Where Gods Rest

by Quick Fix

Chapter 6 - Legacy of Darkness

If it was possible, the atmosphere around Celestia had become even tenser than it was before. Her muscles were rigid, her jaw clenched and her eyes were narrowed slightly, an unfocused gaze within them. Twilight and Spike looked at each other with concern, neither understanding what had brought this on but both knowing they needed to do something to help. By the time they looked back though, the princess had relaxed slightly and recovered her composure.

"Princess?" Twilight asked cautiously, hoping that she wouldn't do anything to make things worse.

"I...I'm sorry," Celestia replied, shaking her head slightly and turning to them again. "It's been a long time since I've felt the pull of my lekli so strongly. Like a voice in the back of my mind that constantly whispers about what I could do...Even after so long it still tries to find the right incentive to break through the restraints I keep around my heart."

Twilight didn't know what to say to that, though she noticed that the room seemed to have become slightly warmer. After a few seconds it cooled down again and the princess of the sun relaxed completely. The only evidence of anything being wrong was a thin trickle of sweat that ran down her right temple and onto her neck, though she seemed to pay it no mind.

"So, some last remnant of the empire that you want our help to put out of commission?" Spike asked, hoping to get Celestia focused on topic enough to keep her mind off her troubles. It seemed to work as she nodded and looked at them with renewed vigour.

"The Tomb of the Gods. It is...Power incarnate. The mere mention is enough incentive to get any lekli excited," Celestia continued, turning and pacing slightly. "It was the alicorn empire's greatest secret, and its last resort. A resting place for the strongest souls known to our kind, allowing them to live on as their magic imbued the spells protecting the tomb to make it almost indestructible."

"Is, that even possible?" Spike asked cautiously.

"I have seen it with my own eyes. Only those eligible to be laid to rest there were aware of its existence, those who had either provided exceptional service to Viam Dei or wielded unparalleled power. When discussed around those considered unworthy of it, it was only referred to as 'The place where gods rest'. Only a few dozen alicorns were ultimately buried there, but each of them had lived for over forty thousand years and many of those were at least as strong as Luna. Had the empire survived long enough, we both would have been buried there."

Twilight gasped slightly as she realised just how significant a threat this place could be. If the alicorns within the tomb, or just their lekli, were still alive in some way and managed to find a way to manipulate their link to the tomb to escape, Equestria would be facing several dozen variations of Nightmare Moon, many of them likely stronger than she had been and with far less restraint.

"Okay. That's definitely bad." Spike commented, unable to keep his own fear out of his voice.

"It isn't as serious as you fear," Celestia told them, sitting down in front of the two and placing a gentle hoof on their shoulders. "Even in the event that a lekli managed to escape the tomb, without a physical body they would not be strong enough to attempt a power jump into another alicorn. Although ponies still have a weak lekli that would be vulnerable, the difference in bodily strength would leave the new one severely impaired. Dangerous, but still nothing you or I could not handle."

"You sound like..." Twilight started, pausing as she wondered if she should finish the sentence. She'd let that much slip though, leaving it hanging would have just as bad results. "Like you have experience with this happening."

"Some alicorns did, experiment with the idea in a hope to finding a way to make 'defects' useful to them," Celestia took a long exhale through her nostrils before shaking her head slightly. "But I found out just how much damage such a thing could do the same time I learned the tomb of the gods had survived the destruction that claimed my race...Are you familiar with the name Cosmic Eye?"

"Your last student during the Age of Advancement? I don't know much about him beyond the name." Twilight mused. The only other former students of Celestia she really knew beyond name were those that had come before and after her; Cadance and Sunset Shimmer.

"He was a perceptive and intelligent stallion that had potential to change Equestria. He did but, in a way nopony saw coming. In year eleven sixty-one of the era he led a research expedition into the badlands, one I personally approved as I hoped his insight might find something Luna and I had missed about the destruction of Viam Dei. The team returned without him, claiming he had entered an underground ruin and returned changed, referring to himself as Sombra."

"The second lekli we've dealt with." Spike said quietly. Celestia nodded solemnly in affirmation.

