Who Is Right
Celestia hummed softly to herself as she read the missive again. She had read it four times already, and could more or less recite it in it's entirety from memory, but she needed to see the words again, and again. Ponyville had left. The entire population, gone. The train station had been left undefended, and so their goal had been achieved, but it brought up many questions.
What game are you playing at, Twilight? A group of several hundred ponies will easily be found and dealt with.
Still, she had to commend their defiance and ingenuity. They had defeated the small expeditionary force Axion had sent, which was somewhat surprising, but not unplanned for. Another, larger contingent had already been dispatched by the time the battle had taken place, but they arrived to a ghost town. Celestia had sent several intelligent Pegasi trackers to discern the direction of departure. While they were good at being an army, the Kritz were useless at anything else. They weren't very intelligent, strong, or tough, and they possessed next to none of their own magic. The only way they had defeated natural selection was the same way ants did: sheer numbers. Their hives often numbered in the thousands, and there were a few that Celestia thought could be over a hundred thousand strong.
But they didn't need that kind of numbers, not in the foreseeable future, at least. Axion had emptied a few of the smaller outlying nests, to bring their total standing army to just over thirty thousand. Celestia wasn't sure precisely how Axion had commanded such unwavering loyalty form the simple-minded creatures, but she didn't truly care. She was content just to sit by and watch. It had been centuries since anything really interesting had happened, and Celestia was looking forward to seeing how this played out.
Standing from her desk, Celestia made to retire to her bedchambers. She wanted a warm bubble bath before going to sleep. She had long ago renovated the room connecting to her chambers into a personal office, and had lauded the decision ever since. After a long day of signing papers, having a nearby bubble bath was a treasure coveted above most anything else.
Locking the thick door behind her, Celestia sent a cloud of yellow haze towards the bathtub, which obediently began spewing steaming water. She began to delicately remove her regalia, carefully arranging it on a shelf built specifically for that purpose. She made to move towards the tub, which was nearly full, but was stopped by the mirror.
It was a glorious construction, taller than she and quite wide, trimmed in the finest gold and silver. It wasn't the pretty materials that stopped her, however. Her private quarters were quite lavish, and the mirror's extravagance did nothing more than fit in. No, it was the mare in the mirror that gave her pause.
It was Celestia staring back at her, for sure. Her coat was the purest of white, and her eyes were still the kindest of violets. Her mane still fluttered behind her, but it was no longer the kind rainbow that had followed her. It was now orange fire, billowing and ravenous. Her tail was the same, and Celestia decided she looked quite like what she imagined what would happen if she followed the same path of Nightmare Moon. She looked like an evil rendition of herself.
The thought quite gladdened her, actually. Her appearance had been carefully chosen after Axion had approached her, offering the world on a gold platter. Celestia decided that if she were going to appear to have knelt to Axion, she might as well look the part. Axion seemed to believe it as well, which made Celestia even more proud of her ruse. While she wasn't opposing Axion, neither did Celestia fully subject herself to her. She just wanted to be nearby if things went really badly, and her interference was required. While she knew that it would be argued that pitched battles across Equestria qualified as "going badly", the larger picture was none so bleak.
Gently lowering herself into the streaming bathtub, Celestia closed her eyes and let her mind wander freely. It was something she hadn't done in decades, if not centuries, but Axion's recent coup had given Celestia a previously unavailable amount of free time. Now that the burden of micromanaging the country was lifted, Celestia could afford to allow herself to relax. No longer did she have to occupy herself day in and day out with petty squabbles among politicians, or whether the Treasury was quite full enough, or any other problems that mortals had proved through the centuries to be unfit at governing. She could.... Unwind.
And sure enough, her mind went straight to Twilight Sparkle. For as close as they had been for years, Twilight was still an interesting enigma to Celestia. Way back, when she had first been dispatched to Ponyville, Twilight was eternally naive, and so easy to predict. Now, however, she had learned much, and often in ways Celestia hadn't fully expected. She had always been dangerously intelligent, but now she was learning how to apply her genius intellect to the real world, to resounding effects. Celestia had let Twilight solve several problems that she could have easily dealt with herself, but instead the Princess had chosen to take a back seat, or even feign helplessness, as she did with Tirek or Discord. Twilight and her friends had shown themselves to be very resourceful, emerging victorious, if barely, on occasion.
