Mother
The past few weeks had been beyond strange for Twilight Sparkle. Rumors speaking of Princess Celestia somehow becoming pregnant began to circulate, despite the fact she had not been seen with any Stallions in any way that could suggest such a possibility. At first, Twilight had dismissed the rumors as mere sensationalized gossip and false newspaper articles taken too seriously. She was able to convince her friends that all was most likely well, and that the Princess would probably be sorting out this clearly false information.
Then Princess Celestia announced she had a very important announcement to make to the citizens of Canterlot and all of Equestria. The rumors flared up once more, causing Twilight mild frustration and even causing side-tracks and distractions during her friendship lessons with Starlight Glimmer. Once more, Twilight dismissed the rumors, but nonetheless kept a very careful eye on the announcement.
Twilight remembered arriving in Canterlot to watch and hear what Celestia had to say. When the Princess of the Sun had emerged from the castle to the massive crowd of Canterlot Ponies, it was immediately clear to Twilight that something was very wrong. Celestia looked tired, exhausted even. More So than Twilight had ever seen before from the Alicorn. Further, there was a definite jittering to Celestia’s movements. All of her normal grace was gone, replaced with sagging and lazy steps, accented by almost imperceptible twitches. Nopony else in the crowd seemed to notice the Princess's clearly distraught appearance.
What happened next, Twilight could barely believe.
“Good afternoon, my little ponies.” Celestia started, her voice sounding slightly raspy, matching perfectly with her image of exhaustion. “I am well aware of the rumors that have been circulating about me. That somehow, someway, I had become pregnant.”
Twilight leaned forward slightly in anticipation of the Princess probably destroying those rumors.
“...While I understand that the critical thinkers and analysts among you may have come to the conclusion that such an occurrence has not transpired, I must admit to the contrary.”
Twilight blinked, her ears flattening against her head. What? Was this some kind of insane practical joke? The crowd immediately began to emit the sound of ponies whispering to one another, exchanging theories comprised of one or two sentences. Celestia allowed them to whisper for a few moments before clearing her throat. All went silent.
“I admit to the fact that I did indeed become pregnant, though, how this occurred is a mystery to me as much as it is to you.”
More whispers. Some ponies began shouting out questions, which Celestia seemed to ignore. Twilight examined the face of her former teacher closely, immediately spotting signs of distress and fear. Even from here, Twilight could see a twitch to Celestia’s eyes as they darted left and right. Her ears began to twitch rapidly, as though taking in each and every single voice from the crowd in exquisite detail. She was starting to look overwhelmed, her jaw opening slightly but no words coming out.
It was then that Twilight noticed Princess Luna emerging from where Celestia had come, clearly concerned for the wellbeing of her sister. The moon princess placed a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder and addressed the crowd herself.
“Please, forgive my sister. The events of the last few weeks have left her distraught and… It would be best if we came to understand more of the situation before we speak further of it. For now, all you need to know is that Celestia was somehow made pregnant.”
Celestia turned to Luna and gave a thankful nod. Luna nodded in return before guiding her sister back into Canterlot Castle. The crowd erupted into exclamations and cries of confusion and questions. Twilight was frozen, however, gazing at the balcony with a gaping jaw and wide eyes. This wasn’t right... Something felt completely wrong about this.
* * * * * *
One Month Later…
Ever since that announcement had been made, Celestia had made no public appearances. Luna seemed to handle all of the questions and public speaking now. Rumors were spreading like wildfire about the situation, and each one made Twilight feel more and more… wrong. This entire situation just didn’t add up. The last Twilight had heard from Princess Celestia was in the form of a letter just after Twilight returned to her castle.
It had simply read…
Dearest Twilight,
I am afraid that I must ask you to not return to Canterlot for the time being. I have made arrangements for your parents to be moved out of the city and to Ponyville for their own safety.
-Yours, Princess Celestia.
It was hastily scribbled and not at all like the elegant text that Celestia usually wrote. Twilight had written back to inquire about the situation, but no answers came. It had been a month since then, and Twilight had remained in Ponyville despite what her mind and gut were telling her to do.
She knew something was wrong and she needed to return to Canterlot to help however she could. She knew something was wrong, could feel something was wrong. How many times had she woken up in the castle she called home and told herself she would make the trip to Canterlot that day to investigate, only to make it to the balcony and freeze in place until she abandoned her plan? It was maddening, as if something primal, subconscious and beyond her own awareness was preventing her from making the trip.
