The Moon and the Caterpiller

by Dreyaz Laartii

Chapter 9

Upon the emerald plains of Valore, in the land of Equestria, near the town of Ponyville, a battle raged.

Further in, towards the castle, a captain and his princess watched in fear and awe as the violence unfolded, and wondered if they would last the night.

Deep in the bowels of the castle, in a place no mortal should ever dare set hoof in, a father and his daughters dare to hope for the object of their salvation, a light in the darkness.

---

Celestia coughed. Her vision was blurred, and she could just make out Luna laying next to her, in a similar predicament. After coughing again and helping her younger sister up, they looked back to the well. Their father was standing in the same place he had been, but was staring up at the sky. They looked up, and gasped in unison at what met their eyes.

Shining Armor winced as another loud explosion blasted through the air, shaking the stone beneath his feet and the trees behind him. Sagittarius had bolted off to stall the Changeling armor so further defensive emplacements could be erected, as well as wearing their massive numbers down enough. It seemed, though, from what he could see, that he was fighting just with Chrysalis.

He helped a startled Nightguardspony up to her feet as another massive explosion rocked the castle, this time from a boulder smashing against his shield. I really, REALLY hope he doesn’t die before we can get everything set up. He was about to scold himself when he saw his wife up in her tower, looking out towards the battle. She was visibly terrified. Nothing will happen to her. I swear it on all that is sacred, I will fight until my last breath protecting her from…that evil, evil monster that dares call itself queen. She looked down at him for a few fleeting seconds, and closed her windows. She will be safe.

Sagittarius was covered in blood, dirt, and several other fluids he couldn’t identify. Although none of them were his, he was actually beginning to feel somewhat tired. Though he certainly had a bone to pick with Chrysalis, she was proving far more resilient than he ever could have anticipated, and attacking her entire army instead of herself would be certain death.

What could I possibly do to disable her? She’s as tough as…well, me. That exoskeleton heals just too quickly, and I can’t seem to land blows that would breach it in quick enough succession to truly injure or kill her.

A smirk of pure arrogance was displayed across the changeling queen’s face, but underneath it was barely contained rage. He had interrupted her surprise attack, and moreover any momentum they would have possessed.

Chrysalis spat out some of her eerie glowing green blood, and wiped her mouth.
Perhaps she was more injured than he first suspected. She spoke with venom. “What do you expect will be the outcome of this? I will wear you down, and my children and I will overwhelm you eventually. Do you not value your own life, my son? Is your duty to this ragged and idiotic monarchy so important to you?”

Snickers and small laughs came from the surrounding changelings, comfortably supporting their queen’s taunting. It stopped very suddenly when he spoke.

“No, it’s not. It never was about any kind of loyalty to them, younger cousins of mine.”

Chrysalis took a step back, her face twisted with genuine confusion.

“…Then what? What could possibly drive you to throw your lot in with them? That bitch even took your magnificent horn! How could you possibly forgive her? How could you stand the company of an abuser and an madmare??” A long pause ensued; anypony could have heard a pin drop.

“I stand guard, vigilant because of you. You are my responsibility, and always have been. I know what happened to father, but I also know what you are, mother. You are trapped in your cocoon. I have stayed with them because I knew that your hatred would drive you back home, and it is only there that you can finally reach the apotheosis of your metamorphosis.”

Chrysalis threw back her head and wailed with laughter.

“You IDIOT! You stupid, STUPID FOAL! CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT IS WHERE I AM NOW???”

Sagittarius looked down and shook his head. “I see power, yes. Resilience and prowess are things learned and built up over time, but you do not have grace, or the foresight to use your abilities in a sustainable manner. You lack anything resembling completion. You are nothing more than an accumulation of aeons of madness and rage. You cannot possibly become complete from the destruction of others. Even if you defeat me, you will not win. You cannot win, because you cannot become any more than you are. You have reached the confines of your chrysalis, and you must break free or die inside.”

A silence came from the ancient Queen. Sagittarius was about to break it when his mother spoke in a surprisingly subdued tone. “You know nothing, child. Your father…I could not see him change any more than he had, so I took him into myself. They vilified me for it. They cast me out, and used you to do it. Everypony turned on me…except my true children. They gave me hope and life, and purpose. You cannot hope to understand what my hive means to me.”

“They are nothing.” Shocked gasps came from around him, and his mothers eyes widened as he spoke the words. “They are an army of sycophantic aberrations, and they are all the same, every last single one of them. They may be able to change into another so perfectly as to have the original question themselves, but they are nothing by themselves. They are empty, soulless creatures you made for nothing more to stroke your own, over-inflated ego. You will find no love from them, and you will find no companionship from them. They are without imagination, without a future, and without souls apart from you. They are nothing.”

