Discord's Game

by Scribblestick

Book 3: Canterlot - Part 1

Book 3: Canterlot

Part 1

“Oh, where could she be?” Luna muttered to herself for the hundredth time as she paced from one end of Shuttleweave’s shop to the other. “It’s been a week since they left. Why aren’t they back yet?”

“Try to be patient,” Shuttleweave said from her loom. “I’m sure there’s a good reason for the delay.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of!” Luna said. “What if they got lost or attacked?”

“Scrollkeeper knows Equestria like the back of his hoof,” Color Wheel said, setting her paintbrush carefully on a table. “Even Discord would be hard-pressed to make him lose his way.”

“And your sister seems more than capable of handling herself in a fight,” Shuttleweave added.

“But this is Discord we’re talking about,” Luna said. “What if he knocked them out of the sky over a griffon’s nest and they crash-landed and broke their wings and –”

“Relax,” said Color Wheel, putting her hoof over Luna’s mouth to keep her from talking. “You can worry about the what-ifs until the paint dries, and it’ll bring you no closer to a solution then when you began.”

“I know,” Luna said with a sigh. “I just can’t help but wonder if something’s happened to them.”

“Maybe you should go outside for a while,” Shuttleweave suggested. “Get some fresh air, stretch your wings a little.”

“I suppose,” Luna said. The idea did appeal to her. “Do you really think it’ll help?”

“Of course, dear,” Color Wheel said. “There’s nothing like exercise to get rid of your stress.”

“All right,” Luna said as she walked outside. “If Celestia gets back while I’m gone, will you tell her to come find me?”

“I think you’ll see her before we do,” Color Wheel said, “but we’ll tell her.”

“Thank you.” Luna stepped outside and stretched her wings. Her left wing was a little stiff, but it loosened up once she launched herself into the air. It feels good to get off the ground, she thought as she glided above the village. If she squinted, she could just make out Color Wheel’s farm in the distance. It sure is a long way to walk.

She flapped a couple times to regain her altitude and made a hard turn to the right. For the first time, she noticed a castle hidden behind some trees lying across a wide gorge than ran along one edge of the square. I wonder what that could be?

“Luna!” The alicorn turned to see Galeforce gliding beside her. “You should not be up here alone.”

“I’m just flying over the village,” Luna said. The dark-coated pegasus had taken his promise to Celestia seriously and made sure somepony under his command was with her whenever she left the shop. “I wasn’t going to wander off.”

“You can’t be too careful,” Galeforce said.

Luna found his cautiousness irritating, but she let it go for the time being. “What’s that castle?” she asked.

“It’s the old royal palace,” Galeforce said. “Our rulers lived there before Discord arrived. Nopony goes inside now, though.”

“Whys’ that?” Luna asked.

“Discord did something to it,” Galeforce said. “Nopony knows what, exactly, but anypony who gets too close starts to go crazy. Some say of all the chaos Discord has caused, whatever he did to that palace is the worst.”

Luna made a mental note to avoid the palace as she turned to glide over the village once again. As she looked towards the mountains, she saw two shapes coming towards Everfree. Her heart raced faster as they drew nearer, and by the time Celestia and Scrollkeeper reached the village, Luna could barely keep herself from tackling her sister. “Tia! You’re okay!”

“Of course,” Celestia said with a laugh. “I’m glad to see you back on your wings.”

“I take it your journey was a success,” Galeforce said as he landed beside Luna.

“Eventually,” Scrollkeeper said as the four walked towards the library. “Discord caused some problems for us, but everything turned out well in the end.”

“Discord was there?” Galeforce said.

“He tried to turn the ponies against us,” Celestia said. “If not for Scrollkeeper’s knowledge, we may not have made it back to Everfree.”

“What?” Luna said. “Tia, what happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Luna,” Celestia said. “Don’t worry. As Scrollkeeper said, everything turned out well in the end.”

Luna could tell she was hiding something, but she knew asking about it now would be pointless. “Are all these scrolls about Discord?” she asked, looking at Celestia’s stuffed saddle bags.

“Some of them,” Scrollkeeper said as he pushed the library door open. “Celestia, would you put the scrolls on the table?”

“Of course,” Celestia said as her horn began to glow. Several scrolls floated out of her saddle bags and stacked themselves neatly. “And what about the…”

“Over there,” Scrollkeeper said, nodding towards another table. “Gently, please.”