"Even as one of the weaker alicorns within the tomb and now restrained in a unicorn body, Sombra was incredibly dangerous. Enough to assassinate Queen Osmium and seize complete control of the Crystal Empire on his own. The only reason he didn't attempt to make a move against Equestria was because he mistakenly assumed Luna and I had conquered it ourselves. Instead he focused his energy on ensuring the empire would remain his, leaving him weak when we moved to stop him. You, both know the results of our efforts."

"I had no idea..." Twilight said sadly as she took it all in. The crystal ponies were still recovering from their enslavement by Sombra even today. The thought that even more ponies had suffered terribly as a result was weighing on her hard.

"You couldn't have known. I only wish that had been the end of it," Celestia paused for a little longer than usual before continuing, struggling with recounting this as well. "I knew the tomb was the only thing that could have caused this and was able to get its location from the rest of the expedition. I merely visited the location peacefully to try and find a weakness. When I couldn't find anything significant without raising suspicion, Luna headed out on her own, intent on destroying this last remnant of the old world. The protection in place meant that her attacks triggered a safeguard and teleported the tomb to an unknown location, out of our reach. Worse, the influence of so many lekli in one place woke Tantabus within her again. Luna was able to supress the desires at first but, after years of fighting she succumbed to the darkness in her heart. The first rise of Nightmare Moon, and everything that followed, everything you'd had to endure, was the result..."

Celestia practically wilted before their eyes, ears folding back and head bowed, body shuddering slightly as she choked back a sob. It was clear how much she regretted the choices she'd been forced to make for the future of Equestria, knowing that her own power was too great to use without greater risk and that somepony else would be forced to step into the horseshoes of Equestria's frontline. The knowledge that her actions had led to much that had gone wrong in the past thousand years, the secrecy, the guilt, would have crushed a lesser pony. Even as Twilight moved to try and comfort her she pulled herself back up and buried her emotions back down, only needing the time to take a breath to appear her usual composed self again. Exactly how much inner turmoil she was going through hower, could only be guessed at.

"Celestia..." Twilight said softly, concern crossing her face. "If you need to let all this out now, we're here for you."

"There will be time for all of that later," Celestia replied as she opened her eyes again. "Right now, we need to focus on the tomb. I was able to track it down due to the concentration of alicorn magic, but I cannot face it alone and couldn't ask my sister to come with me again...Twilight, it pains me to ask yet more of you, but you stand more chance of learning how to counter their power than anypony. Your lekli is still too weak to be worth their initial notice due to being born a unicorn and you have an insightful mind unlike any other."

"I understand," Twilight told her, standing up and nodding firmly. "For both Equestria's safety and your peace of mind, I can try this. Spike, you in?"

"He-" Celestia started, only to pause as she noticed the dragon had tensed up slightly.

Spike looked at the two of them and raised a finger after a moment, holding still for a few moments before letting out a quick burst of fire that materialised into a scroll in mid-air.

"Ugh, bad timing on that one," Spike said as he picked it up and checked the seal. Seeing that the markings showed it had come from Twilight's castle he opened it up and quickly read through. "Really bad. It's from Applejack, and Bounty."

"Oh.." Celestia said quietly, having a good idea what the message was about.

"Yeah. Short version, he's figured out what he is."

Twilight quickly took the scroll in her magic and read through it, sighing sadly as it was everything Spike had said. The part about bad timing was true as well as with the scale of each problem she was facing right now, the most she could do right now was write a reply apologising for both her part in his problem and that she and Celestia couldn't help immediately. Applejack could keep supporting the stallion for now and he would be her first priority upon returning to Ponyville but as things were she merely passed the scroll containing her reply to Spike and watched as he sent it on in his dragon fire.

"I know it's hard to be in such a situation," Celestia said as she dropped the spells around the room and watched the wisps of smoke containing the scroll pass out the window. "But that is why I wish to see this done, so we may fully focus on the ponies that need our help."

"Of course, princess," Twilight flexed her wings slightly and took a last moment to internally steel herself for whatever may come. "I'm ready when you are."

