Dusk to Dawn
The sun was descending, the massive symbol of power slowly lowering in the distance. The sky was painted orange, the bright colored lights bouncing off of the clouds making the sky look like a world of its own, which it was at one point. The rolling green hills bathed in the light, casting shadows in all the right places to give the ultimate picture of true freedom. Unending rolling plains of beauty you could just gallop in any direction in without a care. It would be a nice day to fly as well; the clouds being lit up the way they were. It was the kind of weather you would write a whimsical romance story about. Two star-crossed lovers coming together at last in the last light of the day, kissing with their eyes closed with the knowledge that they were absolutely alone and safe within the infinite span of purified natural beauty. They would open their eyes, gaze into each other, seeing their lover’s wonderful face in the foreground of such epic beauty, bathed in orange light and with a soft breeze caressing their fur.
However there were no star-crossed lovers that day. Really, the sun was hardly the symbol it was when those old novels were written. Some would envy the days in which the sun was a symbol of hope, the symbol of light and good.
To those within the modern age, however, it symbolized something very different.
A chain-linked fence stretched across the rolling green hills, topped with razor-wire. If one had a sharp enough eye, they would be able to see the subtle blue tint of a magical ward stretching much higher than the fence itself.
A young earth pony colt gazed at the beautiful rolling landscape with a blank expression. His fur was dull and dirtied, but remnants of a color that may have been bright orange at one point shined through occasionally. His mane was dirtied black. It may have been another color at some point, but he had cut it too short to even notice the change. His eyes were a deep gray, though held a hollow, faraway look in them. His flanks were too dirty for a cutie-mark to be seen.
The colt’s name was Coal Dust. He wished he could say his appearance was an exception to a rule. That he was some kind of convict coming from a hard knock life, that he stood out among a populace of normal ponies.
That was wishful thinking, however.
Coal Dust turned around, deciding that staring at the landscape wasn’t helping anyone, especially not him. He turned, and gazed upon the place in which he had been imprisoned.
In stark contrast to the landscape just outside of the fence, the inside was much uglier. No grass survived past the magical ward, and the humid nature of the ward caused all rainwater to very, very slowly evaporate. The result was a constantly muddied ground, with the occasional jagged rock sticking up just enough to look harmless. Shabby, unsealed and uninsulated structures dotted the caged area, the purpose of some differentiating from others. The structures, even some of the newer ones, were clearly falling apart. The wood looked rotten and soggy, the nails seeming to get pushed out of their rightful places by the force of misery alone. Despite the bright orange sky in the west and the subtle purple twilight approaching in the east, the atmosphere felt grim. Like there was a perpetual storm cloud over the area.
Then there were the ponies. All of them, every single one of them, were in a similar state Coal Dust was in. Their furs, while they may have looked bright and lush once upon a time, were blackened and dirtied beyond recognition. None of them had cutie-marks. Some were clean enough for their flanks to be seen, but there were nothing but scars in their place. All of them were earth ponies, though not all of them were their entire lives. Some of the cleaner ones had telling scars and stubs upon their backs, some had stumps and discolored depressions upon their foreheads. All of them, all of them, had scars. Big ones, small ones. All of them held a mark of the hard times passed. There was once a saying that the deepest didn’t show. But that was a lie. Their deepest scars were put on display to the world. The same faraway look fell within each of their gazes. The stared without looking. They looked without seeing. It was as if everything they saw was getting away from them. It was that their current life was all they could remember. The endless cycle of hard labor and pain, only broken by the occasional death or, even worse, a marked.
There were no guards to the prison; they needed none. The wards watched all. The unicorns could feel them, could feel when they tried to escape. The outer wards were made deliberately hard to see so when the occasional newbie attempts to escape, and they crawl their way through the razor wire, bleeding and broken, their hopes can be truly crushed when they touch the electrified impenetrable force. They wouldn’t pick them back up or throw them over again, so it was either say within the tiny margin of space between the gate and the ward and starve, or climb back over the fence and get torn apart by the razor wire yet again. Not many newbies survive this experience, which is why they are usually warned before they do something stupid. But sometimes… sometimes they don’t listen. Sometimes they don’t consult anypony for help. Sometimes, they do something stupid.
