Part 15: The Forgiving Princess
Out of all the questions Celestia had to ask today, who exactly was this mare who bore such a grudge against her, one so furious that she was willing to expose the “Massacre of Southern Equestria” and the division of the North and the South?
Just who exactly was Enigma Nucleus, Celestia had to ask herself as the sky finally broke open and the rain began to pour down. All day, there had been rumblings of distant thunder, warnings of an oncoming storm and the sky had been constantly clouded over, but only now had they let loose their deluge.
Oh, she knew the object of her questions was the niece of one Professor Mercury Periwinkle, and one very bright pony, but beyond that… She was a mystery. An enigma, if you will. There was so little she knew about this mare, and it saddened her. She could have stopped this… all of this from happening if she just knew what had affected Enigma so much, and persuaded her that none of this was worth it.
Revenge, after all, Celestia had learned long ago was just an empty hollow feeling. Despite however much you wanted it to, it never filled any holes. The fact was, it just continued the cycle. Celestia privately admitted she wanted to damn Enigma to the pits of Tartarus for all eternity for causing this rift between her and a mare she saw as an adoptive daughter.
A daughter, she knew, after all, was growing up fast.
Pacing back and forth in her study, Celestia knew this. “Maybe I could close the library or throw a party in the castle. Oh, she'd have to talk to the other fillies then! Oh. I must send her away.”
She knew for her adoptive daughter, it was getting close to her time to leave the nest, as it were, and spread her wings. Quite literally, in fact, Twilight was one of the most talented students she had in years, and if Twilight could just jump over that one little hurdle and learn the Magic of Friendship… Maybe, just maybe, she could successfully do what none of her other students had done before and complete Starswirl the Bearded’s spell.
This worrying persisted for weeks on end, even in the midst of her own throne room. Even two of her guards, Orchid Blossom and Sakura Flowers had seen and bore witness to Celestia making a complete and utter fool of herself. She knew there was this special group of fillies in a small town called Ponyville, the ones that might be able to push Twilight out of her shell, but…
“What if she runs into a manticore?” Celestia whispered to herself frantically, continuing to pace back and forth acting like a mother hen, to put it bluntly. “Or what if she gets pulled into Tartarus?” she asked, before she had the most horrifying thought yet. “Or, worst of all, what if she doesn't get along with anypony?!?”
The guards' thoughts on the matter, you might ask?
“Are we supposed to say something?” Sakura had to ask, watching the Princess with a rather worried expression. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days, and frankly, the pink mare was amazed Celestia’s mane was still in such great shape. Oh, if she only knew. It was only a glamor. In reality, if you stripped that away, you would see Celestia’s mane was in a state of disorder and chaos.
“I don't think so,” Orchid answered, with a shake of her head. “In fact, I think it’s wise we just sit back and let Celestia figure this one out for herself. Frankly, I think it’s above our paygrade anyways…” she sighed. “I’mma just going to go out and give the kids their bottle-feeding, ‘bout time to anyways…”
“Fine,” Sakura said. “But if the Princess starts digging a hole in the floor, and I imagine she will in the next few minutes, don’t you come crying to me when we’re forced to fix it!”
But Celestia also knew revenge was a cycle, and it continued hurting more and more the longer it continued. So, despite all that Enigma had done to her, Celestia knew she couldn’t strike out in anger and just lock her up and throw away the key. Oddly, something was telling Celestia that the mare who was the source of her troubles was hurting inside, just like Celestia herself was.
“You’re thinking, aren’t you?” the Doctor’s voice said from behind her, as the two trotted towards the Canterlot Hall of Records. “Don’t bother denying it, I can see it on your face.”
Celestia chuckled softly. “I still have yet to figure out how you always do it, but you always manage to read me like an open book,” she said. “You probably figured out that I’m wondering who’s Enigma, and why she wants to get to me this badly, haven’t you?”
“Well… when you don’t speak for a good thirty minutes or so, plus you point us in the direction of the Hall of Records… Not hard to figure out, no,” the Doctor commented in a remarkably deadpan tone. “But I admit, Enigma -Very meaningful name, by the way- is a curiosity too. I mean, where is she getting her information from? How’d she know where to look in the restricted section for that scroll? Actually, how’d she know about it in general?”
