Ghosts On The Wind

by HeartofSilver

One Thousand Voices

Author's Note:

Haven’t published anything here in a while. Went through my unpublished stories and found this. Decided to dust it off and edit it a bit to be published. Not quite sure why the characters were humanized in this, but I decided to stick with whatever I was going for when I first wrote this some time ago. Anyway, just for reference, Skyborn= Pegasus , Magicborn=Unicorn

'Crack!'

"I should have listened to you."

'Boom!'

"I was young and stupid. Arrogant and drunk on power."

RumbleRumbleRumble.......

"I'm sorry...."

The only answer to Celestia's tearful apology was another peal of thunder resounding across the land. Normally, the last place one would want to be during this kind of weather was the top of a mountain, especially one as tall as the Canterhorn. But Celestia was no mortal; she had nothing to fear from the storm. Besides, it would not kill her; no, it much preferred to torment her.

So Celestia let it. She sat atop the summit of the Canterhorn, her normally wavy and radiant hair dulled and unmoving, hanging sodden against her body. Her white dress was stained in the mud that her seat had become with the coming of the rains. Her head, always raised high and proud as her magenta eyes looked out upon her subjects, hung down limply as tears dripped down her face, the droplets indistinguishable from the heavy rains. One may wonder why Celestia, the great ruler of Equestria, Mistress of the Sun Itself, subjected herself to such conditions. The answer was simple: she knew she deserved it.

Hours passed as Celestia sat unmoving atop the Canterhorn, the only discernable activity being when her eyes glowed slightly as she used her magic to set the sun. The night was dark; the clouds covered the moon and stars, stealing all sources of light from the land. Even in the all-consuming darkness, Celestia sat, her eyes downcast. It was only when midnight rolled around that she moved; at that moment, as though on a schedule, the storm seemed to let up, the clouds dissipating as the soft glow of the moon and stars broke through. Finally, Celestia looked up, her tears sparkling in the faint light of the moon. If one observed her in this moment, they would notice that she was gently rubbing her hand over the surface of a nearby stone. With a wave of her hand, whatever was on the stone disappeared in a shimmer and Celestia stood to make her way back down the mountain.

-------------------

"I believe, Your Highness, that re-allocating the 2 million bits sent to revitalize Baltimare's seaport to the Manehattan Theater District Relief Budget would be a wise decision. While Baltimare's seaport is no doubt important, the Theater District is an important historical...."

Celestia barely listened as Manehattan's Parliamentary representative - some old, gray haired talking head who probably cared less about the historic significance of the Theater District than he did the multiple theaters he owned in said district - gave his plea. Any normal person would have noticed that the Princess was acting in an unusual manner: the graceful, regal monarch of the land was currently slumped in her throne, her eyes staring far beyond anything ion that room. But the representatives of Her Majesty's Parliament were not known for their observational skills, and so they continued to go about their business as though everything was completely normal.

The boring, monotone speeches of the politicians were periodically interrupted by loud booms of thunder and the crackling of lightning. Rain continuously beat against the roof of the castle, and the howling wind caused the windows to shudder as it wailed outside. For most, it was a simple inconvenience that they could ignore.

'Traitor'

'Villain'

'Why....'

'Why.....'

'Betrayer'

'Why....'

"Baltimare needs those 2 million bits for its seaport!"

'Evil'

'Remember....'

"Manhattan needs those bits more!"

'Remember what you did...

"Manhattan is already a massive sink of funds. Why don't you share the bits with other cities instead of feeding them into that black hole!"

'Can you still see the blood....'

"How dare you!"

'Traitor'

"How dare I? How dare you!"

'Villain'

"You uncouth ruffian!"

'Betrayer!'

"Who uses the word 'uncouth' anymore?"

'Evil'

"Educated minds like myself, you b-"

KILLER!

"ENOUGH!"

The entire room went silent as Celestia's voice echoed around the chambers. Everyone looked in horror as the serene Princess of Equestria loomed before them, her face twisted into a snarl as a growl escaped her throat. The only other sound that could be heard was the wailing of the wind.

"Princess," Celestia glanced to her side to see her assistant, Raven Inkwell, trying to discreetly whisper to her. It was an utter failure; the room was so silent that one could get the impression that they could hear their companion's thoughts. "Princess, perhaps we should take a break."

