XI. My Celestia
Eleven:
My Celestia
Candyspark would have been beautiful, if she’d been allowed to live in a nice house, with enough food to eat and pretty dresses and dolls. Even now there are traces of the beautiful filly she could be, if you could see past the grime and the way her bones are visible under her coat. Her mane is a stringy, matted mess and so filthy that nopony can guess its color.
“You have to eat,” Celestia says to the starving unicorn filly. She pushes half a rotten apple toward Candyspark, who tries to take a bite. The effort is too much for the weak unicorn, who gives up on the food, lays her head down in the shade of the alley and tries to concentrate on breathing.
It’s not just hunger. Celestia knows that the other filly is sick. She’s been splitting half of her food with the poor creature for days, but Candyspark only grows weaker. Then, yesterday, she couldn’t eat at all. And today.
It is night when the young unicorn dies. Her body will be taken away the next morning and thrown into a ditch that some ponies dare to call a grave. It will be unmarked. Celestia wonders if anypony else even knew the filly’s name.
They had not been friends. When she was healthier, Candyspark had been a rascal and a thief. Once she had even stolen from Celestia a moldy half-loaf of bread, the only food that Celestia had found that day. But when she got sick, Celestia tried her best to help her. It was the closest she had gotten to another pony on the streets of Canterlot.
And now that pony is dead, and Celestia is crying, standing over her body as it grows cold, and soon dawn will come to wash away everything that happened tonight, and the only pony that will remember her is Celestia.
“I’m sorry,” Celestia whispers through her tears. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
Morning finds her still holding onto the other filly’s hoof. The ones who come for the body kick Celestia away and she slinks off into the shadows of the city, invisible as a ghost to those who pass her by, cursing her powerlessness.
* * *
“What are you thinking about?” Luna asked.
Celestia turned to look at her sister, who sat in her living cage, as tame as a dog, even though she had enough magical power to destroy the entire monster village if she wanted to. But she wouldn’t, because she cared for her friends.
At the moment, Celestia could not understand that.
“I was thinking of a pony I saw die once. A little unicorn.”
“And?” Luna leaned forward, inches from the spikes of her cage. Celestia never talked about her life before Starswirl took her in.
Celestia shrugged. “And nothing. She died. That was all.”
“Did you care about her?”
Celestia looked upward, past the bars of her cage. The eerie green parasprite glow lit her face, which was wound up in a baffled expression. “I must have. At the time.”
Luna shuddered. They had to hurry up and find the Elements so she could get her Celestia back. But what could they do, prisoners as they were? “Do you think this goddess of theirs really exists?”
Celestia could still remember dying, entire worlds passing her by as she fell through the afterlife. There were more things than anypony knew existed. Things of light and things of darkness. This Nightmare could certainly be real. “Who knows.”
“Starswirl’s book talks about her,” Page said. “It says she is the Arch-Enemy of Friendship.”
“What does that even mean?” Victory asked.
“It means she stands against Harmony,” Celestia said. “Just like Starswirl.”
And for the first time since she first heard those words—friendship and harmony—Celestia herself wondered why she should care about them. Why was she so certain that Starswirl was wrong, that his terrible plan would ruin everything she loved. Loved. Past tense. What do I care any longer about Harmony? If this Nightmare was powerful enough to create the windigos and corrupt the alicorn prince that Discord used to be, then maybe Celestia didn’t need the Elements after all. Maybe there was another way…
“What is Harmony?” Victory asked.
“It’s…” Luna tried to think of the right words to describe it, but all she could think was, Celestia would be able to say it perfectly…
“I think it has to do with friendship,” Page said. “Celestia was trying to get Canterlot to understand it, to stop what Starswirl was planning.”
“But even you said friendship wasn’t enough,” Victory said. And you were right. “Then Discord… hurt the princess. Canterlot was trying to do things her way, but Discord still won. And who’s to say Starswirl won’t win in the end? Or this monster goddess?”
“Victory…” She’s starting to give up, Page thought. Ever since Celestia had come into their lives, Victory had practically worshipped her. And she embraced everything the princess said about the power of friendship. Seeing Celestia like she was now was making Victory question everything she had taught.
