The Gift of Life

by hell00001

Chapter 15: Unrest Shall Follow

The Gift of Life Chapter 15

Two Years Later...

Celestia sat staring out across the eastern district of Everfree during the early hours of the morning. The moon was still high in the sky, illuminating great sections of the city that would have otherwise remained dark. To the east of the city, however, there was plenty of light radiating from the street lamps and the shops that would still be open at all hours of the night. Everfree was a bustling city, and that meant that even during the waking hours of the morning there would be ponies attending to their shopping needs.

There was the creak of the door behind her, but Celestia didn’t turn around to see who it was. She could recognize his hoofsteps anywhere.

“What are you doing out here in the cold all alone?” Firemane asked, taking a seat next to his marefriend.

“Oh, well, I thought I should just get some fresh air. I’ve been a little stressed recently.” she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Longer than just recently. Watching the moon at this hour has become a hobby for you over the last few months. The moon isn’t even your priority to watch. What has been keeping you up?”

Celestia sighed and rubbed her cheek on his shoulder.

“Ever since I was inducted onto the council to represent my parents in Equestria’s government, I have been plagued and hounded by the other delegates. They are constantly asking me for advice on certain matters as if I have been a part of the government for years now. I was only recruited four months ago. I hardly know if the decisions I am making in my parents stead are correct half of the time.

She put one of her wings around her coltfriend.

“Cherry Blossom and the Earth Ponies have been the most persistent of the group. As you know, only recently have we been able to lift the bill that declared that everypony would get an equal ration of food because of the drought from two years back. Although ponies can technically buy as much food as they want, the prices are still very high and many of the lower income families are unable to make enough bits to feed themselves at the end of the week.

“What am I supposed to say to them? I’ve been taught to tell them that the food is on its way, but we can only import so much. Luckily, the deer have been supplying both the Eternal Valley and Equestria with food, but they can only give so much food at a time and their shipments can take weeks to cross the Eternal Sea. I’ve asked my parents what to do but they have only told me to keep on reassuring the Earth Ponies.”

Celestia rubbed her nose up against Firemane’s chest.

“You’re stressing over this too much, Celestia.” he said “Food is on the way, we just need some time for it to get here. Hopefully if you continue to reassure them your words will start to sink in.”

“I hope so,” Celestia said quietly. “I’ve been receiving word from Forza that there is much civil unrest in both Fillydelphia and Hoofington. Ponies have been angrily congregating in front of both cities’ capital buildings in peaceful forms of protest demanding that more food be delivered to the cities.

“That isn’t the worst part of it, however. In the recent months, the province of Germaney has stepped out of the hole my father placed it back in a few years ago with the election of its new governor, Adolf Hinney. We have been hearing reports again about the province wanting to secede from the nation for good this time. I have a hearing in the next few days and I’m afraid that that is going to be one of the issues brought to topic.”

Firemane was about to reply to Celestia when there was suddenly a loud crash coming from inside her room. Celestia and Firemane quickly spun around and saw that the whole room had been lit up by a blinding white light.

“Luna! Firemane, come on!” Celestia yelled, quickly getting to her hooves and rushing for the door.

The two ponies burst into the room and saw that Luna had suspended herself in the air, and her horn was fully let up in a fury of blue, magical sparks. She was screaming out a stream of incoherent sentences but Celestia knew exactly what was going on: Luna was having another nightmare. One much darker than any she had had before.

“Firemane, we have to calm Luna down” Celestia yelled over the roar of energy that started to build up in the room.

Another blinding light filled the room and there was a second crash, glass shards flying in every direction as Luna set off a powerful beam of light directly at the windows that looked out over the eastern district. Celestia had to dive out of the way to avoid the beam. Without giving a seconds pause, she got back onto her hooves and rushed towards her sister.

Luna was about to send off another powerful beam of energy when Celestia dove into the air and pulled her sister back to the ground. The trance that had taken over Luna had immediately vanished. The angry expression that had masked Luna’s face had been replaced by one of both surprise and fear.

“‘Tia! I-I-I’m so sorry! I w-was having another nightmare. Sh-she’s...” Luna tried to finished but ended up burying her face into her sister’s chest.