Celestia looked out upon the terrified representatives, all of them looking up at her like she was a vicious manticore. She took in a breath through her nose before letting it out as a sigh. "We will adjourn this meeting for the time being; we will continue these debates at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. I apologize for my outburst. Good day."

With that, she swiftly made her way out of the room, her white dress billowing out behind her. Raven quickly followed her liege, falling into step beside her.

"I never should have held Parliament today, Raven. You know that I take this day off every year."

"I apologize, Princess, but the representatives insisted that their business could not wait. You know how pushy they can be," Raven defended herself as she looked at the stony face of the monarch.

Celestia let out a sigh as her face softened. "I know, Raven, and I apologize if it sounded as though I was blaming you. I should have told them that today was not available myself, but I arrogantly assumed I could handle it. I do not know how, after so long, I could come to such a conclusion."

Raven's gaze shifted anxiously around the hallway for a moment. She worried her lip nervously before hesitantly speaking her next words. "Princess, I notice you take the same three days of each year. This also happens to coincide with the three days each year that the mysterious storms strike Canterlot. Is there... a connection?"

At these words, Celestia gazed out into the Royal Gardens. She quietly gasped as she saw a figure standing by the main fountain; it stared up at her, a dark silhouette with no discernable features. But just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared back into the rain. "No Raven. There's no connection at all."

-------------------

One may wonder why the Skyborn, what with their complete monopoly over the weather in Equestria, would allow such wild storms to ravage the capital city. The answer was simple: they didn't.

Weather in Equestria was normally carefully controlled by the Skyborn; not a single event occurred without the slow march of government bureaucracy, scheduling this weather condition for that time, at this exact place, to last about this long. At least, this was how the system worked in theory.

The reality of the situation was far more nuanced: all weather in Equestria was controlled, except for three times a year. Three times a year thick clouds swirled over the Everfree Forest, converging and coalescing until they formed a vicious storm front that slowly pushed its way toward Canterlot. The first few times this had occurred the Skyborn had attempted to dissipate the clouds as they normally did, but after multiple grievous injuries that had put even the best of the Weather Team in the hospital, Celestia had banned any official missions to disperse these storms; besides, she thought she deserved it anyway.

The nation's top meteorologists had all come to the same conclusion regarding the mysterious phenomena: the Everfree was known for being uncontrollable and wild, a place where nature managed itself. Weather phenomena free from the control of the Skyborn formed over the forest all the time due to the influence of the Everfree's dark magic; it must be that on those three dates each year, the thaumaturgical field of the Everfree was especially strong, birthing a storm that reached beyond its borders and was granted immunity from the Skyborn's magic by the Everfree's own power. That multiple expeditions to the Everfree had never found any inconsistencies or surges in the thaumaturgical field of the Everfree was handwaved by the same meteorologists.

Celestia knew - excuse her uncouth language - that that explanation was bullshit. But could she blame her subjects for coming to such a conclusion? Well, certainly she could blame them for not being very thorough with their explanation: they had never seemed to come up with a reason why, every once in a blue moon, these storms would drift to a city other than Canterlot. While their most common target was Canterlot, every major city in Equestria had experienced them at least once. Yet, just like the issues with the thaumaturgical field theory, this issue was ignored; people preferred semi-plausible explanations with a few holes rather than no explanation at all.

There was certain information that could provide another explanation to this mysterious phenomenon, an explanation that had no holes. To come to this explanation, one would only have to be aware of two categories of information: the first was Celestia's whereabouts on those three days of the year; the second was information that only a handful of people, alive and dead, had ever known in its entirety.

If someone were to go through the papers and cross-reference Celestia's location on the three dates that the storms struck, they would realize that the weather phenomena seemed to be following her! The only times that these storms had ever struck outside Canterlot was when Celestia happened to be visiting another city on those dates, and it was always the city that she was visiting.

The second category of information, well, this was partially known. Everyone knew that one of the three dates was Celestia's birthday; there were jokes that it was nature's gift to her, though the more philosophically minded of the populace wondered if nature was trying to keep the Princess humble. The other two dates seemed entirely random.

