Chapters Prelude: The two rivals, Number 3 and 4
The clop-clop-clopping of hooves on the marble floor echoed around the hallway. The hooves making the noise could've belonged to anypony - many preceded it in this task, and by Harmonia's will, many shall succeed it in the future. And while the hooves moved at a steady pace, within their sound was a sense of agitation. And indeed, their owner was fighting with all her might not to hasten her pace, as she drew nearer and nearer to the 'T' of the corridor.
She could already see her. Her reflection, blurred by the haziness of the marble tiles, yet, she could still read the smug expression on her face.
She hated it. The fact that she did this every time she was near hear, and the psychology behind it. Fighting back a litany of curses, she breathed in deeply, as if going into labor...
3...
2...
1...
"Twilight Sparkle! " the blue mare jeered - it was her way to greet the youngest princess "Ooops , I mean... Greetings, your majesty! "
There she goes again.
When Beatrix Lulamoon figured out her life as a travelling magician doesn't holds much to her anymore, she did something very daring, and, in hindsight, very sage: she turned to the authorities, who handed her an application form, which she filled out, posthaste.
A week later, she was brought to the capital, to the house-of-state, the Royal Palace, and stood before the Princesses, legs shaking, as she bowed, uttering a prayer. Well, that was until Princess Luna said the following sentence:
"Beatrix Lulamoon! By the power and authority bestowed upon me by the people of Equestria, I offer thee the opportunity to become my apprentice and assistant in my own studies, and thus, learn the knowledge thou rightfully deserveth. Do thou accept my offer?"
To which Trixie's reply was:
"YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!! "
And she jumped and bounced around, gleefully, while the two princesses exchanged bemused looks. Well, Luna did, in spite of herself, as she, much like her sister, found the sight somewhat adorable. But unlike her sister, she hid her smile, trying not to mock the unicorn before them.
Suddenly, the blue mare stopped dead in her tracks.
Princess Twilight Sparkle stood not an inch away from her, wide-eyed like the magician herself.
The Princesses flinched.
They knew of the rivalry between the two ponies.
"I learned quite a lot today, I must say..." Trixie sneered, as the two mares walked beside one another "Who knew chemistry and pyrotechnics was interesting and complex ...
She bit her lip. She HAD to!
In spite of her recent rise to Princesshood, Twilight still got that nagging feeling whenever this was brought up. She was only taught by ONE of the two royal sisters. Of course, her respect and love for Celestia was ever deep, but she couldn't help but to feel that she had missed out on a deal.
Out of the two of them, Celestia was always the more... Socially minded. She studied Art. Society. Luna, on the other hoof, was the more reserved sort, indulged in the sciences. Tactics. Economy.
And while the elder princess still held quite a high place in her heart, it still bothered her that the funnest part of studies was now missing from her repertoire. Luna still actively continued her own studies, while her sister had already finished most of them. Being an apprentice rather than a "student", and also being an assistant meant that Luna treated Trixie as an equivalent (more or less).
And even though the statue of the Second Mom still stood proudly within Twilight's mind, it lost some of it's grace, and was crumbling, ever so slightly. In fact, it now seemed to lack curves, metaphorically speaking, and now bared much resemblance to a kolkhozist, "contemporary" futuristic sculpture, made of ferro-concrete instead of pristine marble, covered in dirt and graffiti at the bottom, and smoke on the top, while it sides were cracked. It still inspired, never-the-less, but it was getting more and more clear that the message it contained and the era this message meant something (something new) was gone, slipping further and further into the past. Twilight still respected this statue, and the mare that inspired it, but the messages has been passed, and it was no longer an untouchable piece, already having itself besmirched petty trivialities. And Twilight was no longer a little filly - she knew idols will fall in time.
She longed for that awe the statue used to inspire, but there was nopony she could turn to with this problem. She was a princess now.
SHE inspired awe, though not her own.