Firemane walked up next to both Celestia and Luna and was about to kneel down next to them when the door to their room burst open. Three pegasus guards came rushing into the room followed by General Reaper. The old general looked over at the destruction caused by the blast of Luna’s magic and then turned his head to look at the three ponies who were huddled up against the two beds.

“What happened here?” Reaper asked in a gruff tone.

Before Firemane could respond to Reaper, both Queen Galactica and King Sol entered the room with two more unicorn guards. They paused when they saw the massive hole where the windows used to be and then turned to look at Firemane. Celestia suddenly felt a slight pang of fear.

“What happened here?” Sol asked.

Luna was still crying into Celestia’s chest so the elder princess spoke up. “Daddy, Luna needs help now. Can we get her to the emergency room?”

Galactica’s eyes widened and she galloped over to her daughters, Sol quickly following behind her. She kneeled down next to them and nuzzled Luna’s face from Celestia’s chest.

“Luna, can you get on Mommy’s back? Please?” Galactica asked.

Luna nodded and allowed for her mother to grip onto her with magic, lifting her onto Galactica’s back. Celestia got to her hooves and was about to start following her mother and Luna when Sol stopped her with an outstretched wing. Firemane was stopped by the other wing.

“Celestia, what is Captain Firemane doing here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Beads of sweat started to stain Celestia’s forehead and she quickly backed off from her father. “Can we discuss this later, Daddy? Luna is in trouble and she needs help. I’ll tell both you and Mother everything once she is okay. I promise.” she said.

“Alright, but that is a promise. Let’s go. Reaper, try to find a tarp to cover up the window until we get somepony to fix the damage tomorrow.” Sol said as he lowered his wings to allow Celestia and Firemane to pass.

