Missing Pages & Scrawled Footnotes

by Ice Star

A World Where Nopony Would Burn [Outline] [Notes] [Untold Stories]

Author's Note:

This is chapter will contain spoilers for Tomb of Magic, Through the Snow, Enemy of Mine, and probably a few other tales. If you don't want to be spoiled, click away.

One of the stories I never got around to writing was a novella-length story about Celestia's time in the Unicorn Court. Following her right when her mind really began to unravel, but before she began using any geasan or had any power and support. She really starts to drift away from the young, naive filly in Arc Zero here, and is joined by characters like Princess Platinum, Starswirl the Bearded, Sigurd Goldenrod, and Freyja Blueblood. Other original and historical characters are present, with Luna, Onyx, and Clover sometimes mentioned sometimes by Celestia.

Like many other stories that never got written, but still have various pieces that would've been focal to them reflected in other stories in passing, I didn't have the time to write this one. It had little progression in Arc One and Two, and would've had far too much older speech to really write as easily, as it's something I have a hard time with, along with other outdated things, like lunar and solar hours being referred to. A project like that, one that even might've been mixed with some poetry, estimated at about 30k and filled largely with large, somewhat-original/canon locations (the Tribelands) and characters with the focus on a catty, borderline, needy protagonist in young Celestia was a story that would've required a lot of dedication to bring about. That was something I didn't have when I was working on other, longer, more important stories. I wasn't even sure if I wanted this one to be in first person (considering the lying habits of the main character that would take time to manage and possibly be a bad choice) or third person (like Enemy of Mine, which was a very demanding story) so that didn't help this get written.

Anyway, you can find what I had for the story stuff here.

(Spoilered text: eating disorders (bulimia), homophobia, poor use of substances, and extremely irresponsible ponies in unstable relationships)

There's some heavy connections to stuff appearing in this chapter and information here, if you want to read it.

Characters:

Celestia (a.k.a: Solara): A young adult (early 20s) Alicorn mare who has known the pony tribes since she was of fourteen years in the Alicorn's mortal year equivalency, and has spent decades as a youthful mare and teen filly under Starswirl's custody. She is the inexperienced Goddess of the Sun but has been kept away from raising it since she appeared in the Tribelands with her sister and they earned their marks. She has many feminine and traditionally girly interests, conventionally pretty looks, and a highly extroverted/codependent deadly duo that allows her to form relationships (good or bad) easily, leading her to have many friends and plenty of foes too. Celestia has pyromantic abilities, but she dislikes them.

She has grown into many of the negative elements of Tribal Society, answers to Solara, and has passive-aggressive bitchiness buried under that smile for the pony who dares try to tell her and her idea of equine welfare to buzz off, or that far more barbaric and evil ideas are ever okay. Celestia also possesses something of a hedonistic streak: parties, pen-pals over literature, dancing, jokes, self-amusement over study, and a simple young mare's want for fun - just turned up a few notches from less than ideal semi-suppressed mental health issues and a dysfunctional desire to define herself by something other than playing mother to her sister and living her own life... by abandoning her sister and being all-too susceptible to bad ways for others to define her.

(Probably just needs to have a hug and a few decades of therapy... and Platinum to stop making such awful less-than-underhoof-but-not-super-overt-stupid-royal-bitch remarks about why Celestia should have another little spiral of 'episodes' that lead to her better acquainting her truly massive supper with a frozen privy seat again, because she really is starting to fill out her dress again, hmm?)

Such a strong desire to feel normal, loved, and needed can make Celestia push away ponies who are reported to make her come across otherwise, but when she is willing to show kindness and generosity to ponies who she never believes should be treated as harshly as they are under the tribes, like the poor, the sick, and anypony who is just born inoffensively different from anypony else. She has a habit of proclaiming often that 'If I was ruler...' followed by something she would change, an element she likes to infuse into her speeches.

Celestia has an incredibly hard time crying in front of ponies and tries not to, except in certain circumstances like shock, news of death, destruction, catastrophe, if faced with betrayal, and during break-ups. Her more emotional sister can make Celestia come across as cold in comparison to her younger sibling, while unicorn society sees her as hysterical. This doesn't mean she'll never show any sadness - she will, and it will be obvious when she is heartbroken, shocked, or anything else, she just rarely is more than teary-eyed about it.

Her greatest goal is to help ponykind, to the point where she's already got a mounting savior complex about it and heroic ideals stuffed in some sections of her brain. The faintest foundations for the dream of Equestria are forming in her mind's eye, even if she can do no more than dream them - and y'know, suppress any memories of her fillyhood, biological family, and the Age of the Alicorns, and pretend she wouldn't have some obvious Alicorn-Era influences on any hypothetical of hers. It's just such a shame she's in a position where she has too little support to found a kingdom, and that it would take some miracle of the Tribe leaders to want to do so. But the only thing that's happening is more war, and colder, longer winters. Brr!

Celestia's identity fluctuations, unstable relationships, and episodes of extreme moods and problems with herself often lead to her trying to throw herself deeper into the work she's already designated for herself in order to not feel worthless and like she isn't contributing. She works to one day create a proper network of magic upon her own body to do more than just dull the edges of her magic, as she does now, and the compulsion to work further on these invisible bindings arises in lower moods and has been rising considerably for some time...