Or Trixie's, for that matter.
"Pity you can't enjoy the wonders of learning anymore, your majesty ..." the former showmare went on "But. alas, you've graduated already, leaving me to aid the Princess of the Night in her quest of knowledge, part of which is rightfully mine ."
UGH. Three strikes at once.
She knew of the psychological torture she made the blue unicorn suffer from, and regretted it deeply. She knew the sensation very well, having been bullied herself in her younger years.
Even so, being humiliated twice, embarrassed publicly (without being present) and unintentionally ruining her career (or, as one would say: OUT OF SHEER IGNORANCE), and in the end, showing up (literally) under the sun, having reached her intended end goal, as predicted and devised by her mentor...
OK, so the envy was a bit mutual - Trixie, with all her ill-made decisions, was still very IN control of her life, where as Twilight was almost groomed to be a princess (another point discount on her former teacher's scoreboard). All the same, the showmare had every right and reason to be envious and bitter.
When she first saw her "arch-nemesis" with wings and her tiara, a great portion of her ego was chipped off, leaving a vacuum that drew in bitterness, cynicism, and the painful urge to prove, more to herself than to anyone, that everything Twilight Sparkle can do, she can do better
So, after months of studying like a madmare under Luna's wings, loosing half her body weight, suffering from several nervous breakdowns, and noticing an increasing temptation to commit sociocide (thus building the guilt-pile in Twilight and Princess Celestia to untold heights), Trixie finally realized that her efforts were in vain, and so, she resulted to the eldest of solutions: snarky comments that slowly ground down others' glee while she received her daily dose of endorphin, serotonin, and dopamine, of course!
Her main target was her new colleague, but she liked to duke it out when Luna's experiments turned out to be nothing more than spectacular buck-ups, or when Celestia had to deal with especially smug and muzzle-six-hooves-up-in-the-plothole type of businessponies and bureaucrats - the type of ponies that have the word "TWAT " printed all over them in an elaborate pattern that forms the word "HUBRIS " if you observe them from afar.
Regrettably, her irksome behavior reached it's peak around the youngest princess, and, after stilling her tongue for the last few weeks since she blasted the blue unicorn through garish window, Twilight replied while actually using a tone that one may even call "expressive".
"I'm still being mentored by Celestia, Trixie." she said, before her tone suddenly kicked up a notch "And unlike you, I was her student , not some dropout she picked up from the street. She devoted her time, patience and honest care, teaching me how to eventually solve things on my own. You're merely Luna's apprentice , nothing short of a mareservant that she could easily discard at any given moment, without even a reason. It's not my fault I succeeded through repeated trial and error, that I, for some miraculous reason, showed promise, which is totally not a one-in-a-bucking-million scenario which I have absolutely no control over , and that learned that the only way to receive the kindness of others is by being kind yourself. Nor is it my fault that you've been a haughty loudmouth, the same way you're now a haughty try-hard."
She paused for a moment, shuddering internally as she noticed the icy, royalist coldness if her voice.
Trixie stood, stunned and baffled. A tear silently welled up in her eye.
The Princess of Friendship and Harmony took a deep breath, and continued on a more softer, though, far from motherly and comforting tone, the exact one the showmare would've most needed at that moment.
"My predecessor, Sunset Shimmer, who's talent at magic and pace of progress left mine in the dust, She was so indulged in her own efforts and success that she became a sociopath and fell out of favor with the Princess for the eye-stabbingly overt malicious intention of surpassing the capabilities of the strongest being known to equines in order to take over Equestria for kicks, and fatten her ego into even more ridiculous proportions." she paused again, trying to recollect her thoughts "My point is, if you're addicted to success, withdrawal will be one heck of witch. Instead of trying to work your innards out and annoy me for unintentionally causing you grief in the past, to the point where I will unceremoniously nail you to a cross, you little martyr, try to enjoy the present and put your heart into your studies, not just your brawn. Unless you want me to embarrass you even more, and I swear, if I'll have to mop the floor with you, YET AGAIN, or any other delusional pony, YET AGAIN, who thinks they NEED to beat me to ever get a proper stiffy and succeed in dating, I'll bucking hang myself!"
