A Royal History Lesson

by crazyjw18

End of the Rainbow

Celestia looked dumbfounded as the elderly unicorn wrapped up his explanation of what had transpired in their absence.

"I don't understand," Luna whined the moment he finished. "Where did Mama and Papa go?"

Silver Gild noisily cleared his throat. "That... that's a very good question. They disappeared several hours ago, but there's been absolutely no sign of them. The Queen must have winked somewhere far away."

"She's gone to fight Tirek again," Celestia declared. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Now, we don't know that for sure," the advisor replied nervously. "She hasn't been very rational lately."

Celestia's scowled as she gestured outside at the burning palace. "Weren't you listening to her last words? And why are you worried about saving this stupid place when you should be out there helping her? What's that big army out there even for?"

"It's uncertain where Tirek even is." Silver Gild sighed wearily. "Keeping the capitol defended and in one piece is our number one priority right now."

"So that's it then?" Celestia demanded angrily. "You're not even going to try to help her?"

The advisor remained silent, refusing to meet her eyes.

"For heaven's sake," Celestia snapped. "Luna, give me back the Rainbow pendant."

"Huh? You mean that's the Rainbow of Light?" the advisor asked, his eyes shining as he noticed the heart shaped pendant looped around Luna's neck. "You mean it's real?"

"What are you going to do, Big Sister?" Luna asked meekly.

"I'm taking the Rainbow to Mama, that's what!" Celestia announced.

"Then I'm coming too," Luna said firmly.

"No, way." Celestia replied. "It's way too dangerous. You're staying here this time."

"You're both staying here," the elderly unicorn said, trying to regain control of the situation.

Celestia gave him a flat look before turning her attention back to her little sister. "Come on, hurry up and hand it over."

"No," Luna pouted. "I want to come too."

"I don't have time for this," Celestia griped as she deftly levitated the pendant away from Luna. She quickly looped the necklace around her own neck and stamped the ground angrily. "Luna, you're staying here. End of discussion."

With an irritated whinny Celestia leapt outside and took to the air.

"Somepony stop her!" Silver Gild called out weakly, but it was too late. The young alicorn's powerful wings were already carrying her swiftly away from the palace.

"I don't care what she says, I'm going!" Luna announced as she leapt into the air as well.

"No you don't," the advisor called out as he grabbed her with his magic.

"Let me go!" Luna growled as she wiggled free of his control. "Nyah," she taunted, sticking her tongue out as she soared out of his reach.

"Oh no," Silver Gild whimpered as he watched the smaller alicorn disappear in the same direction as he sister had. "If the Queen finds out I lost them again, she really will kill me."

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Celestia headed north blindly for some time, not sure what else to do. That irritating old unicorn had made one good point: she really had no idea where her parents or Tirek might be. It would be a real miracle if she just happened upon them like this.

She came to a sudden stop as something occurred to her. "This thing is supposed to make miracles happen, isn't it?' she mused as she studied the ancient pendant hanging innocuously around her neck. "I guess this is as good a time as any to try it out. Now, how do I activate it?"

Celestia carefully floated the pendant up over her head until it was touching the tip of her glowing horn and concentrated on releasing its power. A long minute passed, then another, and still nothing happened. "Humph," Celestia huffed. "Twilight could have at least given me some instructions." A wave of depression fell over her as she remembered the ancient pony's fate.

She hurriedly shook the despair away. There wasn't time for that right now. What mattered was finding her parents before anything happened to them. Assuming she wasn't already too late.

Looking more closely at the pendant, she spied upon a tiny hinge on one side. "Duh, 'Tia, it's a locket," she muttered irritably as she flipped it open and peered in. She didn't know what she was expecting to be inside, but the featureless pair of mirrors in each half wasn't it.

The twin heart shaped mirrors suddenly began to shimmer. Celestia threw her head to the side just in time to dodge the tiny multicolored band of sparkling light that shot forth. To the alicorn's amazement the tiny piece of rainbow abruptly changed direction and fluttered this way and that all around her like a frisky puppy.

"How cute! You must be so excited after being cooped up in there for so long," Celestia cooed, then immediately felt silly for talking to a rainbow. "Well, you are a magic rainbow," she conceded. "Can you show me where my parents are?"

To Celestia's delight the rainbow came to a stop directly in front of her. It rotated slowly, as if searching, then suddenly straightened out like an arrow.

"So they're that way, huh?" Celestia murmured as the rainbow obediently returned to the open locket, snapping the case shut as it disappeared into the mirrors.

She allowed herself a small smile as she headed off in the indicated direction. The rainbow didn't look all that impressive, but at least she had figured out how to make it come out. She could only hope that after all this time it would still have enough power to turn the tides in their favor.

Still unseen by her big sister, Luna followed at what she figured was a safe distance, pumping her much smaller wings as hard as she could to keep up.

