before she could stop her it was too late. Celestia was going to talk to the dragon and all Luna could do was watch apprehensively, she feared startling the dragon might anger him. Now Luna had fought much worse than a dragon but she still felt exhausted after the ordeal with Discord, plus she really wasn’t in the mood for more bloodshed today. Luna bought her wing up and gave a brief look at the Elements of Harmony which were resting just beneath her feathers. Their presence comforted Luna.

Celestia stopped about a hundred feet away from the corpse. Her horn glowed briefly as a faint flash revealed the presence of a force field she had summoned around her, She wasn’t going to be stupid about this. With a quick cough to clear her throat she projected her voice directly towards the dragon.

“Um, excuse me.”

The dragon snapped its neck around at once to glare down at whoever dared to have the stupidity to address him directly. His neck went tense as he saw before himself something he had not seen for a very long time.

Celestia saw the daggers he was throwing her turn to pinpricks of surprise and distrust, upon this note she started…

“Good afternoon, sir. I am Celestia and this is my sister Luna. We were just passing through and we happened to notice this dead Ursa Major lying here. We were mightily impressed by such a fine kill. We were just wondering if you may happen to know who killed this beast and for what reason?”

Luna felt her stomach twist in bewilderment. “What on earth is Celestia doing?” she muttered under her breath, biting back the questions for later.

The serpentine face reared back at Celestia’s question, it was stuck somewhere between anger and pride. Celestia knew exactly what buttons to press with dragons, always going for the ego first. She was not comfortable though as she noticed the dragon role onto all fours in a stance which was neither defensive nor aggressive but rather, a stance which somewhere between the two. After a moment of silence the dragon finally let himself relax a little, his bulging muscles loosening out a bit, before addressing the Alicorn before him.

“If it were not already apparent I am he who killed this ‘beast’, and it was hardly a ‘fine kill’, rather a necessary precaution to stop this lummox from flattening such fine forestry.” The words came out of the dragon’s mouth begrudgingly with only hint of venom. He continued, “What I think is a far more interesting matter at this moment is what two goddesses, the likes of which the earth hasn’t seen for centuries, are doing just wandering the Everfree forest? The sight of an Alicorn is unheard of, but two, out here, well that requires an explanation.”

Celestia was hesitant for the briefest of moments but quickly made up her mind of what action was necessary.

“We, my sister and I, are going to form a nation.” Celestia said the sentence as if it were common knowledge, her nonchalance instantly making the dragon rear up in annoyance, puffing up his chest. Celestia held back a snigger at how predictable his actions were.

“And who are you to found a nation? Just going to prance into the land of the earth ponies and tell them that everything’s going to be alright now, are we?” The dragon’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Celestia bristled up at the remark, even though she had been expecting it. There was something about this specific dragon which she found highly irritating.

“We, my sister and I, The Royal Alicorn Sisters of Everfree, the rebels of ponydom, the sisters of a martyr, the slayers of Discord…are we cut out for the job? Yes! Yes we are! And we are indeed going to walk into earth pony lands and tell them everything’s going to be alright. We shall word it a little better of course, and we will have to deal with resistance, but I’m afraid a nation’s about to be born and we don’t have time for this.”

Celestia’s words were said with a resolve and determination which made the dragon raise an eyebrow. She prayed her gambit would pay off as she turned and began to walk away. She had played every emotion to perfection; she just prayed the dragon would take the bait. Luna stared on at all this with a blurry confusion in her eyes, she had no idea what Celestia was trying to achieve.

“One moment…” Bingo! Celestia slowed to a halt and then slowly swirled round her head, meeting the cold gaze of the dragon.

“Do you know who I am?” He said these words with a hint of trepidation.

“No, should I?” Celestia knew she had him now, she was just a little disappointed that he hadn’t been more impressed by the slaying Discord part of her speech. Either he believed her fully or he was playing the same game as Celestia was. Celestia assumed the latter; war turns you into a pessimist.