An angry snarl etched its way across the Changeling Queen’s face as growls of discontent came from the army around him, which now began to draw closer.

“It is unwise…to insult an entire army that has you surrounded. They will show you how they are NOT nothing, and what depths their loyalty and love for me reach.” He gulped audibly. He may have made more of mistake than he originally calculated.

---

In the small bubble universe they had found themselves in, glowing like a pure white sun atop the Adderhenge and placed above them in the backdrop of the glorious evening sky, was a six-pointed star. It looked as if it was made from liquid crystal, glowing brightly with a light Celestia had never seen, nor would she soon forget. Within it, something protean and beautiful in its formlessness shifted, perfect in every way.

“What…what is it, father?” Luna asked. Celestia barely heard her sister, as she had moved behind a pillar to shield herself from the talisman’s light.

“The At’Sarii; the Eye of Truth, the Atavism of Eternity, the Light of Ages, etcetera. It is one of the talismans forged along with the Elements of Harmony in the ancient times before our kingdom was formed. It brings forth the light of truth, stark and unyielding, to the eyes of the blind; the song of reckoning to the ears of the deaf. Unlike the Elements, it is not a thing that can be used for the sole purpose of Harmony or good. Its purpose is to reveal pure, complete and utter truth, no matter how painful it may be. It shows what was, what is, and what will be for that which its magic is cast upon.”

Celestia walked very slowly towards it, as began to lower itself, then rested on top of the well. “How…how does it work?” Her father put his hoof in front of her to stop her from going further. “It bonds to a host, much like the elements. What it requires from that host is honesty and openness to reality, regardless of how harsh that may be. Any and all of the convictions you hold are laid bare for what they are, and judged in the light of the past, present, and future. If they are found wanting, you will either be forced to change them or have your mind ripped to shreds accepting it.”

Celestia paused, wary now of the pulsating star before her. “This power it holds…it can be cast upon more than a single target?” He smiled. “It can be cast upon the whole of the world, and it exerts itself no less than it would against a single being. You must be wary of its power, my daughter.”

Celestia circled it, and she grew slightly concerned at Luna’s somewhat visible pain from its light. She had moved behind one of the megaliths to avoid its light. “It is also exceptionally bright. I cannot look at it directly as you do, my daughter, and your sister is pained even from touching its light. This is no fault of her own.” Celestia blushed slightly and gave Luna a nuzzle, who smiled but stayed in the safety of her shadow. “Go, sister. I cannot bear this talisman, and father cannot leave the room. It is yours.”

Gulping, Celestia nervously walked back up the steps around the altar, and peered into the bright light of the strange talisman. It IS brighter than my sun, come to think of it. Goodness, no wonder Luna couldn’t even come out into its light, it must be excru- her line of thought ended abruptly as she touched the star.

Her mind reeled in agony as a powerful, unforgiving light ripped every memory from her vast life into the fore, displayed all at once in its naked brilliance. She screamed in pain beyond anything she had ever come close to experiencing as every failure, every living thing she hurt, every possible thing she had done wrong, or being she had wronged, burst from her memory past the feeble floodgates her consciousness had erected. Her eyes and ears poured blood, and was not even aware of where she was, or even her own body. She felt the pain of death of those whose lives she had ended, the despair of ponies she had not helped when she could have…and suddenly, blessedly, it was over.

A warm feeling worked its way up through her, and with a gasp she felt the love of the millions and millions of her subjects over her long rule. Every thing she did right, every single good act she had worked so hard to keep up with came back to her, bringing her an empathic bliss her body could barely even contain. She was loved.

She was LOVED.

So many loved her completely for who she was, and she had accepted such universal adulation with an almost eternal humility, as she had never taken for granted anypony she met, was close to…or loved intimately. She accepted her own shortcomings, and bore the weight of the entire kingdom as penance for neglecting her sister, and for losing her family. She still blamed herself, and she knew it.

She gasped as she felt shackles she never knew existed falling off, lifting her to new heights of self-awareness. She had passed through, and she was worthy of bearing the truth.

Luna looked at her sister in awe. Scant moments before she had been ready to rush to her side as she had been convinced the strange artifact was killing her before her eyes. Now, the star was gone, its light had merged with Celestia, and she glowed like the sun itself. Her mane was now a bright golden color, glowing like an ethereal corona around her head. Her eyes opened, and they were the pure white of magic. Then she spoke.

“I am ready.”