“I don’t know if friendship can do all the things Celestia thought,” Page said. “But I know it is important. I didn’t know how important it was until I met you. Even if it turns out to be weaker than the Enemy… I would still rather be on the side of Harmony.”
Was I really such a fool? Celestia thought.
“I guess I would too,” Victory said with a watery smile. She sighed. “I hope I get the chance to tell Wind Chime that she chose the wrong side.”
Page thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think she had a choice. It’s her nature. Windigos feed on hatred. Clover the Clever and his friends defeated her race a hundred years ago with the power of Harmony. Real friendship would probably be like poison to something like her.”
“Yeah? Well she’d deserve it.”
“I don’t think she’s as evil as she seems,” Luna said suddenly.
Victory and Page turned to her cage. The blue alicorn filly was frowning and her gaze was faraway. “What do you mean?” Page asked.
She was crying. “I’m not sure. It’s something she said, about not having a heart. I think she wishes she did.”
“But windigos are evil,” Page said. “And if we believe Wind Chime’s story, they were created by the actual Arch-Enemy of Friendship herself.”
“She’s a traitor,” Victory said. “She pretended to be our friend.”
“I know,” Luna said. “I can’t explain it. It’s just a feeling I have.” She was so cold and sad. Victory and Page would never know what Luna had felt, existing as a shadow on the other side of the fairy mirror, cursed to reflect whomever looked inside, no matter how cruel or heartless he was…
…and wanting to be something more than what she was. Seeing in Celestia a glimpse of the power that could save her from her darkness. Friendship.
Luna put a hoof to her chest. I wanted a heart too.
“I think you might be a little too kind, Luna,” Victory said. “She’s a monster, after all. Even if she can’t help it, she’s dangerous.”
Luna looked from Victory to Page… and finally to Celestia, who was watching her with a bored expression. When her gaze settled on the colorless pony, Celestia shrugged. “I don’t care,” she said.
As if those awful words were a spell, the temperature began to drop. Everypony except Celestia shivered in their cages as the ghostly form of Wind Chime landed before them. Her icy gaze swept over them, chilling them even further.
“It’s time,” the windigo said.
“What are you going to do?” Luna tried to demand. She hated how meek she sounded.
“You’ll find out soon enough. She wants you.” Wind Chime turned to the cage that held Celestia. “And her.”
A pack of wooden wolves emerged from the shadows and the doors of the cages that held Luna and Celestia opened with a growl.
“Remember,” Wind Chime said, “if you use your magic, the cages that hold your two friends will kill them.”
“I remember,” Luna said.
Wind Chime looked over at Page. “You. Give me the wizard’s books. The ones that told you about the castle you believe holds the Elements.”
Page magicked the books out of her pack and through the bars of her cage and tossed them at Wind Chime’s hooves. Two of the wooden wolves picked the books up with their mouths. The windigo turned her back to Page and Victory and floated away, the wolves following with the two sisters, which they had surrounded.
The wooden wolves escorted Luna and Celestia through the monster village, the freezing specter of Wind Chime at the head of the pack. The monsters of the village watched them as they went by, whispering amongst themselves. Luna felt her heart begin to beat faster. She hadn’t felt this vulnerable since Celestia brought her into the world. She could feel the moon arcing across the sky high above, its light unable to find its way through the black treetops. All her power—enough to tear all these creatures to shreds—and she dared not use so much as a drop. And behind her fear for the safety of her friends was another fear, a dread she could not name, but every step brought her closer to it.
They were brought to a clearing. The trees at its edge leaned over it, forming a black dome that refused to let in the light of moon or sun. It was lit instead by the same glowing pale parasprites that lit the monster village, and by Wind Chime’s cold blue glow, and by the gentle silver light of… were those ghosts?! Luna felt her skin prickle. There was something she couldn’t remember anymore, something she used to know, before she came into this world, something about ghosts. She glanced at Celestia, who spared the phantoms a glance, but no more. Her eyes were hard.
“Are they… ponies?” Luna asked.
“Cauchemar rules the land of the dead,” Wind Chime said. “Those who do not find their way into the afterlife are bound to serve her.”
The dead serve the Enemy, thought Luna. That was the truth she had forgotten.
