Chapters "Is this what a war is...?"
Celestia turned her head towards the direction of the tiny voice she had heard behind her. She saw a very small foal who was huddled in a corner with two other foals. The three were all shaking, and Celestia saw the ice clumps sticking to their small, short coats.
It was extremely cold in the old, worn down fort. If what was going outside was quiet you could hear the crying of the foals and the hushed cooing of their mothers as they tried to calm them down. But it was not quiet. Ear splitting explosion sounds came from outside every ten minutes, and it shook the walls of the fort so much you could feel as if it was about to collapse. The heavy sound of wind blowing an hail striking the land could also be heard. But the worse part was the screams that could be heard very clearly outside. The screams of pain, the screams of agony that you hear before somepony dies a gruesome death. This was the noise that was the worst to hear, along with the sound of metal and iron weapons screeching together as ponies fought.
They're were a total of fifty refugees in the fort. Regular civilians that had lived in Canterlot. Stallions, mares, and foals alike. Everywhere you looked in the fort you could see everypony slowly suffering, ponies crying and begging the soidlers and Celestia to move them out of there.
It bought great pain to Celestia, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. They couldn't leave this frozen fort, there was nowhere to go. The enemy would find them if they left, and among the fifty refugees there were only 34 solders.
34 soldiers. Celestia had thought to herself. She tried not to think about the amount of soldiers they had too much, for that was draining her hope by the minute.
She was the princess of Equestria. She had desperately wanted to fight but her father, who was also the King, had forbid her. He said that he couldn't bare to see her get hurt or die in the war. So he had ordered her to take the civilians and her mother, the Queen, to this fort to hide until it was over.
She could barely believe her father. Years of her growing up under her father's personal training, and now he wasn't allowing her to fight in the war? Why couldn't Starswirl the Bearded hide the civilians? His magic could protect them better than she could. Celestia knew she was being selfish, but she just didn't feel like she could protect them. If the enemy were to find this place and get in...
Celestia shivered She didn't think she could live with herself if the blood of innocents was spilled under her protection.
But there was one thing that was worrying her to the bone. Her mother. The queen of Equestria, Diana. Celestia knew that something was wrong with her mother. She had been ill a week before the enemy attacked, and now she was getting even sicker at the worst of times Celestia, her father, and all of the royal guards had tried to find out what was wrong, but she had snapped at them and sent them away. This only increased their concern.
The entire world of Equestria was shaken at the moment. Canterlot was probably blown to dust by now, and she could hear the shreiks out dying ponies outside. For the first time, Celestia felt about as helpless as the defenseless civilians inside the fort. There was nothing she could do about any of this.
But that wasn't all. Neither her nor her mother would have seen this coming. The nature of who the enemy was, was just something too hard to bare. It was Celestia own uncle, Nathaniel. Celestia felt so betrayed, and she couldn't imagine how bad it was for her father. The king had been betrayed by his own brother, and now Nathaniel was setting war down on their heads.
The sound of a bomb exploding onto the snowy, bloodstained ground outside the fort ripped into Celestia's thoughts. The sudden crying of a newborn foal filled the entire first floor of the fort, interrupting the silence. Celestia was surprised at how quiet it had been. The only sounds before had just been the quiet sniffling and soft crying of the fillies. She turned her head to the sound of the crying. The mother, who was a unicorn wearing a tattered dress, was struggling to calm down her screaming foal.
Damn, that foal is going to get us found... Celestia thought. She could hear the exasperated sounds as other civilians and some of the soldiers mutter angrily at the mother, telling her to shut her foal up.
She was about to get up from her spot near the front of the barricaded fort doors to handle the situation herself, when she suddenly say an large, heavily armored stallion solider trot roughly over to where the mother and her foal were. His hoofsteps seemed to make the weak fort ground shake, and his wings her spread as far as they would possibly go. He looked agitated as he towered over the exhausted mare, who was cradling the still sobbing foal.
Celestia narrowed her eyes. She stood a distance away, watching the scene unfold. A few of the ponies in the fort glanced at her. Some of the soldiers gave Celestia an uneasy glance before they turned their eyes back on the giant, intimidating looking soldier.
The mare with the tattered dress glanced uneasily up at the soldier. "I'm sorry, sir." The mare said softly, as if she was predicting that he was about to complain. "I'm trying to calm him down...I just need to calm him back to sleep..." She muttered.