However, that would all change on the thirtieth day since the announcement. Twilight, Spike and Starlight Glimmer were going through a list of what the days next lesson should be when Spike suddenly clutched at his belly and belched out a letter. Strangely, this one was not rolled up in a scroll with the royal seal on it. It was crumpled up into a ball. Twilight opened the note in telekinesis and studied the contents.
Twilight
Something horrible is happening. You must come to Canterlot at once. Bring nopony with you, and keep a low profile. I will meet you in the statue garden where we once held Discord.
-Princess Luna.
As soon as Twilight finished reading it, she dropped the letter and broke into a gallop for the northern balcony. She heard hoofsteps and the clicking of Spike’s feet on the floor behind her, keeping pace.
“Twilight, what’s going on?!” Starlight asked nervously, looking at her teacher with clear worry written on her face.
“I wish I knew…” Twilight answered as they came out onto the balcony. She turned to Spike and Starlight. “Listen, I need you two to stay here, alright? Keep an eye on things here in Ponyville.”
“But, Twilight-” Starlight began, but a narrowing of Twilight’s eyes silenced her.
“I’m sorry, but there’s no time to argue. Something bad is going on up there, but Luna didn’t want me to bring anypony with me on the way.” Twilight softened her gaze and nodded to herself. “I’ll be back soon.”
* * * * * *
The streets of Canterlot were empty of ponies, which was surprising given the mid-afternoon hour. But there were very clear signs of some sort of chaos or panic erupting recently. Buildings had sustained damage, some to the point of collapse. There was smoke rising from smoldering remains and debris, though the fires had already burned out it seemed. Twilight settled down outside of the castle and continued on hoof, needed to give her wings a rest. As she looked around, she noted that there were many signs of damage even within the castle that had not been there one month ago.
The castle had changed outside of damage, however. It was almost alien now, though not in any way Twilight could see. It was on an instinctual level, a feeling that made it feel like millions of insects of varying sizes were crawling under her skin. Twilight made a few turns before returning to the exterior and beholding the statue garden. Princess Luna should be here somewhere. Twilight spread her wings and lifted into the air with the intent of getting a better view of the area.
Among the greens of the grass and bushes, the browns of the dirt and the gray of the statues, Twilight didn’t see any immediate sign of Princess Luna.
“Hello? Luna?” She called carefully, perking her ears up to listen for a response. She didn’t hear anything except for the sound of the wind blowing by, creating an eerie whistle as it passed through the area. She kept searching for several minutes, finally spotting Luna in the back of the statue garden. She was sitting down on the grass, head down as though asleep.
Twilight landed in front of the blue alicorn and let out a hesitant sigh of relief. “Princess Luna, I’m so glad you’re not hurt.”
“Twilight Sparkle?” Luna snapped awake and looked at Twilight almost instantly. There was a definite exhaustion in Luna’s face, and clear strain. It was then that Twilight noticed the light coming from Luna’s horn. She was casting some sort of spell.
“Luna… what’s happening?” Twilight asked carefully, taking a step forward.
“N-no time to explain! T-the ceremony chamber! Where you were coronated, where the wedding happened! Get there! Please, stop this madness! Free them!” Luna gasped as her magic flickered, her forehooves shooting up to the sides of her head, scraping at it like she was trying to force some unseen creature from crawling on her.
“You need help, though!” Twilight exclaimed, activating her own magic and reaching to try and help.
“NO!”
Luna’s hoof lanced out and struck Twilight in the side of the face, disrupting the flow of her magic and sending her spiraling to the grass. Twilight looked up slowly at Luna in shock.
“The longer you stay here the worse this gets! It’s too late to help me! Go! NOW!” Luna was almost screaming, her voice twisting and contorting into something… unnatural as she collapsed to the ground, writhing and groaning in pain, her magic flickering once more.
Twilight hesitated, her instincts telling her to stay and help Luna. “But-”
“GO!!!” Luna screamed, voice enhanced and amplified by the royal canterlot voice. Twilight gripped at her ears for a moment before nodding solemnly, turning and galloping away. Luna watched her go, a smile briefly touching her face before her eyes rolled up into her skull.
* * * * * *
The light seemed to vanish all around Twilight as she continued through the Castle towards the ceremony chamber. There was a faint sound coming from beyond the chamber’s doors, though whatever the noise was, the alicorn princess could not tell. Twilight gulped as she came to a stop just in front of the door, under which was a flickering blue light.
Twilight reached out with her magic and opened the doors just slightly so she could peek inside. She stifled a gasp at what she saw. The ceremony chamber was awash with ominous blue light, generated by candle flame of the same color. The floor of the chamber held dozens of unicorns and earth ponies, all kneeled as though in prayer. Above them, the pegasi were doing the same things, despite their flapping wings.
