The False Goddess

by Zoura3025

Act II, Part IX: Acceleration

Gustopha looked at the clock briefly. It wasn’t dinner time, yet, despite how thorough her addressal had been. So, she went to her room and studied. She’d amassed quite the hoard of rare and valuable tomes on medicine and medical practice; some of which had been procured from the library’s forbidden section. Such books were marked with tags in the bookcase; spells she could use to recall the books remotely, rather than storing them somewhere so relatively insecure.

Gustopha was not going to be reading any forbidden books, though. Not today. Instead, she was going to read a journal: Her journal. It was a compilation of every note that was relevant to the process of verdant creation. Pony anatomy, appropriate spell usage, a few failsafe procedures in the event the pony body proves to be difficult, and of course all of her notes on actually growing a plant in a pony’s body without causing horrible ingrowing effects. The magic manipulation spell was perhaps the most imperative component. The ability to take an earth pony’s magic, direct it into a new output, and have it retain that output, was a power very few ponies possessed; and really, it was a power that should not be possessed by many at all.

Gustopha could only assume Dr. Thanamus had developed a similar technique, and that thought made her grimace. The idea that a pony as wily as the doctor could make something as powerful as herself, in only a matter of a month at most, was realistically terrifying. She could only hope there were costs involved that she didn’t understand. Then again, she remembered what the doctor had said to her:

“You’re the only one who’s made it this far.”

He’d said it in such a nonchalant way. His tone had been lax, or perhaps even carefree. The only one? Were there others? How many bodies had he butchered to try and make her a reality? Why was she the right one? Gustopha shook her head. That wasn’t a productive line of questioning. She was right here, right now, preparing to cement her creations as a true kind rather than a fleeting marvel of magic and discipline. It made Gustopha’s heart hurt just a bit. Should she succeed, her mark on ponykind would almost certainly be permanent. Was she ready to leave that sort of eternal note on Equestria’s history? She could only hope so.

It was at dinner that night that Gustopha looked at Celestia with some conviction in her eyes. "Sister… Do you truly believe I'm doing the right thing?" Gustopha asked.
Celestia nodded. "I do, Gustopha. You've taken all the proper precautions, you haven't denied anypony any crucial information, and you are a talented surgeon. I went and talked to Stoneheart a bit myself… The branches almost look natural, really," She admitted, smiling gently at Gustopha, "I promise, if I had objections to your research, I would have voiced them during the court."
Gustopha slowly nodded. "If you say so, Celestia," She replied softly, "April and May will be undergoing the surgery in the next few days. Then, I'll be getting some recruits from the academy," Gustopha explained.

Celestia smiled a bit. "The academy? I take it you met Blazing Corona, then," She supposed.
Gustopha nodded and chuckled awkwardly. "I did… She is quite a character," She remarked curtly.
Celestia laughed. "She is indeed," She replied, "But, she has given me nothing but wonderful guards, so I trust her methods."
Gustopha nodded a bit. "I anticipate she will choose some good candidates for the last two spots in the initial trial," She expressed, "Ponies fit to be captains of their own regiments."
Celestia tilted her head. "Captains?" She asked.
"The guard is becoming too big for me to effectively manage by myself. I've decided that at least the first few verdants will take the mantle of Captain," Gustopha explained.
Celestia nodded a bit. "I suppose that makes sense," She hummed softly.

Celestia sat ponderously for a moment. “Do you ever intend to try grafting non-Blightsbane plants to ponies?” She asked.
Gustopha looked at Celestia with a look of confusion. “Why would I do that?” She asked, “The verdant project is for the express purpose of combating the blight, which the Blightsbane tree is designed for.”
Celestia nodded a bit. “Well, there is another issue that we will be facing soon,” Celestia admitted, “With our land devastated, the stores of food we have for the winter have been shrinking every year. Rationing has been very deliberate for a few years now.”
Gustopha nodded slowly.
“But a verdant would keep producing, even as the seasons turn, yes?” Celestia continued.
Gustopha hesitated. “In theory, yes… A pony does not go dormant as a plant does, so they wouldn’t cease typical activities,” She supposed.
“Thus, verdants could act as…” Celestia trailed off as she tried to find the correct word, “Emergency provisioners.”