---

After perhaps an hour more of flying, it became clear that the Rainbow had led Celestia in the correct direction. Unlike the clear sunny sky that prevailed over most of Equestria the valley ahead of her was hidden in a low-hanging gloomy fog that flashed irregularly as if a mighty lightening storm was raging within. As she drew closer the resident magical energy in the air steadily grew stronger, leaving no doubt that a great battle was already in progress within.

Taking a deep breath, Celestia dove into the murky valley. She gasped as the acrid mist began to burn her eyes and throat, but she steeled herself to keep going. The burning grew more and more intense as she descended towards the ground.

A spot of brilliant light shot past below Celestia, moving almost too quickly for her aching eyes to follow. Slowing her descent, Celestia watched intently as the light abruptly turned around and headed back the way it had come. As the glowing form passed directly underneath, Celestia realized with a start that she had located her mother.

It was almost hard for Celestia to recognize the speeding unicorn. Galaxia's dark coated body was completely engulfed in a radiance that shone like a miniature sun. Her mane and tail blazed furiously as if they were forged of pure flame.

All too soon Galaxia had dwindled to a glowing dot once more as she sped away through the thick fog. Overcoming her initial shock, Celestia swooped down after her mother, determined to deliver the precious cargo hanging from her neck. She kept her eyes stubbornly fixed on her mother's light as she forced greater speed from her tired wings.

The dot of light suddenly flared into an immense flare. A moment later a powerful wind slammed into Celestia and sent her tumbling towards the ground. The alicorn only barely managed to recover in time to keep herself from crashing.

As Celestia landed shakily in a brown field of lifeless grass, she realized that the thick fog was no longer obscuring her vision; the mist had been largely dispersed by the massive gust. She next realized that she was getting her first look at the fearful beast known as Tirek.

He was an imposing creature, standing easily three times the height of a pony. The dread monster's body was almost completely covered in a filthy and matted coat of black hair; his red leathery skin was only visible on his hairless arms and face Celestia's eyes were drawn inexorably up to the centaur's sharp white fangs and the pair of long curving black horns atop the monster's stout head. To her horror both the creature's fangs and horns already bore crimson stains.

Tirek's sickly yellow eyes hadn't spotted the young alicorn yet, his attention was entirely focused on the glowing unicorn currently attempting to flank him. Several freshly oozing wounds proved that his much smaller adversary had managed to hurt him, but the monster did not appear to be seriously injured. Judging from the amused look on his face, it appeared he was actually enjoying the battle.

"You're slowing down, Your Highness," he taunted Galaxia, his words dripping with derision. "Pray tell me what you will do when your legs fail you completely?"

Galaxia remained silent as she continued circling her foe, but her snarling expression betrayed her smoldering fury. A horrified gasp escaped from Celestia as her mother's right side came into view. A deep gash ran from the mare's shoulder all the way back to her flank, clearly visible even through the bright light pouring forth from her body. Despite the severity of the wound, Galaxia moved as if nothing was wrong.

In the silence of the battlefield, both opponents heard Celestia's shocked inhalation clearly.

"Oh?" Tirek mused as he half kept a wary eye on Galaxia. "It appears we've attracted a another foolish spectator." He spared a glanced at Celestia, quickly taking in her slender horn and wings. "And this one's a rare delicacy, no less."

There was a blinding flash as Galaxia winked directly between Tirek and her daughter. "Get out of here, Celestia," the unicorn snarled, not taking her eyes off the centaur. "Go gather Luna and take her as far as you can from this place."

"But-" Celestia started to say.

"Shut up and go!" her mother ordered. "It's up to you now to keep her safe."

Tirek's smirk grew broader. "It doesn't matter how far she goes. Sooner or later every one of you wretched ponies will end up in the same place."

Celestia pointedly ignored the demon as she excitedly told her mother the good news. "Listen, Mother, we actually did it! We got the Rainbow of Light!"

"That doesn't matter now," Galaxia hissed. "Just go."

"Mother?" Tirek repeated curiously as he looked back and forth between the two. "You can't mean that you and that pathetic heap were actually mates," he asked as he pointed disdainfully at something on the ground nearby.

A white figure lay crumpled awkwardly amongst the dead stalks of grass. As if to leave no doubt of what it was, a single red speckled wing was thrust crookedly into the air, the mangled and torn white feathers that adorned it fluttering gently in the breeze. The body itself was all too still.

"Papa?" Celestia whispered unbelievingly as she sunk back on her haunches.

"So that's what happened to the great goddess pony," Tirek laughed. "How fitting. All of your precious little ponies will disappear because you were too busy rutting with that weakling to protect them. Was it worth it?"

"Silence!" Galaxia proclaimed with renewed fury, her body glowing ever more brightly as she stalked towards him.

"It's a pity that you are so eager to die," the centaur taunted as he readied for her inevitable attack. "You won't even get to see what I'm going to do to your daughter before I eat her."

A primal scream of rage tore its way out of Galaxia's throat as she lowered her head and charged.