What was Celestia like before she became a Princess? What was Discord like before he became the element of Chaos? Discord loves games, and this one is a thousand years in the making.
Before Discord became the Element of Chaos, him and Celestia were very close. A rift forms between the two and the rules become twisted and turned around by Discord’s whim. Is it truly irreparable or must Celestia make the impossible choice between the world and the pony she cares for.
Edited by the brill Time Pony Victorious Cover Art is a screen cap from the episode until I find an artist.
What used to be Equestria was now a chaotic mess. Animals had turned insane and rabid; buildings had been turned upside down. It was raining, snowing and sunny all at the same time. Everypony seemed to be helpless, hopeless, nothing could be done.
Celestia gazed out of the window, watching the chaos unfold before her eyes. If only she could do something, anything so long as the pony she loved was unharmed. Letting out an exasperated sigh and burying her heartache away, Celestia turned and walked away from the large window. Her heart felt cold and betrayed as she glanced over her shoulder at the wings he gave her, thinking about the eternal life that now cursed her. If only she had seen the signs of his ever growing chaos and insanity, maybe she could have stopped it.
****
The room around her was dark and cold as a sense of unease crept into her mind.
What's going on? Celestia thought as she tried to keep calm and compose herself.
Maybe this was just a joke Mundus was playing on her, which was the only explanation for his strange actions. She was called out for a "talk", something Mundus wasn't exactly famous for and tended to avoid. He was a partying type of pony, talking wasn't exactly his forte, although he adored riddles.
Suddenly, the lights turned on and Celestia found herself staring into Mundus' dark blue eyes. She yelped, jumping back, before realising that it was just another silly prank, as per usual.
"Hello, my love!" he greeted, his voice loud and exaggerated, his customary goofy smile on his face. "Sorry for the scare, I wanted to surprise you!"
Celestia glanced at the bronze unicorn with curiosity. "Ah, no, it's fine, I'm well used to your ridiculous pranks by now... Did you need me?"
Mundus laughed and Celestia recoiled back slightly. This laugh was different, although it had his usual warm, cheerful tone, it was bordering on insanity. Of course, Celestia brushed it off. He was fine, he was always fine. He had to be fine, Mundus was the ruler of Equestria, and he had to keep all of their land under control.
"I will always need you dear, always! That is why I'm giving you a gift, so close your eyes," he smiled encouragingly at Celestia, until she finally obeyed.
Warmth filled Celestia's chest, and her hooves were lifted off the ground. A bright light surrounded her, and Mundus grinned as he watched the light engulf his lover.
Suddenly, a searing pain jolted through Celestia's body and she cried out in pain. She tried to talk, tried to ask what was happening to her but she couldn't find the energy to speak. It hurt, it hurt so much.
Finally, the magic stopped and Celestia fell to the floor. Something felt different, she felt different. She glanced at her back to find that she had a pair of wings folded at her sides. Mundus had changed her into an Alicorn?! It was impossible, only heard of in tall tales and hearsay. Something like this required powerful dark magic.
She looked up at her lover with tears in her eyes. How could he do such a thing?
"Don't you like it?" Mundus asked with confusion in his voice. "Now we can live together, forever!"
Celestia flinched, she had been cursed with eternal life. "But you can't live forever, you're just a unicorn."
Mundus smirked, his horn glowed a dark blue as he surrounded himself with his own magic. A light flashed before Celestia, and she cried out in shock. Mundus screamed in agony before the light went out and Mundus lay on the floor, with a completely different form.
Celestia glanced over Mundus' still form as she took in every part of him. His lion claw, his dragon tail, his bat wing. His body looked as if somepony had sewn many different creatures together, a conglomeration… no, a monstrosity.
"He turned himself into a Dragonequus," Celestia whispered, her voice shook with fear.
Mundus' eyes shot open and Celestia jumped back in fear. His eyes had changed colour, and were now a blood red. He stood up and smiled as he towered over Celestia.