Gustopha stared at Celestia with wide eyes. She had no doubt that Celestia was only asking out of Equestria’s best interest, but it was still a bit of a shock that the elder princess would even suggest such a thing.
“...There would be some complications,” Gustopha admitted, “Chief amongst them being that most plants hold vastly different magic than ponies. Blightsbane is special because I’ve altered it myself, and any such 'provisioners' would need crops that have been similarly altered.”
Celestia nodded slowly. “How soon could you make another suitable crop?” She asked.
Gustopha thought hard for a moment. In theory she had the groundwork already laid for modifying other plants, though the cocoa tree had been selected for a few particular reasons.

“I wouldn’t be able to have a timeline on demand like this. Finding a suitable candidate last time was easy; I just needed something capable of regular production with edible seeds. Having to pick from pre-existing feed crops will be a challenge,” Gustopha admitted.
Celestia nodded a bit, and sighed. “I’m sorry, Gustopha,” She apologized, “I don’t mean to put undue pressure on you. I just can’t watch my country starve for another year,” She expressed solemnly.

Gustopha set a hoof on Celestia’s. “I know, Celestia, and I want to help… However, I have obligations to the court in terms of timing and procedure. Once the first batch of verdants are properly sorted, I will start making more… I’d like to open up testing to the public, in time. I don’t want verdants to gain a reputation as a military force only. They’re still ponies,” Gustopha expressed.
Celestia nodded again. “Of course, Gustopha… Take the time as you need.” Celestia’s gaze became pleading. “But please… If you can find a way…” She trailed off.
Gustopha leaned into Celestia, pressing her muzzle to Celestia’s cheek and closing her eyes. “I will,” She promised quietly.

After dinner, Gustopha went to her room to think. She realized she was about to have a lot on her plate in the coming few months with the verdant project, not to mention the diplomatic efforts with the ponies of the moon. For once, Gustopha set aside some time to write herself out an agenda, instead of hoping her mind would be able to handle everything internally. After some time of fervent scheduling, the Princess would rest for her coming weeks of activity.

May’s surgery was a resounding success; she’d placed full trust in Gustopha’s capabilities, and her faith had paid off. It was instead April who was the more nervous of the two…
“Is it going to hurt, Princess?” April asked, shifting uncomfortably on the operating table as Gustopha carefully drew a syringe full of anesthetic.
“Hurt?” Gustopha asked softly, before shaking her head, “You won’t feel a thing. I’m going to anesthetize you, so for you, it will be like taking a nap,” She promised, gently stroking April’s mane.
April blinked. “A nap?” She questioned, “I will be asleep?”
“In a manner of speaking. You didn’t think I’d be operating on you while you were awake, did you?” Gustopha asked.

April frowned awkwardly. “I… Kind of assumed so, Princess,” She admitted. She squeaked as the syringe was poked into her shoulder, its contents plunged into her body before the implement was pulled away.
“There. That was the extent of the pain you’ll be feeling; just a little poke,” Gustopha promised with a smile, “Just relax and close your eyes, and I’ll see you when you wake up, okay?”
April hesitantly obliged, closing her eyes and relaxing on the the operating table the best she could. It didn’t take long for the injected drugs to kick in. Sure enough, it was like falling asleep.
Gustopha gave the mare a gentle, reassuring stroke on the back, half to comfort her and half to gauge if the medicine had taken effect. Once Gustopha was satisfied it had, she took a deep breath and went to work.

Given that Gustopha planned to have several subjects recovering at a time, Gustopha had requested her verdants have their own recovery room in the infirmary. It was a bit of a lofty ask, but then again, the staff weren’t just going to say no to the Princess herself, especially given that this project now had Celestia and the court’s blessing.
When April awoke, she found May in the bed to her left, and Stoneheart softly conversing with her. April let out a soft, partially cognizant groan.

Stoneheart smiled gently at her. “Welcome back to the land of the waking, April,” He greeted softly.
April attempted to shake herself off. She felt heavy, but in a sort of comforting way. Like she was still asleep.
“Easy… It hits you like a full cart the first time you wake up,” Stoneheart said, walking to April’s side, “Your strength will return in time, though not fully.”
April gave a weak nod. Her body refused to speak.
May slowly slid out of her bed, stumbling a bit on her hooves. Stoneheart moved to help her stand. “See? We all made it, April,” May promised softly, awkwardly pacing forward and pressing her snout to her sister’s.
April grumbled softly. “Nerves for nothing…” She muttered, part-coherently.
Stoneheart smiled. “It’s natural,” He promised, “The feeling fades with time.”