It's very hard for her to fight for an Equestria to be alone because no matter how many ponies will listen to her with the hem of her dress levitated just above the slush in a market giving one of her speeches, her heart and values demand she be a pacifist in how she interacts with ponies. How can she feel anything but unable to act with force against terrifying things she sees? It's too hard; too bone-chilling, and not a single one of those single chilled bones can act with the force of a soldier, even when she knows she fights for something right. One thing that brings her a sense of completeness in her life is meditating on good and evil, and how her observations of them have evolved since fillyhood. They're the two most important things to pepper her waking thoughts, and in times of doubt she can always return to her idea of the two for clarity and as predictions to what she feels greater goods and evils are... unaware she has a considerably inflexible dichotomy of them, and it's something she's willing to cast her whole world (and all those ex-coltfriends) in.

Generally considered progressive in mindset, part of which stems from coming from an enlightened civilization (even if she won't acknowledge it), Celestia wants for nothing more than all the disaster and horror of the lives of tribal ponies to be bettered, no matter how awful these ponies might be or all that's in her way. She carries the strong over-optimism and over-kindness of a better life crusader - and happens to be the only pony making an effort to do anything, finding ponies to be worthy of salvation.

She is irresponsible and blinded by love, more often than not, and her coltfriends - as she thinks of them - are all good-looking to her, but who they are on the inside can leave a lot to wish for. Many think so little of her when she's over the moon for them, that she's left in an open relationship by default. Other times, she finds herself in love with stallions, thinking each to be yearned-for 'handsome prince' type, and finds out that even if they do return her romantic affections, it is not to the degree she feels because of Tribal society ideals impacting how much the stallion feels - and when it becomes neither wants/can have a marriage that would make their relationship politically and economically useful to unicorn society, stallions Celestia loves becomes stallions she maintains courtly, all-parties-aware dalliances/dating-level relationships with in order to try and feel less empty from the circumstance and to avoid being left alone when one leaves happy and fulfilled by relationships where the other party is so often too noncommittal for her taste and sees her in the lonely, undefined realm of 'partner'. Feeling that she gives so much to stallions who rarely understand her relationships and see their partnership as going nowhere, Celestia often ends up wanting the fulfillment and opportunity she sees in the good relationships some of her friends find. And that's when things tend to turn out for the better.

Philomena: A phoenix companion of Celestia who has known Celestia since before the tribes and when she was a filly, instead of the fragile and often destructive mare she grew to be. 'Mena, as she is often called, delivers messages for Celestia outside of Starswirl's valley, because the stallion did not bother to ward against a mere bird. These messages could be love letters to her current coltfriend, papers to help Solara's spy exploits, political texts, recipes for the cosmetics the young mare loves so much, fabric catalogs, and correspondence from friends. All she wants is for Celestia to be okay, knowing that the young mare is put through a lot of distress.

'Mena is capable of speech and a very sapient being, who has a very childlike personality and loves to chatter and listen to Celestia. Often, the mare speaks to the bird in owner-pet speak (I guess, this?) and when doing so, Celestia often refers to herself in the third person, by a title (Mama, Princess, etc.), or sounds like she's talking to herself about her day just to hear somepony...

When she can, loyal Philomena strives to help young Celestia rehearse the many speeches she gives in the capital city of the unicorns to bring the ponies any happiness she can and try and convince them of what a better kingdom would look like, one with no starvation, no unjust wars, and different values leading to prosperity. After all, if a fun-loving, hyperactive fire-bird can feel impacted and drawn to the young mare's speech, then illiterate, half-starved, frostbitten unicorn ponies could!

Luna (a.k.a: Selene): An Alicorn goddess who is on the brink of early adulthood, at least with how she ages. Her relationship with Celestia is fractured and consists mainly of Celestia not having anything to do with Luna, who is torn between hating what her sister has grown into and the raw pain of the rejection. Luna refuses Starswirl's commands and is consistently rebellious and defiant of him, even making multiple escape attempts at the risk of beatings. Her unruliness makes her hard to control and her lack of adopting social norms of the Tribal Era she deems backward or erasure of who she is considered more of a freak than her sister - especially when Luna embraces herself as an Alicorn instead of trying to be a pony. She is very often largely silent to the point of being a borderline select mute but is passionate about nature, magic, and combat. Her lack of noted attraction to stallions leads to her being a rumored lesbian (in reality, she's asexual, but not aromantic, but nopony else knows since she's very closeted and good at hiding her sexual orientation). Luna is the Goddess of the Moon with a cutie mark she loves, and though she hides her full magical talent to be sneaky, and is asocial, something she is spurned for.

Once a filly playful at heart, lately emotional and always introverted Luna has been cloaked by years of melancholy and gloom evident of depression brought about by how her adolescent life has turned for the worse. She wants to run away and continue the life of adventure she led before and is always yearning for freedom and deeply imaginative. One day, she manages to get out of Starswirl's valley and travel to the neighboring one of the tribes, where she finds Celestia during one of her times at the Unicorn Court, they fight bitterly and both dug deeper into screaming things they would regret, with Celestia not only unwilling to leave but ending things by screaming at Luna that she wished they weren't sisters - something that shattered what was left of Luna's hope that Celestia was the sister she grew up with and truly cared for. Celestia ensured Starswirl came to fetch Luna.

Starswirl the Bearded: A unicorn stallion with a peculiar tale (suggesting Prancian ancestry) who is in possession of significant magical talent compared to the rest of the Unicorn Tribe during the era. He is high-born of House Glimmer with distinguished noble blood and breeding, but is estranged from his family of his own choice, and has no friends whatsoever. He has a particular talent for hypnosis and conjuration. His habit of buying foals keeps his frontier home in shape, and he frequently takes some of them out on trips to the Unicorn Tribe's territory.