And with that tirade complete, leaving Trixie, some royal maids, members of the Royal Guard positioned there and even some artsy portraits on the wall having their jaws dropped so hard that one would've thought they're refugees from Luna's japoneese gaming console -slash- computing device, in which the leading character goes about excreting enough bricks to build a city block in Vectorian Landon, Eagleland.
But the blue unicorn was quick to collect her chin from the marble, and continue trotting alongside the disillusioned princess.
Her recovery from sheer ownage was so quick, in fact, that she struck up a conversation as soon as they arrived to the next bend:
"You're really growing into this royalty thing, aren't you, Sparkle?"
"Bite me, Lulamoon."
Prelude: The closet anarchist
Princess Celestia's bedroom, as one may expect, was a grand one.
Connected with a full-room wardrobe, private bathroom a balcony, and made out of two oval parts connecting one another, with the rear one having the balcony, and containing a grandiose "Princess-size" Balldachine bed, two bedside chest of drawers and slumbering tile stove, and a front, "langue" part, complete with a cabinet full of exotic beverages, a personally designed fireplace, full room floor carpet with additional, stuffy carpets to sit or lay on, several bookcases full of books - first editions, last ever released issues, autographed ones by ponies that have long since passed by, ones that are forgotten, ones that were never translated (properly), ones that were one of their kind. But the most recently (and frequently) read ones were those which had been banned.
Banned books were rare in Equestria, or rather, it was rare that a book found itself banned, and when it did, for some reason, it found itself sitting awkwardly on large empty shelves, locked away behind break-proof glass, in the shadowy corner of the library nopony dared (or was allowed) to wander.
The books that occupied such shelves (a mystery why the libraries even bothered to buy them, but I guess everyone needs a hobby) where the ones that were deemed "too dangerous to be read by mortals ". Not simply fillies, colts or foals (that restriction belonged to the popular, "cool" books of the Adult Section), or just ponies (that would've been the Griffon cookbooks).
No.
Banned books could only be read by immortals.
There weren't many of them.
In fact, by number, they made up only a fifth of the amount of "Outdated" books.
The most common reason a book was banned in Equestria was "being too dangerous to (pony) society" - well, so claimed the snooty officials from the Ministry of Finance, well-known for their top hats, pin-stripe suits, stinky cigars, monocles, obesity, nasty grins, and their secret agenda (and by agenda, I mean collective wet dream) to tip Equestria from "being" a meritocracy into a plutocracy. In the last few decades, following several consequent economic crises, said pin-stripe suit wearing, cigar chomping, monocled, obese, nasty grinned individuals were handed over to the authorities of Stalliongrad Oblast, up in the autonomous norther region (colloquially known as the "Union of Councils " for most), as part of a mandatory "educational" tour (and a secret alignment between Celestia (and later, Luna, Cadance and Twilight) and the Supreme Council in Mosscow). In return, young, impressionable, shiny eyed, open minded and hard-working trainee economists came over to continue their studies in sociology and finances in the equine country's capital, and contribute a bit as well - which, for some, explained the stable, and sometimes, even blossoming economy of 'The Empire of the Sun and the Moon' in the recent years.
But we're getting off topic..
So, the Day Princess' bedroom, the abode of the Sun Goddess, a scenery that had seen (and suffered) the sight of countless... Well, not exactly countless, but numerous... OK, they're weren't exactly numerous...
Sooo, a scenery that has witnessed quite a lot of actions...
Since the last year, I mean.
There, in the center of the room, on the stuffy circle carpet, by now, was literally imprinted by her form, sat Princess Celestia... Reading a book.
Nothing special, just a book. By the firelight.