“I am ThunderClaw, The Dragon Baron of Everfree, everything you see in this forest is within my dominion, this is my territory. I do not know why you refer to yourselves as the ‘Royal Alicorn Sisters of Everfree’ but I can only assume you are descended from the alicorns that once ruled this land. Some may think it foolish that I do not strike you down here where you stand as competition to my throne, but I am no fool. While I may be impervious to magic I do not wish to gamble my life away fighting alicorns. Now, I’ll go ahead and cut to the chase. I don’t know what you two are really up to; you may be as crazy as you sound and actually want to build a kingdom but here it is… YOU STAY OUT OF MY WAY AND I’LL STAY OUT OF YOURS!”

The last words were not shouted but rather whispered with such ferocity that they stung the ears of all those that heard. Celestia briefly felt a twinge of fear but countered with the question…

“And why should we keep out of your way?”

“It’s lying underneath me.”

The words found their target and made impact, both Luna and Celestia glanced over the corpse and back at the dragon.

“Agreed.”

Luna spoke these words with a finality that made both ThunderClaws and Celestia dart looks of mild shock towards her. With a nod Celestia began to turn around and start on her way, Luna filing in behind her. They shuffled away in silence, heads hung low, a meditative atmosphere descending upon them as the dragon watched them go.

ThunderClaw’s words were but a whisper heard by none…

“Better prepare, a storm’s coming.”

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The sun was directly overhead as Celestia and Luna crested the hill. They stopped a while to take in the view, basking in the sunlight. Luna lay down onto her chest, trying to dry herself off from the bath she and Celestia managed to briefly steal in the river. As she lay there she began to look into the valley below. The land was rugged but pleasant, good farming land scarred by a brook or a small cluster of trees here and there. In the centre of the valley lay a small village filled with cute wooden houses and barns. Under the noonday sun small specks could be seen moving through the town, most likely to be ponies.

Luna soaked up the view, the idea of normality flirting with her mind, a temptation she could never yield to as there really was no temptation, just a fantasy. She looked upon the panorama that presented itself to her. Fluffy white clouds sparsely populated the crystal blue sky, adding the hint of purpose to the endless sea that the sky had become to her. The sky…Luna loved the sky, be it at day or night. She loved the idea of a vast nothingness…space, true space with nothing in it. Luna often imagined falling through space, the peace, the tranquillity. She loved the sensation of falling, the feeling of weightlessness, it was the one thing she had liked about the time she had almost died many years ago. She was scared of falling into the ground, of course. But she could dream, how ever strange her dreams may be.

“If there were nowhere to land I wouldn’t be scared at all.” She thought to herself.

At that moment she snapped out of her train of thought, and then she noticed it; the ugly scar in the heart of the valley, the castle upon the cliff-face. The cliff was vast, spanning most of the right side of the valley, like a huge wall that separated two halves of creation. Dead in the centre it stood. The castle must have been elevated fifty feet up. It loomed over the valley with its monolithic spires piercing into the sky. Every inch of it was screaming its presence, assaulting the vision of all who looked at it. It was a slab grey with hints of jet black running through it. It consisted of a main courtyard carved out base at the bottom with what appeared to be something akin to terraced levels all linked up by a series of ramps zigzagging through the city. Each level consisted of an open platform area hidden behind a small curtain wall lined with buttresses. Behind each platform lay a series of archways peering in to the innards of the castle; the archways were each carved into a much larger wall running up into the next level. On the top level was a domed building with three spires cascading from the sides. Luna looked upon the castle with awe, even from such a great distance it was a sight to behold.

“Celestia…”

“Yes, Luna.”

“If things go pear shaped, I think we may have our work cut out for us.”

“I know.”

“How did they build this thing under Discord’s nose?”

“I think Discord built it for them.”

“When?”

“Towards the end, just after the chaos abated, Discord focused all his energy into building castles such as these.”

“Why?”

“He was planning a war for his amusement.”

“I think he may have already succeeded."

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