The three guards went quiet as the Princess entered the room. “Good morning, everyone,” Gustopha greeted gently.
“Good morning, Princess,” May and Stoneheart replied. April simply mumbled half-coherently.
“Ahh… April just woke up, I take it?” Gustopha asked, gently pacing over to the bed.
May nodded. “No more than ten minutes ago,” She replied.
Gustopha gently rubbed April’s mane. “You’re still feeling the anesthetic, but it will clear up in time. Everything went well,” She promised.
April nodded a little, muttering a gentle, “Thank you.”
“And May, how are you feeling?” Gustopha asked gently.
“I’m feeling better. No more grogginess, just getting used to the muscle weakness,” May answered.
Gustopha smiled. “Good. I have no doubt you two recover swiftly like Stoneheart has,” She expressed.

Gustopha then sighed. “Unfortunately, I can’t spend as much time with you all today as I have the few days prior,” She expressed, “I’ve a lot to to do in the upcoming months, and right now preparations are going to be important. The infirmary staff know to contact me, should any problems arise.”
Stoneheart nodded. “Of course, Princess. We await your return,” He replied dutifully.
Gustopha nodded and left the room, heading to the castle library. Given her tendency to hoard books in her own private study, Gustopha didn’t visit the library very often. However, today, she needed some more reading material: Material on plants. Celestia wanted her to look into more civilian verdant plants, and thus Gustopha needed to find some suitable candidates.

Once she’d gotten the small pile of horticulture encyclopedias, she returned to her room and began to read. Gustopha realized very quickly that there were a lot of potential candidates, even in the somewhat limited range of “must be pre-existing feed crops”.
Gustopha’s focus was broken when there was a knock at her door. She walked to the door and opened it, a member of her guard on the other side.
“The applications from the academy are in, Princess,” The guard explained, gesturing to the small pile of papers on his back.
Gustopha’s horn ignited to take the stack, and she smiled. “Thank you,” She replied, shutting the door gently behind her and walking back inside. She set the stack on the corner of her table for later review.

Some time later, Gustopha had six candidates laid out for modification. A few fruits, one particularly hardy type of hay, and a couple non-food producers such as cotton that she’d set aside for later testing.
Gustopha then looked through the applications for the last couple verdants. Most of them fit the criteria, and she didn’t particularly care for any of them, given that she hadn’t met any of them personally. She set aside several particularly suitable candidates, and then picked two from that smaller stack. The rest would be filed away for further batches.

The next two weeks or so went by fairly calmly. Two completed surgeries, no major complications. Things seemed to be going well for the time being. Gustopha had even begun manipulating her first of Celestia’s requested feed crops: The hay plant was a bit tricky to work with, but it grew well, and Gustopha was soon satisfied with the result. Of course, the tricky part of working with hay was that it didn’t have a particularly strong scion, but Gustopha knew some ways she could get the stock she needed when the time came.
Now, however, she had to play the waiting game. Her verdants needed time to fully reintegrate back into their positions in the military; Stoneheart was the first such pony who was ready, and in fact, Gustopha opted to present him to the court as her first of many successes.

Stoneheart couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as he sat in the rear entrance of the royal court. Sat next to him was a large pot of blighted dirt; he wasn’t afraid of the blight, of course, but the reception of his entire kind was now effectively riding on him. He could hear the Princess addressing the court from where we was sat:

“Ladies and gentlestallions of the court: Since we last congregated, I have been hard at work creating more verdants. All five of my subjects have taken to the plants willingly, and four of them are now resting comfortably in the castle infirmary,” Gustopha began, “However, my first subject is ready to be shown to you, as of today.”
A rolling murmur fell across the court as Gustopha walked to the rear entrance, horn illuminating as she opened the door and grabbed the pot of blighted soil. Stoneheart stood up and walked before the court. He wasn’t dressed in anything at the moment, as the Princess had requested. His armor awaited him back in the barracks.

“This is Stoneheart, one of the first ponies to be entrusted under my leadership. He underwent the procedure dauntlessly, despite the fact it was untested. And now,” Gustopha began, setting the pot of mucky soil before the court, “He is ready to show you all the results of that faith.”
Stoneheart curled his tail around, plucking one of the now full seed pods from his own branch carefully before tucking it into the pot of soil. It quickly took root in the blighted soil, growing before the court’s eyes as the pot was quickly exorcized of its blight content. A proper success, if anypony present had ever seen one.