The camp; a prison. It held no name for it needed no name. It perhaps had an identification number of some kind that those in the government could use to properly differentiate it from its cousins, but in the end they were all the same. They were punishments. Ultimate punishments, reserved for either those who pissed off the empresses, or the family members of those who pissed off the empresses. Coal Dust was the latter, not the former.
The camp used slave labor. It wasn’t actively regulated, but it was important. There was a pit-mine, where stone and gems were mined for use in construction and other purposes. Some of the shoddy buildings were carving, manufacturing, sometimes knitting if the supplies were given. Some had tanning racks within them, to make use of the leftover corpses.
Every month was inspection. The unicorns would come, and see the prison’s turnout. If they deemed it unsatisfactory, no additional food would be supplied to the prison until next month should the next month be satisfactory. This would be the death of the entire camp if not for the mandatory omnivore magical transformations given to each prisoner before they’re committed. All the trouble of casting this on each individual prisoner for the sole purpose of maliciousness. The point was that in the month without food, the prisoners would be forced to eat each other. Some of the suicidal ponies would volunteer, but it was never enough. Somepony had to be murdered to truly make ends meet.
The omnivore transformation doesn’t make the meat taste good or even negate the sickness it causes ponies, it simply makes it so you can survive off of meat. Nothing more. Ponies are forced to eat their fellow prisoners, and have to endure several days of retching and sickness, as they try their hardest to keep it down against their instincts for survival.
One would think that with the sheer number of deaths in a prison such as this, it would be nearly empty within a year. Yet, for every prisoner that falls, two more replace them. There’s no shortage of them. New faces are common, and it’s all too common to track a new face as their eyes slowly lose their light. As they slowly become dirtied like the rest, covered in scars. As their eyes slowly become faraway like everypony else’s. Hope didn’t exist in the camp. It was a game of the empresses. A game to see how long you could last within a place with no hope without committing suicide. There was no leaving the camp without death. Suicide quickly became the most common cause of death, often by jumping down the quarry headfirst or purposefully gutting themselves of the fence razor wire. Sometimes, as mentioned earlier, they volunteer as emergency food and hope to go quickly via having their head caved in by a leftover pickaxe.
Coal Dust was somewhat of a record holder among the populace. He is the veteran prisoner.
He had lasted in the prison for six years. Only twelve others had lasted as long of longer than he had.
Coal often asked himself why he had lasted that long. He asked himself what kept him going. Perhaps, due to his young age when first being imprisoned there, he simply grew used to it. He was still miserable, but he refused to commit suicide. He still feared death. His sentence was miserable, but it was a familiar misery. What lies beyond the veil of death? Some would say a paradise. Wishful thinking, is what Coal Dust thinks. He believes that with life as bleak as it is within the Equestrian Empire, that the afterlife couldn’t possibly be better. Even if there was some perfect afterlife, who was to say that one of the enchantments put upon the prisoners when captured was not some kind of soul-binding spell? Something that simply wipes your soul from existence rather than passing it to the next plane? He had heard and even seen the empresses use such magic before, so their enemies would not find peace even in death. He had even heard of spells that create pocket-realms of eternal suffering for the soul of the victim. Perhaps, as some sick joke, the true punishment comes after one commits suicide from the despair of their first punishment?
He wasn’t willing to risk it. His misery was unending, but at least it was consistent. At least he had already grown used to it.
Princess Celestia smiled beatifically while she stepped out onto her balcony. Most ponies weren’t up early enough to witness what she was about to do, and she really didn’t have to do it outside. But she figured that anypony up early enough to see her raise the sun deserved a show.
She stood, tall and proud high above the city of Canterlot, which itself was high above the proper ground, what with the entire city being perched off the side of a mountain the way it was. Her rose-pink eyes flicked to her left, seeing another balcony much like hers and the pony standing upon it. Her sister Luna could be seen standing. With a deft motion of her head and a glow of her horn, the beautiful moon descended below the horizon.
Celestia smiled, refocusing upon her task. She pushed magic through her horn, closing her eyes in concentration, and it started glowing with a soft yellow color. The glow slowly intensified, becoming brighter and brighter until looking at it would leave a colored spot in your eye. Hey eyes opened, as she mentally recanted the ancient, infinitely complex and powerful spell. Her irises and pupils were left unseen in the light of pure magical energy shining through her sclera, like the sun shined through her very eyes. Her entire body hummed with power, a sensation akin to all of her fur standing up on end.