The stallion lowered his head and looked the mare dead in the eye. A few of the soldiers started to move forwards, about to get in between the soldier and then mare. But Celestia held up her right hoof, stopping them. They had to stop being so quick to jump to conclusions. But apparently, their prediction was right. The large pegasus suddenly snatched the foal roughly out of the mare's arms.
The mother screamed in horror as she scrambled to her feet. She launched herself at the soldier, and slammed into his golden armor in a poor attempt at an attack. "NO!" She wailed. "LET HIM GO! LET MY FOAL GO! PLEASE!!" Her terrified scream filled the fort and sent everyone into mass panic. Gasps and screams of horror came from some of the older foals at the violence unlocking before them. The soldier, still holding the foal, kicked the mare away from him. She fell on her back and got up again, begging the soldier to release her foal.
"Goddamn bitch." The stallion growled. His voice was deep and threatening. "If yer' damn little shit won't shut blood hell up, I'll make it." He then aimed to knock the foal on the head with his giant hoof.
The soldiers began to charge at their violent comrade, about to take the foal away from him. But Celestia was one step ahead of them. She spread her majestic white wings and leaped into the air. Like a powerful lioness, she dived at the soldier. Her hooves came in contact wit his back, and the princess pushed down hard, pinning the violent soldier into the ground.
The newborn foal went flying from his hooves, and it was still crying as loud as possible. One of soldiers gently caught it in his hooves, and the mother galloped over to retrieve her foal. The soldier returned it to it's mother, and she quickly took it away to calm it down. The mare had tears streaming down her face at the fact that her foal had almost been killed.
The stallion was struggling under Celestia's hooves. "Let me go, ya bitch!" He growled, lashing against Celestia. "Yer' gonna get us all killed in here! What idiot let you command the fort?"
Celestia decided it was time to tell this loud mouthed idiot off. What the hell did he think he was doing?
"Listen here, you cur. We're supposed to be protecting fifty innocent lives here, not tormenting or killing them." Celestia hissed into his ears, her ears flat against her head. At normal times, Celestia would be very calm and collected when dealing with these types of situations. However, she feared that the screaming and other loud noises they were making was starting to draw unwanted attention from the enemy. She was urgent to make everyone stop tearing each other's throats out.
The stallion stopped struggling under Celestia after she said that. Instead, gazed around the fort, at all of the terrified faces. "We're all gonna die." He said gruffly, not taking his eyes off of a small filly that was crying in a nearby corner. "It's no use. We might as well just start killing each other and get it over with. The enemy is winning, I can hear them. I'm sure you can hear them to, bitch." He growled, glancing up at Celestia. She fought back the incredibly powerful urge to slam her hoof into this guy's face.
"Ah, well." The soldier continued. "Ya would've made a terrible ruler anyway. A whiny, weak ass alicorn like yourself would probably get us all killed in three days.
Celestia felt anger bolt through her. Not at what this stallion said, but at the fact that she believed him. She would probably get them all killed. And if she ever did become a ruler, she knew that her immature self would never make a good one.
She slowly slid off of the stallion, her head bowed slightly. "Get out of my sight." Celestia said in a threatening voice. The soldier gazed at her for a few mere seconds. She could see the slight confusion in his eyes. Did he want to be more punished?
However, the stallion got up and quietly slunk into the shadows at the back of the fort. Celestia didn't break thoughtful eye contact with the ground for a long time.
Hours passed. Celestia had resumed her position near the front of the fort's doors. The moon was supposed to be up by now, but it wasn't. Night would have fallen by now. Celestia began to worry, because her mother had said she would still raise the moon, even though they were all in the fort. Her mother was resting on the top floor of the fort. Had something happened?
Celestia was about to get up and check on her mother herself, when suddenly the sound of frantic hoofsteps came from the stairs in the fort that led to the top floor. A horrified looking unicorn healer scrambled down the stairs, her eyes as big as saucers. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was apparently so scared she couldn't.
Celestia instantly ran over\ to the healer, fearing the worse. A few soldiers followed behind Celestia. The civilians watched with nervous eyes. "What has happened?! Please, tell me!" Celestia commanded frantically to the healer. Her worry was to the max. The healer looked up at Celestia and sputtered out the words Celestia never suspected she'd ever hear.
"Th- The queen...! Her water broke!"
Celestia didn't even think. In a split second, she was galloping as fast as she possibly could up the fort's unstable stairs. The stairs creaked and shook violently. It felt as if they were about to collapse, but Celestia could care less.