Gustopha gave a small smile. “With this success, we are closer than ever to having effective countermeasures against the blight,” Gustopha said proudly, “In theory, the Blightsbane trees should remain active through the winter, if in a slower state. So, we should see significant progress against the blight.”
Another murmur rolled across the court. Some deliberation followed, and a voice then came from one side of the table: “How fast can you make them?” A courtgoer asked; they were a pink and navy earth pony.

Gustopha hesitated. “I have limited myself to one grafting per day,” Gustopha explained, “So as to not exhaust my focus, or the infirmary’s supplies. Per-patient, there’s a two day inoculation period, and recovery including de-escalation of the required immunosuppressants, though those can be overlapped fairly comfortably.”
“And you’ve only made five in two weeks?” The pony asked again.
“As per the guidelines I set the last time the court met, yes. Five verdants as a test sample, with more to follow should all go well,” Gustopha answered.
Some more noisy deliberation followed. In the meantime, Gustopha gave a small nod to Stoneheart, who took his leave. Stoneheart was thankful that he no longer had to stand before the court, and he had a small hunch that Gustopha recognized that. He would thank her later.

“We do not have time to waste,” The courtgoer expressed, “You will continue creating verdants… If at a slower pace, until your ‘test sample’ is ready.”
Gustopha blinked. “Are you certain? I would be capable of going forward early, but when we last gathered-” She was cut off by the pony continuing.
“When we last gathered, you had no live demonstration. We now see your handiwork and its applications plain as day. With winter coming up, we need our land and its people to be ready more than ever,” The courtgoer argued.
Gustopha hesitantly nodded. “Very well. I will work on more verdants in the meantime… Once the test batch is complete, I would like to open the procedure to civilians; albeit, using less militaristic plant samples,” She explained.

Once again, the court came to a boil of discussion; enough that Celestia, who had been quiet through Gustopha’s demonstration, spoke up.
“If there is this much deliberation about what should be done, we should vote on it,” Celestia raised, ballots being passed out, “All those in favour of accelerating the development of verdants should vote affirmative; those opposed, vote negative. I will provide the tiebreaking vote, should it be necessary.”
Gustopha took her seat next to Celestia, allowing the vote to pass. Contemplatively, Gustopha closed her eyes. How many verdants would she be expected to make? Winter was only some two months away, if a little longer. Not to mention, diplomacy with the moon would likely fragment her time more. She was very quickly realizing just how quickly being a princess could get, with so much riding on her time.

The ballots were turned in and counted. The stacks were not visibly skewed this time; at least, not in any pronounced way. However, when the ballots were pushed to Celestia, the verdict was made clear.
“I, Princess Celestia, observe that this court lies in favour of the pursuit of further verdant experimentation, by executive decision,” Celestia announced.
Some turmoil erupted across the court, but a sharp stamp of Celestia’s hoof quickly snuffed it out.
“You’re influencing the court’s decision!” A dissenter called out.
“The votes were even; thus, my vote was final,” Celestia explained simply, “As is our standard for motions of national importance like this.”
Some disgruntled murmuring rolled over the court, but it didn’t seem like anypony was going to attempt to overrule the princess’ decision, and thus the court continued.

The following proceedings weren’t nearly as interesting to Gustopha, but she stayed through until the end to try and acclimatize herself to the court’s atmosphere. Perhaps one day she’d have her own court to sort, after all; though that was likely far away.
After the court was sorted appropriately, the two alicorns retired to the dining hall for dinner.

Celestia looked at Gustopha, who seemed a bit tense. “Is something the matter, Gustopha?” Celestia asked.
“A lot has come upon my plate in a short amount of time,” Gustopha admitted, “Just two weeks ago I had plenty of time to prepare sample crops for civilian verdants, and now I’m about to be expected to ramp up to full production in the coming weeks. Nevermind the lunar diplomacy I should be expecting come the turn of the seasons in a couple months,” She heaved, briefly rubbing her muzzle.
Celestia nodded slowly. “...Should I have voted against the acceleration?” She asked, guilt tinging her voice.
“No. You voted for what was right for the kingdom,” Gustopha dismissed, “I am just fearful I won’t have enough time to meet everypony’s expectations.”