Even now, Twilight was still proving exceptional. Warfare was something Celestia had never prepared Twilight for, not thinking it necessary. But here they were, civil war, and Twilight was adapting and continuing. Celestia idly wondered why Twilight hadn't attempted to come after the Elements of Harmony, still locked safely in the palace. She knew where they were and how to access them, even, and Celestia would have bet many bits that Twilight would have gone after them and try to 'cure' Celestia, as the Elements had Nightmare Moon, all those years ago.
The last time Twilight had seen Celestia had been on the night of the invasion of Canterlot. Celestia had sat beside the throne, her mane a glorious inferno, and Axion had occupied the throne. It had been Celestia's own idea for them to arrange themselves thus. Twilight had set off every alarm they had set as she barreled down the halls, giving them plenty of time to prepare. Axion had wanted to disappear, leaving Twilight to find an empty castle and have questions but no answers. Celestia had responded with an indifferent "So what? Let her see us!"
Celestia had wondered quite often what Twilight's thoughts were, or better yet, Luna's reaction. The Princess of the Night had more experience than most at converting to evil, but that was what had lead Celestia to believe they would come after the Elements. It was now apparent that Celestia was incorrect, and such a thing was rare. Hypothesis presented themselves to Celestia, and she discarded them, one after another. The best guess was that Twilight was putting more and more trust in her Black Berets, and they had concocted a new plan, one that Celestia was anticipating greatly. The Berets were the best, never backing down, never accepting failure. However, they as well were unaccustomed to open warfare.
Celestia backed away from the individuals concerned, and thought of Equestria as a whole. Civilians were dying in this war, to be sure, but at the same time, she had never seen the populace so united. They had joined as a single force to repel Axion's advances. They failed for the most part, but it was greatly admirable. When Axion fell, as villains invariably did, Celestia had a feeling that Equestria would be stronger than it had been in many centuries, since Nightmare Moon, at least.
Was this the right way to unify a nation? Through warfare and death? Maybe, maybe not. As an ancient monarch, one of the oldest creatures still walking this land, Celestia thought she was more qualified than most to make that decision.
Celestia opened an eye to notice that the bathwater had cooled off. She briefly contemplated getting out, but instead sent a small pulse of energy to her mane. It flared briefly, making it look all for the world that Celestia was bathing in flames. She caught the image in the large mirror, and decided that she would have to paint that picture. She looked quite regal. After a moment, the flames died, and the water was once again steaming hot.
Closing her eyes again, Celestia lowered herself into the water until only her face was exposed. A smile graced her features as she relaxed, mind now chasing much less important daydreams.
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Celestia doesn't even realize just how far under Axiom's control she's actually fallen.
5794322 OR DOES SHE? :O
5794334 I would rather face the Eaters of SIlence rather than an insane, volatile, and overpowered unicorn mage. Atleast when the Eaters of Silence attack your mind, you know your SOL.
With Axiom, I have a feeling that she is able to influence Celestia's personality so that she changes her loyalties willingly and will do as requested without question, all on her own, where normally Celestia's kind personality would demand that she put a stop to her little ponies. The more subtle mind controls are the more powerful, since they are harder to find and fight against, they also create more powerful and entrenched thralls in the process.
At least that is what I'm guessing at that happened in this situation. She probably placed the spell during her first meeting with Celestia and took advantage of it's changes to the monarch after she knew enough time had passed for Celestia to accept her authority without a fight.
5794377 We shall know the truth in due time. :]
no i think this is just who celestia actually is i mean she did send twilight and her friends off to do things she could of done her self. makes perfect sense that she would sit back and let twilight and axiom duke it out while she just watches. immortal goddess of the sun playing chess with the lives of mortals and all.
So Celestia didn't do a thing because... She was bored?
But I agree there's something wrong with her. It was pretty evident in the prequel.
"Celestia had let Twilight solve several problems that she could have easily dealt with herself, but instead the Princess had chosen to take a back seat, or even feign helplessness, as she did with Tirek or Discord."
hey sorry, I'm a bit lost, don't remember Tirek existing in this timeline, even discord existing in this timeline.
Beautifully written, especially Celestia's characterization.
I rarely find a fiction that so perfectly portrays her as the ever calculating ruler, thinking on levels far above the concerns of others.
Now wether this is the "real" her or some form of subjugation or even mind control, is up for debate.
I find, however that I'm fine either way.
At any rate: Great fic, and excellent writing.