Birthright

by machinekng

Prolouge: The Past Is Behind Us

“Yes, everything is going to be just fine!” Twilight shouted.

“Yes, yes it is.”

Celestia watched Twilight Sparkle take off, shooting over the crowd and beyond Canterlot’s ramparts. She smiled as her beloved pupil began to maneuver and dive over the valley that the city overlooked. This was a long time coming. Months of planning, maneuvering and outright manipulation had finally come to fruition.

There was a new princess in Equestria, one that seemed to be taking to her new form and status quite well.

Had she remembered to make sure Rainbow Dash had given Twilight flying lessons?

Probably not.

But Twilight could adapt just fine, hopefully.

Celestia’s gaze wandered from sky to the pony beside her, Luna. Oh, dearest Luna. She was smiling too, something that she didn’t do very often, anymore. Celestia turned away, her eyes back towards Twilight, then to the crowd, to Twilight’s friends, to anywhere and everywhere but her sister. She maintained the smile, but she couldn’t keep her head from drooping just a bit. It was memory again, returning to haunt her.The past was a heavy burden, and she had lived a long life. Too long, at this rate.

The thought caused her to look back towards Twilight. The newly-crowned princess was still gliding along the cliffs by the capital’s base. It was a rather graceful sight for somepony as- no- her wings just clipped a ledge.

And another…

And another…

Celestia nearly leaped into the air, dashing off into another adventure, the hero of the day once more. Soaring into battle, rescuing panicked stallions, fending off countless wicked foes. Her breathing quickened, and her heart began to beat harder and harder as she tensed, preparing to lift off.

But no, Rainbow Dash and a few of the Wonderbolts had already taken off, soaring down the mountainside to recover the careening Twilight. Celestia would have sighed, but that would have required dropping her smile, taking off the mask. No, not for a moment; composure was all. Still, even as her muscles relaxed and breathing returned to normal, her head drooped ever more slightly, weighed down by memory and regret.

She glanced once again at Luna. Her sister had seen the commotion and her smile had widened, a sight that was graced by the sound of a soft chuckle. For a second, Luna returned the glance, looking into Celestia’s eyes. It was only for a second, and they broke eye contact simultaneously, but it was enough. Despite her current appearance of joviality, Luna’s head was ever so slightly drooped as well.

Celestia let herself release a small sigh before resuming the masquerade.

She and Luna needed to talk.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day’s festivities kept Celestia occupied for quite some time. Well, festivities for others. For the most part, her day was spent reassuring nobles. It seemed that Canterlot’s upper class had gotten the idea in their heads that any special occasion necessitated a private audience with the princess, and the coronation had only made things worse. She had just finished reassuring the pegasus Feather Pen that Quills and Sofas, Twilight’s favorite quill supplier, would not receive any special contracts due to the new princess’s ascension, and that the government’s contracts with his company would be honored as they always have been.

Then Blueblood walked in...

“This is a desecration!” Blueblood sputtered in utter rage. “The overthrow of all sense, all reason! How could you, auntie?! How could you let the daughter of a pair of middle-class-”

“That’s enough!” Celestia had already used up much of her patience and she was not going to squander it on a whelp like the whining unicorn before her.

“But-”

“Twilight has been my most esteemed student for years, her brother is both a Prince of Equestria and of the Crystal Empire, and she has led numerous successful missions to safeguard the realm. What about you? What have you done?”

The prince was speechless.

“But... but...” he grasped for words, “but , it’s, it’s just not-“

“Fair? Perhaps rational? Do you question my judgment, nephew?”

“But the line of succession, you can’t-”

“There has never been an official line of succession. Luna and I will appoint an heir when we feel ready.”

Blueblood again groped for another complaint, some other arrow to use against the princess, but he found nothing. Falling silent, he hung his head and began to sulk out of the throne room. Celestia gave a sigh of relief, but Blueblood’s ears flicked, and he turned back towards the princess.

“You know, since I am already a prince, I just thought maybe, perhaps I could have that spell used on me, so I could, also…”

Celestia just glared at Blueblood, who promptly turned around and nearly galloped out of the chamber. It was pathetic. Blueblood resembled her cousin, his ancestor, so much, yet so little. Oh, Orion. Everything he wasn’t, Blueblood was, and everything he was, Blueblood could never hope to be.

The next pony in line, another upper crust unicorn, came in, wondering what had happened to the poor stallion that had just passed.

“My most beloved, dearest Princess, highest one, exalted above all other-“

Celestia cut the flattery short. “What would you like to ask of me?”

“Well,” the unicorn cleared his throat.

“No, there is not going to be any dramatic changes in the status quo or governance of the realm,”

Celestia calmly interjected before the petitioner could even gather his thoughts.

“That’s, that’s just fine, but I was going to ask-“

“No, Ponyville will not get any special privileges for having a Princess in residence, and neither will her family for the time being.”

“Very good.” The Unicorn was now visibly flustered, sweat welling at the base of his horn. “Still, I needed to ask…“

“Yes?” Celestia did her best to sound sweet, but it was getting hard.