Celestia stood up from her chair and hugged Gustopha firmly. “You take all the time you need, Gustopha. I don’t think most of the court understands the time and energy it takes to alter a pony the way you do.”
Gustopha sighed gently, leaning into Celestia’s embrace. “Were it so easy to show them…” She muttered softly, “Thank you, sister.”
Celestia hesitated a bit at the utterance, but nodded. “Of course. There’s a reason I never wanted to be a lone ruler. While we occasionally trip over each other, we’re also those who give each other strength,” Celestia expressed.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “I certainly wouldn’t be able to do it without you,” She expressed, “I don’t know how you deal with some of those ponies head-on.” Gustopha offered a small chuckle.
Celestia laughed. “There’s a reason day court only meets every two weeks nowadays,” She remarked.

The two alicorns shared another round of laughter, but soon finished dinner and parted ways. Gustopha opted to sleep early; she would be using her magic plenty in the coming weeks, and thus, she felt rest would be her ally.
The combination of mounting pressure and anticipation, however, got to Gustopha. For the first time she could remember, she dreamt.

---

The room was cold; the stone floors felt as though they were made of ice, trying to seep into her. Gustopha attempted to stand up, and managed with some difficulty. A rotten smell filled her nose; the smell of blight.
Gustopha’s horn illuminated in a vain attempt to pierce the darkness. She was in a modestly-sized square room; one side was fairly clean, but from the other seeped an all-too-familiar rot. She pressed forward, and her horn flashed to dispel it. The blight, however, only grew in her light. It sprang forth in odd, twisting ways, crawling towards her like a toddler towards its parent.
Gustopha’s horn flashed again; brighter and hotter this time. The blight lunged towards her, and it latched onto her horn.
A familiar, creeping voice echoed in Gustopha’s mind.

“You and I are the same, Gustopha… Born of an alicorn’s hubris, raised to their designs… Come together with me, Gustopha. Embrace the yin I provide to your yang,” The voice echoed. It was the voice of the mock-alicorn that had nearly defeated her.
“No,” Gustopha heaved, struggling to pull her horn free of the rot’s grasp, “I’m nothing like you!”
“You are powerful, Gustopha, as am I. We both grow, and spread our influence with each passing day. Your verdants will soon become your own method of transmission. Like me, Gustopha, you are an ill. A symptom of the diarchy’s deep-seeded problems,” The mock-alicorn’s voice sneered.

Gustopha felt her eyes become wet. These were arguments she had heard before, but she now lacked subjects to reassure her of anything. “No!” Gustopha cried. Her horn attempted to banish the blight again. It only seeped over her more, crawling along her neck and down her back.
The mock-alicorn’s laughter echoed in Gustopha’s mind. “Your mind fights it, but your body knows the way. We will become one, Gustopha. Life and death, united together under one body. All shall know our mercy, but fear our judgment,” The mock-alicorn sneered.
Gustopha shriveled a bit as the blight grew over her. Tears ran down her cheeks, but no words left her mouth.

“Oh, poor Gustopha,” The mock-alicorn’s voice sneered, “Too overwhelmed to even fight back against her sworn enemy… How can you call me your enemy if you will not fight me to the last?” It snickered.
It was then that Gustopha heard the sound of stone crumbling.
“That’s enough!” Bellowed a stern voice. The blight was washed away in a cool white aura.
Gustopha’s eyes slowly opened, and she hesitantly turned to face the newcomer.

Gustopha was faced with a dark blue alicorn, a little taller than her, but still noticeably shorter than Celestia. Their mane was that of a starry sky.
Gustopha hesitated. “Who are you?” She asked.
The other alicorn heaved softly. “We suppose our voice would not be familiar to one we have only met in writing,” They huffed, “We are Princess Luna.”
Gustopha’s eyes widened slightly, and she bowed in respect.
Luna smiled. “We appreciate your grace, but it is unnecessary. You too are a Princess, are you not?” Luna asked, helping Gustopha back to a standing posture.
Gustopha nodded slowly. “A fledgeling one, yes…” She admitted.

