The Single Guard Against War
Twilight looked over her outfit one last time before the meeting.
Dress and gloves cleaned? Check.
Wings preened? Check.
Hoof guards shined? Check.
Necklace and crown?
Twilight looked off to the side, her magic wrapping around the two pieces of jewelry and floating them to their places.
“Check.” She said, smiling to herself in the mirror as a knock came at the door. She glanced at the clock.
“Right on time.” She smiled, turning and walking over. She opened the door, to come face to chest with her mentor Celestia.
“Prin-”
“We are equals now Twilight. You can address me by my first name.” Celestia responded, hushing Twilight with a single finger. “I decided to come get you myself.”
“Ok Pri-” Twilight was silence with a single look. “Celestia. Just where are you taking me anyways?” Twilight asked, as they started off through the castle.
“To the sealed archives. Now that you’re a Princess, you have the right to the knowledge within. Just know now, knowledge comes with a price.” Celestia said ominously.
“What kind of price are we talking about? I know dark magic tends to cost blood and corrupts the wielder, and light magic simply takes from our font.” Twilight pondered.
“There are things that cost just too much.” Celestia said, a sad smile adorning her face. Silence reigned for the rest of the trip.
Twilight’s thoughts turned inwards, the steady clopping of metal against marble a nice static for her thoughts. Her mind wandered over her repertoire of spells, before wandering on to philosophy.
“You can steady your thoughts. You will find out soon enough.” Celestia said, drawing Twilight out of her thoughts. She hadn’t even realized they had entered the library, let alone walked up to the doors to the sealed archives.
The small squad of guard came to attention as they approached, their armor clanking as they saluted.
Celestia smiled at them, before walking past and up to the door. The symbols across it glowed brightly in her presence, as the doors silently swung open.
Twilight was frozen, expecting ungodly screams or horrifying whispers to start invading her mind.
A few minutes passed in silence, as nothing happened.
“We do not have much longer.” Celestia said, hiding a grin behind her hand. “Come along.”
Twilight hung her head in embarrassment, a blush turning her purple fur a deep crimson as she quickly fell in beside Celestia.
“Just what am I here to see?” Twilight asked, as the door closed behind them.
“How capable of a ruler have you observed me to be Twilight?” Celestia asked.
“Capable? You’ve talked down the griffins from war, negotiated a treaty with the dragons, and that timely relaxation on thaumaturgy research made most of the guild remove their support from the unicorn that wanted a revolution. Those are just the public things, so I’d say you’re more than capable.” Twilight said, counting them off on her fingers.
“And how do you think it is that I’ve been on top of so many things?” Celestia asked, the sound of quills scratching on paper echoing down the hall.
“Something in here?” Twilight said, as she heard a voice mumbling.
“Dark, running, hiding. Hiding. No, waiting. Growing. Feeding on anger. Waiting to strike. Revolt. Spill the blood of the tyrant queen. She sits upon a pile of corpses, and the innocent tire of adding their children to her throne.”
“Someone would be more accurate. He is just as much an intelligent being as either of us.” Celestia said, as they walked out into a candlelit room.
“Purple. The impossible star, growing, eclipsing the sun and moon. Darkness, sorrow.”
Something scrambled about in the darkness, making chills crawl up Twilight’s back.
“What is it talking about?” Twilight asked, as a candle was pulled from its holder and started moving towards them.
“The blue mare, anger, hatred sits in her heart. Too soon, too late, a thousand possibilities. Victory, defeat, enslavement, a stallion. A black crown, worn on the heart by those who carry the burden around their neck. A crown that grows cold around the heart.” His voice echoed around the chamber.
“Hello old friend. I’ve brought Twilight to meet you.” Celestia said, talking as though to an old friend.
“Eternity, a blink, gone before you know it but forever to carry the burden. You are Twilight Sparkle, the prodigy child given immortality. No, godhood. Yes. The burden of your new crown weighs heavy on your heart. Forgotten friends, lost to time. Bury them one after another.” The candle stopped a few feet from Twilight as something stepped into the little light it cast.
“Why do I feel like he just danced on my grave?” Twilight asked, her eyes taking in every detail they could. Unkempt black hair, speckled with grey throughout. Gaunt face, emphasized by the midnight black cloth wrapped across where she thought its eyes would be.
“The marshmallow, the braggart, the druid, the farmer, then the prankster. Five to bury, five to cry. Five to worship, five to hide.”
“That is enough Isaiah. We did not come here today for your ramblings, but for Twilight to meet you.” Celestia said, her horn glowing as the room lit up. Papers were everywhere, words written over words surrounded by drawings that were childish in skill at best.
“You came here for something Sun. Not just to show Purple Smart your secret to keeping the peace. Have you told her what that is yet?” He asked, laughing as he walked over to a desk.
Twilight was intrigued, since almost his entire body was enshrouded in a robe. What little she had seen was similar to ponies, but she could notice enough differences right away to know this wasn’t an Equestrian being.