“All very good questions Doctor, ones we will get the answers for, from Enigma herself if need be,” Celestia replied, as she pushed open the two massive wooden doors to the Hall of Records. Inside was corridor after corridor after filing cabinet, containing slices of information on every pony who’d ever lived in Canterlot, going back a thousand years. It was a small wonder to Celestia that everything was always kept sorted, really. Birthdates, to death dates, along with various other little notes on them.
“You know, a more paranoid pony would probably make a remark on how this seems all very tyrant-like, very 1984ish. All you’d need is the torture chamber the drops rats on your head,” the Doctor commented in a very dry fashion. “But let’s be thankful you’re a more benevolent pony than that, eh?”
“Something tells me that’s one book from your world I’d rather not read…” Celestia deadpanned back.
“Oh, might tell you a few things. Very interesting social commentary, if nothing else,” the Doctor replied. Celestia turned back to look at him, and raised an eyebrow.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re still a little miffed about Shining throwing you in the dungeon a few months back?” she asked, still in that flat tone.
“Oh, everyone holds grudges…” the Doctor trailed off, and Celestia was about to correct him, but sighed and changed her mind. After all, what’d be the point? “Even me,” he muttered to himself, in a tone of self-disgust. “You’re probably shocked about this, but personally… I think you’d make a better Doctor than I would at times,” the Doctor continued, and Celestia’s jaw dropped slightly, and she halted in her tracks.
“...You’re kidding,” Celestia replied, before quickly realizing he wasn’t kidding.
“No, you in all your kindness, and benevolence, and capacity to forgive, preaching friendship to other races,” the Doctor said sadly. “That’s the qualities of a Doctor. My name -And I don’t know if I ever told you this- it’s a promise as well. The man who helps people. That’s what I’m supposed to be. And yet, over the past few years, I’m beginning to wonder… Have I given as much help as I could have? Shown a capacity for revenge and bloodlust when I could have shown mercy?” he asked, before continuing. “I’m not a good man, nor am I a good pony. I always need someone to keep me in check… But you, you never do. You hold yourself back, knowing what kind of power you could unleash at a whim…” he trailed off, leaving the Princess of the Sun at a loss of what to say to that.
An awkward silence persisted for the next few moments as the Doctor and Celestia continued roaming the corridors of the halls of records, till they came to the “E” section.
“Can’t imagine this was easy to organize, really,” the Doctor commented lightly, as he used his hoof to pull open a metal filing cabinet and begin searching through it. “After all, given the madness behind pony naming conventions…”
Celestia chuckled at that.
“Oh Doctor, you have no idea,” she replied, shaking her head. “Real pain in the flank, and it only gets harder every year, really as more ponies are born… You know, someday soon, I imagine we will have to build a second Hall, and then someday a third and so on,” she commented, in a half-joking tone of voice.
“Ah, here it is! Molto bene!” the Doctor suddenly cried out as Celestia found Enigma’s file. She flipped it open, and her eyes darted from right to left as she scanned through it, muttering to herself.
“Let’s see… Enigma Nucleus, born 978, to Question Mark and Thinking Mare…” she trailed off before her eyes widened, and she felt a great wave of guilt hit her as she remembered exactly who Enigma was. The Doctor took notice of her expression.
“What, what is it?”
“Enigma, it says it all right here!” the Princess of the Sun said, using a hoof to gesture to the file and read off the page. “Enigma Nucleus, born 978, to Question Mark and Thinking Mare, and orphaned at the age of six via a house fire that was ruled an accident, and currently in the care of her uncle Professor Mercury Periwinkle.”
“Oh Enigma Nucleus…” the Doctor whispered sadly. “And I suspect she blames you, in some fashion, for this. She’s lashing out, in anger, because no-one ever helped her through her grief, not even her uncle. Well, maybe he tried, but losing one’s parents at such a young age is bound to have an effect on the psyche. So… how do we find her?”
“Well, that is an easy question with an even simpler answer…” Celestia trailed off as she thought back to a few years ago. A funeral, and a young mare weeping as two caskets were lowered into the ground. Celestia tried to hug this filly, and tell her everything would be alright, but was simply shoved away.