Luna took a step back and gawked. She could have sworn she heard her mother speak.

---

Sagittarius coughed up what could only be his own blood, despite his stubborn denial that this could not be so. He had long ago raised his formidable magical defenses, and no mere changeling could hope to breach them. He had been swarmed by thousands of screaming, writhing soldiers who had all furiously attempted to hack away at him, only glancing off or breaking their weapons, claws and teeth on his armor.

But he could not shake them off; they kept coming. For every dozen he splattered on the ground like so many flies, a hundred or more piled on top of him. He could not find any purchase. He watched in alarm as a changeling suck off a small portion of his magic, and realized that they were feeding on him, wearing him down to the point where they could actually do physical harm to him.

“Tell me, my son, how your prowess in battle has any place against a hungry legion such as mine.”

He gasped as he felt a sword pierce his armor; his flesh.

“Tell me again how useless and empty my children are.”

“TELL ME HOW YOU COULD EVEN THINK OF CHALLENGING ALL OF US ON YOUR OWN!!!”

Luna strode out into the courtyard. Nopony saw her. Celestia walked slowly, not even touching the ground beneath her hooves. Ponies groveled, covered their eyes, and spoke in whispers amongst each other. Celestia was too much for them, and even gazing upon her was difficult for Luna herself, as she felt uncomfortable memories and feelings stir inside her heart.

She reached the battlements, where Shining Armor had only just finished adding the final adjustments to his…quite impressive shielding spell, which covered the entire castle in several layers of magenta bubbles..

“My faithful captain, and beloved nephew-in-law; thank you for raising such a wonderful shield spell, and let us hope that it does not need to be used. I will leave the defense of this castle in yours and my sister’s capable hooves now.”

Shining looked up at Celestia in awe, as she spread out her wings. Something not unlike a kaleidoscope greeted them, and was gone as she lifted off into the air. Everyone watched as their Princess lit up the sky like a giant flare as she arced towards the far-off battlefield. I wonder if I’ll ever look that good, Luna mused to herself as she watched her sister fly off into the fray, and the many ponies who had come out to see the new Celestia.

Sagittarius gasped as he felt the weight of several hundred Changelings release off of him, and he watched, stuck in the mud, as his cousin Celestia, who looked quite different glowing as she did, land gracefully in the middle of the quagmire. Blood and mud washed away underneath her as an invisible barrier around her seemed to repel anything unclean.

“What…what is this, Celestia?” He smiled weakly as he heard the note of fear in his mother’s voice. So she could feel it too. “Where…WHERE DID YOU GET THIS POWER??!!”

Celestia simply smiled, and opened her eyes. They were pure, blazing white. “All I have is the truth. And you will hear it.” Sagittarius blacked out as the massive wave of light reached his battered body, and he slipped into unconsciousness as the pain caught up to him.

Celestia smiled. She could hear the squealing and popping sounds of changelings exploding around her under the unrelenting power of her magic, and the endless, earth-shattering roar of Chrysalis in agony.

It has been said the truth will set you free; I did not think it could be applied so literally and in such an awful situation as this one, Celestia thought to herself. She turned to her older cousin, wincing as she noticed the severity of his injuries. I do hope he is alright…he was quite brave, albeit more than a bit stupid for putting himself out here like he did. If I had not come sooner...

She perished the thought. The popping sound was beginning to abate, but the incredibly loud roaring from Chrysalis was hurting her ears. I wonder what’s going through her mind right now. Celestia had no idea, nor did she particularly care right now. The star was pumping so much magic into her system, that she was being flooded with so many endorphins that she doubted she would have felt the loss a limb. It was incredibly euphoric.

The forest around him was lit ablaze. The awful smell had been wiped away immediately, but the forest itself was being burned to the ground. He clutched the small blue rose to him tightly, and gasped as he felt himself being lifted up. A bright star hung overhead, and though fire burned around him, he felt no heat. The light intensified, and he watched the blue rose set itself upon the hill he had found it.

It opened.
A sapphire light came from the rose, and blazed into existence, its force shattering the crystal overhead. Where the shards fell erupted flora of every conceivable form, and fantastic garden now stood where the dead, stoic forest once stood tall around him. The knoll where the rose was had become covered in flowers of every conceivable hue and form, and a rose bush of blue roses and golden leaves covered the base of a white spire, reaching up into the sky. A staircase wrapped around it, and he saw the end of it piercing the now bright blue sky. He flew up to the top and did not look back.

Author's Note:

Damnable lack of italics keep popping up where I keep missing personal thoughts. Please note them where you find them missing, please.