Her mother. Her mother. That's all that came to Celestia's mind. The fact that her mother was in grave danger. Her worries about the war stopped. Her concerns about that violent solider instantly ceased.
All she could think about was her mother.
Celestia finally finished scrambling frantically up the stairs, and when she came to the first floor she was greeted with a terrible sight. Her mother was lying on a large, wooden bed. She was lying on her back, and five healers plus two soldiers were surrounding her.
The two soldiers were holding her front legs down gently, and one of them was holding what looked like a plastic muzzle over her face. A little unicorn nurse was standing at the foot of the bed, and she was gently spreading the queen's legs. The nurse looked sick to her stomach, and Celestia didn't blame her at all. It was horrific. A clear looking liquid was gushing out of her mother's vagina, and there was also some blood in it. Celestia assumed with a sickening feeling that this must be her mother's water. There was a machine next to her bed, and it looked like one of those machines used at a hospital, Celestia wasn't sure. However, the machine was pumping some kind of gas into the muzzle on her mother's face. The gas had worked on her before, but now her mother was trying to fight off the effects of the gas. She was desperately trying to take off the muzzle on her face. The nurses were tending to her mother's water in a panicked manner, and the two soldiers were trying to keep her from taking off the muzzle.
Celestia remembered it now. The gas was propofol, which was a gas used to put patients to sleep before an operation. They had been using it before on the queen so she could sleep through her pain. Now the nurses were trying to put her to sleep so they could surgically remove her baby.
Her baby. Celestia had yet to realize the reality of what that meant. The queen, Diana, had been hiding her pregnancy from her husband, and even Celestia herself. She had been hiding it and now that she was starting labor the truth was revealed.
But why? Why would she hide something like that? Thoughts flew through Celestia's mind like an angry phoenix.
Celestia was pulled out of he wonders by an agonized scream. Celestia whipped her head around to see her mother, lashing around the bed like a mad-mare.
"Your Highness, please! Calm down!" One of the guards yelled, trying to take hold of Diana. She had managed to rip the muzzle off of her face and was now shoving the nurses away with her front hooves. Her mother was having an obvious panic attack. The nurses lurched backwards, looking terrified. Diana's water was all over the floor, and pools of blood were mixed in with it. Her eyes were huge, and they were watering with great pain. Suddenly, she fell back on the bed with a thud and let out another scream. Her tongue hung limply out of her mouth.
Celestia scrambled over, stepping into action. "Mother! MOTHER!" She cried, putting her hooves on her mother's face and turning her head towards her. "Look at me! Look at me, mother! I'm here! You'll be okay!"
Diana looked at her daughter through her panicked eyes. Celestia half hoped that her mother would just painlessly have the baby pop out of her vagina, and then everything would be okay.
Instead, Celestia got a hoof to the stomach as her mother uncontrollably began kicking her in pain. Her mother had a habit of doing that, her muscles would lose control if she was in enough pain.
"Somebody lay her back down! Hurry!" Celestia heard a nurse scream. They were trying as hard as possible to get the baby out, but with Diana lashing around it was nearly impossible. The guards tried to get her down but they couldn't seem to be strong enough. Celestia gritted her teeth as a bomb when off from outside. Too many things were happening at once.
She decided it was time to take matters into her own hooves. She ran over to her mother's bedside and glanced over at the desperate nurses. "I have her, just keep trying to get the foal out!" Celestia called to them over the rain. It had begun raining hard, and the war could still be heard from outside even though it was miles away from the fort.
Before Celestia could begin to try to pin her mother down, a strong hoof slammed into Diana's stomach. The queen gave a painful shriek and then fell back against the bed. Celestia shot her head upwards to see who the hell just did that, when suddenly the same hoof came in contact with her face.
Celestia snapped backwards and fell on her back, her vision giving up on her and going blurry. She heard a nurse scream and the sound of swords clanking together filled her ears. A scream could be heard very clearly and Celestia came to her senses and realized that somebody was attacking.
A chill shot through Celestia.
Somebody was attacking them.
In a split second, Celestia was on her feet. She saw blood stained everywhere as she looked around and she took the scene before her in.
The two guards were sprawled on the hard wood floor in front of the bed, their eyes wide and unresponsive. They were dead. At the foot of the bed, there was a bloodbath complete with dead healer unicorns, all on top of each other. Blood leaked from daggers in their chests.
She turned her shocked eyes on the bed, praying that her mother would be laying there, alive. Her prayers were answered and her mother was lying there alive. And there was also a small newborn foal hanging half in and half out of her mother's vagina. But standing at the right side of Diana's bed was a stallion that was dressed in the same armor every Equestrian guard wore.