“Can nopony help them?”
“I would worry about yourself if I were you,” Wind Chime hissed. “We are here.”
They stood before an ancient tree. Its bark was gnarled and knotted and it had no leaves, only twisted branches that curled into jagged claws. As soon as Luna set eyes on it, she felt something within her recoil. It’s evil, she thought. From behind the tree stepped a creature of wood, like the wolves and other beasts that had ambushed them. Only this one was a wooden pony.
She had a mane of broken twigs and rotten leaves. The lines in the wood that made up her body crisscrossed into a web of wrinkles. When she set her eyes on them, Luna shuddered and couldn’t meet them. Poison green light spilled from her eyes, casting everypony she looked upon in a sickly hue. A single jagged branch jutted from her forehead to form a broken horn.
“Welcome, children of Harmony,” she said.
“Priestess,” Wind Chime said, and bowed.
“W-Who are you,” Luna asked.
The wooden pony ignored her. The two wooden wolves that held Starswirl’s books set them down on the ground. The priestess licked her wooden lips with a mossy tongue. Her horn glowed with the same horrible green light that filled her eyes and the books floated over to her. She opened them and turned their pages carefully, examining them while everypony stood silent and waited.
“At last,” she said softly, “they have come back to me.” She looked up from the books. “To answer your question, young one, I have had many names. One I have forgotten, but I wore it proudly when the world was new. Then Harmony was broken and I was called Verdania, the fallen dryad. The fairies called me the Witch of the Wood, and feared me. To the ponies who lived at the edge of my forest I was called the Ghost of the Everfree. And when they finally lost their hearts and my forest overgrew their kingdom, they named me after my goddess and called me the priestess of Cauchemar. And so I am.”
“A dryad,” Luna said. Her eyes narrowed. A dryad was a fairy pony whose soul inhabited a tree. She had never heard of one being evil.
The priestess sighed. “That is what you take from my introduction? I guess a phoenix sacrifice doesn’t buy what it used to.”
“What?”
“I know how alicorns are born, dear. I know all about the phoenix court… and they know me.”
Luna felt a tiny sliver of relief. The priestess did not realize that Luna didn’t become an alicorn in the usual way. It wasn’t much, but it meant she did not know everything, no matter how powerful and scary she was.
“What are you going to do with us?”
The wooden pony’s glowing eyes returned to the books she had suspended in the air between them. “Have you read these?”
Luna felt her cheeks grow warm. She had never bothered with Starswirl’s books. All she needed to know about them she learned from Celestia. Or from Page, who was even more taken with them than her sister.
“No.”
“Pity,” the priestess said. She actually sounded disappointed. “Their pages came from my tree, long ago. Two books about magic that don’t agree. One was stolen by Clover the Clever, who died believing that friendship really was magic. The other was gifted to Starswirl the Bearded, on the day he asked my goddess for the power to stand against Harmony.”
“Starswirl came here?” It was Celestia who spoke.
The priestess turned her glowing eyes on the gray pony. “I see you have met Discord, little one. His magic is unruly, and not truly of one side or the other, but this time he has served Cauchemar whether he wished to or not.” She turned to Wind Chime. “Are you sure this is the one?”
“Yes, priestess. I feel my power swell in her presence. She is a void of love that would call to any windigo.”
“For Discord’s touch to do this to her… she must have been a creature of supreme love.”
“Her friends say she was a true believer in Harmony.”
“Ah… those who fly the highest always fall the farthest.” She returned her attention to Celestia. “Yes, child, Starswirl came here. This is the place where Cauchemar’s power is not hindered, and all the wood is twisted by her magic. That is the true meaning of the name of the Everfree Forest: the place that is ever free from Harmony.”
“Why are you telling us all this?” Luna asked.
“Because one of you is about to make a choice, and you must make it knowingly.”
“What choice?”
“To end your friendship.”
“What?” The word came weak from her mouth, which had gone dry. Wind Chime had said the same thing, hadn’t she? A great friendship will be destroyed. But what did that mean?
“That is the price, to finally bring our goddess into the world. She has scratched at the outside for ages, waiting her champion. And look what we have here: an alicorn. Finally, a vessel that is worthy of her.”