“Wait, what did he call me?” Twilight asked, the conversation finally catching up in her head.
“He has odd names when referring to anypony. It has been, hectic to say the least, sorting out who he means. But he stays consistent when referring to somepony repeatedly.” Celestia said, her horn aglow as the papers scattered across the floor were picked up and sorted.
Isaiah groaned aloud as she settled the papers onto his desk. “You threw off my groove.”
“Well, I’m quite sorry about that. I guess you’ll have to scatter your papers again after I leave.” Celestia said, a chuckle slipping as she walked up beside him.
“I’m still waiting on an explanation. Who is this creature?” Twilight asked.
“Nocturne Chime. No, that’s not my name although it does sound cool.” He said, grabbing a quill and a blank sheet of paper from the desk. “Isaiah. That echoes familiar. Call me Isaiah. Two talons from the north, seeking blood for a crime never committed. Three children, the fog wrapped city, the fifteenth day. Blood for blood, feather for feather. War, from the mistakes of children.” He said, as he started scratching into the paper. He wrote words over words, crude pictures of griffons and pegasi filling the empty space.
“Did he just-” Twilight asked, her mind racing. She didn’t feel the presence of magic in this being, but he had just prophesied war with the griffins?
“Yes. He does that quite often, and always with accuracy.” Celestia said, grabbing the drawing done in front of them from beneath his still moving quill. “This is how I have prevented tragedy after tragedy. How I knew to send you to Ponyville ahead of time before the celebration.”
“Five to find, six to collect. The stones long forgotten brought to light again. The tree wails for its children, but knows that harmony must be protected. And so it shall try, until it withers and falls beneath the strangling thorns.” Isaiah said, pulling a random paper from the stack and sending the pile tumbling over the floor. “It comes soon, the black thorns. Harmony cannot stand forever alone.”
“Is he talking about-”
“Yes, when Discord’s thorns strangled the Tree of Harmony. His prophecy came hours before we were whisked away in the dark.” Celestia said, looking at the paper. “Do you know what is in the box?”
“Possibility. A thousand things, a thousand ideas, screaming out that theirs is right. Few know, but the secret passes behind closed doors. A new way to protect, a final gift from the mother before she left, the secret to the path she walked when she went. A million paths, echoing, screaming, dying and coming to life.”
“So not even you can see what is inside.” Celestia sighed.
“Possibility. Hope. You expect a physical object, yet so often it is never the answer.” Isaiah said, turning to face Twilight. “You though, I can still feel the innocence within you. The innocence of youth that has not seen the horrors that will come to pass.”
“I may be young compared to the Pri-”
Celestia cleared her throat.
“Compared to Celestia, but that does not mean I haven’t seen my fair share of life.” She said, as she felt his eyes boring through the cloth and into hers.
“Life is not what I speak. You came expecting a price to be paid, and this is what I demand. Look into my eyes, know the paths you have narrowly avoided. Know, that at any moment, any choice you will ever make affects more lives than you could ever hope to count.” His spindly hands appeared from beneath his robe, moving up towards the cloth wrapped around his eyes.
“Celestia, is this what you wanted me to see?” Twilight asked, turning away as a chill of fear crawled up her spine. Something was telling her that she didn’t want to know.
“My sister and I have both looked, learned from the mistakes we didn’t make so that we would never make them if the circumstances arise.” Celestia said.
Twilight nodded, before turning around to face Isaiah. She was unprepared for the milky white eyes that stared back at her, capturing her attention.
“See what could have been Twilight. Learn from my curse, my insanity. So that you can wake up tomorrow, knowing you will not make those mistakes and destroy harmony.” He said, as his hands reached up and touched her muzzle.
A thousand. A million. Dead. Alive. Dying. Two worlds become one. A watcher left behind crashes. The beings from another world bring war. Love. Lust. Longing. Damnation. A million lives doing a million things.
Twilight gasped, her eyes closing as hundreds of thousands of lives flash across her mind.
“My burden is to see every choice, every life, of every creature. You have witnessed your own, to learn from the mistakes you didn’t make but could have.” Isaiah said, his voice retreating from her. “Make sure she does not burn out, like you almost did. She is an important factor for this world.”
Twilight felt the reassuring touch of Celestia wrap around her shoulders, before lifting her up to carry her.
“She is stronger than I was when we first met. She simply has to sort it out.” Celestia said, her horn glowing as the lights dimmed.
“Burning, bleeding, marching. An onslaught against the walls of the south. Two inside, give away the innocents to death.”
“It has been nice to see you again as well.” Celestia said, leaving as Twilight fell asleep in her arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You might. You might not. Tomorrow has infinite possibilities. This is just one of the countless paths we walk.” Isaiah started laughing, as Celestia walked off.
Author's Note
Well, how else do you explain her doing everything just right?
Well, my headcanon is that she has an all-knowing sage that gives her a nudge in the direction of peace.