Aside from using them as servants, he'll teach some of them, and seek ways he might make a profit from having custody of them too, as well as attempting to use them for test subjects on occasion - if he can get one under control. Save Clover, who all but nods, trembles, and obeys, he has a turbulent and abusive relationship with each of the other three, who he will punish, starve, beat, and bring about much mistreatment to. He deprives them of their own names, each being renamed with something of his choice, with the best known being the fake-names he gives his adopted daughters, Celestia and Luna. Overall, he tries to force apart from any bonds that could be formed between the four - or already exist between them - in order to better control them without the use of magic. He makes many overbearing efforts to rein in the behavior of each one and ensure they don't do anything he doesn't like, feels inconvenienced by, or will make him look too bad.

Despite his station and position in the Unicorn Court, he is notably sexist, foul, racist, and brutish in temper. He lords his fame, wealth, and status as wizard, noble, and the sole pony to travel outside the Tribelands above others in drunken boasts, and authors various materials to help contribute to his income, as well as research and unfinished spells he never showed anypony. An exceptionally greedy and predatory stallion, he finds his spells in hypnosis to be useful for swaying the mind of any female that moves to keep him company.

His early life is not spoken of, but marked by no trauma or lack of love, and he was offered remarkable chances for education that he boats of too. Starswirl has lived to an age unheard of by many ponies, and can falsely be seen as wise instead of amoral. He has not once married a mare, nor have any siblings been spoken of. No kin are still alive to speak of, and those that knew of the more personal details of his family, beyond what would be glanced at in castle records or in modern court gossip, are as lost to time as the information.

Clover the Clever: A feeble-minded unicorn mare with somewhat above average magical skill from training and a habit of trying to better situation with simple proverbs. Formerly a purchased peasant kept by Starswirl the Bearded since her early foalhood, she was sold because being bought by a wizard was considered an 'honor' and a way to escape poverty. She never saw them again, but some of the few memories she has of them included foreign words that none of the other unicorns could recognize and were dismissed as nonsense and amusement (but were fragments of Prancian telltale of the region where Clover's family migrated from). Oftentimes, she was subjected to magical experiments by Starswirl, especially when it involved areas where his talents could be put to use and left her with premature neurosis, atypically docile, and with a weakened horn (something that would not be visible) over the course of years. Eventually, she was sold to King Tantalum as a servant for his daughter. Compared to the other wards of Starswirl, Clover was treated the best. (And that's really not saying much, seeing as she was basically a guinea pig for his memory magic.)

Onyx (a.k.a: Kawblance): A young colt servant of Starswirl. He is an orphan from a distant land and displeasing to deal with. Ever since his arrival in Starswirl's frontier valley years ago, Celestia was always tried to avoid him and dismiss him, finding him obnoxious and loathsome. His wretched behavior means he isn't granted much in the way of trips outside of the valley with Starswirl. Celestia only knows him by the nickname Starswirl gave him and has no hint about what his real name could be. She knows he likes to hurt non-sapient animals and has other habits that disturb her, contributing to her sneaking gut feeling that there's something evil about him.

Princess Platinum: The unicorn princess, sole heir to the throne, and a frequent bully of Celestia. The all-around ringleader of the noblemares of the Unicorn Court, whether they wish her to be or not, and a royal, spoiled bitch. Known for being iron-hoofed and prone to fits where she screams violently at servants, as well as being unusually close to her servant and hoof-maiden, Clover the Clever. Generally uptight, unbearable, and worth avoiding at all costs. A princess she may be, but when it comes to friendship, Platinum's a real queen bee, and one with considerable support... including keeping Solara as a favored acquaintance, with the Alicorn trying to get close enough to the princess to maintain a level of influence that is obvious to the public - even if their double-faced, backstabbing, fake 'friendship' isn't so. Platinum generally sees Celestia as an upstart, but not the most effective one in her eyes, and she's willing to keep her close, as the saying goes. (Of course, this is the very reason that Celestia also wants to stay as close as she can to Platinum.) It's a your secret or her secret world, and she's not taking any chance for the latter, even if the former can cost your life, happiness, or anything.

King Tantalum: The last king of the unicorn tribe. His ancestors granted Starswirl the right to keep Luna and Celestia. His wife was killed in the conflict with Tirek, and he expected to rule without care after Tirek was vanquished. Instead, he faces a curious threat from an ever-growing winter and wars that keep escalating. Can't a guy just sit on a throne of corruption and marry his lone daughter off in peace? Apparently not. Celestia would never have any direct one-on-one interaction with him, and any time he even bothered to address her directly would be in a crowd. He feels there is little reason to mind the Alicorn beasts and prefers to keep his dealings with intelligent creatures, like ponies. He feels Starswirl has little more than easily dismissed flaws (okay bud) and holds him and his words in considerable esteem.

Sigurd Goldenrod: A rural unicorn and heir to an estate. He is a duke who appears in Through the Snow. He describes his manor/estate as being between "eleven days (traveling by hoof) away from the earth pony border" and the mountains where Starswirl's valley residence is. He has a heavy accent and is conscripted into the tribal military, hence him being at the Unicorn Court. There he serves the required amount of time to show his loyalty to the crown. His status as a royal lord is a reason many ponies make fun of him and dismiss him as a hick.

