Some Things Cannot be Undone

Chapter Three

      The clouds loomed over head. It was going to be another darkened day. Celestia didn't know what to expect, it had been dark and dreary everyday since the day of the accident. The day Discord was lost to the darkness. She remembered that dreadful day and if she had known what was to happen that day, she would never have attempted to dethrone their leader.

     She and Luna were walking side by side down an empty rode. Dust was flying in the air and almost formed a thick fog. She they couldn't see ten feet in front of their hooves. The road was paved but because of the destruction that had fallen Equestria, it was now cracked in places and had plants growing through. It was unsettling walking through the the dust. Without their sight, they didn't know what would be in front of them. They passed several destroyed carriages, the now broken means of escape. All around her she could feel an eerie presence. She could hear the cries of creatures in the distance. None were happy.

Three Months Earlier

     Discord lead them through the garden and directed them towards a small bench. "You can sit there if you need to." He told them. He noticed them as they still stood behind him. "I thought you guys were tired?"

     Celestia looked at him. "Well if you're gonna show us the layout of the party then shouldn't we follow you?"

      "I guess you're right. Well let's get started shall we?" He replied.

    He lead them around the courtyard showing them where everything would be laid out and where they should sit. He showed them a few sculptures that had been made for him, including the fountain the blue mare from before had made him.

After a while, Luna cleared her throat to get his attention. "Please cousin, could you maybe show us around the inside of the castle? I think Celestia and I have the placed mapped out now." She smiled at him as he looked at her. "Besides, we hear you have a new library and would like to see how many books you've got."

    "That's interesting" Discord thought aloud, he then grinned at Luna. "I always remember that it was Celestia that liked to read. In fact, I do believe that you once wrote me a letter on how mad you were when I sent you a book as a present!"

     Luna laughed a little nervously. "Yeah, I guess time changes ponies, am I right?"

     She looked at Celestia and gave her a look. Celestia understood immediately. While Luna had distracted Discord in the Library, she would sneak the crown back. She remembered that they hadn't brought the poisoned crown but thought better of it. They almost corrupted the most powerful alicorn in the country, they probably shouldn't risk more than they could handle for one day. They would have to plan this another day.

    They were then less into the castle by Discord and passed a few of the royal guards. They began to climb a flight of stairs and just a few floors higher, they turned into a large corridor. She noticed a pair of fine Oak doors. Above the doors was a golden crown engraved into the wall. She remembered that this was indeed his room. She had already been in there once and still remembered where she laid the crown.

     Finally after turning a corner near the end of the hall, they found the library. Celestia's jaw dropped to the floor as they walked inside. Rows upon rows of books were stacked along shelves. This was by far the biggest collection of books she had ever seen. When she finally became princess, she knew she would spend many hours in here.

      Discord noticed her expression and smirked. "I bet you would love to have a library as big as this, wouldn't you Celestia. Maybe if you visited more often you could actually read here. I'm also willing to let you borrow some books as long as you return them in good condition."

     Luna could care less however, but feigned surprise to keep her act unnoticeable. She ran towards one of the shelves and began searching through the books. She pulled out a blue book that had gold letters scrawled across the cover. It read King Solomare's Scrolls: Volume Four. "Wow!" She exclaimed. "Discord, do you have all of these books?!"

      Discord chuckled at her remark. "Indeed. Keep in mind though, that these are merely copies of the originals. The real scrolls are far too valuable to keep in public. We have a huge variety of books, including books of parchment written in Hieroglyphics about the old world, to Faerie tales like Old King Colt. Take a look at whatever you like!"

     "Umm, Discord?" Celestia asked. "Is there a bathroom around here somewhere?"

       "Of course, here take this map." He suddenly bowed his head and his horn began to glow with a shade of grey. Out of thin air, a map fellow upon the ground before Celestia. She used her own magic to levitate it. She looked at it and notice it was roughly drawn. It showed their presence in the library and had a dotted line leading towards the staircase they had climbed. It showed a large, red "X" crossed over a small rectangle in which she assumed was the library.