Luna nodded and led Gustopha out of the room, into a field. It was not a field Gustopha recognized, however; the grass had a distinctive blue colour and on the horizon stood tall, narrow trees with pale gray trunks and similarly blue foliage. On the horizon, the earth slowly rose into view.
“We apologize for the late rescue. You are not an easy pony to find in the realm of dreams,” Luna remarked, taking a seat.
Gustopha sat next to her, her warm coloured body looking out of place among the cold coloured vegetation. She looked around with wonder. “It’s alright… Where are we now?” She asked.
Luna chuckled. “You are asleep,” She assured, “However, in this dream, you are on the moon, as we know it today.”
Gustopha nodded wistfully. “I didn’t think the moon hosted such life on it,” She conceded.

“Up until recently, it did not. Were we alone, we would likely have allowed our magic to sustain us until our banishment was over. However, we had thousands of ponies who needed food, and water, and thus our magic was expended to seed the first signs of life,” Luna explained.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “So that’s why you’re no longer…” She trailed off.
“Nightmare Moon was a state of elevated rage and power… One we sorely regret. However, there is no denying she was crucial in establishing our presence,” Luna expressed, sighing and lightly hoofing at the grass, “Running a kingdom for over a decade gives one much time to learn about the highs and lows of leadership.”

Gustopha nodded a bit. “You have a kingdom up here?” She asked softly.
Luna nodded. “Not nearly as large as Equestria, but yes. We are the sole princess in charge of its fate,” She explained.
Gustopha looked away a bit. “Celestia told me running a kingdom by oneself was exhausting…” She expressed softly.
Luna’s eyes widened. “Celestia is still alive?” She asked sharply in disbelief.
Gustopha nodded. “I cured the blight that was implanted in her,” She explained, “...I can only assume, judging by your surprise, that it was deliberate,” She added grimly.
Luna closed her eyes and looked away. “Another fool’s errand wrought by Nightmare Moon’s wrath,” She snorted, “We should be thanking you for rectifying that mistake.”
Gustopha gave the alicorn a halfhearted smile. “In theory, I should be thanking you for creating the blight that led to my existence,” She remarked, “So we’ll call it even.”

Luna offered a small, solemn chuckle, sidling closer to Gustopha’s side. “She is right, however… It is an exhausting process; however, it has been a valuable one. Had we had this knowledge when we were first storming, perhaps the entire war could have been relegated to theories,” Luna expressed, sighing.
Gustopha gently wrapped a leg around Luna’s torso, pulling her into a side-hug. “There’s been plenty of mistakes in the time since the war,” Gustopha admitted with a sigh, “Some more necessary than others.”
Luna hesitated. “Such as?” She asked.
“Myself,” Gustopha remarked with a soft laugh.
Luna looked at her. “You consider yourself a mistake?” She asked.
Gustopha nodded. “I was dredged up from death’s tally and given life for the sole purpose of curing the blight… Now I am in charge of changing Equestria’s population forever,” Gustopha heaved.

“How are you changing it?” Luna asked.
Gustopha took some time to explain the verdants to Luna; at least on a conceptual level. Luna diligently listened, taking in the full description.
Luna nodded as Gustopha concluded. “We see…” Luna expressed, “An extreme plan, but perhaps a necessary one. We can only wish you luck in your journey… The blight was not supposed to be as powerful as it seems to be.”
Gustopha’s eyes widened. “It’s not?’ She asked.
“The blight was meant to be temporary; a way to starve the earth long enough to win the war,” Luna explained, “However, we suppose, in our haste… Granting it alicorn magic was not a good idea,” Luna hesitated.
Gustopha’s eyes widened. All she could ask was, “Granting it what!?”
Luna shivered a bit. “We needed something to bind the constituent diseases together. In our haste, we did not regulate our magic properly, and it is thus imbued with our alicorn magic.”

Gustopha heaved a bit and looked away dejectedly, removing her leg from Luna’s back. “Well… Among other things, your magic has allowed it to gain sentience, should it become dense enough in an area,” Gustopha explained grimly.
Luna tensed. “Has it displayed any abilities?” She asked.
“Nothing extraordinary, yet… But the magic explanation does explain why it is so difficult to clear,” Gustopha expressed.
Luna’s eyes closed tightly. “We’re sorry, Gustopha. We were not thinking straight when it was made; it wasn’t tested at all. We just made it and loosed it to exact revenge on those we thought had wronged us,” Luna expressed, a pang of guilt harshing her tone.
Gustopha sighed a bit and laid down in the soft moongrass, deep in thought.