He's young, optimistic due to being a greenhorn, but generally good. While he is still racist towards non-unicorns, he is not pleased by the constant generational slaughter of the Tribal Wars and doesn't have any other prejudices to any group. He thinks Celestia's ideas of a peaceful kingdom are desirable and a future to look forwards to. He wants to help her get noticed more by ponies who will take her political aspirations seriously. Though, his optimism often gets him in trouble or is proven wrong.

He has a younger sister and describes his father as telling them bedtime stories about a mysterious crystal city, which is considered to be no more than a fairy tale. He will staunchly defend his family against any accusations, especially that they are traitors to their race/tribe/nation or hold such sympathies. Sigurd is considered conventionally attractive, something that catches Celestia's eye. He's also the only one who will call her 'Celestia' aside from Luna. Though at her request, he will call her Solara too, and nicknames based on the two names: Tia, Lara, etc. This often makes Celestia feel like each name is for a different pony, splitting any sense of wholeness she might have, something she doesn't attempt to stop or counter in any way.

He values labor, military service, and politics above the feats of mages and scholars. Sigurd loathes Starswirl and his treatment of Celestia but knows that the only things he can do to prevent her mistreatment are to shelter her when he can. They become incredibly adamant about spending time together, not just as a young couple but so Sigurd can protect the passive Celestia from Starswirl's anger. Since Sigurd is usually dismissed as a "border-pony" due to where his estate is and where he's usually stationed, he is ridiculed by other unicorns, who often speak carelessly around him. This supplies him with a lot of information he relays back to Celestia in order to help her with her political activity. He spreads the word of the things she says to those who he knows will listen and help her words reach ponies who might support her.

Sigurd holds many of the core values of his society highly, but still acts in a more honorable and chivalrous manner. This attracts Celestia to him, who thinks of him as knightly, while he sees her as refined and refreshing compared to many of the other mares living in the Unicorn's Court. He doesn't understand the depths of Celestia's mental instability, but would never knowingly blame her for much of its impact on her life and seeks to help her.

While there is the drama expected from their relationship, the two are truly good for each other, and Sigurd is the closest thing to a stable figure that Celestia has in her life. They both know that they could never marry: Sigurd has to marry a citizen mare and somepony who can benefit his family's future and is seen as legitimate and a pony, while Celestia is ruled by a tyrannical guardian she has no idea how to escape. She is unable to change her life with her own agency, and only by Starswirl's choice would she be able to marry or leave him, and due to her species, she can't be married - and certainly not to a high-born unicorn (something others berate her for often). Sigurd is looked down upon by some for his relationship, but because it's nothing official, it doesn't have an impact on the political future he has.

Sigurd is deeply in love with Celestia, and would enjoy a future with her if he could, but Celestia also has no desire for family or ever settling down and passing 'political responsibility' onto the next generation in hopes that they will solve things. She is open about never wanting to marry, except as a political goal. This sometimes makes Sigurd feel disappointed, as he knows their relationship cannot last, but never when it will end. He doesn't want it to end, and Celestia lives in the moment of their relationship, unwilling to think of it having a future instead of her political one and how it might impact her lifestyle. Both have a reckless, youthful investment in each other.

The chance for Sigurd to be deployed or returned to the Unicorn Court irregularly has made both fairly paranoid about them being taken from one another and sent away. Celestia is always without him and quite clingy, and Sigurd is too mellow to really understand her delusions of fairy tale love (a leftover from her old foalhood over-optimism) and need to attend. Sigurd is puzzled by how Celestia can alternate from an overly empathetic time bomb of a mare to being such a good liar and manipulator of other ponies in the Unicorn Court. He often has to shelter her from the world, particularly public executions and other corruption in a society that drives her to hysterics and shock. Celestia doesn't fully understand that ponies are not inherently good, and the levels of violence and terror that happen in the Tribal Era often comes as a shock to her, making it one of the few things that can reveal a very emotional, reactionary side of the deeply conflicted mare.

Sigurd does his best to support in communicate with Celestia in other ways, from giving Philomena his messages to her to listening to her tell him about the Magicspire and the misfit collection of others that live there. There are times when he has to listen to Celestia rant about how she feels about Luna during this time, and in his attempts to support her, he ends up agreeing with whatever she tells him and 'confirming' everything Celestia says in her reliance on others for her self-image...

Sigurd is Celestia's only real defender, and a beacon of good in the cruel land of the tribes and the one true lasting love that was ever really mutual and earnest in all her time living in the north, and overall helped Celestia become a better pony. He and Celestia have an emotional commitment to one another and strong friendship aside from their romantic relationship. When they are away from one another, they will sometimes enter brief stages where their relationship becomes a vaguely agreed upon but extremely poorly-defined open relationship, and Sigurd often has to swoop in and 'save' Celestia from the other, older stallions she gets herself involved with.

He knows that she was involved in Tirek's defeat, but has no idea how to see her as a hero of any kind, capable of aggression and victory. This makes some of Sigurd's only concepts of Celestia fractured, though much more subtly than most ponies' view of her.

While he regrets parting with Celestia when they do split up, he does go on to lead a happy life and marry a mare willing to raise his foal. Even though his foal with Celestia was purely accidental, he did love his daughter no differently and always treated her kindly and was welcoming to Celestia when she needed a place to stay. He never thought badly of Celestia after they split up, which he had no say in, as it was purely for the benefit of his daughter and at Celestia's say for their futures. Especially her chance to be in a position of political power one day. He and Celestia never had any contact again after they split, and he lived to migrate south again. Though he loved his wife, he still cared for Celestia deeply and wondered what might have been between them if they had stayed together.