      "My dear, don't get lost. We'll be waiting here for you." Discord told her as she began her way out the door. She of course wasn't really in need of a bathroom. She was headed straight towards the room she had saw earlier. She crossed into the hallway with the doors and made sure nopony was patrolling the area. After making sure it was clear, she opened the doors to reveal a large room.

    On the floor lay a giant carpet. It was a royal shade of purple and had golden lines circling into a floral pattern. Near one corner of the room lay a large bed with the same pattern as the rug upon the sheets. She approached the dresser where she had previously laid the crown and cursed to herself. The crown was gone. The letter was still there, but had been stamped by the royal guards.

      They must have went into his room to search in case of anything and found the crown. As she read the letter again, she noticed more writing below her's.

Lord Draqonequus,

We have taken the liberty of taking your gift and have added it to the table you shall sit at tonight. We thought that you might want to show it off in front of everypony as you wore it. *Hoof Stamp*

      Celestia growled in frustration. How would they get the crown now. It would seem suspicious if they took it now that the guards knew where it was. She also probably get caught if she tried to take it. She was now in a pickle. She to tell Luna. She would probably have an idea on how to get it.

      She dashed out of the room slamming the doors behind her. She galloped back towards the library and burst in. She blushed when she saw Discord and Luna staring at her. Discord had a look of humor on his face while Luna clearly knew something was wrong.

      "My! Somepony was eager to get back. Seriously though, you shouldn't run through the castle. Wouldn't want any accidents, now would we?" Discord told her.

    "Luna can I talk to you for a second?"

       Luna approached her sister and leaned in to whisper, "What's up? Did you get it?"

    Celestia shook her head and replied, "No, it wasn't there. The guards have taken it outside and put it near Discord's seat. They want him to put it on in front of everypony at his party."

      "What!" Luna hissed. "Then how are we going to get it?"

"I thought that you would know."

      Luna sighed. "We need a back up plan Tia..."

     Celestia tilted her head a little, "What do you mean?"

  "If we can't retrieve the crown, because it's highly unlikely that we will, we need to know what to do. This is total destruction here! If Discord were to wear it, who knows how much power he could have. It will corrupt him! He will be malevolent. We wouldn't stand a chance against him. We need an escape plan."

      "But we still need to try to get it!" Celestia objected. "We can't just let him have it."

     Luna only shook her head. "Tia, like I said, our chances are slim. We would probably get hurt or worse if we're still here by the time he wears it. It's better to be safe than sorry. We going to have to leave. And not just leave Canterlot, we would need to leave Equestria. Find a way of escaping the evil that will arise."

      Celestia was fixing to argue but decided against it. She looked Luna in the face and slowly nodded. "You're right. But when we leave, we have to find a way to stop him."

     "I know. We will." Luna reached towards her and gave her a small hug. "Now let's make it like winter and wrap this up."

    They turned and looked for Discord and noticed him in a seat a few yards away. It was obvious he hadn't over heard as he was reading a large book. He turned and smiled as he saw them approach. "Ah, girls! Are we ready to leave now?" He asked.

     "Yes," Luna stated. "We also need to head back home."

    Discord looked at them. He was certainly displeased. "For whatever so?" He questioned.

    "We need to get home and look through our dresses so we can look nice for the party."

    Discord laughed at her excuse. "My dear, you don't need to look nice for me. It's a casual party for a reason. You aren't supposed to wear anything special."

     Luna looked at him with a light expression. "I know, but we want to look nice for your birthday. We missed your last one so we wanna make it up to you. You needn't worry either, we'll be back before the party starts. We don't want to miss anything."

   "Well alright you two," he finally agreed. "Don't forget to come to the garden. That's where it's at!"

     They made their way downstairs and through the gardens once more. They noticed more ponies had shown up. There were some with scraggly beards and others with flowing manes. They passed by a pair who were talking and they noticed they both had unique accents that they had never heard before. This party was going to be big. Celestia admired the fact that even though these ponies were from lands afar, they still traveled to Equestria to celebrate Discord's birthday.