“What’s that?” Luna asked as Celestia placed a bulging bag on the table.

“We’ll talk later,” Celestia said. “For now, Scrollkeeper and I need to rest.”

“But Tia, what about stopping Discord?” Luna asked. “We only have three weeks ‘till the end of the month, and –”

“I said later, Luna,” Celestia said, her voice stern. “Shall I see you tomorrow, Scrollkeeper?”

“Yes,” Scrollkeeper said. “I’ll see if I can get a head start on these scrolls. If you see Cleansweep, will you tell him to come home? It’s getting late.”

“Of course,” Celestia said. “Good night.”

“Tia, wait up!” Luna said as she followed her sister out the door. The sun was setting, and the huts cast long shadows into the street. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m just tired, Luna,” Celestia said.

“You’re limping!” Luna said. It was very slight, but it was there. When she looked closer, she noticed a bruise on Celestia’s side. “Did something attack you?”

“We saw some griffons on the way back, but they kept their distance,” Celestia said.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Everything’s fine, Luna.”

“Why won’t you answer me?”

“Because I’m tired!” Celestia shouted, rounding on her sister. Luna recoiled in shock. “I’ve had a long journey, and I would appreciate some peace and quiet.”

“Okay,” Luna said softly. Celestia turned and kept walking without waiting for Luna to follow. Tia, she thought. What happened to you?

---

Celestia let out a frustrated sigh and glared at the back of her eyelids. Why can’t I stop thinking about him? Gavel Law is long gone. He can’t hurt you anymore. Yet the second she started drifting off, there he was again, smirking at her from the other side of the imprisonment spell. Get out of my head!

She heard the door creak and opened her eyes, squinting in the candlelight. “Sorry,” Luna said as she quickly entered and shut the door behind her. “I was trying not to wake you up.”

Celestia said nothing as Luna lay down on a blanket and pulled another over her. In her heart, she knew that was why Gavel Law kept appearing in her dreams. “When Discord told me about you, I didn’t realize you had a sister,” he’d told her as she hung helpless in that cursed green orb. “I can only imagine what the reward will be for turning you both over to him.”

The mere memory sent shivers down Celestia’s spine. She glanced over at Luna, who was resting peacefully with her eyes closed. All my promises, she thought. All those times I said I’d protect you, and all for what? She closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep herself from crying. She could see the green unicorn’s expression clearly in her mind, the expression that told her he would come for Luna, and once again she felt the panic and despair that came from knowing there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Worst of all, she knew Gavel Law was nothing compared to Discord. In a fair fight, she was confident the unicorn would have posed little challenge, but Discord had deflected one of her strongest spells as though it was nothing. What have we gotten ourselves into? she wondered. How could we have been so foolish?

“Tia?” Celestia turned her head and saw Luna looking at her, her eyes filled with worry. “What’s wrong?”

Celestia noticed the tears trickling down her face. She wiped them away with a foreleg and took a deep breath before answering. “When we were in Las Pegasus, a unicorn tried to capture me and turn me over to Discord,” she said. “If it wasn’t for Scrollkeeper and his friend, he would have succeeded. He said…” Celestia had to take a few breaths before the words would come out. “He said he would come after you next.”

“Me?” Luna said. Celestia nodded. “What happened to him? Is he coming here?”

“The Las Pegasus ponies caught him,” Celestia said. Although she had seen him put behind bars herself, a part of her expected to see him barge through the door at any time. “There’s nothing to worry about now.”

“Then why were you crying?” Luna asked.

“He was just a normal unicorn,” Celestia said, her voice cracking as her tears broke free. “How can I possibly stop Discord if I couldn’t even stop him? How can I protect you when I can’t even protect myself?”

“Tia, you did beat him,” Luna said. “You made it back here, didn’t you?”

“Scrollkeeper beat him,” Celestia said. “Not me.”

“But you made it,” Luna said. “Isn’t that what matters?”

“You don’t understand!” Celestia said. “Discord stopped my magic like it was nothing. How can I compete with that?”

“Isn’t that why you went to Las Pegasus? To figure out how?” Luna asked. Celestia didn’t answer. Luna stood up and moved closer to her. “What’s really bothering you, big sister?”

“I’m scared,” Celestia said, her voice barely a whisper. “When he trapped me, I was completely powerless to help you or anypony else. I’ve never felt so helpless before.”

