Happy Endings

by Taranth

Chapter 3 - The Quiet Before the Storm

Luna smiled.

Observing the way the younger princess walked could drive unprepared minds mad. If taken alone, it seemed she simply cantered forward like a traveller on a road - but that road somehow wound a path that no map or compass could follow, paying no mind to Cartesian directions or sensible three-dimensional space, using metaphors as landmarks and sympathy as guides.

Four steps forward took her from a peaceful winter forest that stretched on in all directions as far as the eye could see to a maze of treacherous ice with no entrance or end. She turned a corner in the maze and wandered through the dark and narrow alleys of Manehattan in the height of summer.

Spreading her wings, she took to the air and flew through a window high on the building (many times larger than any window one could find in such buildings in Manehattan) and paused briefly to observe a pair of young lovers snuggled up close in the farmhouse she passed through, before flitting on as unnoticed as a shadow.

The next doorway took her into the ruins of an old stone keep, leading her to prance along a hoof-wide crumbling ledge high above a massive hall (as easily as one might wander down a wide stone highway) while a figure below could be seen bounding across the stone floor with amazing agility, dodging arrows and spears that shot out of wall and floor with every hoof that touched a tile, all the while staying just ahead of a horde of flesh-eating scarabs.

A darkened alcove led into a sensually-lit palace apartment where a mare Luna recognised as a servant in the castle reclined on an enormous bed weighted down with royal regalia, waited on hand and foot by stallions and mares of white coat and noble crest - and parodies of maid uniforms that were scandalous on the mares, and barely sized up to fit the stallions. The servant-turned-duchess observed the princess as she passed, and gestured imperiously as if she was to join the fleet of servants; Luna laughed gaily and strode past, leaving the young mare and her harem affronted and confused as she opened the door of the apartment and walked through.

And though the door she came out of on the other side was identical to the one she had walked in through, looking back through it showed only the form of a noble stallion sprawled without dignity in slumber, in the pre-dawn darkness. She recognised him from amongst the servant's collection, and with a mischievous twist of her horn tugged back a thread to the dream she had just stepped out of and tossed it over him like a fishing line, letting it draw him into his place in the dream.

He tossed slightly on the bed as he settled into this new imagining. A little cruel, perhaps, but entertaining, and there was little love nor respect lost between herself and the noble class. She would have to tell her sister to keep an eye out to see if she caught... what was his name? Blueblood? ...blushing every time he passed by a maid.

The door behind her closed, and suddenly had been closed and locked since its owner had returned home at the beginning of the night. Luna strode forward in more sensible and stable space now, moving through palace corridors ever upwards towards the Hall where her sister would either already be waiting for her, or join her soon enough.

Celestia was indeed already awake and in the hall, and glanced up briefly at Luna's entry. Luna was ironically cheered immensely at the serious and dark look on her sister's face - she hated having to break her sister out of her gently smiling mindset nearly every time they started talking.

The feeling of relief lasted only briefly, though, as she moved towards her sister and glanced at the books around her. Luna certainly had little of her sister's compulsion towards calm diplomacy in the face of all concerns, and soon matched the serious visage.

"I thought we agreed that we would take this day off from planning, sister? Even a thousand-year-old monarch needs to take a break occasionally to keep her mind fresh." She teased gently, though an iron undercurrent in her tone showed she meant the words exactly.

Celestia closed her eyes and snapped the book in front of her closed, shaking her head. "I wasn't working on Twilight." she said simply.

Luna raised an eyebrow, moving towards her sister and glancing at the book she had been working on. Indeed, it was not one of their many tomes of interweaving plots, though it had the same wards marking it as on the protected books that were used for matters of the Hall and its stories.

Celestia spoke again before she could inquire further. "How was your night? I assume you were going dreaming again?"

"Of course!" Luna smiled widely, fluttering her wings gently. "So many interesting dreams! I tell you, Celestia, if I could have done this before the Nightmare, I would never have worried about ponies sleeping through the night. Their dreams are amazing - sometimes I worry if enough ponies slept through the day I might stay there entirely." She winked at her sister.

Celestia pushed the various books around her aside with a sweep of her horn, making room for Luna. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

Luna laughed as she settled in beside the white form. "Words are poor tools to pin down a dream, sister, for myself as much as any dreamer. I fear trying to explain it would bring both of us little but confusion."

She paused, then nodded, willing to try - if only to have a discussion with her sister that didn't revolve around depression and gloom. "Mostly the dreams I've been watching out for have been the fillies and colts. Adult dreams are mostly... well, I will hardly say stable, but they can mostly handle themselves with minimal influence. But the young ones...

