Celestia remains a Spider and Society Crumbles

by Equimorto

It was the Only logical Outcome, really

Celestia is a spider. This is the one immutable, immovable principle that the land of Equestria is built upon. That their immortal ruler, on whose eight shoulders rests the fate of the World and the path of Sun, is a giant, eight-legged, six-eyed spider, twice as tall as a normal pony.

This is the one truth Equestria stands by, and it's what shapes its culture and the lives of its citizens.

There in the city, by the street near the bakery, is a shop of fake prosthetic legs, plastic, wood and metal harnesses and coloured pieces ponies wear on their backs to simulate the image of their deity, anywhere from cheap hanging sticks to complex mechanisms of fully functional spider legs.

There, in front of the library, a boutique where one can get two extra sets of eyes painted on their face, and for a small extra price get a pair of fake fangs to display.

Eight the main streets of the city, as are the legs of the immortal goddess who moves the Sun, their structure centred around a centre and the connections between them in the shape of a web, their ruler's sacred gift to ponykind.

All through the town, cobwebs cover every corner, every hole, every passage, unbroken, and ponies walk around them not to break them. Spiders are the animals consecrated to their Princess, and it is a crime to harm them. Many bring them food and shelter, in hope of receiving good luck.

There in the school foals are thought to worship and respect Celestia the Spider, who raises the Sun and brings life to Equestria, and they learn of her great powers and of her marvellous adventures.

There, at the centre of town, is the temple, where ponies gather to pray to the spider who rules over the Heavens. Eight are the marble columns, and six the orbs at its centre, of gold or silver or opal or other precious material, depending on the town's wealth.

There, near the fountain, an old pony sits on a box and preaches that there was once a time when Celestia was not a spider, but in fact a pony like the rest of them. He is laughed at, insulted and made fun of, as every pony in Equestria knows this is falsehood, the rambling of an old and crazy fool, and that Celestia is a spider, and that is fact, immutable and irrefutable truth.

In her tower, sealed away from the rest of Equestria, Twilight muses over her books and memories, and feels her mind slowly slipping away. Celestia is a spider, they say. Celestia is a spider, they chant. And that is the truth, they claim and exclaim and proclaim. And she knows, somewhere deep inside, that was not the truth once. But can she be sure? Celestia has been a spider for so long, centuries, millennia even. Can she trust her memories, when all history books state that Celestia is a spider? Does it even matter?

And what if she wasn't? Is it not then the next logical step in a pony's ascension? She tried to understand it, to replicate it. She tried, but she failed. Why? It's driving her insane, her memories conflicting. She sees an image of Celestia, staring in a mirror and saying It would appear I am, in fact, a giant spider. Was it a dream? Was it all a dream?

There, on the mountain, is Spiderlot, the capital. Some claim it once had a different name, but no pony knows of anypony that lived to see its other name. And if Celestia the Spider doesn't say so, why should they believe it wasn't always Spiderlot?

Creature from all around the world come to visit the capital, some hoping to see Celestia the Spider, some even hoping she will choose them.

There in the capital is the castle, and in the castle are tall windows of stained glass, detailing the major events of the history of Equestria. There, a blue alicorn sits and stares at them, confused and feeling like she forgot something. But the windows clearly show how she turned into a wasp when trying to overthrow her sister and bring forth eternal night, and how could she ever doubt them?

There are many more windows. About how Celestia, with the help of her not-spider sister, defeated Discord by wielding the Elements of Harmony. How before that they faced against Sombra in the Crystal Empire, and though Celestia's incredible powers as a giant spider far outclassed the tyrant he still sealed the Empire away with himself once defeated.

The Empire then returned, eventually, and was freed thanks to Celestia's student. A very talented pony, Twilight Sparkle, though she never managed to reach her teacher and ascend into spiderhood, remaining a mere alicorn like the Divine Spider's sister. Some say envy drove her insane.

The Empire still exists, and its citizens too worship Celestia, the heavenly eight-legged creature who pulls the Sun through the skies and grants light to the land. They are not ruled by a spider, but they still have temples dedicated to Celestia. And Princess Flurry swears it, that for as long as she can remember Celestia was a spider.