In the end, Sigurd managed to be the closest to the chivalry of tales of knights and the Old World that Celestia knew. He provided one of the few good relationships she had and looked back kindly upon. His mellow and heroic disposition and made Celestia feel drawn to him, and the pair really complimented each other in the best ways they could.

Freyja Blueblood: A unicorn filly with half-Alicorn blood (though, there is no obvious way this manifests) and a splash of silver freckles across her muzzle. Her eyes are green and her mane and tail are rosy pinks, and her coat is soft white. Conceived by accident, she is given up by young Celestia so that she can further her political career and is raised by her father, who with the help of his understanding wife, conceals that she is not a legitimate heir in a time when to be otherwise was a risk. She becomes the longest-lived mortal pony to not know any magical enhancements (like being a demigod). She went on to marry and have many foals who carried on the Blueblood name into the time of Luna's return to Equestria.

Previous Stallions Involved with Celestia: She's a mare with a few different types, and the various original characters she would be involved with would fall into a few different but distinct types. Stallions that Celestia would find herself attracted to would be significantly older than her (so, she'd be barely legal and getting involved with stallions in their 30s-50s) and would be politically minded, seeking to move up in the court and gain the favor of the royal family and marry strategically, even if though they would already occupy a place of nobility at the very least. These celebrity types would be very much a kind of scheming noble sort (they probably have the goatees for it too) that are pleased to lead poor, young Celestia on for a bit of amusement and nod, pretend to listen and offer sexist underhanded remarks when she tells them all her political aspirations.

The second type would be the more up-and-coming noble stallions. These would be the kind of ponies around her apparent age, the kind of rich colts with time and power, but only positions of minor importance compared to fathers and other, older unicorns at court. They're not quite worried about their own estates or heirs, and are ready for fun times and fast times and hoping whatever plague is in this season just sticks to the peasants, and are just as spoiled and as much of dickwads as you would expect. Probably fun at parties. 120% huge douches and fairly toxic under all that golden boy charm with issues and aimlessness of their own. But they like sun horse booty so who knows. To them, Celestia's just a particularly attractive freak show-like spectacle to add to a list of scores. Would often only barely act like they have the time for her, and wouldn't care if she's caught in a love dodecahedron kind of arrangement with multiple stallions like this, thinking they aren't tired of her and really do want her around.

In general, Celestia is drawn to stallions with an extroverted magnetism, popular at court, has a prominent sense of humor, and comes across as a go-getter or somepony very involved in their occupation or coming across as stable (in life, in general, whether they actually are or not). She doesn't like a pony who would pass judgment over her, which unfortunately means that she's often involved with ponies who don't care about her at all because they don't care to think about her as more than a pretty face, and she's quite vulnerable to flattery and nice guy acts. She wants a stallion who is willing to support her and get involved in social focuses, but at the same time won't interfere at all with her desire to move up social ranks and make the climbs to rulership. Because of this unwillingness to really let anypony into her life or really address equality in her relationships, she's entering dalliance after dalliance with stallions who aren't going to stay with her because they have no shared goals and she maintains an iron grip over hers; she wants a pony to play a part in helping her shape a life she is ultimately devoting to others, not a pony who shares any long term desires with her.

Unicorn Politicians: Politicians who were unicorns included the Unicorn Court and local and noble figures. The nobility and other ranked officials supported the royal backbone in a caste-like feudal system. Even though the whim of the Unicorn Crown dictated everything, the royal family was still bogged down with other loyalties, favors, and complicated relationships with the others in the Court, unlike Alicorn rulers of the Old World or present-day Equestria. The unicorn line was lucky to rule without a lot of usurping and conflict, but still owed hoof-shakes, favors, and the like and was codependent on the court it managed.

Unicorn politicians could be stallions or mares and managed their relationships through money, property, marriage, magic, and festivals. All were educated in some way, though not normally with a magical education. Houses happened when a few interconnected families would claim one name (Meadowbrook, Lulamoon, Glimmer) that repeated often or in a pattern. It was established by one member, who almost always bore the original House name as their mononym. Marriage was used to form alliances and ensure new branches, and blood was brought in.

Most houses would be able to trace themselves farther back than the monarchy's family tree, but not to the start of the tribes. Not all of them were descended from a constant line of nobles, and new houses from nowhere could technically be founded, but it's nearly impossible and borderline illegal unless you come from certain kinds of backgrounds. Houses had their own armies and portions in the Unicorn Tribe's greater army, as well as similar kinds of magical talents to one another.

Leadership in Houses was not based on talent, magic, or gained as an elected position, but on wealth, force, prestige, royal favor, and assassinations were not uncommon within Houses. They never took kindly to anything that might disrupt their rigid systems and attempts to gain favors or take away their serfs and properties, or that they deem annoying and interfering with war efforts. (Read: Celestia)

Though Tribal Era naming traditions are somewhat different than modern Equestria's, there are still ponies who are given the second half of their names because their parents wish for them to have a more unique name or found a House of their own.

Unicorn Peasants: Peasants in the unicorn era were rural ponies without much in the way of skill or magic. They had no real shops, establishments, or anything that generally earned a profit in towns and cities, like the capital. While peasants would often rent land or own property, they were still under the chain of authority that extended from local levels up to the Unicorn Royal Family. They often had one name only, and especially simple cutie marks. Celestia was particularly interested in this demographic of ponies and found them to be very pitiful. They have much, much, much larger amounts of foals than reasonably possible, and purely as a means to see which ones survive.