"You know of the... Cutie Mark Crusaders, I believe they call themselves? Some of them sisters to the Elements?"

Celestia nodded. "They've been the subject of a few friendship reports I can think of."

"Well, I'd already been taking a bit of interest in the youth of Ponyville since the Nightmare Night incident. Their little crusade has a lot of potential, I think. Their dedication to the journey of finding their talents is impressive, if their dreams are anything to go by.

"But I think they don't even realise they've dedicated themselves more to supporting each other, and their crusading, than actually succeeding. I've seen them find their talents in their dreams countless times, but never once in any of them did one get their mark without the other two also.

"And now it's begun to spread beyond Ponyville - they've recruited a mare from Manehattan, and it's spreading. I think once they actually get their marks their crusade is going to become something bigger rather than stopping - probably helping others along the same path they walked... although hopefully with a little less risk to life and limb." Luna smiled, turning to see her sister looking at her with a gentle smile.

Celestia was good, that much was for sure. Every part of her expression and body language was warm and welcoming, as if proudly sharing a private bonding moment with her sister. All of Luna's natural instinct told her to snuggle up to the figure before her, and enjoy the peaceful moment with her, because that was all Celestia wanted in the world.

Luna really, really hated it when her sister smiled like that.

Her face fell as she went back over what she'd been saying. "I'm sorry. There's probably not going to be time for that to happen, is there?"

"We haven't had any more disastrous reports in the past few weeks." Celestia mused. "I've been keeping Twilight busy for the most part. I sent her an assignment on a dozen of the most involved non-magical tomes I could find - though, knowing her, she'll probably try and get it done in a weekend." She laughed softly. "I can keep a few distractions coming. I think we have a little time yet."

"A little time isn't long enough for what I described."

"It's long enough for it to begin. With your guidance, the crusaders could become a rebellion within the darkness of Equestria. It could explain the delay in their cutie marks - their destiny is waiting for its nemesis in the darkness."

Luna's eyes narrowed further. When Celestia started smiling, she tried to guide the topic away from what was on her mind almost without fail - so if the impending disaster wasn't what was distracting her...

"What is it, sister?" Patience and diplomacy were never Luna's chosen weapons over the direct assault. Celestia opened her mouth for another answer, then reconsidered, the smile slipping off her face again as she composed herself.

"...You're building new stories."

"Well... I guess I am, or I could be?"

"You're drawn to the fillies and colts whose destinies are still undecided, ones who I haven't already guided and have a handle on. You're setting the stage for new stories. And you're having fun doing it."

"...Should I not, with the bleak future ahead?" Luna probed, trying to determine where her sister was taking this conversation.

Celestia sighed, shaking her head at the misunderstanding. "I've been considering breaking the story again, Luna."

"You've been considering that since the Crystal Empire..."

"But you've only just started working with them! You're having fun, Luna. I've had over a thousand years to... to solve problems, to make heroes, to bring joy and happy endings... It might be wearing on me a little now, but I remember what it was like at the beginning. And you're just getting into your stride, and here I am ready to throw it all away-- ow!"

Celestia rubbed her side where Luna had given her a sharp kick to the ribs, giving her sister a hurt and confused look. Luna's expression in turn was thoroughly unimpressed.

"The first time we discussed this, I told you not to use me as an excuse for anything. And I meant it, sister! Not just our history, but now as well. No amount of building heroic tales is worth you feeling like I'm holding you back. I have other hobbies! And just because it's not powered by the stories doesn't mean that they can't build something powerful and lasting!"

"I... you're right." Celestia nodded slowly. "I honestly hadn't even thought of that, even after spending most of this morning trying to figure out what might happen..."

Luna tilted her head back to the book her sister had been writing in when she had first entered. "Is that what you were working on earlier?"

Celestia nodded, pulling it back in front of them with a glowing horn. "I've been trying to figure out what will happen if we break the system. How far down does it go? If we break it, will the stories really stop and we won't have any more villians, or does it just mean we can fight in them? How far down do they go? You were talking about the Crusaders earlier - well, what is a cutie mark but a happy ending at the end of a struggle? If I do this, will it mean that ponies no longer get cutie marks? Or at least aren't guaranteed to?

"It truly is ridiculous that we have no idea really how it works, or even how it began - who made the rules? Has it been in place since our world began? Why is it here?"

A gold-shod hoof gestured at the hall. "Half the stories here don't even really make sense anymore, and I think there's more that are simply as beyond our comprehension as most of these are to our little ponies, and because we can't understand them, we can't find the windows. What's the point? Is there someone, somewhere who, who collects these stories? Is this a game to them? Are they even still out there?