Luna was silent for a moment. “Do you believe in what we’re doing now?” she asked.

Do I? I felt so much surer a week ago. She thought of Grainthresh’s field and the damaged buildings in Las Pegasus. Discord is tearing this land apart, she thought, but can I really do anything to stop him?

“Courage is something that comes from within, right?” Luna asked. “When you left for Las Pegasus, I didn’t want you to go, but I knew that the reason you were leaving was more important than my fear. When I realized I truly believed in what we were doing, it was easier to be brave, just like you said.”

Celestia wiped the tears from her face once again as Luna nuzzled her mane. “Don’t worry, big sister,” Luna said. “I’ll be here for you too, no matter what.”

Celestia let out a weak chuckle. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Luna said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Celestia said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier.”

“It’s okay,” Luna said. “I still want to know how you got that bruise, though.”

Celestia smiled. “That was from carrying luggage,” she said. “Ask me about it again tomorrow, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

---

“It’s a rock?” Luna didn’t mean to sound so disappointed, but after letting her imagination run wild about what Celestia had kept hidden in her bag, a rock was somewhat of a letdown.

“This is no ordinary rock,” Scrollkeeper said. “It appeared when Bookworm and I exposed Gavel Law’s lies.”

“So it’s a truth rock?” Luna asked.

“We’re not really sure,” Celestia said, “but Scrollkeeper thinks we should find out more.”

“What does this have to do with defeating Discord?” Galeforce asked. The security pony had taken it upon himself to stay up-to-date on their progress and report to the Security Council.

“Bookworm’s records were as incomplete as mine, but they did hold some clues,” Scrollkeeper said, crossing the room to where Celestia had stacked the scrolls the previous day. “His archives confirm that draconequus have been overcome in the past, but they are unfortunately unclear as to the means.”

“What do they say?” Galeforce asked.

“Most often, that the draconequus is overcome by the power of friendship,” Scrollkeeper said. “Obviously, this doesn’t have any practical applications, as far as I know.”

“Maybe it means we need to make friends with him,” a young voice suggested. Cleansweep peeked out from behind a bookshelf, his face covered in dust. “Then he’d decide to leave us alone!”

“What are you doing here?” Galeforce demanded, his mane bristling.

“Cleansweep, it is impolite to eavesdrop,” Scrollkeeper said.

“What? I’m just dusting,” Cleansweep said.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I must ask you to refrain from interrupting our discussion,” Scrollkeeper said. Cleansweep scowled and returned to his work. “As I was saying, the records indicate teamwork is a key element of defeating Discord.”

“I could have told you that,” Galeforce muttered.

“What does that have to do with the rock?” Luna said.

“One of the records caught my interest in that respect,” Scrollkeeper said, unfurling one of the scrolls. “It speaks of a draconequus who was defeated many centuries ago, before Equestria was founded. According to the record, six magics bested him using, and I quote, ‘the powers of truth and happiness’.”

“Magics?” Luna asked.

“We think it’s an older name for unicorns,” Celestia explained.

“This is just sentimental nonsense,” Galeforce said.

“That’s what I thought, too, until I remembered the stone,” Scrollkeeper said. “As I said before, it appeared when Bookworm and I exposed the truth. It is possible that this stone is related to the powers of truth mentioned in the record.”

“We need to find out more before we can know for sure,” Celestia said. “Bookworm suggested we go to Canterlot and look for more archives in the library.”

“Canterlot?” Luna repeated. “I thought that was just a ruin.”

“It is now, but it was once the center of learning in Equestria,” Scrollkeeper said. “When Discord destroyed it, the unicorns put almost all of their magic into protecting the library. Many of the archives survived, and Discord has shown little interest in them. A small group could go to the library without drawing his attention and bring back the records we need.”

“I have already volunteered to go,” Celestia said. “We hoped some of the pegasi here would be able to make the journey as well.”

“Are you sure?” Luna said. “After what happened in Las Pegasus?”

“Canterlot is all but deserted,” Scrollkeeper said. “The few ponies that remain are too busy trying to survive to cause problems, and since Discord destroyed their home, they’re not likely to side with him.”

“Then I’m going with you,” Luna said.

