Celestia Goes West

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 34

Marble’s mind swum.

Sunny was Celestia.

Somehow the mare that did nothing but get on his nerves was the literal ex-ruler of the country. That mare had enough magical energy in her left forehoof to move the entire jungle, and she still chose to lead him on this wild goose chase without doing more?

Why did she even disguising herself in the first place?

His mind came to that answer on its own. He’d seen a picture of the Royal Sister’s manor house with at least three dozen ponies camping outside her main gate. She disguised herself so that she could avoid attention.

She could have stopped, though. She could have stopped and revealed herself once the ship sank. That would have been the perfect time to admit that she was none other than Lady Celestia and pop him to safety. Or she could have even done that on the Crystal Flare to save the passengers on the ship. She could have teleported everyone to safety or flown him to the shore.

She could fly. Every time Marble carried her up into the trees was pointless, and she could have done it herself.

Sunny could have done all of this herself.

Sunny could have solved everything, and instead, she dragged him into all this danger.

She was the princess, and she put herself in so much danger. Why, by Cele—Why would she do that? What made her think that this was okay? How on earth did she think this was a good idea to put herself in this kind of danger?

How could she do this to him?

“I can offer myself, and the cloak you want, Ms. Dusk. Though I will warn you, I will burn all of these feathers with the sunniest summer day if you so much as touch my little pony.”

“I suppose you do have that advantage, don’t you?” the one-winged pegasus remarked. The orange mare turned to the black-vested ponies and raised an eyebrow. “Well? You heard the Lady. Release the prisoner.”

There was a flurry of motion as the ponies around the cage began to move. They began pushing back and forth to try and fulfill their orders while Celestia and Dusk stared at each other.

“She’s not the princess anymore,” Marble’s mind told him. “She doesn’t rule the kingdom now, Princess Twilight does that. It’s not like if something happened to her the entire country would fall to its knees. In fact, out of all the times, it ever could have been, this is probably the safest time for her to do something this stupid.”

None of that mattered, though. Somehow none of it mattered at all.

“I want him escorted to safety,” Celestia said as she pulled the cloak free before encasing it in a ball of glass that then transformed into steel before the ball slammed into the ground with the sound of a ringing gong. “If not, then the cloak stays in the ball.”

Dusk frowned but nodded. “I suppose I can grant you that, after all, it’s not every day you get an audience with Lady Celestia herself. Zalxayl, pick a small contingent of ponies to take the pegasus to safety. The Lady and I have much to discuss.”

“Of course, Lady Dusk,” the mandrill replied before bowing to the pegasus before he pointed to a few stallions in the back.

The cage opened, and somepony pushed Marble out of it. He stumbled as someone pushed him onto the stone floor, but he managed to catch himself and stood just in front of Celestia.

He stared up at her and looked into her brilliant, magenta eyes. Eyes that looked at him with a soft but intense sorrow. She’d been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar, and now he knew.

---☼---

Celestia took on her responsibility.

She couldn’t run from it anymore, and she couldn’t ignore it anymore. She needed to be an adult and deal with it as adults do. The part of her that was still Sunny, the part that wanted to enjoy herself, the part that wanted to be an average pony, the part that already fell for him even though she wouldn’t admit it, screamed.

That part wanted to tell him something, to apologize or something, but Celestia held firm.

She said nothing as Marble was forced through the cage and stumbled out to stop just in front of her.

Celestia was an iron locomotive, unflinching and unstoppable.

Marble glanced up at her. He stared into her eyes for a moment that seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

Celestia stood like an icebreaker, smashing through the glaciers and caring not for what stood in her way.

“Lady Celestia,” he greeted.

She wavered.

The hurt, the chill, even the distance in his voice slammed into her like a war hammer.

Celestia wavered but stood. Her prow bent, but she continued to sail. Her train cars derailed, but her engine chugged on.

Marble moved on, grabbing his knife before he walked past her to join the contingent of ponies that Dusk’s pet picked out for him.

“Once I know he’s safe,” Celestia said, “I’ll release the cloak.”

“Of course, Lady Celestia,” Dusk said.