“...I can only wonder if we have reached critical mass yet,” Gustopha muttered.
“Critical mass?” Luna asked, eyes sheepishly opening as she turned to Gustopha.
“In medicine, there comes a point where there is too much of a disease for the body to heal from. The body fights, but it is a losing battle,” She expressed, “Given that I was only made a decade after the blight, I have to wonder if we’ve already passed that threshold.”
Luna stamped her hoof in the grass. “No,” She choked, “There has to be a way. We can’t have… Have doomed our home.”
“I will do all I can to fight it back, Luna, but if what you say, combined with what I’ve observed, is true… It’s more powerful than any alicorn could ever be. It would be nigh-omnipresent, capable of sprouting anywhere its influence hasn’t been completely removed,” Gustopha expressed, “I will keep making verdants… The Blightsbane has thus far proven effective, and so, I will continue to employ it.”

Luna sighed deeply and collapsed to the grass. “To think, all of this, caused by our own hoof… We should never be forgiven, by anypony,” She heaved.
Gustopha looked at her. “Now isn’t the right time to give up, Luna,” Gustopha reasoned, “We finally have our own pieces in play. The fight has only just begun.”
Luna looked at Gustopha with trembling eyes. “Even after all the pain our handiwork has wrought, you still retain we are worth saving?” Luna asked.
“You have done horrible things, Luna. I’ve seen firsthand the starvation and death your creation has caused,” Gustopha expressed, “But right now, it is best I focus my attention on the pressing threat rather than the reluctant ally.”
Luna pondered this answer for a moment. “If there is someway we can help, please, allow us to assist,” Luna requested, “We understand if you do not trust us, but we’d still like to provide aid.”

Gustopha thought for a long moment. “How soon would you be able to send your expression of diplomacy?” Gustopha asked, “The sooner we can bridge the gap, the better.”
Luna hesitated. “We could send in a week… It will take some effort and preparation on our part, but it would be a very certain declaration of our peace,” She expressed.
“What is it, might I ask?” Gustopha asked.
“We would rather it be a surprise… To avoid judgment being passed before it arrives,” Luna explained.
Gustopha nodded slowly. “Very well,” She replied.

Gustopha felt her will weakening. She was going to wake up soon. “I think I’m going to be going soon,” Gustopha expressed.
Luna nodded. “Very well… This is farewell until the next time we meet, either in the flesh or in a dream,” Luna expressed.
“Do you want me to say anything to Celestia?” Gustopha asked softly.
Luna hesitated. “Just… Tell her we’re sorry. For everything,” Luna expressed softly.
Gustopha stood and pulled Luna into a hug as she began to fade. “I will,” Gustopha promised, closing her eyes as she awoke.

---

Gustopha shook herself awake with a soft heave. That had certainly been an eventful dream. She knew about Luna’s ability to traverse dreams, of course, but Gustopha had never really expected to met her. It was a humbling experience, really. Meeting one’s predecessor.

At least in Gustopha’s mind, the next week or so went by quite quickly. Four new verdants, with several more applicants being prepared. Her strategy of pacing herself to one surgery per day ensured she was amply rested and focused. Gustopha had no idea how many verdants would be asked of her, but she could only assume she’d be making them for a while.

Then, however, word came. Per a letter from the Grove family, Gustopha’s presence was urgently requested in Full Cart’s Hollow, cited as an “important diplomatic incident”. Gustopha readied a small battalion of her closest guard and headed to the throne room.
“Celestia,” Gustopha began, “I am needed in Full Cart’s Hollow, and I believe you should come too,” She expressed.
Celestia tilted her head. “What could you be needed for in Full Cart’s Hollow?” Celestia asked.
Gustopha hesitated. “It’s… Diplomatic in nature,” She explained simply.
Celestia had a hunch she knew what this was about, and nodded. “Very well, Gustopha,” Celestia replied, “We will set out by noon.”
Gustopha nodded. Once she and Celestia had made their appropriate preparations, they set off in the direction of the town.

Comments

[Solver]

Things are taking a very interesting turn recently.
I look forward to seeing what the diplomacy will bring.

[Zoura3025]

11735819
I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! Admittedly, I'm a bit evil with the cliffhanger on this one; this marks the end of Act II, so I'll be radio silent until I get Act III done. Stay tuned!