A Cavalcade of Cards

by QueenMoriarty

Indestructible

A full-grown dragon's yawn can be heard from miles away. An alicorn's yawn is comparatively silent, only being audible from the other side of a large house. It was one of the many reasons why the rooms of Celestia and Luna in Canterlot Castle were heavily soundproofed. Evidently, this was not a fact that anypony had yet dared point out to Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia smiled as the crystalline walls of Castle Friendship sang along with the vibrations, then went back to making pancakes.

Spike slunk down the stairs and settled into his usual place at the dinner table, silent from a combination of respectful patience and not being fully awake yet. Celestia looked over her shoulder and smiled at the precious little dragon, and he brightened up a little and smiled back. She didn't need to ask him what he wanted for breakfast; she had done this enough times that she knew the answer.

It was a source of little regret that Twilight was not awake in time to catch a glimpse of Celestia in her lovely pink chef's gown. It had been the elder princess's little game for a while now, to dress as scandalously as she could while keeping out of sight of everypony who would care. By the time Twilight had summoned the strength to get out of bed and come down the stairs to the dining hall, Celestia had discarded the apron and donned her casual regalia.

"Good morning, Twilight." There was no answering greeting, only a tired smile and a business-like nod, as though Twilight were simply confirming that it was indeed a good morning. There wasn't even a panicked shrinking of her pupils as she realized that Celestia was speaking to her. That should have been the first clue that something was wrong.

But it felt nice to be there. The pancakes were very good, just as good as the pancakes that had once been made by culinary scientists seeking to make the waffle seem evil by comparison. And the seat underneath her almost felt real.

So she stayed a while longer.

"I was thinking I might visit Rarity today," Celestia announced to her audience of two. "It's been so long since I wore a dress that was made entirely in Equestria." And it had been a long time. It had been an exceedingly long time since anything other than imported fabrics and minerals graced the princess's form.

All the same, Twilight shook her head, and then she took a bite of her pancakes. For a few seconds, Celestia could have sworn that her old student's horn wasn't glowing, but then it conspicuously always had been.

"I suppose you're right," Celestia said, abandoning her plate to focus on Twilight and Spike. "It's not as if there's any occasion to celebrate." Spike nodded, and it almost looked like there were actual bones and muscles involved in the action. "It would just be undue stress on the poor dear, to say nothing of the fit she'd have when I walked into her boutique." She sighed, and went back to her pancakes, poking and prodding them but somehow more reluctant to actually eat any. She looked up, and Twilight and Spike were still there, slowly eating away at their generous stacks of pancakes.

"Perhaps I'll visit Pinkie Pie instead," Celestia tried, and neither of them reacted. "She's always good for a laugh or two." Twilight gave such a small nod that Celestia would have missed it if she weren't watching the two of them like hawks. "I don't suppose either of you would like to come with me," she ventured.

The shrug was something she hadn't expected. She almost thought that Twilight's head was about to roll off her shoulders, but it didn't. Twilight just shrugged, and went back to eating her pancakes. It was probably the best that Celestia was going to get out of them today.

"Well, if you'd like to join me, you'll know where to find me." With that, Celestia stood up and left the room, opening the doors so fast that she half-expected them to break into a thousand pieces. The fact that they didn't worried her much more than their destruction could have.

As Celestia made her way through the halls of Castle Friendship, she couldn't help but look around. There were hardly any hairline fractures in the walls or ceiling this time, and the walls sparkled just like they were supposed to. Had she not known any better, Celestia might have thought that everything was fine.

Then time bent and twisted in front of her, and Starlight Glimmer appeared. Her hooves sank right through the castle floor, and she didn't stop sinking until she looked to be halfway embedded in the floor. Despite the sinking feeling in her chest, Celestia could not help but smile. It was nice to know that she was not dreaming, but hallucinating.

Starlight Glimmer looked around, and that precious look of wide-eyed scientific curiosity was immediately replaced by crushing horror. Celestia also spotted the distinct aura of a breathing spell. So there wasn't oxygen. Another thing that was nice to know.

Celestia layered her own breathing spell over Starlight's, allowing each other's words to be heard. "Greetings, Starlight Glimmer. Please excuse the mess."

As though those words were a magic spell, the hallucinations clouding Celestia's mind and eyes vanished into nothing. Castle Friendship and whatever poor imitation of Ponyville lay beyond gave way to a lifeless rock, floating in the abyss of a starless, moonless night. There was still light, of course; but it was a weak light, the blue aura of that accursed thing with only the slightest red tinge.

"Princess Celestia," Starlight panted, clearly on the verge of a panic attack, "what happened here?"

Part of Celestia wanted to ask Starlight how far forward in time she had jumped to see this. But she knew that would be pointless. "I should think it is obvious what has happened here, Starlight Glimmer."

Celestia lit her horn, and the rock they were standing on shifted. The empty sky turned, and Starlight Glimmer looked up and beheld the wreckage of Equestria. A shattered planet, the continents long ago fused into indistinct slag, and at the heart of it all a giant, smoldering ember that might once have been the core of the planet.

"I happened."

And embedded in that ember, a deceptively small shard of metal, glowing blue and somehow looking quite smug despite having no features and being miles upon miles away.

Starlight Glimmer disappeared. Perhaps she too had been a dream. If so, she had not been a very interesting one.

Author's Note:

There sure has been a lot of Celestia in this collection, hasn't there?

Comments

[goldfencer]

Now I'm just confused. What's the glowy blue metal thing? Obviously Celly's 100% loco, and this is all from her perspective so it's clearly not reliable, but you're drawing attention to that metal thing. Should we know what it is?

[QueenMoriarty]

7673144 magiccards.info/scans/en/mi/276.jpg

[goldfencer]

7673159 Ooh, ok.

[GreenDrakeWeboen]

7673159
That is a truly evil artifact... I want one!

[FanOfMostEverything]

7673159
Performing as advertised, I see.

In any case, very interesting direction you took with this one. I'm left with several questions, most of them variants on "Why?"

[QueenMoriarty]

7673282 I'm pretty sure that any answer I give as to what prompted Celestia to wield the Worldslayer is inherently less awesome and scary than whatever the reader's imagination can come up with.

[devas]

I feel like all of this is somehow my fault...

[AnObliviousAuthor]

There sure has been a lot of Celestia in this collection, hasn't there?

Perhaps you feel that there isn't enough of her in the show?

[QueenMoriarty]

7675600 That may very well be true.

[PresentPerfect]

yo c.c;;