"You may come as well, Spike. I know better than to separate you two for a task as important as this."

"Yeah, we know how to get things done." Spike said as both he and Twilight moved over to Celestia.

In a flash of light the world around them shifted from the castle interior to deep forest, vines crisscrossing the canopy above them and birdsong permeating the air. Based on what little she could see, Twilight guessed that they were near the edge of the jungles that marked Equestria's southeast border. Celestia looked round for a few moments before silently heading off to their right, focused on something out of sight. Twilight and Spike followed on, weaving their way through the trees for a minute until Celestia stopped. At her hooves lay a ten by twenty foot opening, stone steps descending into the darkness below.

"Such a little thing, that holds the most dangerous beings to ever live at bay," Celestia said softly before turning to the others. "It would be best if you go in together. Alicorn magic is safe but I don't know how it would respond to a dragon."

As they nodded she turned back to the opening and fired a spark of magic at it. The spark hit an invisible barrier covering the entrance that pulsed silver before fading. After a moment she motioned that it was safe to proceed. Twilight thought for a moment before climbing on Spike's back to make sure they would both fit without trying to squeeze through. Spike shot her a quick smirk at the role reversal from the old days before heading inside slowly, Celestia following them both.

After a few dozen steps the floor levelled out and went on for another minute into what could only be described as an underground temple. Roughly sixty feet wide and stretching far enough into the darkness for the far end to be obscured, pillars ran in pairs down the length of the area and four hallways were visible leading deeper into the tomb, two either side. Against the walls were several tables dressers with gold lining and decorated with jewellery and relics, there was even a framed painting just about visible down one of the hallways. Still, it all had a rather decrepit look though, dust hovering in the air and only the entrance behind them as a light source. Celestia lit her horn to provide some extra light and looked around warily.

"The whole tomb is filled with tunnels and connections like those, leading to some of the most elaborate graves you'll ever see," She explained, stepping in front of Spike. "The strongest concentration of magic in the world is all around us now. Can you sense it?"

"Yeah, so many scents and so pungent..." Spike replied as he sat down for Twilight to dismount. "It's nauseating."

"It's fascinating." Twilight interjected as she stood next to him, taking everything in, unable to hide her awe.

"The magic of an ascended alicorn will also be an unknown to those here. Hopefully it will buy us some time," Celestia kept watching each of the other entrances to the area, sounding more and more on edge. "Study the magic for as long as you can without disturbing it, hopefully you can see some way to destroy or at least neutralize the tomb's power that I could not."

Twilight nodded and placed a hoof on Spike's shoulder as she closed her eyes and let her magic surround her horn, gently feeling the flow of magic that permeated the stone around them. Spike looked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder in turn, letting her use whatever she needed of the magic running through him to aid her study. Time seemed to stand still as they remained in place, Celestia watching the entrances like an ancient guardian while the charges she protected sought to undo the potential harm within the walls around them. The silence was eventually broken by only a gentle swish of air as Celestia's ears twitched.

"Twilight, stop." She hissed, tensing up completely.

Twilight's magic immediately faded and she got up, looking round for what had got her mentor so worked up. Then she froze as she noticed a white glow down the nearest hallway to their right, steadily getting brighter.

"In the entrance and stay behind me," Celestia added, waiting until Twilight and Spike had moved back before casting two small darts of magic that hovered over them and landed on their ears. "Translation."

She didn't wait for a reply before relaxing her body and focusing on the glow again, never taking her eyes off the entryway. Twilight and Spike pressed themselves up against the right wall and peeked out as much as they dared, trying to see what was going on. After a minute or so the glow manifested itself as what could only be described as a spectral silver alicorn entered the area. Completely translucent with wisps of magic constantly flickering up off its body, it had a huge, broad build that reached eleven feet tall and a few small indications that it was a stallion's form. Though it lacked any kind of facial features beyond faint eyes, it focused on Celestia immediately and spoke with faint, echoing voice.

"Vaeac. It's been too long."