“Me too,” Galeforce said, much to everypony’s surprise. “The Council has wanted to see what remains of Canterlot for quite some time. I’m not much for studying, but I can help you bring the records here.”

“I would go as well, but these wings aren’t what they used to be,” Scrollkeeper said. “The library can be a confusing place for ponies who have never been there. We need to find somepony familiar with its layout.”

“Ooh! I can do that!” Cleansweep shouted, this time bounding over several bookshelves to join the group. “Uncle Scrollkeeper used to take me there all the time. I’d help him find scrolls and everything!”

“Cleansweep, please!” Scrollkeeper said. “How many times have I told you not to interrupt?”

“I can go with you!” Cleansweep said, ignoring his uncle’s reprimand. “I’ll help you find everything you need!”

“No,” Scrollkeeper said. “You’re too young. Canterlot is no place for children these days.”

“Aw, come on!” Cleansweep said. “I’m not that little! Mezzo Tint even asked me to help deliver the newspaper ‘cause he thinks I’m so strong!”

“You’re not ready, Cleansweep,” Scrollkeeper said firmly. “Canterlot is a harsh place.”

“The world is a harsh place,” Galeforce said. “None of my pegasi have even been to the Canterlot library. It’s either you or Cleansweep, and you can’t protect him forever.”

“Don’t tell me how to raise my nephew,” Scrollkeeper said with narrowed eyes.

“Uncle, please,” Cleansweep said. “You said I was the best assistant you ever had. If anypony can help them, it’s me. I promise I’ll be good!”

Scrollkeeper sighed. “Very well,” he said. “If there is no other option, you can go.”

“Yes!” Cleansweep bounded off the floor and flew around the library, somehow without hitting anything. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“I’m trusting the rest of you to keep an eye on him,” Scrollkeeper said to the other three. “Don’t let him get into any trouble.”

“Of course,” Celestia said. “We’ll make sure he gets home safely.”

“Good.” Scrollkeeper rolled up his scroll and put it back on the table. “The flight to Canterlot will not be long. I suggest packing supplies for a few days. Cleansweep,” he said to the young pegasus, who was still doing circles near the ceiling. “Come with me. I'll help you pack your things.” The old librarian disappeared into his room. His nephew was not far behind.

---

The ruins weren’t as bad up close as Celestia had imagined, but she was still speechless as she landed softly on the cobbled street. She could tell most of the buildings around her had been homes once, but all that remained were piles of broken stone. A few walls still stood here or there, but for the most part, everything that could have been destroyed was.

“So that must be the library,” Luna finally said, pointing towards the only building that hadn’t been demolished. Its windows were gone, but it looked sturdy enough.

“Yep,” Cleansweep said. “I, uh, guess we should start walking.”

“I will remain in the skies,” Galeforce said with a hint of unease in his voice. “If there is any trouble, I’ll let you know.”

Even Galeforce is nervous, Celestia thought as she and Luna followed Cleansweep towards the library. She couldn’t help but wonder what the boy was thinking. Perhaps Scrollkeeper was right. Maybe he is too young.

“Hang on,” Cleansweep said, running over to a large sign with an ice cream cone painted on it. “I recognize this. Uncle Scrollkeeper used to bring me here all the time to get ice cream.” He turned and pointed to another pile of rubble down the street. “That’s where Fireflash and Crystal Cut had their glass store,” he said. “They would always ask my uncle about history and stuff. They made a lot of the stained glass windows in the library.”

“I’m sure they were beautiful,” Celestia said.

“They were amazing!” Cleansweep said. “There was this one with a bunch of pegasi fighting an evil centaur, and there was this other one –”

A loud battle cry interrupted the colt’s explanation. The three turned to see Galeforce diving towards one of the ruined buildings. A dark red unicorn with a flowing orange mane stumbled into the street and galloped away from the screaming pegasus, but she didn’t get far before Galeforce caught up and pinned her against a wall.

“Why are you spying on us?” he shouted.

“I wasn’t spying!” the trembling mare said.

“Galeforce, what’s going on?” Celestia asked as she, Luna, and Cleansweep approached him.

“She’s been following you for the last two minutes,” Galeforce said, “and I want to know why!”

“Maybe she just wants to know who we are,” Celestia suggested. “We are strangers, after all.” She turned to the frightened mare and said, “I’m sorry we startled you. My name is Celestia. What’s yours?”

“It’s Fireflash!” Cleansweep shouted, bounding to the front.