Well, at least to everyone else.

Celestia was one of the few creatures who had ever walked the face of this world to know the significance of the other two dates. How could she ever forget? One was the birthday of the Moon's Lady; the other....the other was his.

Everyone who worked in Canterlot Castle knew that Princess was not quite herself whenever it rained: even during regularly scheduled storms, the normally resplendent and regal monarch seemed dull and depressed. She would mope around the castle, and even the petitioners entering her Day Court would notice that she seemed disinterested and inattentive.

But on those three days of the year, when the vicious storms struck Canterlot, those days were different. Celestia would disappear, ordering her personal guards to stay in the castle. The guards were ordered to not even attempt to trace her teleport and to simply maintain their positions at the entrance to the Royal Apartments until she came back. This order they followed to the letter, even if they heard loud sobs emanating from the Royal Apartments before the powerful surge of magic that indicated a teleport.

After that, the only sounds were the howling of the wind.

-------------------

Young Twilight Sparkle was awakened by loud, piercing cries echoing through the Royal Apartments. The young Magicborn was supine in her bed for a moment, sleep-addled mind trying to determine what she was hearing. She had never heard anything like this in Canterlot Castle before; granted, she had only been Celestia's personal student for a month, but regardless. This...this sound was almost unnatural, like the despaired cries of some tortured spirit.

Twilight made her way out of bed, curiosity overcoming any sort of survival instinct she may have had. Cautiously opening the door of her bedroom, she peered out into the ornate hallway of the Royal Apartments.
Nothing. But the wailing was still there.

The young Magicborn stepped out into the hallway, her feet pitter-pattering against the cold marble floors. She scrunched her nose, focusing in an attempt to locate the source of the wailing. Where was it.....there! It was coming from behind....

Oh.

Oh.

That was Princess Celestia's door.

Well.

Twilight was conflicted. On one hand, the Princess was crying; on the other hand, the Princess was crying. What was she to do... she thought about asking one of the guards for advice, but it was only now that she realized that the ever-present sentries of Canterlot Castle... well, they weren't present right now. There was only her.

Hesitantly, Twilight reached out to grab the doorknob, slowly opening the door and carefully peering inside. As she looked within, she saw the Princess standing in the middle of her room, heavy sobs escaping her throat. Twilight could not see what she was doing; the Princess had her back to the young Magicborn. Slowly, the young girl stepped into the room.

"Princess..." she called out.

The monarch turned around quick as a flash, and it was only then that Twilight realized that the Princess was charging a spell in her right hand. Celestia's eyes widened in surprise, but by then it was too late: light enveloped the room as both occupants were caught in the spell.

Twilight had not been in many teleportation spells in her short life; the instantaneous shift in physical position made her nauseous, and she nearly lost last night's dinner on the muddy ground. The cold droplets falling upon her did little to help her physical state.

"Oh, Twilight," the young girl heard the Princess croon. The droplets on her back stopped, the golden glow around her indicating that the Princess had put up a shield. Twilight, whose nausea was subsiding, looked up at her mentor, who had neglected to put a shield around herself. The Princess looked at her with sad eyes. "I did not mean to bring you up here with me."

"O-oh," Twilight was not used to the Princess looking like this, all sad and droopy. "No, Princess. That was my fault, I shouldn't have stepped into your room without permission."

The Princess let lose a tiny chuckle. "It is perfectly alright, Twilight. It was merely an accident, and you certainly meant no harm. Now..." the Princess went silent for a moment as her eyes fell on a nearby rock.

"Now....what, Princess?" Twilight looked between the monarch and the rock. Her mentor seemed transfixed on the simple stone before she shook her head and turned back to meet Twilight's eyes.

"Apologies, Twilight. I was....debating with myself, for a moment. I was considering teleporting you back to the castle, but...." the Princess turned back to the rock, "perhaps it would be better to give you an impromptu history lesson."

Twilight perked up at that. "B-but princess! I've already learned all of Equestrian history. I've already read all 24 volumes of Verbose Quill's 'Detailed History of Equestria'."

Celestia scrunched her nose up at that. "I could barely get through that work considering how accurate the author's name proved to be. Though I suppose it is far less interesting when you have lived through the events."