She made the connection with her linked celestial object, the life-giving orb seeming to trill at the presence of its patron. The sun’s own seemingly limitless power hummed in response to Celestia’s connection, as magical energy in quantities completely unimaginable to any average unicorn flowed through her being as she nudged the object from its place in the east up into the sky.
With the sun set on its course, she cut the connection, and felt the wonderfully intense power reluctantly withdraw from her and back into the sun. Her horn stopped glowing, her eyes returned to normal, and her body, which was hovering without her notice, dropped deftly back to the ground with a ‘clack’ of her hooves hitting the marble.
She stared to the east, to the blessing she was glad to give all of her little ponies every day. The sky was tinged with yellow, as the rising sun was set on its course across the sky. It was as if the heavens themselves were happy to see the day come forth. Celestia, with her godlike vision, could even see Cloudsdale in the distance. In the yellow morning light, the fluffy cloud-structures of the pegasus city had their subtle textures highlighted and shaded, making the city look like it was made out of cheesy mashed potatoes.
Celestia, while she looked upon the pegasus city, was graced with a wonderful sight. A few pegasus colts thundered out of their houses, staring into the east at the sunrise she wrought with wonder. They laughed and played through the cloud streets and the yellow-tinged skies, without a care in the world. Celestia smiled warmly. Whenever her duties felt too heavy, whenever she lost another dear friend to the ravages of time, and whenever she felt like giving up, she drew upon memories of sights just like the one before her. The image of smiling foals, playing in the sunrise.
She unfocused her gaze, blinking a little at the jarring change in her vision. With a small smile, she walked off of the balcony and back into her chambers.
She could tell that it was going to be a good day.
The sun had long since set, the moon in its place standing tall within the sky. It was like a giant iris, staring down upon the puny mortal inhabitants of the world. Some said that the Lunar Empress could truly see through her moon, just as the Solar Empress could see through her sun. They were fabled to be omnipresent during their respective times of day. Coal believed them. Who was he to doubt the capability of goddesses? His father had, and Coal would be paying the consequences for that for the rest of his life. No need to add onto that.
Normally, when the sun went down, the prisoners retired for the day. They would huddle up and attempt feebly to get comfortable within the muddy, shoddy constructions. Coal and a few others, however, kept working in the moonlight, down in the pits. They were low on their quota, and the end of the month was coming soon. Too many newcomers still believe that they can get a full eight hours rest after a shoddy job in the quarry. If Coal and the others still working are unsuccessful, then they would learn the error of their ways the hard way.
The familiar loud ‘chink’ sound met Coal’s ears as he and his brothers and sisters in binds chopped at the ground clumsily with the overused pickaxes. Ponies simply weren’t meant for tool use of that fashion, as it required them to stand on their hind legs for a proper swing. Coal had long since gotten used to it, but newcomers still fall often in the line of duty.
Normally, they would be using different tools to cut the stone into cubic shapes for use in building, but they haven’t had to do so recently. They uncovered a patch of what the more educated former unicorns called ‘sediment’, apparently tough enough to warrant a pickaxe but useless as a building material. They had to work through this layer of sediment quickly to get to the valuable stone, though they were unlikely to make any progress for a good few days, and that’s if they’re lucky.
Dark days ahead.
Coal Dust was interrupted in his work by the sudden sensation of his fur standing up on end. Behind him, he heard a loud cackle of energy, and he witnessed a large blue flash light up the area.
He turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. Standing behind him, looking at his fellow prisoners was a unicorn who had seemingly teleported in. She was light blue, and surprisingly clean aside from her muddied hooves. Her mane was unkempt, short, and a much lighter blue, light enough to be mistaken for white at first glance. It appeared two-toned, with a few slightly darker blues striped through it. Her flank actually held a cutie-mark; a wand seeming to command a representation of magical energy. Coal froze in involuntary terror when her eyes flicked to him. He saw their color was so close to that of the Solar Empress’s own eyes. Closer examination, however, revealed her eyes to be a darker purple to the Empress’s magenta colored eyes. That, and they had none of the cold maliciousness that always seemed to linger behind the eyes of the Empress.