Attempts at farming (generally only for if a pony near the earth pony border), selling repurposed trash, mining, hawking/vending, and begging would be common jobs for the poorest peasants and serfs. Peasants would run many local shops and occupy most unskilled trades, and all the skill-less labor below that. Most would have a hard time living past their twenties, and would have no world beyond trying to get their surplus foals conscripted, sent to work mines, apprenticed (if lucky), married better, goods sold and paying officials and landlords. Any and all claim to the property would be determined by their heritage and other corrupt laws, making most peasants unable to own land and left to rent property from higher-up unicorns who could charge them whatever they pleased.

The territories occupied by peasants would have very little defenses due to guards and soldiers mostly aiding in the collection of tithes, taxes, other payments, and defending areas like shops and mines. This would make the areas where Celestia travels extremely unsafe outside of the most desolate stretches of road and merchant towns and the like. Peasant villages would be overrun with internal corruption as well as external, with the only order and authority brought by royalty and any soldiers deployed, making the bulk of the unicorn population ruled by magic and might and royalty and their own tyranny with no exceptions. The first hints of the Windigo Winter would mean increased starvation, too. Abandoning the (few) elderly, sick, young, orphaned, and others that could not be of immediate value would not be uncommon either. Villages without soldiers would have to attempt to keep themselves supplied off nearly nothing from the outside world, be visited only to keep them in line or when things are required of them, and be left for dead when sickness inevitably swept through their unsanitary homes.

Mage Bridget Meadowbrook: A high-born, high-ranking, and fairly talented unicorn mare, who is scorned as 'Biddy Brookie' by Starswirl. She is usually just referred to as Mage Meadowbrook, as would be custom, and is one of many Meadowbrooks to have secured the title of a Mage at Court. Her skill was in enchanting items, and she was known to have created some of the first most rudimentary methods of modern basic item enchantment. She had eight famed enchanted items, and was generally well-respected, though her less than subtle dislike of Starswirl and rivalry with him often led to her being spoken over. Meadowbrook would be well-aware of Starswirl's odd foster family and often belittle him for being so disorganized in how he kept his life and wards.

Purple Saxifrage of House Meadowbrook: The high-born unicorn mare who eventually marries Sigurd Blueblood and becomes the stepmother of Freyja Blueblood, and a general friend to Sigurd before their marriage. Her contact with Celestia would have been limited to meeting one another a few times around Court. She is a loving, easy-going, mare who has a passion for crafting the medieval herbal remedies expected of many mares in her era but employ the magi-herbalist talents that ran in her family, cementing their place in the Unicorn Court as skilled ponies. The Meadowbrooks were some of the only unicorn ponies with sufficient skill in magic at the time (though considering the general lack of magical skill in the Tribal Era, the Meadowbrooks wouldn't be as spectacular as they are in the modern-day, just decently talented, instead of being fair for their time, much like Clover and Starswirl were, etc.). Purple's specialty was more heavily related to culinary uses for magic and herbal recipes, as her name suggests. Her rich purple mane and white coat made, as well as how quickly she married Goldenrod, made it all too easy to pass her off as the birth mother of Celestia's foal. Because Purple never had any foals that were her own, she likely chose not to have any or was infertile. Her stepdaughter was her pride and joy, who she was careful to rear into a lady mare with a good heart.

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Plot Outline:

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This story never got to enter the stage of stricter outline and areas of development many of my other longer stories like it do, and instead, events were decided largely based on where the setting was at the time. These settings would be: Starswirl's valley (at intervals, mostly mentioned), the unicorn capital city (which I never came up with a name for), multiple (yes, unnamed) villages of peasants/serf unicorns, the Goldenrod estate, the Unicorn Tribe's countryside, the exterior of the unicorn capital, and the Unicorn Court/castle.

The exposition of the story would start with the brief time spent in Starswirl's valley: Starswirl is ready for a trip to the Unicorn Court to visit Clover in her new position there serving under Princess Platinum. [Which, yes, does correspond with Chapter 12 of Tomb of Magic.] Celestia has not been feeling well lately, more so than usual, and Starswirl has her ready her things for the trip; she brings her usual items including a diary and her companion Philomena with her.

After some time (and flashbacks regarding her relationship with Sigurd) to journey to the capital city, Sigurd and Celestia are overjoyed to be reunited again. However, Celestia not feeling the best, lingering turmoil from the 'spire between the apprentices, and the constantly increasing conflict between the pony tribes both within and outside of their borders weighs upon the two.

More chapters are spent on Celestia and Sigurd, both on their romance and the politics and life of the Unicorn Court. Starswirl alternates between neglecting Celestia, which she is thankful for, to controlling her utterly when he bothers to pay attention to her. Eventually, Starswirl finishes his reason for visiting the Court, but by then Celestia and Sigurd have deduced that Celestia is indeed in the early stages of pregnancy from their last visits together. Celestia is absolutely panicked when the two figure out what has happened and what this could mean for them. Celestia is well aware that Starswirl is a looming threat to any unborn foal she would be carrying, and that she cannot be entirely within his grip for some time longer - up to a year away from the stallion who has managed to establish control over Celestia for so many years.

Due to escalating conflict among the tribes, Starswirl has had to visit the Unicorn Court much more frequently, and often for reasons he cannot get out of or excuse. Even when these visits directly benefit him, Starswirl is still furious regarding how much travel he has been doing. When Celestia volunteers to stay and act as a personal spy and communicator for Starswirl in order to let him go back to the Magicspire and work on his magic, Starswirl agrees. Celestia knows this will prevent Starswirl from further mistreating her for some time, have no authority over her actions, and be oblivious to her condition as it progresses.