But this pony was a spy. And he had just killed six ponies that had been under Celestia's protection. And now he was trying to make a move and kill her mother and her newborn sister.
But that would never, ever happen. Ever.
Celestia launched herself forwards, her wings spreading outwards as she head-on tackled the swift stallion into the ground before he could do anything. Celestia whipped out the sword that she had strapped to her She grabbed it in one hoof and then pointed it directly in front of the spy's face.
She saw fear instantly flash in his blue eyes. Celestia could hear her mother whimper in pain in the background. The stallion didn't struggle, he just simply laid there and stared at Celestia through scared eyes. She blinked and then in her rage, she grabbed the mask on his face and ripped it off. She was greeted with something that she honestly wasn't expecting.
The stallion soldier pegasus that had violently mistreated that foal back on the first floor was now lying at her feet once again with a terrified look on his face. He had been betraying them this entire time, and he was part of the enemy army.
And now he knew where they all were. Her mother, the newborn foal, the civilians, everything. He knew where they all were.
"You..." Celestia muttered in shock. She wasn't sure why she felt so surprised by this. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it back when he abused that foal and her mother. Two princess and the traitor simply stood there for what seemed like decades, gazing at each other and thinking about the monsters they had all become because of this war. This war...
The stallion suddenly muttered something Celestia didn't hear. She shook her head and then gave him a cold stare. He had to die. She knew that she was going to have to kill this pony. To save everyone. She could at least stop something else from going wrong for once. Celestia moved the sword closer to the stallion face, and right above his eyes. "What the hell are you saying?" She hissed through gritted teeth.
"Behind you." He uttered, his eyes widening.
Celestia turned her head to look behind her. The last thing she felt was a hammer suddenly hitting her in the side of the head with full force.
And everything went black.
Author's Note
Oh, wow. This took longer to make than I wanted it to. The next chapter will come much faster, I promise. :)
Celestia felt a burning sensation in her eyes as she slowly opened them. Her entire body ached, and her head throbbed with terrible pain. She shivered. Wherever she was, it certainly was a cold place. Celestia closed her eyes again and focused on her breathing. She felt as if she was in a closed space and couldn't breathe, even though this was not the case. She was having trouble remembering what just happened.
Suddenly, the sound of a newborn foal's wailing, echoing cry splitting the air caused Celestia's memories to come racing back to her. Shit! Celestia thought frantically. She remembered everything now. The white alicorn began to scramble to get to her hooves. She forced her exhausted body to get into motion. Once she got to her hooves, she felt her world spin and she swayed a little bit, almost falling down. She shook her head and sat down wearily. She had taken a hammer to the head so it probably wasn't a good idea to lash around just yet. Once her extreme nausea faded she began to rethink what had happened. Obviously, they had been captured by the enemy. Celestia looked around, studying her surroundings. She was in a small cave, and there was a wooden door that was locked in front of her. Dammit, we have been captured! Celestia thought. She swallowed her panic, but her worrying emotions were not going anywhere. Her mother was probably still in very bad condition. After all, she had just given birth to a newborn alicorn. Her sister...
My sister. Celestia thought. That was going to take some getting used to. Celestia angrily gritted her teeth as a thought slithered into her mind. That damn spy probably told them where the fort was! I'll cut that little shit's head off! She thought. Normally she didn't think badly of others too much, but he had thrown her family in danger. That was unforgivable.
Celestia mentally kicked herself for getting off track. That was not important right now. She had to escape this prison in order to get to them.
She was surprised that there was nothing holding her down in her cell. No chains, muzzles, nothing. She also had all of her armor and weapons on her. That was a bit strange, but Celestia dismissed it. She shakily trotted up to the locked door. Her legs were still really hurting. Celestia studied the sturdy wooden door. She tried to estimate whether or not her magic would be able to break this door down. But she was sure that the door was locked, it had to be. The enemy couldn't be stupid enough to put her in a cell and then not lock the door. Celestia hesitantly put one hoof on the metal handle. It was worth a shot, these ponies were pretty dumb.
Celestia drew in a deep breath, and then pulled on the handle. To her complete bewilderment, the door swung wide open. Her jaw dropped. These ponies were fucking idiots! Celestia laughed lightly to herself for the first time in a long time. They may had been outnumbered, but at least the enemy soldiers were all dumber than a sack of rocks. She quickly began galloping down the narrow passageway in the cave. She pulled her enchanted sword out of her belt and used her horn to light her way. Before she did anything, she had to find her mother and her newborn sister first. She would cut through anypony to get to them.