The unicorn mare was hunched, clearly fatigued from something. She quickly regained her breath and spoke.
“I’m here to get you out!” She said in a hurried tone. “Come here, I’ll teleport each of you!”
Coal’s four worker companions quickly jumped at the opportunity presented to them. He, however, was much more hesitant. Who was she? Why was she doing this? Why now? It seemed far too good to be true, for a random unicorn to just appear out of nowhere and claim to be breaking out worthless prisoners. None of them had wings, horns, or even special talents anymore. What was to gain?
He mused that perhaps it was one of those games the Solar Empress was so fond of playing. Send a unicorn to ‘break them out’ to give them false hope, and punish those who take the bait. It could be a faction working against the Empresses, but that probably wouldn’t be much better considering those not born earth ponies have their extra appendages removed before entering the camp. They would probably be used as experiments for the unicorns to test new offensive spells, or use them as a source of free manual labor.
While Coal was within his paranoid thoughts, his other four bind-brothers had already been teleported out. The mare, having just finished teleporting the last one before Coal himself, snapped her gaze to him.
“Please hurry, our time is short!” She said, beckoning him with a hoof.
“Where are the others?” He asked suspiciously. Too good to be true, he once again mused.
“I got to them already, they said there were a few of you still outside. Now please, I don’t know how long we have!”
Coal looked at her. She seemed genuine, her purple eyes shining with apparent concern. It still didn’t answer why exactly she would go through the trouble.
He cautiously approached. “Who are you?”
She smiled, perhaps invitingly to seem like less of a threat. She quickly trotted over to his side. “My name is-“
“Lᴜʟᴀᴍᴏᴏɴ!”
Both Coal and the mare cringed at the sound of a tremendously loud, yet feminine voice echoing across the landscape. He quickly looked in all directions for the source of the voice.
When he found it, his heart froze, and dropped into his stomach. His entire body felt numb from nothing but purified fear itself, his legs had already begun shaking.
Standing upon the edge of the pit, staring down upon Coal and ‘Lulamoon’, was the Lunar Empress herself.
She stood tall, taller than any natural pony had a right to be. Her fur a dark blue, her many and tail waving in a nonexistent wind, seeming to have an infinite expanse of stars held within them. Her eyes shined bright, bright enough to force Coal to squint looking at her. She wore her regalia; a black chest piece with a crescent moon imprinted upon it, a black shining tiara, and impeccable silver shoes.
The air seemed to vibrate with the power of the Lunar Empress’s very presence. While Lulamoon’s teleportation spell made his fur stand up on end, the presence of the goddess made his fur almost feel electrified, and gave him the unpleasant feeling of seemingly thousands of little needles poking his skin all over his body like a sleeping limb. It pulsed in his head, his heart, and behind his eyes. Just by her being near him, she was capable of disorienting him beyond measure and filling him to the brim with earthshattering fear.
“Hᴇʀᴇ sᴛᴀɴᴅs ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴍᴇ ɪs ᴛʜɪs, ᴛʜɪs Lᴜʟᴀᴍᴏᴏɴ I ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴅ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ?” She boomed, her voice seeming to come from everywhere at once. Despite his ears ringing, he could still feel the magical energy being casted simply out of her voice. The winds picked up, as if the weather itself changed according to her mood.
“A ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ Eᴍᴘɪʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ? A sʟᴀʏᴇʀ ᴏғ ɢᴏᴅs?” The goddess continued. “Rᴇᴠᴇᴀʟɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛɪʀɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀsᴇʟғ ᴏᴜᴛ ғᴏʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛ? Tʜᴇsᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜʟᴇss ᴄʀɪᴘᴘʟᴇs?” The Empress cackled mockingly, storm clouds forming overhead from the excess magical energy. “Cʟᴇᴀʀʟʏ, ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇxᴘʟᴏɪᴛs ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛʟʏ ᴇxᴀɢɢᴇʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ, ᴅᴇғɪᴀɴᴛ ᴏɴᴇ. Yᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴘᴀᴛʜᴇᴛɪᴄ!” She declared, an almost psychotic looking grin set in her features.
Lulamoon, who had been staring at the Empress with shock, hardened her features wordlessly. She spun to Coal, and in an action that surprised him, she quickly threw her arms around his neck, her horn glowing in preparation of a spell.