What was more interesting was the serpentine, yet muscular, furry creature lopping around her frame, quietly pretending to be asleep, it's mismatched limbs twitching sometimes, as if he was actually dreaming.
Celestia shifted her weight.
The creature opened one eye, halfway.
"You're reading that book again, 'Tia?" he murmured, closing his eye once more "You do know it's almost lethally inaccurate..."
"It's still a... Good read..." the princess reasoned. The being laying around her furrowed his outstanding brows.
"It's a piece of bucking trash..." it growled "The only recipes that were SOMEWHAT correct where the ones detailing how to make certain psychoactive hallucinogenic substances..."
"Funny you should say that..." Celestia grinned "I always wondered just how you got ponies to enjoy your... Works , so to speak... Seems like I found the answer."
The being's eyes popped open, as he stared at the mare, bewildered. The goddess smirked.
"Gotcha!"
Discord rolled his eyes.
"Oh please..." he muttered, stretching a bit "That book is an utter disgrace to the only ideology - if it can be called that -, that, at least , tries to work with the merits of Chaos."
"Mmmm-hmmm..."
"Which brings me to an intriguing discovery I have made, recently."
"Mmmm-hmmm..."
"It's simple, really..."
"Mmmm-hmmm..."
"You're not paying attention, aren't you?"
"Mmmm-hmmm..."
"Insufferable harlot!"
"..."
"..."
"...Mmmmmmm-hmmmmmm..."
Discord sighed. Then went on:
"Anyways, it's about that book that you're reading..."
"...Mmmmmmm-hmmmmmm..."
"And several others..."
"...Mmmmmmm-hmmmmmm..."
"I came to notice that they all seem to revolve around the same notion..."
"Mmmmm-h--" Celestia froze.
"Quite a curious one if you ask me, especially since we're talking about one of the rulers of Equestria, the Princess of the Sun and one of the harbingers of Harmony..." Discord began to smirk "Funny... One might say that I've been..."
And he leaned very close to her ear, breathing in:
"Rubbing off... On you..."
It took the blushing deity about half a minute before she replied:
"Well I've seen you with another certain book... The one that Twilight gave you on your last birthday..."
It was Discord's turn to freeze.
"I recall that you discarded it immediately, claiming that it's of no use to you, the EMBODIMENT of Chaos, to divulge in such petty things as politics. It surprised us then, although it really shouldn't have, after all, you, out of all of us, are the least impressed by everyday ponies..."
The Princess' smirk grew wider.
"Which is exactly why it came as a surprise, seeing you reading about the most famous insurgents of international history."
The draconequus blushed slightly, and the alicorn just had to chuckle at that.
"You seemed quite interested. I've never seen you ogle so much at a book with so few pictures before." she mused "It actually, genuinely made me..." and she stopped.
"Made you?" Discord asked, impishly. He was back in game.
"Made me kinda..."
"Kind-a?"
"Kinda-sorta... A little bit... Jealous."
"Excuse me?"
"It made me a bit jealous."
"What was that you said? Did I hear... 'Jealous '?" Discord's grin grew wide.
"Oh, BUCK you!"
"How rude! I was merely asking if I had heard it correctly!" the chimera muttered, pretending to be offended "Jealous! 'Tia, you know me... A books NOT going to entertain me for long."
"Oh?" the Princess asked, playfully. It was her turn to lean closer. "Well, you know, after all I've read, it shouldn't be much of a surprise if I'd... Show up on the other side of the barricade..."
"...Go on."
"I mean, I bet Luna would be shocked."
"Not that much, I believe. We all know how impulsive you can get - your sister especially. Besides, after reading the titles of the books SHE'S been reading, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd join you in the great free-form stone-tossing competition. After all, you both seem to leaning towards the same side ..."
Celestia had to smirk.
"Just imagine... Me the eldest, among the rabble, disposed of my royal jewelry, tiara and such, clad in nothing, but a hoodie - probably skin-tight, as most mass products don't come in my.. Stature."