“Cleansweep?” The mare’s fear turned to surprise when she saw the gold-coated colt beaming up at her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m helping them do research,” Cleansweep said with a nod towards Celestia and Luna. “I was just talking about the windows you made for the library!”

“I heard,” Fireflash said. Now that she wasn’t backed against the wall, Celestia could see the image of a stained-glass window on her flank. “Looks like you finally got your cutie mark.”

“Yep!” Cleansweep said, proudly showing her the broom on his flank. “I got it when I cleaned the whole library by myself while Uncle Scrollkeeper was away.”

“That must have made him very happy,” Fireflash said. “He always tells us you’re the best assistant he’s ever had.”

“Us?” Cleansweep said.

“Crystal Cut and I,” Fireflash explained. “Your uncle stays with us when he’s not in the library.”

“I’m sorry, but could somepony explain what’s going on?” Galeforce said.

“Obviously, they’re old friends,” Celestia said, wondering why the pegasus hadn’t pieced it together on his own.

“Yeah, they used to visit me and Uncle Scrollkeeper all the time,” Cleansweep added.

“I see. So you’re not spying on us, then?” Galeforce said.

“Why do you think everypony’s a spy?” Luna asked.

“Better to be cautious than stabbed in the back,” Galeforce said with a scowl.

The memory of Gavel Law resurfaced in Celestia’s mind, but she pushed it aside. “Thank you, Galeforce, for your vigilance,” she said. “I think we’ll take it from here.”

Galeforce still wore a scowl on his face, but he nodded and took to the skies once again. “So where’s Crystal Cut?” Cleansweep asked.

“Away,” Fireflash said. “He left with a scavenging party to find food in the valley. As you can imagine, we don’t grow much here.”

“How many ponies still live here?” Celestia asked.

“Thirty-four,” Fireflash said. “There used to be about a hundred, but most of them have moved on.”

“Why haven’t you?” Luna asked.

“Where would we go?” Fireflash said. “This was the center of learning and magic of all Equestria. If we couldn’t stop Discord, who can?”

“They can,” Cleansweep said, gesturing towards the alicorns. “Celestia and Luna are gonna stop him once and for all!”

Fireflash looked them over. “You’re alicorns, aren’t you?” she said. “Scrollkeeper was fascinated with your kind when he lived here. He even asked me to make a window for one of his favorite alicorn legends.”

“It was one of the best windows she ever made,” Cleansweep said.

“I wish you the best of luck, but forgive me if I don’t get my hopes up,” Fireflash said. “My brother and I were among the lucky few that decided to hide instead of run away. Almost nopony escaped.”

“We beat him once,” Luna said. “We stopped him from changing the day and night every five minutes.”

“You did?” For a moment, Fireflash looked almost hopeful, but the moment soon passed. “Well, there’s a big difference between that and stopping him for good. For all you know, he let you win just so he could make you more miserable later.”

“Why would he do that?” Celestia asked.

“Why not? He does it to us all the time,” Fireflash said. “Even after destroying our city, he still comes here now and then to turn our food to sand or make it rain mothballs.” She looked towards the ruins and gave a nod. Celestia followed her gaze and saw a blue unicorn waving at Fireflash. “I have to go,” the red mare said. “If you need a place to stay, our shelter is just over there.” She motioned toward the ruined building Cleansweep had identified as her old home. “It was nice seeing you, Cleansweep.”

“You too,” Cleansweep said. Fireflash gave him a short nod before turning and walking away.

---

Celestia caught glimpses of several other ponies as they walked towards the library, but none of them seemed interested in making contact, and Galeforce didn’t compel them. I thought the Everfree ponies looked discouraged, but this…

“Here we are,” Cleansweep said as they reached the top of the staircase leading to the library’s entrance. The doors were missing along with chunks of the doorway itself, so Celestia had no trouble seeing the rows of semi-demolished bookshelves inside.

The two alicorns followed Cleansweep inside. “Is this really safe?” Luna asked, looking from a large chunk of broken stone lying across a bookshelf to a hole it had left in the ceiling when it fell.

“My uncle comes here all the time,” Cleansweep said. “It can’t be too dangerous.”