The Lunar Empress’s grin disappeared, and in its place came a furious scowl. Her horn starting glowing, glowing much brighter than he had ever seen a unicorn’s glow before. It became so bright so quickly Coal had to shut his eyes tight to save his vision. Even with his eyes shut, he could still see the whiteness through his lids, and even feel the purified magical energy crackling around him painfully.
“Yᴏᴜ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴇsᴄᴀᴘᴇ ME!?” The Empress’s voice boomed, louder than before. It left Coal’s ears ringing. He could feel the magic on his fur reaching a crescendo, it becoming so intense now he felt like he was on fire. He felt a fast approaching heat, no doubt the spell cast by the goddess. Coal didn’t even scream, because he was too busy clenching his jaw and eyes from the pain, his teeth creaking in protest. He silently prayed to any deity besides the one whose wrath he incurred to grant him a swift death…
Then it all stopped.
He no longer felt the arms around his neck. He could no longer feel the magic on his fur. He could no longer hear anything except ringing. All his eyes could see was red and purple spots claiming his vision. He felt numb all over.
Slowly, his senses returned to him. He felt cool marble under his fur as he lied down. The ringing in his ears slowly gave way to silence. His eyes opened, and he slowly blinked the spots out of them.
His new environment was indoors. He found himself looking down a hallway, floored with clean marble tiling. Gilded doors of varying quality dotted each wall all the way down to where he could see a fork in the hall. He blinked in confusion, until he saw the banners.
Banners of a stylized sun and moon hung between each door.
His eyes widened in recognition.
He was somewhere he had been many times before.
He was in the Canterlot Palace.
He started hyperventilating, before slowly trying to get his breathing under control. He shakily stood up, looking behind him to see the other end of the hall. He breathed a small sigh of relief upon noticing nopony had seen him yet.
He looked down where he had collapsed, and grimaced. The clean white marble had been marred by a large spot of mud and dried dirt, clearly marking his presence there. He looked around in amazement, marveling at how clean everything was. It had been so long since he had been in a clean environment he had forgotten how dirty he was in comparison.
He would question what happened if it would do him any good. He knew nothing of magic and never would, he just was glad he wasn’t dead.
Yet.
His eyes widened at the new issue at hoof.
He was in Canterlot Palace.
The most heavily guarded place in the entire empire.
Home of two goddesses and some of the most ruthless unicorns in recent memory.
None of which would be very happy to see a dirty prisoner such as himself in the Palace.
It was upon these realizations did Coal realize he may have escaped death only to bumble into another, much more horrible way to die.
If they caught him, he would be executed. Publicly. In Canterlot.
A Canterlot execution.
He shivered violently, and started hyperventilating again. He quickly tried to calm himself, reassuring that he wasn’t caught yet. Reassuring himself that perhaps he could be lucky enough to get out of the castle and hit in the alleys of Canterlot until he can safely make it out down the mountains…
…Then what?
He shook his head. Survival came first. Long-term plans later.
The first step was to get out of the castle-
“Hey! Are you lost?”
No no no no no NO!
Without hesitation, Coal took off in a sprint down the hallway that didn’t have guards. He didn’t even see them, he just heard the voice and two sets of hooves soon after.
The two unseen guards shouted various warnings and orders from behind him, but Coal paid no mind to their orders to ‘wait’ and ‘calm down’. No, he wouldn’t wait or calm down. He was in Canterlot Palace, him! A prison encampment escapee! Even if he didn’t mean to be there, he was absolutely screwed if they caught him, regardless of circumstance. He’d have to go down running, even if he knew they would catch him.
Because submitting to whatever punishment they would have for him would be a much more unpleasant death than simply being gutted while resisting arrest. He would kill himself before submitting to a Canterlot execution.
Because in a Canterlot execution, the pain doesn’t end in death.
Coal skidded around the corner, leaving a trail of dirt and mud everywhere he went. He kept running down another seemingly identical hallway, before realizing he ran past the second to last turn. The hallway ended, leaving only a left turn rather than a fork like the other turns had.
But all that registered in Coal’s mind was that two guards were approaching quickly behind him. He skidded around the corner, hoping that the hallway he chose would be clear, as it was his last chance.
It was not clear.
It was the absolute worst turn he could have ever taken.