Celestia turned to Marble. “I will be casting a scrying spell on you for—”

He ignored her and just walked away, followed by the ponies that were supposed to escort him.

Celestia said nothing but turned back to the room of ponies ahead of her before her vision narrowed on the orange pegasus.

Dusk’s face was twisted into a calculating smirk before she finally spoke up. “I suppose I owe you an explanation, don’t I, your Ladyship?”

Celestia’s face hardened, and she glared down at the pony in front of her. “Yes, I should say you do.”

The maimed pegasus nodded before she turned and began to make her deeper into the room. “Then follow me, I’m sure you’ll find my explanation reasonable.”

“I hope for your sake I do,” Celestia replied, trying to keep the venom from her voice.

The alicorn followed after the pegasus as she walked further into the temple, with the mandrill following close behind as the black-vested ponies gave them a wide berth.

Celestia followed after, keeping her head high and her back straight as she walked.

But deep inside her, the Sunny part of her wept.

They walked deeper into the room, passing the vault by, and moving into a room that seemed surprisingly small. “I took this room as something of an office, I hope you find it comfortable.”

“It will suffice,” Celestia said, trying to ignore the pain that flared in her chest.

“I am glad. Let me start at the beginning,” Dusk said. “As you can imagine, being born with one wing makes it difficult to be a pegasus. It’s hard to be promised that you can fly, only for it to be torn from you and carried on your back your entire life.”

Celestia listened with half an ear, barely paying any attention as she thought of Marble’s face. Despite that, she heard enough speeches to respond without even really thinking about it.

“So hard that you had to have the ponies killed as they worked for you?”

“Is it wrong that I wanted my own birthright? To take to the skies? Is that so wrong?”

“Of course not,” Celestia replied. “Murdering your fellow ponies to do so, however….”

“Unfortunate accidents.”

Celestia didn’t answer right away, though the reports from the handful of ponies that she questioned stuck with her. However, even that was only halfway on her mind. The Sunny part of her kept begging to check up on Marble to see how he was doing, to make sure he was safe, but Celestia shoved it down.

“Regardless,” Dusk continued, “I just want what was supposed to be mine. I want to soar the skies and move weather just like any other pegasus.”

“You seem especially focused on the weather,” Celestia pointed out before she cast a spell to peek in on Marble. He continued to storm up the stairs, obviously angry.

“Of course I do,” she replied. “My parents were some of Cloudsdale’s best weather ponies. They had to move to the ground because I only had one wing. My birth stole my parents’ chances and gave me nothing to show for it. I intend to become the best weather pony in the world to make up for it.”

Celestia nodded. “By killing other ponies.”

Dusk returned Celestia’s remark with a deadpan glare. “They volunteered.”

Again, the Sunny part of her begged, and this time she relented. Celestia dropped her scry and turned back to the pegasus. “They volunteered to die?”

Dusk raised an eyebrow. “I assume you don’t approve.”

“Of your methods? Certainly not.”

“Then I hope you will appreciate the fact that not a single more pony under my employ shall die.”

“A wonderful thing to say, after a few dozen have died.”

Dusk glanced over to the mandrill.

Sunny wanted to check one more time. Celestia cast another spell to glance at Marble as he walked and was only vaguely aware that the primate slipped out of the room.

“It seems I have angered you,” Dusk noted.

“Wantonly killing ponies I once deemed my subjects will do that, yes,” Celestia responded.

“Well, I assure you, it’s not my intent to kill ponies. As I said, most of them were workplace accidents. I hear they’re rather common in temples such as this.”

“Accidents?” Celestia asked. “Does that include when you sent your pet monkey after ponies to attack and kill those who wanted to leave?”

Dusk raised an eyebrow. “I see you’re fixated.”

“Fixated?” Celestia repeated. “That’s hardly the wrong response to finding out that somepony has been murdering ponies. As it is, I’m surprised I’ve managed to keep my composure and not teleport you directly into Canterlot’s dungeons.”

“And I’m sure your little crony, the current Princess, would let you do it as well.”

Celestia blinked. The audacity of the comment threw her for a moment before she narrowed her eyes. “How dare you.”