"We can live together, forever, darling," he whispered, his voice dark and menacing.
Tears filled Celestia's eyes. "But what about Luna? I don't want this!"
Mundus smiled a sinister smile which flashed deep in his blood red eyes. "Don't worry, my dear, I had thought about that already. I made her just like you so you could keep your little sister forever."
Celestia looked at Mundus as she began to sob uncontrollably. "Please, Mundus, don't do this, you're better than this!"
As she reached out a hoof to touch him, he knocked her away. "No, that is not my name. I am Discord! The element of Chaos, Equestria will be full of beautiful chaos!"
****
Celestia sighed as she went out into the hallway to find her sister. She had to find a way to stop Mund- Discord, no matter what the cost was. Still, she couldn't help but feel her heart clench as she thought about hurting him, the pony whom she loved so much.
Celestia furiously shook her head. "No, he is no longer the Mundus which I know and love. He has changed something dark has taken over his heart. I cannot let this go on, I have to keep Equestria safe."
A flash of midnight blue caught Celestia's attention, causing her to turn and find her younger sister, standing by the window.
"Luna," Celestia breathed, "What are we going to do with this mess?"
Luna glanced out the window and shook her head with sadness in her eyes. "I don't know, I don't know a way to stop him."
"I do, but I'm not sure if I want to do it..." she said weakly. "I don't know what the side-effects would be, it could kill him for all I know."
Luna looked at her sister; her head tilted slightly, silently questioning her.
"The Tree of Harmony," Celestia said, simply. "We could take the elements and use them against Mun- I mean, Discord."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Luna whispered. "Does the tree even exist?"
Celestia looked away, out into the chaos. "It does, I found it years ago. It hides deep within the Everfree forest."
"But, do you really want to risk killing Mundus?"
Celestia flinched at Luna's question, of course she didn't, but there was no other way. It had to be done. "Once this is over, we're going to have to take control of Equestria and keep it safe. We need to make sacrifices, sister. This must be done, for the safety of everypony living here."
Luna nodded and Celestia turned, leaving the room. Tears trailed down Celestia's cheeks as she thought about what she is going to do. Could she really do it? Could she really use her magic against the pony she loved?
As she was leaving the room, she called back to Luna, "Pack a bag; we'll be leaving in a few hours."
She knew deep down, that although she loved Mundus, she didn't love Discord and this had to be done; for the sake of Equestria.
Celestia sat in the large library reading Star Swirl The Bearded's latest novel. She had been waiting months for it to be released, and Mundus had made sure she was one of the first to get it. She couldn't thank Mundus enough, he knew how much this meant to her.
A knock on the door pulled Celestia out of the book and she turned to find Mundus standing at the door with a smile spread across his beautiful face.
"How is the book, my love?" Mundus asked as he used his magic to light a fire.
Celestia ran over to him and threw her hooves around his neck. "Thank you so much, Mundus, you didn't have to go to such bother, but I really appreciate it."
Mundus smiled and gently brushed a piece of Celestia's mane out of her eyes. "It's alright, dear, I would do anything for the pony I love."
Celestia froze in shock and took a step back before stuttering, "You- You love me?" she asked.
Mundus chuckled and pulled her back against him. "Of course I do, Tia, I love you."
"Well, I love you too," She whispered before pressing her lips against his.
Celestia packed her bags slowly as she thought back to the first time Mundus said those three words. They were unexpected, but she knew deep down that they loved each other long before that.
How she wished she could return to those days where they didn't have to worry about anything other than looking after Equestria. That may have sounded like a massive job to her back then, but now, she had to also worry about destroying the pony she loved.
She did not want to do this, but there was no other way around this mess that Discord had created. She should have stopped it, somehow, but how? There was nothing that she could do, and that's the worst part of it.
Finally, she had finished packing and was prepared for the journey into the Everfree forest. The castle was situated just on the outskirts of the forest, but Celestia had decided it would be better to give them a few days of travel due to the fact that the forest is dangerous and she didn't know what they could run into. She hoped that they would not run into any trouble on the way there.