Coal’s hooves locked up as he skidded to a halt, his eyes wide with pure, unbridled fear.
Standing before him was an unnaturally tall pony. Her very stance displayed power, authority. Before he even looked up, he could recognize the golden amethyst-encrusted chest piece, and the flawless golden shoes. His gaze flicked upwards, and his fears proved true. Familiar magenta eyes found his, their beautiful color outshined by the purified malevolence shining just behind her seemingly glowing irises. The flowing mane, kept aloft in invisible winds said to be powered by the sun itself. It was colored like a washed rainbow, the colors flowing against the mane’s flow itself, making her mane look like an endless sea of ethereal color. Sparkles shined through the beautiful flowing locks of her mane, as if diamonds were gleaming within. Finally his eyes saw the large, golden tiara with a large amethyst in the center, behind a massive white spiral horn with a sharpened point.
Before him stood, in all her malevolent glory, the Solar Empress.
He saw a small smile slowly begin to grace her features. A mocking smile, one a cat might wear upon seeing a mouse struggle when it was already within her claws.
Coal was too terrified to even scream.
He couldn’t hear anything anymore, his body was numb save for the burning sensation of blood pumping through his veins. The only sound to register to him was the sound of his own rapidly beating heart. He didn’t think- he couldn’t think. He was too scared to think. He simply reacted.
He immediately leapt to his right, bashing his way through an unlocked, elegant double door. The room’s contents hardly registered, beyond a bed and a dresser. Only one thing caught his vision, nothing else existed save the sight in front of him, and the wrathful goddess behind him.
A balcony.
He moved. He ran. He ran faster than he ever had before. Was he escaping? Yes, in a sense. He was escaping indeed.
There was only one escape from the Solar Empress once she had her eyes on you.
The burst through the glass doors to the balcony, and he leapt over the railing without hesitation.
Still, only his heartbeat registered to him.
Beating more erratically than ever.
He wished he could say that he was calm. That he accepted his fate now that it had been so thoroughly sealed. But he wasn’t.
In those tiny moments of weightlessness, he was still scared out of his mind. Of falling, of pain, of death, of the other side.
But he was much more afraid of the angry goddess.
For she could dispense fates far, far worse than death on a whim.
Yet even as he fell, he did not scream. Just like when he first laid eyes upon the Lunar Empress, he did not scream. Just like when the guards caught him, he did not scream. Just like when he encountered the Solar Empress, he did not scream.
Was it because he was brave? Of course not. Defiant? Never.
He didn’t scream because he couldn’t. He was so scared, his voice locked up. It was as if an angry claw gripped at his throat and choked the noise right out of him. Any scream he may have prepared would come out as a mere squeak.
Which was the exact sound he made just before he hit the ground.
A mere squeak.
His last thoughts were hopes that the goddess would let him fall, let him die.
Celestia trotted merrily down the hall. After raising the sun, she was on her way to breakfast with Luna (or perhaps dinner from her sister’s perspective). She nodded and smiled in greeting to the guards she passed, who remained as stoic as ever.
She paused, however, when a few detection spells gave off warnings in her head. The ‘flavor’ of the detection said it was somepony young, somewhere in the halls leading to guest chambers reserved for diplomatic purposes. She smiled. Whoever the young pony was, they were probably lost. She decided to brighten somepony’s day.
Celestia changed her course and turned down another hall. It should only take a moment, and the look of happiness young fillies and colts get when they see their princess up close never gets old. It would only take a moment to intercept this pony, give them directions to the way out, and continue on her way to breakfast/dinner with her sister.
The alicorn widened her magical senses, and felt where the patrolling guards were relative to where the ‘intruder’ was. Two of them were about to round the corner to the hallway he was in. She frowned slightly. It would seem her faithful guards would deal with the situation before she could.
Celestia’s eyes widened when she felt the guards round the corner, because soon after they did the ‘intruder’ started sprinting in the other direction. The detection wards didn’t say the pony had anything stolen, so why was the pony running? The guards probably scared the poor pony. Celestia decided she would end up dealing with this situation after all. She has been told over the centuries that she has a calming presence. Surely her being there would convince the pony that he wasn’t in trouble.
She felt the locations of the running pony, and felt that he would be meeting a corner soon. One of the palace edges, meaning he had one way to turn.