Other windows adorn the walls of the castle. Of how Celestia banished her sister-turned-giant-wasp to the Moon. How she chose her student, and she and her friends purged Luna of her waspness. Of how Twilight later defeated Discord. More recently, of how Celestia permanently defeated Queen Chrysalis by trapping her in her web and imprisoning her in the castle.

There in the castle's halls are great threads of web weaved by Celestia. The guards and maids do not touch them, as they are sacred. And because they're also extremely sticky, leaving anypony who touches them permanently stuck. Not for long, though, as Celestia will feel their presence on her web and come take them away. Some throw themselves intentionally at the web, sacrificing themselves to please their goddess.

Others are taken in the night by Celestia herself, moving silently on the walls, and disappear forever. No one sees them again or knows where they went, but their disappearance is celebrated with happiness, as they were chosen, and it is an honour to be chosen by the Spider Deity.

There in the library, the access forbidden and impossible for any normal pony thanks to a series of strong webs holding the doors shut, are many cocoons hanging from the ceiling, and inside them the ponies and creatures Celestia has chosen and captured. They are kept alive by food Celestia brings them, and at their request she might even bring books or other things. But she never talks, and they never see anything other than her shadow as she crawls over their cocoons.

They spend their time chatting, telling stories, singing and occasionally playing chess. One of them in particular excels at that, a strange creature who calls herself Chrysalis and claims to be the old Changeling Queen of the legends. No one knows how long she's been there, they all say she was already there when they arrived. But she says many strange and weird things, like that Celestia once wasn't a spider, so no one believes her anyway.

There, in her room, comfortably resting on a web, is Celestia herself, in all her spiderful glory. She reads a book, holding it with two of her legs, while a third holds up a cup of tea she occasionally brings to her fangs to sip on. And she is, without the shadow of a doubt, a very large spider.

Comments

[Bojack H]

and then suddenly celestia wasn't a spider, oh how silly of her.

[luckyboys121]

Now we just need the inverse of her turning back into a pony, being nonchalant about it, and everyone else freaking out (except maybe an old pony or two who are just laughing and going "I told you I wasn't crazy" lol)

[Xanderfox]

9426875
Suddenly she wasn't a spider and every pony knew she had never been a spider and all those spider centric celebrations where perfectly normal and never to be celebrated again. And next week when Celestia was a giant snake every pony would know she always had been a giant snake, and those giant snake centric celebrations where perfectly normal despite never having been celebrated before. And when she was a pony again she always would have been a pony and was a pony even during those times the crazy ponies going on about "reality" said she was something else for a month.

[Toby Orn-atobe]

Ohh
Ok

Spider...

[Eroraf86]

Okay, this is just getting ridiculous.

[Vindicar]

That went from silly to disturbing real fast...
looks like whatever went down that turned Celestia into a spider, it torn causality a new one.

[AmanDash]

It would be such a silly (and funny) idea to give it a "HiE" sequel/spin-off where the "human" is in fact Spiderman.
These stories never cease to amaze me, and this is yet another wonderful gem in the mini-series of the Spiderverse.

[Von Snootingham]

9426953
Equestria had always been at war with Eastasia.

[Mossy Pages]

..This was sort of creepy if you infer.
Also...l
Spiders.
*Shudder*
Didn't want to have to do this...But...
*Presses the Nuke all of Equestria and Spiderlot Completely button*
It is done...

[Xanderfox]

9427431
Double plus good my friend, double plus good.

[N4rwh41]

Yep, (most) ponies really are that stupid.

[Iron Comet]

Discord needs to show up with a VERY LARGE BOOT!

[LunaFan183]

9427598
media.tumblr.com/9b2f7811d1c9ff13a85f8dbc6d868a21/tumblr_inline_mjrn9xSjRf1qz4rgp.gif

[PrincessColumbia]

Disappointing end to an otherwise wonderful series.

[Gavier]

9426875
Turns out, it was an illusion all along! She was actually a tiny giant pseudoscorpion, wich is an arachnid, but not a spider.

[Vaguely Demented]

9427918
Yeah. Interesting but kinda lacking.

[Bojack H]

9428050
oh thank heavens, things were getting slightly out of hoof, now everyscorpid go back to their business, and avoid the stinger oh and those wasps that want to lay eggs in you.