“How dare I?” Dusk growled. “How dare I want what was promised to me? How dare you want your throne when you have wings and a horn? How dare I want anything in life if it means someone else must suffer, hm? How could I want something so bad I would put it before someone else? But maybe you wouldn’t know anything about that? After all, you’re the perfect Celestia, how could you know selfishness?”

Celestia blinked. That last comment hit harder than it had any right to, but she wouldn’t give in now. Besides, she had to stop this pony now. No more delaying the inevitable. She needed to stop this pony.

She prepared a Control Body spell to teleport her away and spoke one more time. “We’re done here, Ms. Dusk. I will not tolerate your insolence any longer.”

She released her spell.

Nothing happened.

She blinked before she turned just in time to watch the mandrill grab her by the throat and throw her into the thronestone jail.

She slammed against the cage, her head spinning, and heard the door slam shut.

When did the cage get here? “Idiot! You should have been paying attention!”

“You may not tolerate me anymore, Lady Celestia,” Lady Dusk said, “but I’m afraid I still need you around. Zalxayl, bring the cage with you.”

“Yes, Lady Dusk,” he replied slowly.

Celestia glared at Dusk from the cage as the mandrill, which still stood taller than her even in her proper form, continued to push her forward.

Getting shorter was the worst part of retirement.

The mandrill dragged the cage back into the vault room, following Dusk as she walked around. “Now that we have the cloak,” Dusk began, “we can open up the vault. Inside of that is the Coatl’s Radiance. If you thought the feathers were powerful, then the staff will terrify you, good Lady. Of course, you won’t actually see what happens when I get it.”

Dusk glared at the ponies that were still standing in the vault room. “Someone get that steel ball open. I need that cloak.”

A handful of ponies scrambled to obey, and they gathered around the metal sphere and began working on some plan to crack it.

“You seem confident I won’t stop you,” Celestia said.

“Of course I am, Lady Celestia,” Dusk replied with an audible smirk, the only emotion beyond indignation Celestia had seen on the mare. “Because the Coatl’s Radiance is currently sleeping.”

Celestia’s brow knit in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Dusk smiled and turned on her. “That staff has sat here for centuries, Celestia. It languished in silence, unused until it’s magic fell asleep, but the Coatl’s blessing isn’t gone. Someone just needs to prove to the staff that the ponies here are worthy to use it. And I know exactly how to prove that.”

“Oh, do you?” Celestia asked.

Dusk smiled. “You have no idea. I was concerned you see. I thought I would have to use too many of the feathers convincing one of the mighty alicorns to come, but you managed to make your way here anyway. I suppose we could call it divine providence.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes in the cage. “What are you talking about?”

Dusk smiled. “There was one thing the staff needed to keep its strength. One sacrifice necessary for this kingdom of earth ponies to claim my birthright. They needed to pay the ultimate cost in order to rule over the domain of all pegasi. Whenever their kings reached the end of their life, they would climb to the top of this very temple.”

Celestia blinked as the distant memory of an ancient king ascending the steps reached her mind.

“He would lay atop the altar, and the staff would sit beside him, and the entire Lusitanpec population would give the staff the only thing it needs.”

Celestia realized what she meant just as the mare said it.

“Royal blood.”

A handful of the ponies working on the steel ball turned to her, faces aghast.

Dusk smiled wide. “You’ve brought me everything I need, Celestia. And then I will rule nature itself as the storm to end all storms. I will be unstoppable!”

She laughed, and Celestia stared at the mad mare, realizing she just made everything worse.

---☼---

Marble kept walking up the stairs with his escort following close behind.

How dare she? How could she?

He stormed out of the very top of the pyramid and started stomping his way down the stairs.

This was ridiculous. Stupid, even! How could she do something like this?

A few of the ponies guarding the place snapped to action when they saw him, only to be waved off by the escort. It looked like they just wanted him gone for now.

“You’re over-reacting,” a part of him said. “You’re not mad that she lied.”

Of course, he was! She could have solved all of these problems with a wave of her horn. The Lady could have gotten him to safety in a second, and she didn’t need to drag him with her into the depths of the jungle on whatever crazy adventure she wanted to go on.