She started trotting down the hallway she was to meet the ‘intruder’ in. She knew the castle well; it was another section in the guest chambers. Canterlot Palace had a lot of guest chambers. Diplomats from the other countries tended to bring many with them, and Celestia felt an obligation to have them be as comfortable as possible. She recalled the rooms to her left all had wonderful views of Canterlot and the surrounding landscape from their balconies.
Celestia continued to trot and a leisurely pace, before the mystery pony finally came around the corner.
She could probably guess why the colt thought he was in trouble.
It may have been the filthiest colt Celestia had ever laid eyes upon in her exceptionally long life. At first she figured the colt just had a brown coat, but it was clear from the odd patch of dull orange and the literal trail of dirt and mud that he was actually just… filthy. She could see that the young colt was an earth pony. From his size she would guess thirteen, maybe fourteen years old. The only detail she could really make out due to the copious amounts of dirt covering him was his shining silver eyes. Celestia wondered how a colt could possibly get that dirty.
Nonetheless, he wasn’t in trouble. The janitors would probably be annoyed by the trail he’s leaving, though.
She wore a small, hopefully comforting smile as the colt skidded to a halt in front of her, his eyes wide raking from her hooves to her face. His mouth was wide open.
The look on his face made Celestia’s brow crease and her smile falter just a bit. That was not a look of astonishment. That was a look of fear. She supposed that being so dirty being chased by guards in front of what many consider to be the most regal mare in Equestria would be rather mortifying, but his was a look of sheer horror. Celestia did not like that look.
She had to diffuse the situation quickly; the poor colt looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
“Hello, my little-“ Her words of what was supposed to be motherly comfort were cut off as the colt bolted into the door closest to his right and Celestia’s left. It lead to one of the guest chambers.
She saw him keep running through the room. Where did he think he was go-
Celestia gasped in horror as the colt bashed through the balcony doors and jumped over the railing.
She wasted no time. She sprinted to the edge and pointed her horn downwards, weaving a kinetic dampening spell as quickly as she could.
Her horn glowed golden, and a bright yellow bolt chased the still-falling colt.
It hit him a few milliseconds before he hit the ground.
Without hesitation she teleported next to the colt, leaned over and put her ear against his barrel to check for a heartbeat. She sighed with overwhelming relief when she heard familiar thumping in his chest.
Her horn lit up and she scanned him, finding no fatal injuries. He had a concussion, and a few fractures, but nothing serious.
“Your majesty!” A unicorn solar guard came running up from behind her. She wasted no time with pleasantries.
“Take this colt to the infirmary!” She commanded.
The guard saluted dutifully, and lifted the colt with his magic.
“...and make sure he is restrained.” She added.
The unicorn guard paused.
“Is he under arrest, your majesty?” He asked.
“No, he is not. But he is...” She looked up to the balcony he fell from. Thirteen stories in height. “...unstable. It’s for his own protection.”
“Yes, your majesty.” With that, the guard ran off, the dirty colt in tow.
Celestia didn’t move from that spot despite the crisis being over. She stared blankly ahead in shock.
A colt... a very young colt... just tried to kill himself before her eyes.
Why would anypony do that? Especially one so young?
The look of fear on his face before he ran... was it because of her?
Why?
What would drive a colt to do such a thing?
She shook her head. She had to get to breakfast. She had to tell Luna about the events that transpired.
She had saved the colt from himself.
The colt needed saving from himself.
The thought brought tears to her eyes.
She had to tell Luna. She had to vent.
Her horn lit up, and with a flash she was gone.
Empress Celestia frowned with displeasure as she looked over casualty reports from recent operations to undermine the rebels.
She resided in an extravagant private dining room. Banners with hers and her sister’s cutie mark decorated the walls, the floors were engraved with the highest amount of detail in their patterns with beautiful gems incorporated within them. The table itself was solid gold, with amethysts and sapphires encrusting in intricate patterns with the waving folds of the table legs. Celestia sat upon the gold-colored cushion at one end of the table, while a dark blue cushion remained empty. One plate remained on the table nearing the blue cushion, with a beautifully prepared dish of various vegetables fruits and, disturbingly to most ponies, meats.
Celestia’s dinner was finished, but her sister had yet to make an appearance. She needed to discuss some things with her. Troop failures, camp efficiency, reformation of allegiance spells, treasury expenditure and the like.