In the very front of the crowd, Twilight could see Princess Celestia kneeling as well, her head down even lower than that of everypony else in the room. Twilight took a slow, deep breath and pushed the door open. Nopony seemed to take any notice, continuing their prayer uninterrupted.
Twilight slowly stepped in, the disgusting feeling of insects on her body intensifying to an almost unbearable level. She shook her head to clear it of distraction and slowly began to trot through the gathering. As she went, she took note of what the ponies were whispering. She felt her ears droop against her head at the realization that they were all saying some variation of ‘mother.’ Every word she could think of that could carry the same meaning was being whispered by the ponies around her.
Finally, as she was nearing Celestia, Twilight noticed what was on the elevated part of the room. It was a crib. From inside, Twilight could hear breathing, slow and even. Like somepony was sleeping inside. Strangely, the inside of the crib was shrouded from view by a large white blanket draped over it.
Twilight paused as she felt a hoof on her chest. She looked down to see that Celestia was now looking up at her, a hoof on Twilight’s chest to prevent her from advancing. Twilight shrinked back at the look in Celestia’s face. Her eyes were rolled up into her skull, and there were blood stains beneath them as though her eyes had been bleeding. The open mouthed grin she was giving Twilight revealed that she was missing some of her teeth, with some of the rest being broken or cracked. Her gums had been bleeding as well.
“Twilight… would you like to see the baby…?” Celestia asked slowly, her head tilting slowly to the side. Twilight leaned away as the scent of decaying flesh and blood reached her nostrils.
“The… baby?”
“Yes, Twilight... the baby... the mother of us all…” Celestia trailed her hoof down Twilight’s chest, down one of her forelegs and then gripping Twilight’s hoof tightly. Her grip was as cold as ice.
“Princess Celestia, what are you talking about?” Twilight asked fearfully, voice jittering as Celestia slowly rose. Everypony else in the room looked up, opening their eyes and revealing they all looked marginally the same. Eyes rolled back, and open-mouthed smiles revealing decaying teeth. Celestia leaned in close to Twilight.
“It is an honor, Twilight..” She whispered into the purple alicorn’s ear. Twilight tried to pull her hoof away from Celestia’s, but found that she could not due to the strength of Celestia’s grip.
“I… I don’t understand.” Twilight said weakly before Celestia began to lead her towards the crib.
“You will…” Celestia said slowly, an empty calmness in her voice, that at the same time sounded almost happy. Twilight tried once more to pull her hoof away, but Celestia’s grip was like a vice. “You will understand…”
“Celestia, please, snap out of it! This isn’t like you!” Twilight pleaded, watching as the Princess pulled the blanket off of the crib. Twilight closed her eyes as tight as she could, afraid that what she might see would be the end of her.
“Come now, Twilight… Open your eyes…” Celestia cooed softly, her grip on Twilight’s foreleg intensifying to the point of being painful. Twilight shook her head and began to channel magic into her horn. “Please, Twilight… don’t make us wait any longer…” Celestia’s voice came again, this time dangerously close to Twilight’s face. Twilight could feel her old mentor’s breath on her eyelids.
Twilight let out a cry of pain as something clamped down on her eyelid, pinching the thin flesh tightly before pulling. Twilight screamed in pain, losing the focus on her magic as her eyelid was ripped away, causing blood and tears to start pouring over her vision. Acting on Reflex, Twilight struck with her free foreleg, slamming it into the side of Celestia’s head. Celestia grunted in pain, stumbling away from Twilight and letting her go.
Twilight collapsed to the ground, clutching her hooves to her thoroughly destroyed eyelid, making sure to keep her other eye tightly closed. She could now hear the sound of a baby crying. It was not the cries she knew, however. Whatever baby was within that crib, it simply should not exist. It did not belong in Equestria.
“Twilight, please, accept your mother’s embrace…” Celestia’s voice sounded from Twilight’s side, tone unchanged.
“Stop this!!” Twilight shouted, spreading her wings and launching into the air. She channeled magic into her horn, adjusting her hooves on her face to make room, and fired a beam of magic down towards where the babies cries were coming from. She heard an impact, and the baby screaming, but the feeling didn’t leave her body. What was worse, is she could now hear hooves and wings moving quickly towards her. The rest of the ponies in the chamber did not take too kindly to her attack, it would seem.
The baby continued crying below her. Twilight tried to think, but it felt like something was invading her mind, disrupting all thoughts and plans. The feeling of the insects crawling began to gather mostly inside of her head. Try as she might, Twilight could not focus on anything. Her wing’s desynchronized and she spiraled to the ground, tackled by a pegasi and pinned to the ground. She started screaming and struggling, trying to break away from the crowd that was now forcefully pulling her back towards the crib.