“Vessel? Alicorn? You mean… me?” Luna shook her head frantically. “I would never choose that.”
Lips of wood twisted into a cruel smile. “We shall see. Wind Chime, prepare the altar.”
The air grew cold around them. Luna could see her breath coming out in puffs of fog. And beneath her hooves the ground froze over. Then Luna gasped as the ice beneath them rose, lifting them up.
As the altar lifted them up over the priestess’s head, she said, “All either one of you has to do is say the words ‘I don’t love you.’ Nothing more.”
Wind Chime’s ice grew into a kind of tower before the dryad’s tree. Luna and Celestia stood on its top, which was a flat circle. Looking over the edge, Luna saw the priestess looking up at her with those emerald eyes. Around the base of the altar icy spikes grew out of the frozen ground, sticking up like swords. Not that Luna had anything to fear from them, she thought; she could just fly away, and take Celestia with her. Fly, fly away from this place and never set hoof in the Everfree Forest again.
But Victory and Page… and Celestia, too. They could not leave her like this. And where would they go, anyway? Who knew what Discord was doing to Canterlot right now. Luna didn’t know what to do. Fate had brought her to this moment and abandoned her there, with a sister who was not herself, magical powers she could not use, and friends—actual friends—that she couldn’t save. And did they actually expect her to ever say those words to her sister? Didn’t they realize how impossible that was?
“Wind Chime, you don’t have to do this,” Luna said to the windigo as the last icy spike was raised at the base of the altar.
For a moment the cold blue of Wind Chime’s eyes softened. “I… can’t help it.” Her voice was a whisper.
“You can! I know you can.”
And then, so soft that nopony else could hear, Wind Chime whispered, “I wish the power of friendship really could destroy me, Luna. I would be happy to be destroyed, just to know that kind of magic existed.” She dipped her head and floated away, little flakes of snow falling like white dust from her ghostly feathers.
“Cauchemar!” the priestess’s voice called from below. “Accept this offering of ruined friendship and come with darkness!”
Then all was still. Luna faced Celestia on the altar of ice, surrounded by ghosts and monsters. I feel so cold, she thought, looking into her sister’s gray eyes. Celestia stared back at her without expression.
“What happens now?” Luna asked. “I already told them I’ll never say those words. I could never stop loving you, sister.”
“I know,” Celestia said. There was not a drop of emotion in her voice.
“Do you think Cauchemar will really come here?” Luna shivered.
“I…”
“Huh?”
“…don’t…”
“You don’t think so?” Luna cocked her head. Celestia was looking right at her.
Then Luna’s eyes widened as she realized what her sister had begun to say. Her mouth fell open and her heartbeat quickened in her chest to a sudden race. No, no, no, no…
Celestia stared at her sister and tried to recall a time (it seemed so long ago) that she wouldn’t say exactly what she was saying right now. And really, she didn’t see what was so important about those few little words anyway. They were only the truth. She didn’t love her sister anymore. She didn’t love anypony. And why did Luna persist in calling her sister? They weren’t related in any sense of the word. There was no blood between them, no law, no family bonds. It was only ever a lie that they told the ponies of Canterlot so they wouldn’t have to explain the existence of a fairy creature walking among them. Love her? I don’t…
“…lov—”
“Please, sister!” Luna cried.
It shouldn’t have mattered. Celestia wasn’t herself. Anything she said was Discord’s fault. Even if she did say those words, why should Luna care? She should just take them as empty wind and keep on searching for the Elements of Harmony so she could get her Celestia back. My Celestia, she thought. And no matter how much it shouldn’t have mattered, it did. Because this was her Celestia, right in front of her, and Luna could not hear those words from her sister’s lips. She couldn’t bear it. To hear Celestia deny her would destroy her forever.
Luna felt her soul for the first time in her life. She actually felt that eternal part of her awake and tremble within her, waiting for the words to come, like the executioner’s blade. She felt what she would do to make it stop right now, that the whole world and all its ponies, even Victory and Page, that she would gladly sacrifice every one of them if it meant stopping those words before they left her sister’s mouth.
I can save you. Luna was barely aware of the voice, so soft was it. She might have even imagined it. Give your heart to me and I will save you from her.