“Yes sir!” General Reaper replied.

~~~

An hour later after Luna had managed to calm down, Celestia, Sol, Galactica, and Firemane all sat around the clinic bed, watching the little, blue princess as she had fallen back to sleep. Celestia heaved a sigh and gently rested her head onto Firemane’s shoulder. She heard the the sound of a throat being cleared and immediately snapped her head back up and looked at her father.

“So, would you mind explaining?” he asked.

“Oh, um... Daddy, Mother, I-I would like to introduce you to my coltfriend, Firemane.” Celestia said, giving a sheepish and false smile.

“Your coltfriend? And how long have you two been in a relationship?” Galactica asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her hooves.

“Over two years.” Celestia mumbled out.

“Two years? Two years!? You have kept something like this hidden away from us for two years?” King Sol said, his tone increasingly becoming louder.

“Sol, dear, please. Luna is sleeping.” Galactica whispered over to her husband. She then turned back to Celestia. “Do you have any idea what you put at stake by hiding this from us for two years? You allowed for the possibility of rumors to get out that not only were you undermining our authority but that you were also giving special treatment to certain ponies inside of the castle.

“What’s worse is that you failed to tell us when you were elected to be our representative for the council. If this had gotten out many of the delegates would have believed that you were sleeping with certain ponies simply to earn their favor for us. Your error for withholding information could have cost us the very stability of this entire nation, Celestia. What you have is an unprofessional relationship among two professionals.”

Celestia winced and lowered her head away from the stares of her two parents. She couldn’t look at them. She didn’t want to look at them. Everything Meadow Free had told her had been true. She turned to Firemane and saw that he was staring at both of her parents in defiance.

“Pardon me, my king and queen, but may I speak my mind?” he asked.

“You may, Captain.” Sol said.

“I love your daughter. She is perhaps the most wonderful pony I had ever laid my eyes upon. Do you remember when we first met at that part for General Forza those years ago? Do you remember how I asked her for a dance and how we managed to gain attention from all of the ponies, including yourselves, from our spectacle?”

He wrapped one wing around Celestia protectively.

“Ever since I first laid eyes upon Celestia I had always had a desire to be hers. She has a beauty unmatched in both mind and body. Her eyes match the intelligence of her mind, her legs match the deftness of her speech, and her wings match the softness of her emotions. She has a loving and caring spirit, much like you, Queen Galactica.”

He paused and looked down at Celestia. She was smiling back up at him and pressed her cheek onto his chest.

“I have a feeling she thinks the same of me. I believe she was afraid to tell either of you the relationship we have. Being that it is entirely unprofessional, like you said, she felt as though you might order an end to it or remove me from my position. I even had some of the same fears myself, and will accept them if that is your wish.”

Both Galactica’s and Sol’s eyes noticeably softened. Celestia let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her cheek on her coltfriend’s chest happily.

“We do not wish to disperse the relationship that the two of you hold.” Queen Galactica said “We only wish that our daughter would have come forth earlier and told us. However, this can be discussed another time. At the moment we need to know what is happening to Luna and why she blew a massive hole in her room.”

Celestia lifted herself from Firemane’s chest and took a deep breath before she began to recite the memories she had on Luna’s nightmares. She told her parents of the whimpers and moans Luna would cry out in her sleep, and then the similar incident where Luna had let off a bolt of energy to scorch the wall across the room. She told them of the descriptions of the nightmares as best she could that were told to her by Luna. She then finally gave the similar descriptions of her own visions back from when she had touched the orb underneath her parent’s study, although she purposefully left out the riddle the mismatched eyes had given her.

When Celestia had finished her tale both Sol and Galactica looked at each other. They whispered something into each other’s ears for a few minutes, causing Celestia to grow more and more worried over the events both her and Luna had gone through. Finally, both the king and queen turned to look at Firemane and Celestia.

“Why didn’t you tell this to us earlier?” Sol asked.

“I didn’t want to bother you. You both are already under a lot of stress with both Germaney and then the drought.”

Galactica sighed and Sol frowned.

“Celestia, what you have told us is far more important than some petty political dispute.” Sol said. “Those orbs down in our...” he paused, glancing at Firemane. The captain returned a stoic face to the king. Sol continued, “our study are powerful artifacts of the sun and moon themselves. The one you touched is known as the Element of Harmony, representing the harmonious magic that makes up the sun. Harmonious magic is the magic that all ponies can wield, allowing for even regular unicorns to be able to gain possession of the sun.

“The other orb is known as the Element of Chaos, representing the chaotic magic that makes up the moon. Chaotic magic, as far as we know, cannot be used by any being in Equestria and beyond, simply because it is too strange to grasp and control.”

Sol got up from his seat next to the clinic bed and started to pace around the room. Celestia, Firemane, and Galactica all watched him as he mumbled to himself and walked in an almost perfect circle.

“Celestia, would you happen to know who the black mare is? The one who had appeared in your vision and then in Luna’s nightmares?” Galactica asked, turning back to look at her daughter.

“No, I don’t know. All I know is that she is related to the destruction of Everfree somehow. Do you think that what Luna and I are seeing are visions?” Celestia replied, looking back at her mother.

“I have no doubt that it is a foreshadowing of some kind, although I cannot say what of, as not even your mother and I have sufficient knowledge over these elements.” King Sol said. He stopped pacing and looked at Celestia. “I suspect that the mare inside Luna’s mind does, however.”

“What are you suggesting, Sol?” Galactica asked, turning back to look at her husband.

“I am suggesting that we bring Luna before the High Unicorn Council and have them perform their mental interrogation techniques on her.” he said.

“How can you even suggest something like that!?” Galactica said, rising from her seat and walking to step in front of Sol. “This is our daughter we are talking about, Sol! You are saying that we bring her to some of the most powerful ponies in the history of Equestria and then undergo one of the most grueling spells ever to have been created? Are you mad!?”

“Galactica, the magic from the Element of Chaos has bonded with Luna.” he said, staring hard at Galactica. “From what I can see, it is tearing our daughter apart and there must be some way we can stop it. However, we have no means of knowing how to combat whatever it is that has infected her. The only way that we can get any real knowledge is if we speak to the infection itself.”

“How can we even be sure that this will work? Luna is an alicorn. We know from the past that any unicorn that had dared entered one of our minds have lost themselves or have been killed.” Galactica said, tears now starting to form in her eyes.

“Luna is just a filly, dear.” Sol said, wrapping one massive wing around his wife. “She should not have all of the safeguards that are already established in our minds. There is a chance that if we get Starswirl the Bearded to enter her mind we might be able to communicate with the black mare.”

Galactica said nothing for a long while, only looking at Luna as everypony else waited with baited breath over what her decision would be. Luna had managed to sleep through the whole ordeal of Sol’s and Galactica’s argument, and was peacefully snoring as if she had not experienced a nightmare only hours before. Celestia watched as a tear slipped from her mother’s eye and fell down her face.

“Okay, let’s bring Luna before the High Unicorn Council. If it means a chance to save our daughter from an unsightly future from that beast living inside her, then I give my consent to let her go.” Galactica said, immediately turning and leaving the room.