“The Canterlot Graveyard…” she sighed.
And so, that’s where they found her, at Canterlot’s graveyard. A gusty wind blew through the trees, making them whistle in the wind as lightning flashed in the background and rain poured down over hundreds of headstones and grave markers.
Leaves blew in the wind, and one shivering Enigma Nucleus was found soaked to the bone, sobbing her heart out at her parents’ grave.
Celestia cautiously approached her, and Enigma growled, and whirled around to fire off a blast of magic towards Celestia. It was powered by pure rage, and grief, and therefore easily deflected. Several more blasts were fired, but none dealt any damage to Celestia, who simply continued calmly striding forwards.
“Stay… Stay back!” Enigma screamed, tears streaming down her face, but to her surprise, Celestia just pulled her into a hug and said three simple words that shook the young mare to her very core.
“I forgive you.”
“...Why? W-Why?” Enigma asked. “Why would a monster like you forgive me?” she asked.
“Because that’s all I have left. Repentance. The Doctor once told me, about a belief in a culture that when someone dies, they have to carry the souls of all they’ve wronged up a mountain upon their backs. Now imagine, how many souls do I have to carry?” Celestia asked. “I’m truly very sorry about your parents, Enigma. I’m so, so sorry…” she whispered, in that soft, loving tone of hers that made her so famous. In the shadow of a birch tree, was a familiar figure.
Crying, not just for Enigma, but for Celestia as well. And her own stupidity. She’d been so irrational, so angry at Celestia for keeping such a large secret from her that she’d forgotten the most crucial thing about her mentor.
Her kindness, and that she was always willing to forgive others no matter what they’d done. Some said it was a fault of hers, that she went to easy on her enemies, but Twilight knew better now. She forgave, just because it was the right thing to do. Not everypony was a monster, and for a brief time, Celestia had forgotten that. Some were just acting out of sheer anger, or because they had no-one to care for them when they needed it most.
Suddenly, to her surprise, Enigma pushed Celestia away.
“If you were really sorry, you would have saved my parents. T-That house… the fire…” Enigma trembled. “You could have dashed in and helped them!”
“Do you not, Enigma Nucleus, remember a white figure carrying you out of the blaze?” Celestia asked, and Enigma did indeed a remember. A pure white form, in the midst of the fire and flames wrapping her young self in a golden glow and rushing her out the front door.
“By the… By the time I got you out…” Celestia whispered, tears of her own now streaming down her face. “The fire, it was too dangerous for anyone to venture back in. Even I tried, but the house was too weak by that point, and it…”
“C-Collapsed…” Enigma whispered, and let out a wail of self-anger and grief into Celestia’s shoulder and began punching her over and over, with the mare wrapping her wings around the younger pony and just taking the hits as they came. They both needed to do this, that much she knew.
A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds as the rain finally began to stop, as Enigma finally collapsed from exhaustion, all of her anger and grief spent.
“N-Now, I suppose you want a confession out of me? How I-I managed to find that scroll?” Enigma asked, her voice in fear of Celestia’s judgment.
“Yes, that would be nice, although I will not lock you up. As far as I can see, you haven’t done anything truly illegal. Revenge, it’s a cycle, and if I locked you up now, that cycle would continue. In fact, I think I already know who gave you this information,” Celestia explained, thinking of a certain former Captain of the Royal Guard locked up in the dungeons. “Boltstrike, am I right?”
“Yes, that’s who gave it to me. He said, if Celestia was overthrown, they’d want a new leader. The ponies, and he, in all of his madness would be elected. I never believed him, as even I could tell he was completely insane, but I admit, I was curious about any information he might have had that would defame you, show everypony that you’re not such a perfect Princess...” Enigma sighed.
“Who do you think gave him that information?” Celestia said, with a wink. “Believe it or not, some part of me, it actually wanted that exposed. The truth… It can never be held forever. My reputation will suffer and be stained yes, but it’s for the best. Those who forget history are far too often doomed to repeat it, I believe the saying goes. Yes, you will be punished, Enigma, but not harshly. A few months of community service, that’s all that I think is needed in this case.”