Who are you?
You know who I am. I have watched you from the darkness between dreams. Now, call on me, my chosen one.
And it would be worth it, she thought, to not lose her Celestia.
“…love…”
Celestia heard the word in her own voice and marveled at its smallness. Such a tiny thing, really. How often the word was spoken, and how carelessly. How meaningless. Is this all she had to give up to obtain the Nightmare’s power? Ha! She had come so far, passed through death itself, seen the worlds beyond this one, returned to life in power, taught Harmony for a time, made a friend for herself—actually reached into another world to make a friend. And it had seemed so important at the time, the most important thing in the world. But now that she was here she would choose another way. No longer would she be the plaything of Harmony, believing in a power that could not even save her from Discord, and good thing, or she would never have been freed of the chains of love. I don’t love…
Luna stared into her sister’s empty eyes. She would give her soul to not lose this love.
Celestia stared back at her sister. She had neither soul nor love left.
“Love…” the gray princess said the word again, like a word in a foreign language. But one you used to know.
While Luna had been searching her sister’s eyes for the tiniest glimmer of their old light—and finding none—she did not notice that Celestia had taken several slow steps backward, even as her mouth was forming those awful words. Now, with the word “love” her hooves had reached the edge of the ice altar.
No, Luna answered the voice at last. I will hear my sister speak. Her words will kill me, but you won’t have me.
“Celestia…” she pleaded, the tears hot on her face.
“Love…” said Celestia once more. Then, “…sorry.”
And she took one more step backward, Luna looking on without understanding.
Wingless she went over the edge, and landed on the ice spikes before anypony even realized she was falling.
Several things happened all at once. There was a cry, so faint that it was almost silent, as the Nightmare recoiled from her chosen one’s defiance. Luna did not even hear it. Her entire universe shrank to the size of the broken pony below and she shrieked, “Celestia!” in a tone that made even the surrounding ghosts cringe. The priestess of Cauchemar staggered in disbelief. Wind Chime gasped and her ice spikes burst into harmless puffs of snow, too late for Celestia though, who had been pierced by two of them. A puddle of red was forming around her as she looked up to Luna, who was flying down to her.
“I’m sorry,” Celestia cried. “I couldn’t say that to you. Some part of me knew, and wouldn’t let me. I’m sorry, sister.”
“Sister!” Luna’s horn flashed like lightning, throwing back the darkness. The gray seeped out of Celestia’s body as her colors returned. Her coat, white once more, was stained with her fresh blood. Luna pressed her face against Celestia’s and held her sister, eyes closed, tears flowing freely.
“Kill them!” the priestess’s voice commanded, and dark creatures closed in.
“My sister, I will always love you,” Celestia said, her voice faint.
“Me too,” Luna sobbed.
The monsters never set so much as a claw upon them. Still holding Celestia, Luna opened her eyes, which burned with white fire. The priestess of Cauchmar hissed as a halo of purest light surrounded the sisters and exploded in the clearing. The onlooking ghosts vanished as the light expanded, carrying away the creatures of darkness in a blazing flood. The dome of black trees was broken open, and pale moonlight poured into the clearing.
Cradling her bleeding sister, Luna floated at the heart of a storm of light, shining tears running down her cheeks. The dark priestess cast a final spell, a bolt of emerald flashing from her broken horn, but it never reached its target. Wind Chime flew into the spell, which struck her harmlessly in the chest. The flood of light carried the priestess away, cursing, and all her wooden beasts with her.
In the monster village, the cages that held Victory and Page fell to pieces, the power that had been animating them banished. The white light rushed through the village like an overflowing river, carrying away cockatrices and minotaurs and hundreds of parasprites. Page even watched, wide-eyed, as the great black dragon that dwelled there brought a leathery wing up to his face to shield it from that light, and growled as it crashed against his body. Unable to withstand it, the dragon hurled itself into the sky and fled.
Only one of the Enemy’s creatures remained. Wind Chime felt the light of Harmony wash over her like fire. The icy power of the windigo melted into nothing. She felt herself being dissolved. For a moment her eyes met Luna’s and she gave the alicorn a sad smile. This is enough, she thought, to have seen friendship’s power just once…
“No,” said Celestia.