“She knew you were capable,” his brain argued. “She knew you could do it, and she helped you every step of the way. Maybe she could have sent you back, but you learned so much out here.”

Those were justifications that meant nothing. Celestia was sitting on so much power, and she just chose not to use it. She was playing a game with his life.

“She needed you.”

No, she didn’t! If she were taking this seriously, then she could have crushed that unicorn with a thought. She could have plucked the mandrill out of the air and sent him to the moon. Instead, she was playing around and nearly got herself killed. Twice!

“Like Vanilla used to do?”

That made him pause.

“You’re not mad that she lied. You’re mad she wasn’t taking it seriously.”

S-so? Was that not a good reason to be mad? Didn’t he have a right to be angry?

“That never stopped you from being there for Vanilla.”

But...but she died.

“She did, but it wasn’t her fault either was it?”

Marble paused at the bottom of the pyramid and stared back at the giant temple.

“You promised her.”

He sighed before looking at the ponies escorting him. “So are you going to take me all the way to civilization?”

The unicorn in the group opened her mouth to speak before pausing. “Hang on, I’m getting a message.”

This Dusk character had messenger unicorns? You didn’t see many of those since they needed some kind of line of sight to pass the spell along; most ponies just stuck with the mail or bought bottled Dragonfire for essential letters.

The messenger’s face went pale. “Understood,” she replied before turning to Marble. “I’ve been told that yes, we’re taking you to the edge of the jungle.”

Marble nodded but glanced at the mare before she sighed and unleashed a spell.

He tried to leap out of the way but felt magic grab his wings and snap them.

He yelled in pain, covering the sound of the unicorn’s order before the others closed in and began to beat him. The ponies stomped, bit, and kicked him, breaking bones and shattering his legs.

He tried to reach out of his dagger, but he couldn’t stick his foreleg back far enough without risking getting that broken as well. The blows rained on him hard and fast, and he tasted the warm copper of blood in his mouth.

The agony went on forever, but only for a few seconds before they finally stopped. “Lady Dusk wants him dead.”

“Won’t Celestia kill us?” one of the other ponies said, regret already filling his voice.

“She’s captured and in the anti-magic cage. Dusk said she’s going to kill her too.”

“What?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter right? Dusk going to try and take over the world anyway the best we can do is keep our heads down, and hope everypony forgets us. For now, we need to deal with this pony.”

“I’m not going to kill the pony Celestia wanted to keep safe.”

Marble tried pushing himself up.

“Then, just throw him in the jungle. Let it take care of him.”

Marble groaned as rough hooves picked him up and carried him deeper into the wilderness.

Comments

[Akeion98]

Damn this chapter went really high stakes,can't wait for the next one!

[GeneraLeeDiscord]

Called it; but I will say the bloody sacrifice was not what I expected but what Marble went through not at all. This is the irony a lot of villains fall into where there downfall come where there needless actions will lead to there down fall they should have just had Marble escorted out of the jungle. This would have taken days and by this time it would have been to late for anyone to do anything. Now Marble is going to have to Dracula the first thing happens upon him first; be it a predator or temple robber. Nobody to hero call me Morbius! But first we tune in on Luna and the gang to just how bad are barista friend really messed up!

[djthomp]

She was the princess, and she put herself in so much danger. Why, by Cele—Why would she do that? What made her think that this was okay? How on earth did she think this was a good idea to put herself in this kind of danger?

He certainly shifted rather rapidly into "Celestia put herself in danger" as chief reason for offense.

She blinked before she turned just in time to watch the mandrill grab her by the throat and throw her into the thronestone jail.

Oops.

“Royal blood.”

Getting worse.

He tried to leap out of the way but felt magic grab his wings and snap them.

He yelled in pain, covering the sound of the unicorn’s order before the others closed in and began to beat him. The ponies stomped, bit, and kicked him, breaking bones and shattering his legs.

Wow. We moved very rapidly to a state that doesn't really seem recoverable anymore.

[MoonlightRift]

“And I’m sure you’re little crony, the current Princess, would let you do it as well.”

your*