Celestia skidded to a halt, kicking up gravel as she saw the passageway split into two more passageways. Celestia began quickly thinking. Which passageway housed her mother's cell? Celestia grinned as she remembered. She had a spell she learned from her father that would allow her to detect the locations of ponies that had the same blood as her, ponies that were her family, That was perfect.
She sucked in a deep breath and then casted the spell the all her might. Her horn glowed with a stunning yellow light, and the light pointed to the left passageway. That meant her mother was in that passageway. Feeling a wave of determination, she began galloping down that path, filled with the urge to find her mother before it was too late.
Sure enough, Celestia came to the same wooden door that had been at her cell when she reached the end of the rocky passageway. This would be easy. Celestia didn't want to make her mother have a panic attack, so instead of swinging the door open, she calmly nudged it open and then stepped inside. She was greeted with complete darkness, so she filled the area with dim light. "Mother...?" She whispered carefully.
Diana was lying on her side near the back of the small rock chamber. There was a very tiny blue foal lying firmly beside her mother's stomach. The foal was visibly shaking.
"Mother!" Celestia exclaimed. She trotted eagerly over to her. Diana opened one eye and looked at Celestia. "Shhhh..." Her mother rasped. Her voice sounded very weak, and this pushed Celestia's worries. She laid down in ront of her mother. "I'm here, mother. We are okay."
"I...I know that." Diana whispered wearily. "We're not-"
Celestia shushed her. "Mother, you're sick. Save your energy and don'don't speak. I'll get us out of here, don't worry." Celestia assured softly. Diana's green eyes shone with confusion. "Why leav-"
"Mother!" Celestia snapped very softly, shushing her mother again. Diana gave a small,amused and pitiful smile that broke Celestia's heart. She hated seeing her once great mother like this. Suddenly the sound of a small whimper caused both alicorns to turn their heads. Celestia's sister was visibly shaking.
"G- Go...Go make her warm." Diana sputtered weakly, nodding at the foal before she rested her head back on the stone floor. "I..I can't...She needs..."
Celestia put her hoof on her mother's mouth gently. "I understand, mom." She said. Diana nodded slowly. Celestia turned and casted a small heating spell in the chamber. It was dreadfully cold. She then trotted over to stare down at her sister. Her newborn sister, who was lying there so weakly. Celestia felt sadness in her heart. Her new sister had to be born at this horrible time...
She lied down in front of the small filly and gently picked her sister up in her arms. The foal did not struggle, and just simply lied there. Celestia pushed her muzzle gently against the newborn's stomach. She wrapped her long tail around her body and cradled her sister gently. Celestia felt full of affection and sadness. Why was something so beautiful born in such a time of ugliness? The foal became to whimper less and calmed down a little. Celestia noted that the foal was beginning to fall asleep, which was good.
"You too will be the best of sisters..." Celestia heard Diana mutter quietly from where she was laying. Celestia gratefully looked at her mother. Even though she was weak, her vice still shone with pride.
"I'm- I'm proud of you, Cele..." Her mother rasped, calling Celestia by her nickname. "You and Luna."
"Luna?" Celestia asked curiously, looking at her mother in confusion.
Diana nodded. "Luna...That will be her name. She was a beautiful blue coat...Just like the night sky..." Her mother coughed before continuing. "And she will raise the moon...Just like you raise the sun..." She said. Diana then let out an uncontrollable, sick cough. Celestia blinked. Luna...What a beautiful name... Celestia thought. She looked down at Luna, who was asleep in Celestia's arms now, sleeping peacefully. Celestia stared at her sister for a long time, thinking.
"I think everything's going to be alright." Celestia said after a while. Diana blinked at her and then smiled softly at her eldest daughter. "I believe in father. He will get us all through this. It'll be okay." Celestia said hopefully.
Diana nodded. "I think so, to..." She whispered "It will be over soon, sweetheart."
Celestia nodded. She knew that they couldn't stay like this forever. They would soon have to escape here. But Celestia was hopeful. This war was going to end soon. They were going to be okay. But Celestia knew one thing. She was determined to get her family through this. She was determined to get every innocent life through this.
She also knew that she would slay any creature, climb any mountain, duel anypony to the death...
To protect Luna.
Author's Note
Oh my god, I hate writing at 1:40 in the morning...
The next chapter will have action, I promise.