~~~

“You’re going to have to wait outside, Celestia, while the interrogation spell takes place.” Galactica said to her daughter.

Both she and Celestia stood outside the door to the throne chamber, holding it open so the six members of the High Unicorn Council could pass through. They all were grey ponies with white, shaggy manes and tails, and wore intricate robes and hats. The last to pass through was Starswirl the Bearded, giving a quick glance at both Galactica and Celestia before making his way inside.

“I have every right to be with Luna when the spell takes place. Please let me in!” Celestia argued, stamping her hoof against the ground.

“Please, Celestia, I need you to stay outside. In case somepony comes by and tries to gain entrance.” Galactica pleaded.

Celestia replied with a pouting face for her mother, but she begrudgingly allowed for Galactica to close the door on her. She looked back and forth between the guards that stood at attention in front of the massive throne room doors and then turned to leave. She gave her tail a flick when she heard one of the guards clear his throat.

“Uh, Princess, should you not stay at the doors like your mother asked?” he inquired.

“I’m sure you two can handle the job she gave me. I, on the other hand, have my own activities to attend to.” she replied, not even turning to look at the guard.

~~~

A few minutes later Celestia was now cautiously walking along the wall over to the throne room window. Clouds were forming overhead and it looked as if it was going to begin raining soon. She blew some hair from her face as a sudden gust of wind picked up.

“Let’s hope this is over before it starts raining.” she muttered.

She reached the throne room window and charged her horn up to perform an eavesdropping spell she had learned only a few weeks ago. She peered around the corner and gently touched her horn to the window so that she could hear and see the scene taking place inside.

“Why have you not told us of these artifacts you have been keeping in your study?” asked the aging voice of Starswirl the Bearded. He was standing in front of Luna and looking over at both Sol and Galactica, who were standing in front of the massive double doors.

“We deemed it important that we try to keep the knowledge of the artifacts to a minimum.” Sol replied. “If word would have gotten out about the existence of such power, there could have been serious repercussions caused by certain citizens of this nation. It is not that we do not trust any of you, we do, we just believed that the Elements should have been kept a secret.”

“Well, they are known of now, but we promise to keep the knowledge of their existence a secret. All in a agreement?” Starswirl asked, looking around at all of his compatriots. They all nodded in agreement. “Good, where shall we begin?”

“Our daughter has come into contact with one of the Elements,” Galactica said, stepping forward a bit. “specifically the Element of Chaos, and is now plagued with nightmares involving a certain black mare. She haunts her by telling her horrible stories over the potential future of her life, and tormenting her with visions that she will lose her home and everything she has ever loved. These nightmares have persisted for eight years now, but have only been recently brought to our attention when she blasted a hole in her own room this morning.”

“And why were you only informed of this... plague recently?” asked one of the other council members.

“That is a more personal matter that we wish to withhold.” Galactica replied, giving the stallion a hard stare.

“What is it you wish us to do, Your Majesty?” Starswirl asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

“We wish for you to use your interrogation spell on our daughter so that we may discover the identity of the black mare, and so that we may also begin to combat her nightmares.” Sol said, stepping forward to match Galactica.

“You want me to dive into an alicorns mind, battle the mental defenses that are set in place, find the memories of her nightmares, and then communicate with a black mare who was spawned from chaos magic?” Starswirl asked incredulously.

Both the king and queen looked on at Starswirl with a pair of stoic faces. The whole room was silent as everypony awaited for Starswirl’s next words. He coughed.

“You two are serious.” he said. “Well, in that case, I volunteer myself.”

“Are you sure, Starswirl? I am willing to take your place.” said another one of the council members. Starswirl looked over at him.