Luna looked down at her sister, who was struggling in her arms. “Not her.”
“I… can’t stop!” Luna’s body shook as boundless power gushed out of her.
“Let go of me,” Celestia whispered.
“What? No! Never again!”
“It will be okay.”
With a soft cry, Luna forced herself to let go of her sister, who slumped to the ground like a corpse. But not, Luna told herself. She could hear Celestia’s heartbeat, weak but steady. The circuit of blazing power was broken and Luna felt the white hot magic leak out of her. The light dimmed. The power that held her floating in the air faded and she alighted next to Celestia.
Victory and Page ran into the moonlit clearing to find Luna sitting next to the wounded Celestia, and Wind Chime standing near them.
“Get away from them, you!” Victory shouted at the windigo, who appeared dazed.
“Victory, it’s all right,” Luna said. Her voice was hollow.
Victory started to object, but stopped when she saw Celestia. “Princess?” she said. “Oh no…”
“Page,” Luna said. “I need your help. Can you do healing spells?”
“Some,” the unicorn said, but as she got close enough to see Celestia’s wounds she shook her head. “This is beyond me.”
Luna grimaced. “I have little talent for healing magic. Come help me. We’ll do it together, as much as we can.”
Their horns lit with sapphire and amethyst light and a blanket of warm magic covered Celestia. Her bleeding slowed to a trickle… then stopped entirely. Sweat beaded on Luna and Page’s faces as they struggled to work the spell.
“I-It’s no good,” Luna said, the light in her horn dying.
“Will she…?” Victory couldn’t finish the thought.
“I…” Luna’s eyes swam with fresh tears. It wasn’t fair. Their friendship had been enough to call forth the power of Harmony itself; why didn’t it heal her? Was Luna going to lose her sister, just when she had come back to her?
“We’ve done all we can,” Page said.
“I’m not dead yet, Victory,” Celestia said, smiling weakly. She tried to sit up. “And if I was… it wouldn’t be the first time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind. I have no intention of dying out here.” Steel came back into her voice. “Not while Discord still reigns.”
“Princess…” Page said. And now she started to cry too. “We could stop the bleeding and take away some of the pain, but you aren’t healed. We… can’t save you.”
“Victory, help me stand.”
“Princess?”
“Please.”
Victory helped Celestia to her hooves. The princess’s legs were shaky and she was forced to lean on Victory, smearing her blood on the earth pony.
“Wind Chime, come here.”
The windigo had been watching the ponies with concern, but had kept her distance, having nothing to offer. Now she drifted toward Celestia like a cold breeze, coming to a stop before the white pony. She felt a strange sensation, like she ought to kneel or something. She really is a princess, isn’t she? Wind Chime thought.
“Yes?”
Then Celestia smiled at her, and Wind Chime took a step backward. Her smile was like the sun coming out. “We haven’t really met yet. I am Celestia, princess of Canterlot. I’m sorry for the way I’ve behaved these past days. I was not myself.”
“I… that’s all right.”
“Will you be my friend, Wind Chime?”
If windigos could blush, she would have. “Celestia… you know what I am. I belong to the Enemy.”
“Not anymore, you don’t. I saw you protect my sister.”
“I don’t know why I did that.”
“You were doing what your heart told you to.”
“Windigos don’t have hearts.”
“It seems that one does. Look.”
She looked to where the princess pointed with a bloody hoof. There, on Wind Chime’s ghostly flank, a golden heart glowed. “That’s… impossible,” she breathed. A cutie mark?! Windigos can’t get cutie marks! She looked back up to Celestia, but had no words. She wanted to laugh… or cry… or both. Then she remembered that the princess was dying and her ears drooped. “I do want to be your friend. I… I want to save you.”
Celestia actually laughed, then winced in pain. “Good, because I think you can.”
“I don’t know any healing magic, Celestia.”
“That’s okay. I need something more than that anyway.”
“What?”
“The Elements of Harmony. The castle that Page told you about. The one from that awful book of Starswirl’s. Do you know where it is?”
The windigo brightened. “I do!”