With Starswirl taking his leave earlier than planned, Celestia situates herself into her many-faceted role: as a servant for Starswirl while continuing her own political efforts, all while maintaining her relationship with Sigurd and trying to hide everything from increased mood swings, appetite, to weight gain. Being pregnant also brings uncomfortable questions to the surface about what might happen with the foal when its born, Celestia's fears of motherhood, and coming close acknowledging herself as an Alicorn, and thus a separate species. Her offspring's status as a hybrid between a pony and an Alicorn would be a reason for world-shattering panic alone just between Sigurd and Celestia. After all, no such offspring would have existed since the Collapse of the Old World and Celestia would not have known of any from old bedtime stories, so the qualities of such a creature (immortal or mortal, powerful magic or purely pony magic, etc.) would be entirely unknown and a cause for worry.

Celestia is thorough about how much she doesn't want to be a mother, and tells Sigurd repeatedly, even when the initial scare is over and Starswirl has departed. While they get to spend more time together, and the romantic aspect of their relationship becomes more public, this doesn't last for long (just a few chapters more) before Sigurd is ordered back to the earth pony-unicorn border, where the war is only waging more. This means he can no longer protect Celestia and help hide her secret or provide her with the relief from loneliness and mental support she clearly needs.

This news devastates Celestia, and Sigurd attempts to show as much optimism as he can risk in his attempts to console Celestia. Sigurd's departure is delayed as long as possible in a reckless couple days where Celestia and Sigurd attempt to desperately stave the passage of time away with anything they can, however empty or silly the fun may be. When the time comes for Sigurd to leave, Celestia is barely held back from having an emotional breakdown when she and Sigurd have their private farewell to one another. Then, Sigurd has a public soldier's farewell with the other unicorn troops, which Celestia attends, frozen and statue-like, but yearning to be there for the stallion she loves.

When night falls on the city, Celestia must face it by herself, feeling completely alone and lonelier than ever.

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The second act/part of the story was going to revolve around flashbacks. These would include more of Celestia's relationship with Starswirl, her life at the Magicspire, a couple of scenes of her with the other apprentices, and of course: her relationships. How she met Sigurd, previous dalliances, dates with Sigurd, and Celestia and Sigurd's activist efforts would be the focus before the story's third part.

The story's title would be central in this act, particularly with showing the aforementioned (and currently somewhat mostly activist efforts) of Sigurd and Celestia. During Tear the Sky Asunder when Celestia was pivotal in Tirek's defeat, Celestia witnessed ponies burning alive and on one occasion with only Sigurd to hold a hysterical Celestia back from a total, public mental breakdown, he and Celestia see a unicorn pony burned alive publicly as punishment/execution for a crime against the unicorns, though it's not much of a crime at all so much as a case of the Unicorn Crown not liking the pony and their prejudice in full swing. Sigurd is used to the sight, but does not support it and expresses some disgust but is more concerned with his sobbing, screaming girlfriend.

The world Celestia envisions has yet to be Equestria, but she knows it's a world where nopony would burn.

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The third act deals with Celestia as she prepares to make her journey. While at the Unicorn Court, she must deal with the complex social interactions that come with it. That means she is not dealing with wee little Onyx (who is around 12/13 currently) and vacant, hollow Clover. She is dealing with princesses and politicians that are always out for one another, where friendship is cutting off somepony's hoof for an advantage instead of their head. The latter, of course, would be the actions of an enemy.

Luna shows up, and though Celestia doesn't know it, she's desperate and hurt. Their relationship has been absolutely abominable and never more toxic than their years with Starswirl, but Luna still clings on to the hope that she can rescue Celestia from the society of the ponies and that they can flee together. Her actions in fleeing the Magicspire and still choosing to go through perilous Tribal territory and into the Unicorn Court to find Celestia the one time she manages to be free of Starswirl's wards is the ultimate olive branch.

However, Luna's fragile hope for safety, sisterhood, and an escape from misery into a future where they can make a difference is shattered. Celestia is abhorred by Luna appearing, unplanned, escaped, and ready to offer impassioned remarks about every reason they should flee. Celestia is absolutely willing to hear none of it, and the two's prickly, opposing personalities erupt. They have the most toxic of screaming matches that they have had in a long time.

All their accusations bubble up and the two hurl insult after insult against one another, begging and screaming over and over for the other to listen and cave in to the other's desire for the future. Celestia wants all her political plans to stay intact, remaining immaculate for when she could eventually sate how much she has been vying for power and be a ruler of the ponies. She does not reveal the full extent of her desires for political gain at their future but does argue beyond the angle of their reputations being at stake.

Meanwhile, Luna points to all that is wrong with mortals, their unsaveable nature, and how they have been abused, caged, and their sisterhood has torn apart. Ever since they met the mortals, their lives have been nothing but torment and she pleas and cry angrily for Celestia to be her sister again, for them both to be loyal and true, and somewhere far, far away from the fallen world, they have found.

Angered beyond belief at Luna's words, rebelliousness, and inability to be controlled, Celestia decides to indulge herself in her anger just once, thinking it will be okay to express herself. Her tired body has its secret hidden with a large, spacious dress of the time and her mind is swimming with hormones, as well as sick of Luna talking about the sisterhood Celestia thought was severed with the burdens of her old name.