     Once at the gates, Discord waved at the two sisters and they said their good-byes. Little did Discord know that they wouldn't be seeing each other for a long while.

     Celestia and Luna made their way back home once more. They were going to pack everything they needed and were leaving as soon as possible. They would be lucky if they made it far from Canterlot by the time they left, but that was the least of their worries. They weren't coming back. That they were sure of. Maybe if they were to find a way to cure Discord, but that was unlikely. Their main goal was to be as far away from Discord as possible. Only then would they began searching for a solution.

      They finally made it home as the clock struck Five. They rushed in and looked across the house searching for things they would need. They gathered food and water, a couple of personal items and Celestia wouldn't leave most of her books behind. Luna rolled her eyes and put some of her sister's books in her saddlebag. After about a half-hour they finished. They made one more sweep through the house to make sure they got everything.

      They both decided to eat before they left so they didn't need to stop later. They had a small meal of a few salads and bread before finally setting out. Celestia felt a tear form as she left her farewells to her home and her city. Luna felt a little pain in her chest but felt it best to go before she too, becam emotional.

     They took their saddlebags and began walking down the road. They noticed other ponies were closing up shops and locking up their homes as they left for the party. Literally almost everyone in Canterlot would go to Discord's parties. Even the small inns that were usually open 24/7 were closing for the event. Celestia wanted to shout at them. To tell them not to go, but she knew better. Besides, nopony would listen to her pleas.

     They soon arrived at the outskirts of Canterlot as the sky began to change towards night. It would be time soon. It was only a matter of minutes and they both were bracing for it. They passed more buildings that were more run down. Some were even abandoned. Celestia asked Luna if they could stay in one for the night, but Luna said no, they couldn't stop. Even at night, they were to walk until they were tired.

       That's when it happened. Behind them, a large boom deafened their ears. They looked back and saw a terrifying sight. A large mushroom cloud had risen above where the castle was, more black than they could imagine. Without realization, a large barrier pushed them towards the ground. The blast of energy from the explosion had pushed them to the ground. The buildings around them shook. Any that will had window panes shattered. Then they noticed it. A darkness was soon spreading upon them.  Buildings were being uprooted in the distance and soon the ground around the began to be pulled backwards. The energy sucking in everything.

       "Run!" Luna shouted. "We have to hurry or we'll be absorbed too!"

   Without any hesitation, Celestia ran with her sister. It was difficult with the ground shaking beneath them. As they ran they both were tripped by another wave of energy. But this time, everything went silent. Celestia and Luna were terrified at what was to come. That's when the ground began to shift. At first it was a low rumble, then the road began to twist. Cracks began to form along the land. As they got back up they huddled together.

      The cracks began to spread around them and widened severely. They soon opened into larger holes that spread around and beneath the road. What was different about these cracks were they didn't have a bottom. They were empty holes that lead nowhere.

    Luna began to run again and her sister followed suit. They tried to out run the chaos that was surrounding them. They didn't stop running until the cracks in the earth stopped spreading. They sat in the road as they caught their breath. Celestia and Luna were now both crying as they saw the land around them. The darkness had already spread around them and many things had taken strange forms.

     The road seemed to be rising towards an invisible peak while there were trees dotted across the land that instead of leaves, contained daggers. There was a small sign nearby that said Leaving So Soon? that was bent sideways. The weather had also changed drastically as clouds had fully covered what had been a previously cloudless night. They could here the sound of thunder rumble overhead as rain began to fall. It strangely taste of chocolate milk.

     They continued onward through the country side, sneaking glimpses of what had been Canterlot. Only a few of the stronger buildings remained but from the looks of it, were badly damaged. The mushroom cloud still lingered in the distance but was now incised in a large lightning storm.

     "This was all our fault." Celestia turned towards Luna. "We should have been happy with what we had. We did this. We destroyed Equestria, maybe even the world. And it was all for our own selfish needs."

      Luna pressed against her sister. "I know. But we can still set it right. We can try and save Discord. We can rebuild Equestria ourselves when the time comes."

     Celestia bowed her head as they continued walking. She sighed. "If the time comes."