"Just over a thousand years, Caligo," She replied, managing to keep her voice civil. Her voice also carried some of the echo as the translation spell went to work for the other two. "You've grown some since we last spoke. It looks good."

"Thanks! I mean it's not that powerful without a body but for keeping unbonded lekli in line, it feels good," Caligo replied, actually sounding cheery as it flexed out a front hoof and relaxed its posture. "So, why are you here?"

"I thought I would come and see how you were doing. Keeping watch over the tombs must be lonely work."

"Oh," Caligo looked down for a moment, disappointment creeping into its voice. "And here I hoped you might have come to apologise for Nezzari's little stunt. Do you have any idea how hard it is to explain to everyone else here why their home suddenly relocated a few hundred miles?"

"If it makes you feel any better, Tantabus woke up as a result and I had to...Deal with her."

"Actually it does, apology accepted. Nice to see you stepping up and doing your part to keep things secure up above," Caligo started to pace around the area, Celestia adjusting her posture in response to mask Twilight and Spike moving to the other wall to stay hidden. "Did Vaire teach you how to do that?"

"Vaire's dead," She replied, her voice tensing up again as she tucked her wings back in and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Rogue lekli."

"Oh...Oh. I'm sorry," Caligo paused and turned to her fully, actually sounding somewhat saddened. "He may have been beneath somepony of our stature and you know you could have done so much better, but I can tell you two had a genuine bond."

"I'd, thank you not to talk about my husband that way."

"Sorry. I know it didn't sound it but I honestly respected how well he did," Caligo leaned its head slightly, as if trying to look past Celestia. It was impossible to tell what it was thinking due to the near total lack of facial features. "Something a little more cheery then, how'd your studies into that spell go?"

"You'll have to be more specific."

From her position, Twilight shrunk back further into the dark and glanced back at Spike. Both of them had been watching the subtleties in the princess' body language, the muscle tension, how terse her voice was while speaking. There was only one way to take it considering what was being said and her earlier emotional release. Celestia was really struggling to keep it together and things were only escalating.

"The one for genetic manipulation. Ronnok had the basics down when I gave you the spell, with your power and a good thousand years to work on it I'm sure you could have defects fixed at birth by now. Of course, they'd still be subpar to even the dullest lekli due to their origin but I'm sure we'd both agree that being an alicorn that...Ascended to the role, is better than nothing."

It took all of Twilight's willpower to keep from making a sound. Hearing those words, that a pony she would trust with her life had given her wings through a means that was effectively meant to enslave those her race considered subpony was like a punch to the heart by a minotaur. By an ursa major. The only thing that kept her from trying to leave was the expression on Celestia's face. Sweat was rolling down her forehead and her mouth hung slightly open as she kept staring at Caligo. She seemed to have almost completely shut down.

"I...Wh...Are you...?" She stammered, clenching her eyes shut.

"Oh don't be so modest. Sure it's not like being Emperor Garukin, but ruling an empire of ascended is still quite the mark of power, especially for you," Caligo continued, its head tilted in such a way that if it was capable of it, it would almost certainly be smirking. "You can always start with subduing the one behind you, unless you'd rather I have the honour...Or maybe, you'd be willing to let me jump in?"

The grandeur quickly stopped when it realised Celestia hadn't moved or replied. Then it took a step back as she chuckled slightly.

Twilight's ears folded back as she heard it as well, Spike frozen in fear behind her. It sounded so unlike her normal self it was terrifying. Celestia's chuckles were gentle like a mother's embrace, this was smooth like a viper deciding which part of you it wanted to sink its fangs into.

"She isn't going to be able to say it now, but threatening those she cares about is a really bad idea." Celestia replied sarcastically in that same dangerous tone. Then her eyes shot open again. Gone were her pale magenta eyes that had looked upon so many ponies with care and affection.

Now they glowed a burning gold.

Comments

[Cross Lament]

Huh, so Daybreaker has a momma-bear mode.

[Quick Fix]

8518702 Fun as that'd be to imagine, this was more Celestia's momma-bear mode pushing her over the edge. Plus...This technically isn't Daybreaker.