“Well, with the discovery of this new spell, well, I don’t think I ever thought it possible that one could, well, become your highnesses, so I just wanted to inquire and see if it the spell in question, perhaps-“

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to kindly reject your proposal.” There was nothing kind in her voice.

The unicorn’s eyes went wide in shock. “It was a mere suggestion, a conjecture. I meant nothing of it, I-“

“Perhaps this audience is at an end?”

“Of course, you majesty, yes, I’ll, I must be going now.”

Like Blueblood, the unicorn got out of the chamber as fast as his legs could carry him, only for the next pony in line to trot in.

They would never learn. It was a painful ordeal, worsened by the memory of Orion. He was just another burden, weighing down her yoke. Celestia’s memories of her cousin were some of the brightest, the happiest times she’d had, which it made all the more tragic in the end. No, this wasn’t the time to bring that up. Not here, not now.

She tried to cheer herself up. At least Twilight was alright, even though she’d have to spend the night in the hospital, and the next week in flight school. Some lessons just had to be learned the hard way. Just like she had to learn how-no, again it wasn’t a time for such thoughts. Yet despite her efforts to dispel them, they still bubbled up from her subconscious, gnawing at her resolve, her composure. And while she fought them off, the line of ponies waiting for an audience grew longer.

And longer…

Luna had it easy. All she had to do was to get Shield Bearer, Shining Armor’s replacement as Captain of the Guard, to assign Twilight a small detachment and then place her signature on a few documents that floated her way. After that, she headed off to her tower quarters to rest until nightfall.

That was where Celestia finally confronted her.

Between two slightly less uncomfortable audiences, Celestia had asked a servant to bring up a bottle of wine and glasses up to Luna’s drawing room. There was already a table there, but the servant did have to get another chair. Luna only had one.

Celestia’s head, already heavy, drooped even further as she came in. She was exhausted by hours upon hours of dealing with the nobility and bureaucracy, but it was more than that. The room definitely wasn’t spartan, Luna had always held a taste for the extravagant, but it felt empty, unused. The chamber had fine paintings on the walls, but they were covered in dust, unobserved. The rugs on the floor were beautiful, the finest exports from Saddle Arabia, but they seemed too clean, utterly untrodden. The room was meant to be a place where ponies sat down and had a good time, where they could just talk and enjoy themselves.

None of that had ever taken place here. Celestia doubted that anypony but the servant she had just sent up had ever spent any time in the room, not even Luna herself.

After waiting for around a quarter hour, Luna finally exited her bedroom. She yawned deeply as she sleepily trotted out, her eyes still half-closed, but they sprang open when she noticed Celestia.

“Sister,” Luna began, startled by Celestia’s presence.

“It’s alright,” Celestia reassured her softly, “nothing’s wrong, everything is just fine.”

Luna blinked a few times. Her eyes drifted towards the table, noting the wine and extra chair, but made no motion towards it.

“Well then, you ought to retire to you chambers. I can handle the night, alone.”

“Don’t worry about me; I’ve had to stay up late before, doing your job and all.” Celestia tried to crack a grin, but Luna’s face refused to acknowledge the joke.

“What’s this about?”

Celestia sighed. “Luna, we need to talk.”

Luna’s eyes drifted again, doing their best to avoid eye contact. Her hooves shifted nervously. “We’ve talked before.”

“You’ve never really told me what happened Luna. How you became that... that monster.”

Luna froze, staring at Celestia. It may have only been for a second, but it seemed an eternity as the princesses’ eyes locked onto each. Finally, Luna broke away, her head drooped even further. “I see.”

“It’s time, Luna.”

Luna raised her head, beginning to protest, but then stopped, letting it fall down and hang once more.

She breathed in deeply. “Just let me raise the moon.”

Celestia nodded, and Luna walked out from the drawing room onto the balcony. While raising the sun always drew a crowd, thus requiring a ceremony to maintain its mystique, nopony was there to watch Luna carry out her duty. She simply raised her horn, letting her magic flow through her and out into the sky, reaching across tens of thousands of miles. Slowly but surely, the sun began to descend and the moon to rise behind it. It was almost a mechanical process, like two titanic gears grinding against each other. It took nearly a half hour, but Celestia waited patiently, using the time to pour the wine. Soon, the sky had grown dark and the stars began to appear, twinkling into existence one by one. It was odd, but Celestia never understood the stars. The sun and the moon were no mystery, she had reached out and touched them countless times, but the stars were far beyond her. Once, she had tried to touch the stars like she moved the sun, reaching out with her magic. It had been fortunate that a butler had decided to come in at the time, bringing up a cleaned dress for her wardrobe, and broke her trance. Otherwise, she would have died then, her body an empty shell, her soul lost in infinite space.

Luna came back in and took her seat. Tentatively, she took a sip of the wine.

“Thank you,” she whispered, raising her head from the glass. “What’s the vintage?”