"But if I've read it, then what's the..."

"Twilight, what did Commander Hurricane say about history?" Celestia interjected.

"That it's...written by the victor?" Twilight's eyes widened. "Celestia, are you saying..."

Celestia nodded. "Twilight, I would love to tell you that Equestrian history is entirely true and accurate. But I cannot. Details are lost or misinterpreted in the public imagination; textbooks are rewritten for political reasons; and sometimes, things must be kept secret in order to preserve the harmony of the nation."

Twilight was silent for a moment, trying to wrap her head around the concept of knowledge being changed or deliberately falsified. "Celestia, I-I....."

"Do not understand," Celestia finished the young girl's sentence. "It is confusing for a little one like you Twilight, but when you are older you will likely understand it more. All that you need to know now is that what I am about to show you is a national secret. Other than me, you are one of only 4 people who has ever seen this. You can never tell anyone what you will see or what I will say."

Twilight could hear the weight behind her teacher's voice, and she hastily nodded as the princess glanced over her shoulder. Twilight was old enough to understand the gravity of the situation, and she would make sure to keep her lips sealed if it meant that the princess would trust her with secret information. "I promise you, Princess Celestia."

The monarch nodded and beckoned the child over to the stone she had been staring at, a smooth piece of granite that looked perfectly natural on the summit of the Canterhorn. But Twilight knew there was something different about the stone when Celestia turned to her with a slight smile that didn't seem to fit her current demeanor. It was the impish sort of smile that she would put on when she presented Twilight with an interesting piece of information.

"My most faithful student, how familiar are you with illusory spells?"'

"Uhm," Twilight thought for a moment. "I read the passage on them in Starswirl's 'Ars Arcana', but I've never tried them myself. It takes a lot of power to maintain them for even a short amount of time."

Celestia nodded. "Precisely. But you are about to see one that has lasted 1,000 years."

Twilight's eyes nearly fell out of her head. "1,000 years! That's...."

"Insane? Yes!" Celestia responded before her smile dropped and she took on a more somber demeanor. She pressed a hand against the rock face as Twilight watched in awe.

"The wild winds weep,
and the night is a-cold;
Come hither, Sleep
And my griefs infold."

The surface of the rock crumbled into dust before Twilight's eyes, revealing the rock as.... some sort of marker? It had a bunch of writing and-

Oh.

Oh.

"P-Princess, is this....is this some sort of joke?"

Twilight looked at her mentor, kneeling in the mud with tears leaking from her eyes, and she knew her question had been foolish. "No, Twilight. What you are reading is true."

Twilight turned back to the stone, her mouth opening and closing as so many other questions formed in her mind. Finally, she settled on one. "What happened?"

Celestia looked up at the sky, the rain falling into her face as the thunder boomed around her, a sad smile forming on her face. "I did what I thought was best, Twilight, and I regret that every day of my life."

Twilight took in the image of her mentor for a moment, emotional in a way that she had never seen her, before turning back to the stone and rereading its inscription.

Here Lies Aigis
Brother to Luna and Celestia
Brought down in 5 AN by Princess Celestia's hand

Comments

[Starswirl the Beardless]

Overall, this was a very well-written story. Your prose, your pacing, and your tone were all very good. The skyborn/magicborn thing was a bit weird and threw me off a bit, but that's a minor issue. My only complaint would be about the fact that this ends on a cliffhanger and doesn't really give a satisfying conclusion to the drama. You present this big mystery that could have been drastically expanded upon, but then you just end the story without any attempt at explanation. It ends up feeling a bit too mystery box-ish, which is never a good road to go down. Granted, the 99% of the story prior to that was good, but it sort of retroactively deflates it all with the way you ended it.

[HeartofSilver]

11329579
Ha, I actually agree. To be completely transparent, this was a story fragment that had been sitting in my computer for a year or two that I pulled out and decided to expand upon. A lot of the weirdness was me trying to interpret whatever the me of the past was trying to do in this piece.

I will say that the ending is definitely rushed. I think that this was originally supposed to be a longer, multi-chapter piece, but I couldn't remember where I was going with it and decided to create a substitute ending that is, admittedly, the written equivalent of going to a firework's show that just ends up being one dude setting of a single roman candle.