New Lunar Republic: Desperate Measures

Celestia meditated in her throne room. In the silence, she entered an almost trance-like state. Her power grew stronger every single moment of the day. When she closed her eyes, she barely felt herself, her physical form. She was close to transcendence; she knew it. She couldn't feel her own heart beat or her own breathing. Power surged through her and the world around the white alicorn melted away. Truly, she felt like a god.

This must've been how her parents felt before they transcended. Celestia vowed that she would join them one day as an entity that went beyond time and space itself. She would fulfill her namesake and her destiny by joining her parents as a god. She believed that to be true and she had never felt closer to her goal.

Light crept in, the light from the sun as it set. A single pin-prick seeped through the stained glass window and laid upon her eyelid, slowly rising as the sun went down. It was small things like this that reminded Celestia she was still technically mortal. She used the irritation to steel her resolve normally. At the same time, she wondered how she would reach the next level. It didn't matter if she wasn't there yet; she would do whatever was necessary until she reached true ascendance. It was her destiny.

Slowly, she allowed her eyelids to upon and her mind to come back down to Equestria. Seven stone statues occupied her room, each representing one of the Elements of Harmony... and one representing the link she had to them. They were hers now as it always should've been.

Long ago, she and her sister had wielded the power until Luna had rebelled against her. Then, Celestia had tried to bestow the Elements upon subjects that would serve her undying. Again, they it had resulted only in rebellion. This had convinced the ruler: only she could control this power after her parents. That is why it had been given to her and why it was her burden and duty to wield them to protect her citizens. Even and especially from themselves.

The door to her throne room opened. It was another annoyance, though this one was not unexpected. A red dragon, proud and powerful strode towards her with a burning determination in his eyes. Celestia watched him. It was her own determination she saw in his eyes.

The dragon kneeled before her, his stance low and submissive. "My Queen, I have performed as you asked and returned. The demonstration was successful."

"Was it now?" she asked him, her voice stoic. She had lost all use for emotion or conveyance of emotion long ago. "How can you be so sure of its success?"

The dragon kept his head bowed in the kneeling stance. "I... performed exactly to your specifications, your highness. I administered the virus before the assembly and-"

"You said you were sure of the demonstration's success, not your own," the queen said. "How are you sure that the demonstration had the desired result?"

"I... I am-" he began to speak again, his voice uncertain. The princess used her magic to pick him up. He levitated off the ground and flew over to her throne. His limbs spread out involuntarily, Celestia's magic fully enveloping him, controlling him like a puppet. The magic then lowered him to just in front of her.

"How are you so sure of the demonstration's success? How can you be so sure that our goals were met by this single display? How do you know it won't take more?" she asked him.

"Your majesty..." the dragon trembled before her. "I... have misspoken."

"You have," she smiled. He understood his mistake. She turned away from him and looked out the stained glass window. While she averted her gaze from him, she allowed her magic to crush the dragon, pressing him to the floor until he returned to his submissive stance albeit lower this time. The dragon winced and groaned as his body was forced to bend uncomfortably low. Pain was good; it would remind him of his place and expectations.

"We will not be aware of the demonstration's success until we see an increase in productivity and a decrease in outbreaks. You will oversee our subjects directly and administer the virus to those who display any signs of disloyalty," she instructed him.

The dragon's eyes were closed tight as he bore the pain. "Yes... my queen..." he said. The magic abruptly released him and he shot upright.

Celestia had to admit, Minister Talon was useful. Absolute loyalty, strength and resourcefulness. Unfortunately, he was also a lizard and therefore inferior. Ponies were next for transcendence, not dragons. And Celestia was next among them. That is why she had ordered so many statues of herself to be built: she was a role model. She believed that was in fact all great leaders built monuments to themselves. They wanted to be seen as role models, something for their citizens to work towards. And Celestia made sure they worked.

That is just the way it was. Ponies were beasts of burden. It would be on the backs of each other that they would transcend. It was the only way; dragons, griffons, sea ponies, dogs, all were savages compared to the equine. Especially the barbaric dragons. Talon was the exception and that is why he had been spared when Celestia removed the dragon royal family for lack of a better word. He was a model to his species as she was to hers. But Talon would not transcend. On occasion, he needed to be reminded of that.

"Go now. Obey," Celestia said softly. She let the last word OBEY ring longer in his ears, a subtle work of magic. The dragon turned around abruptly and marched out without another word. The throne room door closed behind him and all was quiet again.

The sun almost went down completely but still shone through the window. Celestia watched the sun, HER sun as it descended. It would be another month before she had to use her magic again to set it in motion. The moon had been acting strangely lately. No doubt it was the result of her sister, still trapped. There were still some things in this world Celestia couldn't control and she had to be reminded of that sometimes. She would need to control everything if she would ever follow in her parents' hoofsteps.

The last ray of light reflected off the ceiling and angled down onto one statue in the throne room. Again, another appropriate reminder. The beam of sunlight landed on that of her last student, the statue of Twilight Sparkle.

In that last split-second, Celestia was reminded of her student, the one she'd entrusted Magic to. At first, Twilight had proven to be a model citizen herself. Her own powers of magic and her own relentless pursuit of power mirrored Celestia's own. Twilight researched day and night in Canterlot trying to become more powerful, learning more, trying to be more like Celestia. It was inspiring. Until the faithful day Celestia had sent her to Ponyville.

Twilight's path had been interrupted the day Celestia entrusted her to oversee a crucial ceremony, the Summer Sun Celebration. It was Celestia's mistake; she'd been preoccupied with her own sister's possible return from imprisonment and had left the care for the ceremony to Twilight. What Celestia hadn't anticipated was that Luna would reappear in Ponyville, not Canterlot and spread her vile idealism there.

Twilight and a few friends she'd made retrieved the Elements of Harmony as Celestia had planned. But Luna's appearance had changed things. Her sister planted seeds of doubt in their minds. Even Twilight had strayed from her path and each of them rose to challenge Celestia for rule. Using the power of the Elements of Harmony and her own sister, the seven ponies had attempted to usurp power and overthrow Celestia. How futile there attempt had been was as plain as the statues that adorned her throne room.

Celestia had steeled herself for what needed to be done. Twilight and her friends had bonded with the Elements of Harmony, becoming them in a sense just as Luna had bonded with the moon and Celestia the sun. They thought this would shield themselves from Celestia's ultimate wrath. But quite the opposite was true; there were many fates worse than death. Rather than destroy them, Celestia turned them to stone and banished her sister back to the moon. She'd lost a student in the process and a sister once again.

Celestia looked to the smaller statue next to the stone Twilight. Did Talon know his brother had rose against her? She didn't doubt the Minister's loyalty but she enjoyed testing it. Perhaps she would introduce him to his imprisoned sibling and remind him of the fate of those that opposed her. There was only one path and those that didn't follow it were distractions.

That is one way that the princess even remotely considered herself equal to any other creature on Equestria: they all walked the path. Celestia only led because she was the farthest down it, the closest to the goal. She was simply doing the duty of the followers.