“Stop! Think about what you’re doing! Help me!!!” Twilight screamed, panic filling her system. She risked a glance to see where she was, to see how close she was to the crying baby. Luckily, the baby wasn’t visible, but it was close. She slammed her eyes shut again, but despair began to fill her as the ponies pulling her along began to remove her hooves from the eye Celestia had bitten the lids off of. Try as she might, she could not overpower them. Her eye was completely exposed.
Suddenly, Twilight felt a surge of magic around her. A bright flash filled her vision and she was once again feeling a cold breeze from the outdoors. She let out a startled yelp and shoved her hooves over her damaged eye.
“Twilight! Are you okay?!” A familiar voice said, causing Twilight to calm down from her panicked shivering, if only slightly.
“S-s-starlight?” Twilight said weakly, her voice started to fail her and devolve into quiet whimpers and sobs.
“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?” Starlight asked quickly.
“I… I don’t know…” Twilight replied, removing her hooves from her damaged eye. Starlight gasped at the sight.
“Oh my goodness…”
“I won’t ask why you’re here until this is done… for now, we have to kill that foal!” Twilight said, slowly rising to her hooves. She was at the top of one of the towers around Canterlot castle.
“What?!” Starlight exclaimed, taking a step back and looking fearfully at Twilight.
“Listen! Whatever Celestia was pregnant with was born and it is responsible for this! I just know it! They keep calling it their ‘mother.’ When I got too close to it, I just felt… wrong.” Twilight turned her eyes to Starlight. “It isn’t a being that belongs in Equestria. It must be removed.”
“You would murder your own mother…?” Celestia’s voice sounded from above them. Twilight turned and looked up, seeing that Celestia was hovering above them, flapping her wings rigidly to keep herself aloft.
“That thing is not my mother!” Twilight snarled, channeling magic into her horn.
“It is the mother of every last pony in Equestria…” Celestia said, a haze coming over her eyes, as though overcome with some sort of manic bliss.
“I don’t understand… What do you mean?” Starlight asked nervously, trotting up next to Twilight.
“I was chosen to be the vessel from which our mother could be reborn... “ Celestia answered with a smile coming over her face as she began to lower herself towards Twilight and Starlight.
“Reborn?” Starlight pressed as Twilight flared up her magic even more.
“Yes… it is so wonderful to see her return…” Celestia said as she stopped at eye level with Twilight.
“Where did she go all this time?” Starlight asked, channeling her own magic.
` “...It would be best to show you.” Celestia said, drifting closer to the two of them.
“Stay back!” Twilight snapped, a magic force field appearing and forcing Celestia back.
“You don’t understand... This is something you must see…” Celestia grinned again, her head tilting to the side once more, almost too far.
“Why must we see it? Why can’t you just tell us?” Starlight asked firmly, getting a teleportation spell ready just in case.
“...It cannot be explained… it must be seen.” Celestia said in that never-changing voice. She drifted forward once more.
“Stay away!” Twilight flared up her magic again, expanding the field and pushing Celestia back once more.
“Stop this, Twilight… you will make your mother sad…” Celestia pouted, reaching a hoof out to touch the surface of Twilight’s barrier.
“We need a plan, Twilight! Any ideas?” Starlight said nervously, looking over at her teacher. Twilight was sweating, trembling and gasping for breath. She was struggling to keep this barrier up.
“None…” Twilight groaned, looking at Celestia with her damaged eye while the other one remained closed. After several seconds, Twilight’s horn flared up significantly. The barrier dropped and she lowered her eyes to look at the floor. “Fine… take us to mother…” She uttered in defeat, earning a shocked gasp from Starlight.
“Twilight! You can’t be serious!”
“Trust me, okay?” Twilight said, looking at Starlight with a strange look in her eyes. It was though she was looking past Starlight, not at her.
“How wonderful… come along…” Celestia said sweetly, reaching down and grabbing Twilight’s hoof once more in that vice grip. She reached out for Starlight as well.
“Stay away from-” Starlight started before Twilight cut her off.
“Please, Starlight. Come with me.” Twilight said reassuringly. Something in her voice seemed off; the fear was still there, but not nearly as strong. In its stead was more of a tone of strain, and effort, as though Twilight were struggling with some incredible weight. Starlight gulped and let Celestia take her hoof.
Celestia smiled and channeled magic of her own. The three of them were teleported back into the ceremony chamber, where the ponies from before were now all standing, or flying in the case of the Pegasi, and gazing angrily at the new arrivals.