They eventually arrived at the north wing. It looked just as damaged as the rest of the library, but it was clear somepony had taken the time to clean some of the mess. The rubble had been piled in a corner, and the scrolls were all stacked neatly on the shelves. “Scrollkeeper said to start with ancient pony history with a focus on magical lore,” Celestia said.

Cleansweep immediately took off, searching the shelves until he found what he was looking for. “These ones look like a good place to start,” he said, retrieving a stack scrolls from a shelf.

While Celestia started reading, Galeforce swooped through one of the shattered windows and landed beside her. “It’s quite the mess in here,” he said as he looked around. “Just like everything else. Nothing but dirty ponies dragging their hooves and makeshift shelters amidst the rubble.”

“Well, what else to they have?” Luna said.

“A whole country,” Galeforce said. “Everfree, Trottingham, and Manehattan are all within a day’s journey. Why haven’t they left this ruin behind?”

“Despair,” a voice said behind them. They turned and saw a pale blue unicorn with a red mane approaching them. His flank bore the image of a glassblowing pipe. “Name’s Crystal Cut,” he said. “My sister said I’d find you here.”

“Crystal Cut!” Cleansweep shouted, bouncing around once again. “It’s me, Cleansweep!”

“Hey, kid! Fireflash told me you were here,” Crystal Cut said with a laugh. “She also said you got yourself a cutie mark while you were away.”

“Uh-huh!” Cleansweep said.

“It’s good to see you , kid,” Crystal Cut said. “I hope you’re taking good care of your uncle. Speaking of which, where is he?”

“In Everfree,” Celestia said. “Cleansweep told us his uncle helped you and your sister make the windows for the library.”

“Mostly my sister,” Crystal Cut said. “I just made the glass for her. It’s a pity they were all shattered. Fireflash was so proud of them. You could see all the greatest events and ponies of Equestria’s history just by looking at the windows. Her favorite used to be right there,” he added with a gesture towards the hole Galeforce had flown through. “It was a depiction of the day the three tribes of Equestria set aside their differences to work together as one.”

“Sounds like a wonderful tale,” Celestia said.

“Indeed,” Crystal Cut said with a smile. “She was heartbroken when Discord destroyed them. She’d done stained glass before, of course, but never like this. She made sure every detail was absolutely perfect, working deep into the night for months until everything was just right, and then in one day, it was all gone.”

Crystal Cut spent a moment staring up at the hole in the wall before he spoke. “Everypony that’s stayed in Canterlot has a similar story,” he said. “Discord robbed us all of something that meant the world to us. For some, it was family. For others, the only home they ever knew.”

“And for you?” Celestia asked.

Crystal Cut turned and looked her in the eye. “Fireflash’s smile,” he said. “She acts tough for the others, but I can still see the sadness in her eyes. Discord broke her heart that day, and she’s never fully recovered.” Crystal Cut turned to Galeforce and said, “This is why we stay. We could go to Everfree or Trottingham, but why should we? It won’t help us find the things Discord stole from us, and at least here, he can’t take much more.”

For a moment, everypony was silent as Crystal Cut’s gaze turned to the shattered window one again. Finally, he shook his head and said, “I’m sorry to keep taking your time. As Fireflash said, you’re welcome to stay with us if you like. We may have nothing, but it’s a little easier sharing it with somepony else than keeping it all to yourself.”

“Wait,” Celestia said as the blue pony turned to leave. “Please, take some of these.” She cast a levitation spell on several of the apples in her bag and gave them to Crystal Cut.

“That’s all right,” Crystal Cut said. “We found enough in the valley.”

“I insist,” Celestia said. “We have more than enough.”

Crystal Cut smiled and wrapped the apples in his own magic. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll leave you to your studies.” With a short nod, he turned and walked away.

“I, uh, have some surveillance to do,” Galeforce said, spreading his wings and leaving the way he’d come.

Cleansweep quietly rose into the air and drifted to a distant shelf. Celestia glanced at Luna, who looked almost as depressed as she felt. “Come on,” Celestia said, turning her attention to the scrolls Cleansweep had retrieved. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“We should rebuild it.”

“Pardon?”

“We should rebuild it, big sister,” Luna said, an imploring look in her eyes. “It would mean everything to the ponies here.”

“You’re right,” Celestia said. “One day, we will. After we get rid of Discord.”

Luna nodded and unfurled a scroll. “The sooner, the better,” she said.

Comments

[ThatPoemGuy]

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[Glitternight]

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