[Lorddrakefox]

I'm looking forward to see that in the next chapter, Twilight comes with a dispel of something, and every one just goes back to normal and pretends that she were never a spider again, and had always been an normal alicorn or something, or even change into something else entirely.

[Slenderfaerie]

This was profoundly disturbing.

[The Faceless Maker]

There is no logic here. Only Madness.

[Alondro]

Palpatine's behind it all!

(What else can I do with such insanity than quote the antiquarian serial killer movie critic, Mr. Harry S. Plinkett?)

[FanOfMostEverything]

This is what you get for not writing your memoirs earlier, Twilight. Got to get it on the record, or it's like it never happened.

[Alondro]

9428050 Then somepony found out she was actually an ant! But then they realized she was actually a spider mimicking an ant pretending to be a spider.

But then they stripped off that disguise and found out she was a human in a Darth Vader mask wearing a Spiderlestia fursuit the entire time.

[Fancy Fox]

I don't understand why you kept bringing up how Celestia is a spider... it's like saying "the sky is blue!" I mean, yeah she's a spider! she's always been a spider!
but great story nevertheless! i like the part where the crazies said celestia once wasn't a spider! haha! that was nuts!

[dragonus85]

9428489
i have to agree this was disturbing yet still entertaining to a ludacris level

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Me to the entire comment section: OK men. We need to over through Spiderlestia. I got anti-Magic guns and a sword that can kill anything. What do you guys got? (OC ABILITIES.)

[AyanamiRei]

Why do I feel like Spider Celestia is so much better than Alicorn Celestia? Then again she actually wins a battle with her own power, so.....<.<

[MadxHatter123]

Why, do I have the strangest feeling, Discord is the one behind all of this.

[Winter Quill]

Celestia is best spider.

[kalash93]

That cover art is horrifying.

[James Fire]

I said it before and I'll do it again!

This should have been a chapter of the first story, just like the second story.

[ShadedTz]

Rip all the taken ponies...

[Venerable Ro]

Silly ponies, it is in fact, possible to take conformity too far.

[Advent Link]

9428646
I have my spirit animal with me, the capybara.

With my capybara, every living being within hugging distance will chill and relax while Bob Marley sings in the background.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

9429261
OK. That's good.

[catgc]

9428646
I've got this thing... *Holds up Necronomicon* I think it's a job listing.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

9429296
Umm, no that's one of the most powerful dark magic books in the multiverse. But, well done. We can use that.

[fanreader999999]

Once upon a time, claiming that the Earth revolved around the sun could get you executed. Once upon a time, claiming someone was a witch could get that person burned alive and you would receive their property. Once upon a time, the spider who ruled a kingdom was an alicorn who ruled a kingdom.

Life moves on, even if people don't.

[Chemtest]

9428646
Got a ukulele that can cause different effects.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

9429401
OK. What effects?

[Wolfsea]

9428646
Pulling a young Joesph Joestar with Kars is the best I can provide. Let that Celestia be someone else's problem.

[Chemtest]

9429404
Effects include but not limited to: Physical Damage, Soul Damage, Sensory Blockage, Tiredness, Sleep, Lethargy, Calm, Fire, Ice, oh and it has an axe attached to it that can cut into even Discord.

[JazzyWaffles]

There's something existentially horrifying about this. 1984, anyone?

[Coyote de La Mancha]

I note that, even as a very large spider, Celestia has the decorum to not eat her guests.

Bravo, dear lady. No matter how many limbs, never forget civility.

But in my mind’s eye, I see Celestia waking up one fine morning, looking at her now distinctly not-spider form, and saying, “Oh. Well. That was fun. Back to business, then...”

Meanwhile, all of Equestria must struggle to find a delicate way to tell her that she is now a rutabaga.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

9429447
OK, never saw Jojo's bizarre adventures, but sounds good.

9429487
AWESOME!

[Mysterious Wind]

I think

I think

Favourite

[iakovl]

ALL HAIL THE 8 LEGED GODESS

[Viper Pit]

This is without a doubt the weirdest trilogy I have read and I like it

[Marcthelightspark2004]

9429396
Well said.

[TDR]

And Discord has washed his hands of the whole thing and is just in a giggling fit some where....

...either that or he's terrified of Spiders and hiding under a bed somewhere.