Celestia bowed her head, maybe because she was too weak to hold it up any longer. “Will you please lead us there, my friend?
“Yes! I will!”
“Thank you.” Celestia lifted her head and looked at Luna. “You were right about her, sister.”
Luna nodded. She noticed that something was different about her sister. It was small, barely noticeable at all, but it was there in Celestia’s eyes. At the time she wanted to believe it was because her sister was weakened and wounded, but in the days to come she would realize the truth. There was an innocence in Celestia’s eyes, a confidence in her own goodness that she herself had been unaware of—that might have only existed because she hadn’t been aware of it. And now it was gone. Celestia, her Celestia, had come back to Luna, but she would never be quite the same as she was.
“Can you make it?” Luna asked.
“Of course. I have to.”
They prepared to leave the clearing and the monster village behind them. Page found Starswirl’s books lying on the ground and picked them up with her magic. The priestess had dropped them when the light had banished her. With a careful spell Page magicked the dirt off of them and returned them to her pack. Then she walked over to Wind Chime. “I studied windigos, you know,” she said.
“I don’t doubt that.”
“This is all so strange. If you think about it, we’re right back where we were yesterday. We know the truth now, but we’re still depending on you to lead us to the Elements of Harmony.”
Wind Chime looked down at the ground, which was covered in frost where she stood. “I hope so. I don’t know anything about the Elements, but I can take you to the castle from your book.”
“Castle Dusk…” Page said, half to herself.
“You know,” Wind Chime said, “I didn’t tell you before, but you actually mistranslated its name slightly.”
Celestia joined them, Victory and Luna supporting her. Together they faced the darkness of the Everfree Forest, the place where Harmony was not supposed to hold any sway. But they had proved that wrong, hadn’t they? Even here, in the deepest, gloomiest place imaginable, the power of friendship could shine.
“Oh?” Page said.
“Yeah,” Wind Chime said. “The language you call dragon tongue is actually the same as the ancient windigos. Maybe all the dark races know it. But the place named in that poem is one we all know.”
“What is it?” Page asked.
“Castle Twilight.”
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Have I mentioned how awesome your chapter was? I need to re-read this epicness... In fact, I think you just gave me the will to finish my chapter.
This is an excellent update very good work sir/madame!
Dat ending.
Dem feels.
One question though: Will we eventually find out how Celestia got Spike's egg and how it came to be Twilight's test for her her entrance exam for CSGU?
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So good, oh so good. Thank you so much for this chapter.
You add some Celestia character growth, nice touch.
I love your story! AMAZING!!!
2892310 Thank you! (You know, most of this story is foreshadowing, come to think of it...) And I'll be waiting for the rest of that chapter.
2892319 It's a sir.
And thank you so much.
2892480 Oh, you most certainly will.
(Notice how dragons, like windigos, are counted among the races of creatures that belong to the Enemy/Nightmare...)
2892814 Thanks! Yeah, poor Celestia, she's struggled with being a total Mary Sue all this time... but we'll see her grow into an actual layered character as the story goes on!
Next up: find out what's going on in Canterlot with Starswirl, Discord, and everyone's favorite traitor phoenix; it's Philomena in Chaosland. Thanks for reading!
2893261 Thank you so much!
2893291
Why do you think I brought it up?
how is this what mortally wounds her? I thought only something extremely dissonant (for lack of better word) could kill here?
Awww,yeah! fantastic chapter!
Castle Twilight you say
l-userpic.livejournal.com/44750364/470603
2892480
This is the story of how Celestia and Luna came to be, and the before times. Why would we even want to see the modern days? There's thousands of fics that do all that already. This is interesting, the approach is unique! Live a little.
2893394 Because right now she's been stripped of her alicorn powers by Discord. That is the only reason she could be mortally wounded by something like this.
2893835 Thank you!
2893967
2894108
A mortal wound is a very severe and serious injury (almost always a form of penetration or laceration) whether accidental or inflicted intentionally (by either suicide or homicide), which leads directly to the death of the victim. Death need not be instantaneous, but follows soon after.
I had to do this
Hey, don't know if you know this, but you made the feature page!
I knew you had it in you! 
2894395
Thank you for always being so awesome and pre-reading for me!