Celestia turned to find Luna standing at the door with a saddle bag placed carefully over her back. Luna smiled at Celestia encouragingly before turning to walk towards the castle doors.
"Are you okay, sister?" Luna asked carefully, as if she realized that Celestia was about to break.
Celestia put on her bravest face, she had to hide the fact that she was aching inside, she was going to be the ruler of Equestria so she had to put her subjects first.
"I'm fine," she promised. Luna's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she wasn't convinced but she didn't say anything. With that, they set off into the dark Everfree forest.
Mundus had his warm hooves over Celestia's eyes as he led her out into the warm summer's breeze.
"Okay, my love, we are almost there, just take another few steps forward..." Mundus whispered into her ear as he held her close.
"Can I open my eyes now?" Celestia asked in curiosity as she tried to work out where he had taken her.
Mundus smiled and slowly moved his hooves away from her eyes. She blinked as they adjusted from the darkness to the soft orange glow of the summer evening, and finds that they were standing at the highest point of the castle, which overlooks all of Equestria.
Celestia stared in awe at the beauty before her. The setting sun behind the mountains, the trees waving in the gentle breeze. The sky was a soft orange pink shade, with very little clouds.
"It's so beautiful," Celestia whispered breathlessly, "I've never seen anything like it."
Mundus moved up beside her and looked into her violet eyes. "You see this, all of this land? It's ours, ours to look after and care for. Do you promise to look after this beautiful place with me?"
Celestia smiled brilliantly, "Of course, we will always look after Equestria."
Luna and Celestia travelled through the Everfree forest in silence. They both listened carefully for any untamed beasts which may jump out and attack them, but the forest itself was silent. The forest was the only place in Equestria to have not been affected by Discord's magic; however, it was still as eerie as ever.
Overgrown creepers crossed the path of the two sisters as they swiftly made their way through the labyrinth, attempting to find the Tree of Harmony as fast as they can. Celestia couldn't help but have an ounce of hope that when they use the Elements against Discord; he would turn back into Mundus, the pony she loved. Sadly, though, she knew that she was looking through rose tinted glasses and it was only wishful thinking.
A soft glowing light grabbed Celestia's attention, and she turned to see the top of the Tree of Harmony.
Luna gasped as she looked up at the Tree. "The Tree of Harmony!" she whispered in awe.
Celestia flew up to the centre of the Tree and shot it with a blast of magic before glancing back at Luna.
"Are you sure?" Luna asked nervously.
Celestia knew that she was questioning whether or not she really wanted to use these against the man she loved, but Celestia decided to pretend she didn't realise that was what she meant.
"We have managed to discover the only means that will defeat Discord and free the citizens of Equestria. Even without these Elements, the Tree will still possess a powerful magic."
The centre of the tree opened, revealing a purple crystal in the shape of a star. The other Elements leave their place in the tree as well and surrounded the two sisters.
"As long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain what grows here." Celestia said as she floated down to the ground and carefully put the elements in her saddle bag.
"Sister, you know that is not what I meant when I asked if you were sure." Luna mumbled, concerned about how her sister was pushing her feelings aside.
Celestia glanced back at Luna and sadly shook her head. "I know, but what else can we do? He is not Mundus anymore, he has been taken over by a dark magic. I need to forget about who he was and realise that I need to do this in order to protect the ponies of Equestria."
Luna sighed in defeat as she glanced at her older sister. She was acting so compassionately, like a true princess.
"We must go before Discord causes more chaos." Celestia ran away from the Tree towards the place she assumed Discord would be hiding.
She pushed the happy memories she shared with Mundus out of her mind. She needed to forget that he was her lover; she needed to see Mundus and Discord as two different beings, if this magic was to work. The magic would only work if she saw him as her enemy and as hard as that may be, she was going to defeat him.