“Oh, negative six Equestria Reckoning, I believe.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed in confusion, and then widened. “You don’t mean…”

“After the... incident last summer I had the Guard see if there was anything left in the old castle. It turns out that the old wine cellar was intact.”

“That would mean…”

“Yes, this was grandfather’s wine.”

Luna was taken aback for a moment, but recovered and looked at her glass fondly. “We pressed this ourselves, didn’t we?”

Celestia grinned. “Remember the time, when you were a filly, you nearly drowned in the fermenting vat?”

Luna smiled, and even giggled, “I can still feel the hangover.”

They both laughed at that one.

Luna sighed this time. “I cannot believe you were able to recover it. So long ago. So long.”

She rested her front hooves on the table and her head on top them.

“Where do you want to begin?”

“At the beginning. That’s generally the best place to start.” Celestia reclined in her chair.

“Alright…”

The forest was beautiful this time of year. Autumn had begun to set in and the leaves turned brilliant, the trees clad in every shade of gold and crimson. The fallen leaves covered the well-worn paths that criss crossed through the trees, but as long as a pony kept an eye out for poison joke and other foul plants, she could still stroll through the woods and enjoy that early fall breeze. That was just what the two sisters were doing, although it was less of a stroll and more of a sneak. Mother had told Celestia and Luna never to leave the castle grounds without escort, lest the Lord of Chaos sweep down and carry them away. But he was just an old mare’s tale wasn’t he? And it was just so nice out, and so crowded in the courtyard, and they were grown mares and could handle themselves. So, Celestia had goaded her sister into it. Once breakfast was over, they made the motions of heading towards their rooms to study, but as soon as they were out of view they sprinted to the guards’ training ground. As soon as they were sure nopony was watching, they took off, dashing over the battlements and into the bright forest.

Luna’s head swiveled from side to side, watching out for hidden danger. Her eyes flicked in all directions, and she shifted nervously back and forth. Her head turned longingly back towards the fortress, and after having walked a bit, she built up her courage.

“Sister, I think we ought to go back. Many ponies at court discuss the demon and I don’t think that it’s just a legend.”

Celestia laughed. “Sister! Are you really going to let some old ponies’ mutterings keep us cooped up on a day like this? Aren’t the leaves just beautiful, and look at the sky!”

“We have the same sky back at Canterlot…”

Celestia gave her sister a playful nip on the ear. Luna blushed, her eyes cast downward.

“I just don’t know if this is such a good idea…”

“Don’t be such a spoilsport!” Celestia teased her younger sister. “Anyways, I was reading and came across a story about an old ruin somewhere in the woods. There’s supposed to be an ancient treasure hidden there, the remnants of an ancient pony civilization, guarded away until-”

“And you think Discord is just a myth!”

“Sis!”

“Remember the time you fell into the mirror pond?”

“Oh don’t bring that up. The spell I came up with worked perfectly and nopony was the wiser!”

“Still…”

Celestia smiled, and nudged Luna. “Let’s have an adventure. You’re only young for so long.”

Luna hesitated, nearly continued to protest, but instead dropped her head. “Okay then.”

Celestia laughed and gave Luna another bump. “Everything is going to be just fine, you’ll see.”

“Perhaps we should skip ahead a bit,” interrupted Celestia, who was wearing a guilty smile.

Luna snapped back to the present and raised an eyebrow.

“Fine then…”

The radiant burst of light washed over Discord, illuminating his twisted figure. The draconequus writhed in agony as he was bathed in the terrible brilliance, screaming in sheer pain. Still, the sisters refused to lose their resolve and kept the beam focused on him, even as sweat began to bead on their foreheads. The swirling stones continued to pulse, thousands of beams bouncing back and forth but all reflecting towards Discord. Try as he might to escape the dreadful assault, Discord could not move a step; the side effect of having one’s feet petrified.

After a few seconds of struggle, the draconequus gave up any attempt of escape, and stood calmly with a sad face, his eyes fixated on the elder sister.

“So cruel, Celestia?”

“Why so cruel?”

A single tear coalesced, and began to fall down Celestia’s cheek…

“No, further than that.” Celestia’s smile had fallen away, but the guilt remained plastered on her face.

Luna just sighed, annoyed by Celestia’s constant interruptions. Still, she knew what her sister had gone through, and it wasn’t a pleasant memory for her either.

“Then when?” Luna inquired.

Celestia looked up in thought for a moment. “The coronation day, I believe. Would that be about right?”

Luna looked upwards as well, trying to imagine what her sister was feeling at the moment. Her gaze returned to earth and tried to look Celestia in the face.

“Yes, that would be a fair beginning.”

Author's Note:

Narration and Perspective

This is just to clear up any confusion about my narration style. I prefer to write in what I see as a combination of 1st and 3rd person. The story is told from a 3rd person viewpoint, but any internal opinions/feelings expressed in the narration are subject to the focus of the story. Thus, a character's internal monolouge will blend with a more objective depiction of events.