"I sometimes think that for all that we're 'outside the stories', as it were, we're still completely meshed up in this. And part of me wonders if I do this - if I break the system - if it won't actually break everything, but just... push it up a level. We go back into the stories, the hall moves elsewhere again, and someone else takes over - and then we're fighting in the stories again and it all keeps going."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Luna tilted her head. "I mean, you'd be able to stop the catastrophe and we'd be able to keep the happy endings."

"That's if the rules don't change. Who knows, maybe the stories on the next level up don't always have happy endings. But even if they do... then with you and I fighting for the happy endings, the stories would have to become that much darker to challenge our light. Either that, or we'd lose a good bit of our power to compensate, of course..."

"Oh. I guess most of our power does come from being the wardens of this place, doesn't it?" Luna looked away, suddenly realising that she might lose her beloved newfound ability to dream-walk. Her conviction momentarily shaken, she was silent until Celestia continued.

"I don't know if I can justify doing it without knowing the consequences, but I'm too wrapped up in it all to understand what the consequences are. It could mean no more world-ending struggles, or it could mean they'll be just that much harder to stop. The world will be changed forever... but I don't know how, so all I can do is think of every way it might happen and make my plans accordingly..."

"It's like trying to examine the lid of a box while you're locked inside it." Luna nodded. "We might be able to sense the walls from inside, but we can't see what the system looks like from the outside while we're still inside it, that makes sense."

"Mmmm... makes sense..." Celestia echoed with a mumble, her expression unreadable.

"One way or another, sister, you're not going to be able to commit to both paths. For all the experience and power, we're still only two mares, and there's a lot of planning that needs to be done to make the best of either situation. You're going to need to make a decision soon, or you won't have done all you can to help your little ponies through the times ahead."

Celestia reeled back slightly, stung harder by the rebuke than she had been by her sister's hoof in her side earlier. Then, after a long moment, she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you, sister. I think I needed that." She looked down the corridor of windows. "And I think you've given me something else I need, too."

"Really? You've come to a decision?"

"Not yet. But I think I have some options that might help me decide."

"Oh?"

"It's nearly time for the sunrise. I need to go take care of that. You should get some sleep, sister." Celestia evaded, a slight mischievous smile on her muzzle. Luna pouted, trying to determine how genuine the expression was, but either way found herself in no mood to break her sister's smile at this time.

"...Alright. But promise me you'll tell me when you make a decision?"

"Of course! I wouldn't do something like that without talking it over with you first." Celestia nuzzled her sister lovingly. "Now, let's go."

The two of them walked out of the Hall and into the palace, walking to the observatory from which they would raise and lower the heavenly bodies - hardly necessary, but tradition and style had its place.

As they walked, no longer speaking of the matters of the hall with servants and guards surrounding them, Luna wondered that she found it easy to match her sister's expression. She didn't know whether she was still cheerful from her dream-walking earlier, or if she had a strange feeling of optimism about the future from Celestia's words - or if she was beginning to learn the trick of smiling when torn inside. It worried her a little that she couldn't tell the difference...

But still, Luna smiled.

Author's Note:

Usually I try to have the next chapter done before posting the current one, but chapter 4 is fighting me like a beast right now (despite already being longer than this chapter) and will probably need re-writing entirely, while this one is likely as good as it's getting, for all that very little happens in it. Hopefully I can make an impact on it this weekend!

Comments

[BenRG]

Celestia has come to one critical realisation: If you don't know if a move will work or even if it will benefit you, you shouldn't make it. The Hall is clearly a mystery to them and they truly don't know if any of it can be stopped (or what would happen if they do) then it's best not to take the risk. There is no telling what may be hiding behind the curtain.

I wonder... was Discord's 'reform' and Twilight's ascension moves in the game? It occurs to me that there are other ways to direct the story. For example, use a Code: GEAS-style scenario with a dark messiah (casting Twilight in the role). There are other options but that one strikes me as an obvious one.

[Sunny]

2229895

Who says she has made the decision to not move? Perhaps she's simply come to one of the most important realizations of all :

When the rules of the game aren't fair, cheat.

[Seether00]

So this is how she justifies Discord's reform and Twilight's alicorn form. Excellent. Can't believe this gem got by me. I am loving the introspection of the world here.

[Iryelb]

Well the chapter was good, but I noticed that there wasn't really any spot where you left the dream and yet at the end of the chapter they where 'clearly' out of the dream. Other than that though, great job.