When Celestia screams at Luna that she wishes they weren't sisters, only then does Luna stop crying and go back to her now-normal muteness. Both are absolutely stunned by the brutality of one another and Celestia's words, but there are no apologies said. Celestia summons Unicorn Court servants to her chambers, where a resigned Luna is taken out, having finally given up almost totally now, and is eventually collected and brought back to the Magicspire. Her journey ended up being in vain, and the fact that she would have had the blessed freedom her young heart so long wanted and safety from abuse if only she had been willing to abandon the only family she had left is something that weighs upon Luna.

Without Luna to worry about any longer, Celestia is convinced that she has finally liberated herself. She sets to work on writing to Sigurd, tracking his movements, and keeping an ear to gossip on foal-rearing and military movements. Within a few days, she has secretly packed and ready to go. Celestia is fairly open about leaving, willingly taking on minor errands expected of those below Court officials like herself. This way, she'll have plausible deniability, have fashioned 'friendships' (and of those air quotes she is well-aware), and won favors that Starswirl could exploit from other ponies later.

With little more than saddle-bags of the things she is meant to distribute along the way, Philomena to help her relay messages, and the fine clothes upon her, Celestia thinks she is ready to head out. She sets off into Unicorn Lands, heading for near the earth pony border, where she knows that the Goldenrod estate awaits her.

Along the way, Celestia is forced to confront reality and does so poorly. She hadn't accounted for the utter poverty in which unicorn peasants lived, or seeing the transportation of earth pony slaves into the land she travels. She has no money to her name and is always refused shelter. Many peasants think her a monster and are unwilling to share even the scraps straight from the garbage with the ailing, worn, pregnant mare. Famine is rampant and the weather is always poor. The technology for even Roman-level roads is something that is too far advanced even for these ponies of the dark ages, and Celestia tries to stay with the few ignorant peasants who will accept her.

Those unicorn peasants are meek and ignorant, but too passive to be of harm. They see Celestia and know she is the mare who speaks of rights for workers and other things beyond their every imagination in the capital city. Some of her words have reached significant portions of the population, and though they don't know what it means, they want Celestia to mean peace. She is friendly and humble in their eyes, and always willing to look at them as dear ones instead of the lower castes that they cannot escape. However, Celestia is weepy and pities those who take her around their fires and into their measly huts, trying to refuse the food these starving ponies give her, completely willing to starve the mortal child in her if it means that the dying peasants around her can have so much as one more bread crust.

Despite her errands, the trip only exists in a state of half-favor, and Celestia is forced to only consort those who would not know how to betray her: the poorest of the poor.

Many elders are able to see that Celestia is pregnant, and refuse her selflessness, lying to her about there being more food or whatever else is needed, like outright force-feeding her. Though a mortal-immortal spawn is beyond all their comprehension, it is clear the crying, ever-shocked young mare before them who is willing to feed others before her, and her bird before herself, is only going to induce a miscarriage or bring other forms of harm upon her if she doesn't think with the selfishness of survival.

None of the ponies Celestia spends time with and hears the tales she tells bothers to tell her their unspoken truth: that though they feed her and help her, kindness is immaterial. She cannot help them; her fatigued body cannot feed them. They will still be toling when the sun rises, knowing some of their own were dragged to their death to raise it, and that no matter the optimism she offered, all Celestia did was give them tales to tell and drain their meager resources so fantastically. They know that many among them will not live to see her return trip, and will be fertilizer in the fields.

During her time 'on the road' Celestia does not disclose to Sigurd that she is seeking him. When she shows up to the Goldenrod estate, it is to his complete surprise. Celestia is haggard from her constant journey, where despite her condition, she was often forced to forgo sleep or summon drinkable water where there was none. She managed to avoid all the war zones along the way and close by, though her dress is dirtied and tattered.
However, there is little time for her and Sigurd to have any dispute. She is so close to being ready for birth, and within a few nights of rest and nourishment, Celestia is foaling. Unwilling to risk the secrecy of their out of wedlock foal, Sigurd is too afraid to summon any midwives to help with the delivery except those who are willing to swear secrecy and have the magic to induce birth.

The premature birth results in a filly that is frail, but one that will still survive. She is immediately given to a wet nurse, and Celestia is forced to take time to recover but refuses to stay for more than a few days. She insists on going out to help again, wanting to combat the worsening winter and deplorable conditions of the Unicorn Tribe's paupers.

She leaves without even naming her daughter and instead gives Sigurd instructions. She tells him to conceal the filly's true parentage, to marry and disguise that she wasn't a lawful heir, and that they could absolutely not maintain a relationship anymore, whether they loved one another or not. In her last moments with him, Sigurd outright admits his undying love for her, while Celestia struggles to. Only the love-aurora stripes of her mane, which are almost entirely shimmering with her age, offer a sparkle in response to the stallion she can't even look at.

Celestia leaves with Philomena, and braves what she can of the countryside alone, battling frequent bad dreams, horrific fractured foredreams, and spirals of dissociation that leave her having to bury mental scars by the time she has returned. Once in the Unicorn Capital City again, Celestia is relieved to find she has managed to come back before Starswirl and his wrath. But she's also a haunted mare, and even the maids notice something is just a touch more frozen about her, and noticeably off.

Even though Celestia has come back to all that she has tried to escape, she is that much more determined to see herself in a crown before the brutal, never-ending winter claims them all.

Comments

[Wand3r3r3]

You? A lesser-known author? Pssss :3

[Ice Star]

10366474
I need to stick some of my lesser-known stuff somewhere. :V

[Wand3r3r3]

10366534 Oh, lesser-known stories. I got it :D

Just wanted to poke fun at ya