2894008
How do we know that Celestia hasn't held onto his egg for that long? As the latest chapter points out, dragons are, by their very nature, creatures of the Enemy so why would Celestia have an egg of such, and moreover why would she let Twilight hatch it and raise Spike?
Sure Spike's egg and Twilight's exam are future events of the show that technically don't fall under the purview of the fic, but that doesn't mean that Spike's egg isn't part of some grand machination Celestia cooks up in the "present" of the fic.
This is a beautifully told story such as it is, and my only disappointment in it now is that I must wait for the rest. Well told and quite gripping, or so I should say. Thanks for what you've shared so far, and I'll be looking forward to seeing the rest. ^_^
2897225 Thank you! I'll try my best not to disappoint!
2899144 Thanks!
(And I'm glad there's some mystery in a fic where the readers kind of know what's going to happen beforehand in almost every situation...
)
Such a good story. I can't wait to read more. I don't know what you are going to school for, but I hope more writing is in your future. Your characters are balanced, compelling and consistent, your dialogue is well written and believable, and your plot is downright addictive. In short Celestia in Excelsis is everything I look for in a good book.
Oh.Yes.
I REALLY Like!!
2900559 Oh, thank you.
I'm an English major, so I'm aiming at being a teacher one day. (And I'm trying to write original fiction too.)
2900651 Thanks!
A windigo learning about friendship and being redeemed? If Celestia and Luna can help an avatar of anger and hatred, then an immortal fire-bird god angry over the loss of her mother should pose no problem...
I will echo what everyone else has said so far: I really enjoy your characterizations. I now have this growing sense of foreboding about Luna as I await her inevitable betrayal and downfall as Nightmare Moon.
2908854 Thanks! Yeah, I want Luna's fall to have all the weight it deserves. Every chapter gets us one step closer...
And Philomena shows up in the next chapter, so certain things should start to come together soon. (But it's the chapter next that I'm really excited to write...)
Thanks for reading!
Castle Twilight? Does this have anything to do with the mare we all know that will be born and fulfill seemingly impossible things? We shall see...
Like your story. I think Discord is really on his own side, but sometimes he indirectly helps one side or the other, though he doesn't really care. I wonder if he'll do something that'll benefit Harmony?
2946600 Thank you so much! Yep, Discord is on his own side. He thinks that goodness and evil are both just as boring. (Ooh, what a great question... that I can't answer.
)
2947558
Cool, though this Harmony and the Enemy thing is sounding a bit too much like God vs Satan for my tastes. The story is amazing, but there's a subtle religious bend to it that reminds me of CS Lewis.
2947578 Ha ha! Well, I am a Christian and a fan of the works of C.S. Lewis, so that definitely influences my writing. But Harmony is not God and the Enemy is not Satan and there won't be any lions that are actually allegories for Jesus in the story.
There are definite thematic issues that are Christian, such as Celestia's resurrection in chapter two. Though my phoenixes are actually based more on Buddhist thought. (In fact, Celestia's rebirth as an alicorn, and the scene where she's in that well of light with all those mingling lives actually owes part of its inspiration to my favorite moment from Osamu Tezuka's brilliant manga series, Buddha.)
I'll get more into what Harmony is (in this story anyway) later. It's not a person. I capitalize the word the same way you would capitalize the Force in Star Wars. (But it's not exactly like the Force, either...) The Enemy (the Nightmare) is a personal being, and owes her inspiration to Tolkien's Dark Lord Sauron more than anyone else. (She also owes a bit to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. I try to
)
steal fromdraw inspiration from the best.Anyway, in case you were worried that the story is going to end up hammering you with some religious message (just when you least expect it...
), I'm not going there. This is just a fantasy adventure story.
(Thanks for reading!
)
2950406
Though it's strange, because Nightmare never seemed all that strong in the show to me.
2951328 Yeah, my pre-reader also said that he thought Discord was more powerful.
It's those pesky Elements of Harmony in the show that can just instantly defeat villains...
Absolutely fantastic chapter. I have little to say other than that; I don't think there's any need. It really spoke for itself.
I forgot to mention earlier, I got it! Page Sparkle illuminated manuscripts,
Ha!