“Thank… Thank you…” Enigma whispered, and Celestia only smiled. Later, the Doctor led Celestia to his TARDIS, saying he had something to show her.
“Where… Or when are we going?” Celestia asked, with an inquisitive look on her face.
“There’s something I think you need to see,” the Doctor said with a secretive smile. “As you probably guessed, I’ve been doing a bit of jumping around the timelines, and I found one possible future that I think you might like…”
The TARDIS arrived in the halls of the Castle, just outside the throne room. “Now,” the Doctor continued. “Let’s keep out of sight, and just watch…”
Celestia nodded, before casting an invisibly spell over herself and the Doctor as they entered the room. She saw herself, and then her eyes widened as Twilight -Along with another mare, light pink in coat color with a dark purple mane with aquamarine streaks- stepped into the room.
“Sooo, Princess Celestia…” Twilight laughed nervously. “You'll never guess who's back! Actually, maybe you can guess, 'cause she's right here. But, um…”
But who came next, now that was really a shock. A golden alicorn mare, with a mane like a blazing fire, red and yellow.
“Sunset…” the past Celestia whispered in shock, a tear dripping down her face as she watched her former student, and friend walk into the room, her head hung low in shame as if she didn’t deserve to be there.
“Princess Celestia, the last time we saw each other, I was your snide little pupil who betrayed and abandoned you,” Sunset began.
“What Sunset means to say is—” Twilight started before being cut off.
“I mean that I come before you a changed pony, humbly asking for forgiveness, guidance, and knowledge,” Sunset continued, before she sighed. “Or I can just go, and you never have to see me again.”
The past Celestia wanted to reach out, and hug her student, but she didn’t need to worry, as that was already being done by her future self.
“I've missed you, Sunset Shimmer.” Celestia said, and her past self said to the Doctor: “Thank you… Thank you for letting me know my student will come home. No, not my student, my daughter. But I thought-”
“Letting you know too much about the future is dangerous?” the Doctor replied. “Yes… Well, I think in this one instance I can bend the laws of time a little bit, hmm?” he said with a smile.
The very next day, Celestia was greeted by a visitor in her Throne Room. As if foreshadowing things to come, Twilight stepped in, her head hung low in shame.
“Princess Celestia, I-”
Celestia only smiled and only just nuzzled her student. And in the shadows, the Doctor smiled and walked off. All was well.
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8746022
It's entirely possible, there are still changes in the canon timeline that you have yet to see. Rainbow for instance, while I won't spoil it, gets a rather large change in her backstory. And little things like Raven's death, they may change the future. You can never tell what will effect what.
Butterfly Effect, really. To quote:
hah... he was always meant to show her that then, as it made that timeline possible to begin with! xD well played...
8746199
yea, i like to apply the physics to the multiverse theory. for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, just applied to the different realities.
Honestly, how has Sunset NOT earned alicorn status? Regardless of what the portal thinks, she deserves those wings.
Another great chapter, and a fine end to this arc. Can't wait to see what's next.
And yeah, Forgotten Friendship was the best thing EqG since Rainbow Rocks, at least.
Good job with the reference from "Celestial Advice" and the newly "Forgotten Friendship".
I think you give the right amount of punishment to Enigma. Clearly she was suffering from survivor's guilt and had had to blame somepony for it while it was noponies fault.
You a valid point seeing Celestia would be a better Doctor. In fact knowing that he can sometimes take the appearance of people he met, would be ironic he turn into Celestia as the 13th Doctor?
8746684
Funnily enough, I did originally think about Enigma being a Changeling after revenge at one point, but after tossing around ideas with her creator over Discord, we both agreed that the end result was better.
8746967
Yeah, I have to wonder why she's never gone Alicorn since the Friendship Games and Dreamset Shimmer, and yet Human Twilight gets the wings whenever she ponies up, despite having gone through different experiences than her pony counterpart. I like Sci-Twi and all, but just think it's rather... odd.
8747256
Now you just gave me the mental image of this happening, except with Celestia-Doctor in Twelve's place and Twilight in Clara's.
NOW WE NEED A STAN LEE CAMEO FOR THIS TO BE COMPLETE oh wait no that would be any MCU crossover