“And miss the chance of exploring an alicorn’s mind? I’ll take the challenge, Orion. Besides, it was me who created the interrogation spell in the first place.”

He looked down at Luna, who was sitting back and trying to not make eye contact with any of the other ponies in the room. He kneeled down so his face was level with her’s.

“Hey, Luna, remember me? Starswirl the Bearded?” he asked.

“Y-yes. A little.” she replied.

“Would it be okay if I enter your mind? I’m going to try and find the black mare who has been so mean to you.” he said, offering a smile. Luna merely whimpered and nodded her head ascent. “Great, then let’s get started right away. Please, try to relax.”

Celestia watched as Starswirl’s horn lit up in his character faint white hue. His magic spread to Luna’s horn, who did not give any resistance when their magic came in contact with each other. Both ponies shut their eyes and seemed to fall into a deep trance, standing completely motionless in the center of the throne room.

It had been near ten minutes until Galactica’s voice broke the tense silence that had befallen everypony.

“How goes the interrogation? Do any of you know what is going on inside Luna’s mind?” she asked.

“We do not know for sure how the investigation goes, Your Highness,” one of the council ponies said, “but we believe that Starswirl has managed to reach the deeper confines of your daughter’s mind where the memories of her dreams are kept. From there he will just need to break through the last wall, and he should come in contact with the black mare.”

“I do hope this ends quickly. I am beginning to see anguish cover my daughter’s face.” she said aloud.

Another minute passed and Celestia had begun to turn her head to look out over the castle gardens. Her gaze was stopped, however, when she saw movement come from the center of the throne room. She snapped her head back to see that Luna’s eyes were now open and glowing a very bright white. The pressure inside the throne room dropped.

“What is happening?” Sol asked, taking a step towards Luna.

“We... we are not sure! Don’t get any closer!” a council pony warned, charging up his horn.

“This is my domain, whelp!” Luna shouted in a more mature and malevolent voice.

Luna charged her horn and engulfed the magic of Starswirl, snaking her way all the way to his horn. She then let off a powerful bolt of energy into the pony, electrocuting him, before she used a conjured gust of air to blow him back. He smashed against one of the massive stone throne chairs like a simple rag doll, and rolled down to the foot of the stairs.

The pressure in the room returned to normal, and the white that had filled Luna’s eyes had now vanished and left her staggering in place. One of the council ponies rushed over to Starswirl while both Sol and Galactica rushed over to their daughter, picking her up onto Galactica’s back. Celestia saw that the council pony that had rushed to Starswirl was now checking his chest to see if there was still a heartbeat.

“He.. H-he’s dead. S-Starswirl the Bearded is dead.” the pony declared. The rest of the High Unicorn Council stood in utter shock.

Galactica and Sol looked at each other and then back at their daughter who had passed out on Galactica’s back. They then turned back to the pony who was still standing over Starswirl the Bearded’s body.

“This was a mistake.” Sol said, emotion drained from his voice. “This was a grave mistake. Honey, take Luna back to our room, please. I’ll stay here and talk to the High Unicorn Council about what is to be done.”

Galactica left the room at a brisk pace, shortly followed by Celestia who had tears now streaming from her eyes.

“Oh, Luna. My sister... What is happening?” she asked, looking up towards the now darkened sky.

It began to rain.

~~~

Hey everyone! Another chapter out for you guys. I hope you are all enjoying the story thus far. Here is where things really start to pick up so get ready!

Story was edited by whisperingsage, my other valiant editor. Big thanks to him!

I apologize if I become slow on getting new chapters out over the next week, but I have final exams in my classes next week and am helping out with a local play moving props and such. I'll try to get the next chapter out as quickly as possible!

Next chapter is Chapter 16: An Influential Message from Fillydelphia

Comments

[Magnum the Critic]

damn.... just..... damn

its getting intense over here