Starlight heard the baby crying before she opened her eyes. It sounded just as wrong to her as it had to Twilight. She heard a faint flicker of magic and a sharp pain shot through her skull. She winced but otherwise made no sound. Celestia’s hoof tightened around theirs, giving a reassuring yet painful squeeze. “Go on… look at your mother and see the truth…” Celestia whispered to them.
“Twilight… are you sure about this?” Starlight asked quietly, turning her head towards where she imagined Twilight to be.
“Trust me… everything will be okay.” Twilight said slowly. Starlight wasn’t sure why, but she believed her. She took a deep breath, turned her head to face the crying baby and opened her eyes.
For a moment, she was confused. She couldn’t see anything. She knew her eyes were open, but they weren’t taking in any light. She went to voice her concerns, but then remembered what Twilight had just said. ‘Everything will be okay.’
This was the plan? Render themselves blind so they couldn’t take in the image of… whatever was beneath them? Well, if nothing else, she was still thinking clearly.
“Do you understand, now?” Celestia asked gently, her grip on their hooves relaxing to the point it was almost comforting.
“I think so…” Twilight said softly, emulating the cold emptiness of Celestia’s voice. Starlight could tell that there was probably more to this than that, given the way Celestia tensed in her grip.
“Something’s wrong…” Celestia muttered. Starlight could feel the princess shifting slightly.
“NOW!” Twilight suddenly shouted. Starlight heard magic once more, and angered shouts and gasps erupted from the crowd behind them as she felt another barrier surround them. Starlight thought as quickly as she could, trying to figure out what spell would work best here. She had no idea what she was up against and only a few seconds to get rid of it before the barrier would fail.
Without thinking, she channeled all of the magic she had in her body into the first spell that came to mind. She directed the stream of magic downward and silently prayed that this worked. She heard the baby below her let out an ear-splitting scream that defied all concepts of what a baby should sound like. Then it fell silent. At the same time, she heard the sounds of dozens upon dozens of shouts and cries of pain, followed swiftly by pony bodies collapsing to the floor.
It was quiet… too quiet. Starlight gulped and felt around with her forelegs. “Twilight?” She called out carefully.
“I’m here… what spell was that?” Twilight asked tiredly, releasing a breath that she had been holding.
“I don’t know if it was the best choice… It was a spell that sends creatures to Tartarus. I doubt that will be a permanent solution, but if nothing else, it should buy us some time…” Starlight explained, sitting down to catch her breath.
“Good thinking…” Twilight muttered, the sound of her sitting down quite audible as well. “So… why did you come after me? I mean, I’m glad you did, but what prompted you to follow me?”
“The letter. You left it on the floor just before leaving. After you left, I read it and followed as fast as I could.” Starlight said, feeling thankful that she had decided to do that as well.
“...Thank you.” Twilight said quietly, the sound of her feeling around for a moment with her hoof could be heard before she rested it on Starlight’s shoulder.
They sat there for a while, trying to collect themselves. Finally, Starlight closed her useless eyes and sighed. “I’m not going to like being blind.”
“I’m sure we can find a solution.” Twilight said, though it seemed she doubted her own words. Starlight didn’t answer, as the sounds of the various ponies in the room stirring and returning to the waking world hit her ears.
“What… what happened?” Celestia asked from the other side of the now empty crib.
* * * * * *
Three Days Later…
Starlight and Twilight had been returned to Ponyville after an entire day of explaining what had happened and what they knew, along with having their eyes repaired. Celestia’s memories became fuzzy after she became pregnant, and outright failed when she gave birth, so they couldn’t call back on her for any additional information. Luna was found half dead in the Statue Garden. Luckily, she was on her way to a full recovery.
The following days were spent investigating the matter and checking on the status of Tartarus in order to try and find a way to remove this ‘mother’ forever. Much of Canterlot’s population had reportedly fled the city the day Twilight arrived, as they had seen the chaos starting and opted to leave the city instead of join those being forcefully dragged to the castle. It seemed everypony in the castle who had seen the ‘baby’ being born had been affected and influenced into going out and bringing everypony they could find back into the castle in order to see the mother.
But there were still so many unanswered questions. What was this ‘mother?’ Where had it gone so long ago? How was she supposedly the mother of every pony in Equestria? What were its intentions? How had Celestia given birth to it so fast? All questions that nopony had the answers to.
But there was one other question that lingered in Twilight’s mind. Something that kept her up at night and filled her sleep with incomprehensible nightmares. Something that she was not alone in pondering.
The creature they had sent to Tartarus was referred to as ‘The Mother.’ If that was the case…
Where was the father?