Were Luna a normal mare, she would be worried by her absence. But as it stood, Luna was Celestia’s sister; a goddess. She almost felt bad for anything that tried to delay her.
Almost.
Well, actually not even close to almost. Scumbag rebels deserve worse. If Luna did run into any, she hoped she could take them prisoner for a special session with the Empresses. Celestia had been stressed, and she needed to vent.
A crackle of lightning and a flash of blue magic signified her sister’s arrival. Celestia allowed herself a small smile.
“Bʏ Eʟʏsɪᴜᴍ I ᴡɪʟʟ ғɪɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʏᴏᴜ sɴɪᴠᴇʟɪɴɢ, sᴘɪɴᴇʟᴇss ᴡᴏʀᴛʜʟᴇss ɪɴsɪɢɴɪғɪᴄᴀɴᴛ ɪɴsᴇᴄᴛ!” Luna boomed before giving a wordless cry of frustration loud enough to shake the ground.
Celestia frowned. “Dear sister, what is it?”
Luna snapped her gaze to Celestia, her eyes glowing white and the air around her vibrating with her magical power. “Tʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴍ-“
“Indoor voice, Lulu.” The solar empress quietly scolded, a small compassionate smile on her lips.
Luna blushed, cleared her throat, and calmed down. Her eyes turned back to their old, teal selves, and the air around her returned to normal.
“I finally tracked down that worm Lulamoon, but she escaped! And so did the inmates at the prison I found her in!”
Celestia’s eyes widened as she put the document she was reading down. “Escaped? Sister, how could one escape from you?” One did not simply escape from a celestial empress.
Luna groaned. “That is what frustrates me so! I do not know! It seems like a teleportation spell, but I cannot track it! It is as if she is out of range! It is impossible to be that far away without-“ Luna cut herself off, before growling very, very dangerously. “That... that little slimy ᴡʜᴏʀsᴇ!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“THAT RODENT USED-“
Celestia disappeared in a flash and reappeared by Luna’s side, draping a large white wing over her sister’s shoulder.
“Shhhhhhh... Lulu... Last time you got this riled up you melted the servant’s quarters with all of the servants still inside.” She gently admonished. “Calm down, and tell me what happened. We’ll make her pay, but until then save your anger.”
The lunar empress took a few deep breaths, before she looked visibly calm again.
“I’m sorry sister, it’s just that this failure-!”
“It’s frustrating, I know. Now what did Lulamoon do?”
Luna looked at the floor. “She unwove my binding spell and used the energy I put in it to teleport.”
Celestia blinked, before chuckling. “Teleportation with a binding spell’s power behind it? The foolish mare could not possibly control that. The idiot’s corpse is probably floating in the void right now, in several hundred million pieces.”
“But that death is too quick!” Luna hissed. “I want to find her corpse, bring her back, so she can die properly.”
Celestia sighed. Her sister was so vengeful...
Just like her.
Celestia smiled and pecked her sister on the cheek. “Then that’s what we’ll do. But meanwhile, I have a gift for you to help you relax.”
Celestia lit up her horn, sending a mental signal. Several seconds later, a small brown pegasus colt with no cutie mark came in through the massive golden doors to the private dining room.
The colt looked nervous, and didn’t say anything. Just staring at his two goddesses with awe and fear.
As he should.
Luna ‘squeed’ at the sight of him, before hugging her sister with gusto.
“Oooh! Sister, he is just perfect! Perfect size, age, species, even color!”
Celestia grinned. “Anything for my dearest sister. I hope you find him adequate throughout your beautiful night.”
Luna licked her lips. “He is perfectly adequate. If you do not mind sister, I’ll skip dinner for now. I have an itch that needs scratching.” Her smile turned lecherous.
“Come, little colt.” She said as she lifted the child in her magic, and trotted over to him. “Tonight you become a stallion~”
With that, the lunar empress teleported, colt in tow.
Celestia shook her head, a smile upon her face. She never understood her sister’s fascination with foals, but whatever made her happy.
She was originally going to give her that gift once she had helped her with the new troop deployment plans, but she decided that Luna deserved an early present.
The solar empress floated a map onto the table, and she began magically drawing upon it.
It was going to be a busy, but good night.