"Do you mean, "size"?" the God of Chaos asked, mordantly.
"Hush, don't ruin the moment..." the Sun Goddess scoffed, continuing her daydream "Among the rabble, hurdling pieces of pavement and bottles of fire at the riotponies and, subsequently, at the fat cats in the back room."
"Do you mean, "behind the throne"?" Discord wasn't giving up.
"I said hush!" the princess ordered indignantly "I'd love to fight among the many against the few, even if I AM part of the few."
"A small triviality." the chimera muttered "It must be pain, being bound to the whip when you want to tug the harness."
"It is..." she replied, still daydreaming "Yes... Nothing would make me happier..."
"Nothing?" he asked, kinkily, pulling the loop of his body close around her form.
"Well... Almost nothing..." the alicorn smiled "Just imagine, me covered in sweat, as I raise a hailstorm of cobble stones above my head, bursting through a line of plastic shields, batons rebounding from my body like mere corks popping out from bottles. Shop windows shatter as I trash about, black flag held by my magic, using it as stick to knock out any cops or skullheads that creep close by...."
"Stop it, Celestia, you're giving my imagination a painful hard-on." Discord growled, biting the mare's ear.
"Only your imagination?" she chuckled coyly, as his body coiled up around her, their lips finally meeting...
A sign appeared, outside on Celestia's door.
It read: 'Do not disturb.'
And underneath it, scribbled on hastily with a black marker:
"Iz having sexy time!!!"
Prelude: Further conversations of 3 and 4
"So, who's this Sunset Shimmer you keep muttering about?" Trixie asked, with genuine interest "I heard her name more times than my own, which I find quite irritating..." she trailed off for a moment "So, who IS this mare of notoriety?"
"Trixie, we had this conversation TWELVE times by now. Do you have selective memory loss, or something?!"
"No, it's just that it's a whole new version every time you tell me about her!"
"Uuugh..."
And this went on for a good three hallways, five corridors, two turns to the right, one to the left, up one staircase, across a ballroom, down another staircase - DAMN, this castle is expansive!
Finally, Twilight could take no more.
She decided to take countermeasures.
"So... How are your studies with Luna going?"
"Oh! Oh, errr..." Trixie paused, awkwardly.
While she was present, full body, soul and mind, during their research sessions with the Princess of the Night, she found talking about it surprisingly hard. She had to think back, to the last five lessons they've had, to make the whole explanation comprehensible (at least for herself), but the best way would've been to empty her mind, and build up all that had happened from the very first second of the very first minute of the very first hour of the very first lesson, all the way to the moment she closed the lab's door behind herself that day.
And that was one arselous job to get trough.
. . .
What?
'Arselous' isn't a word?
. . .
It is now.
Anyways, Trixie fumbled with her crammed thoughts and idle, out-of-nowhere dreams of cheese (let's see if you get that reference), while Twilight smirked, smug as ever.
Until recently, she valued herself for being a sensible and mature pony, practically immune to the idle chivying of the plebs others, but then, she had a moment of true clarity, an epiphany: being cynical and borderline misequic actually worked in social situations, especially if said situations revolved around her stomping the ego of others into the ground with sadistic glee, and if said others were the aforementioned twat-stamped lot.
"Well?" the Princess of the Twilight asked now, still smiling smugly.
"Actually..." Trixie muttered, finally looking away from a certain vacant point in the air "Luna introduced me to one of her recently made friends..."
"Did she?" Twilight asked, her interest piqued.
"Yes." the unicorn replied "His name was... Ebeneezer Goode, I think..."
As the sound of hooves on the tiles got few and far-between, she looked up.
"Sparkle?"
The princess stood, frozen, with her eyes wide and pupils shrunk.
"Twilight?"
"So... The Princess is teaching you how to make drugs..."
"...HWATT?!" was all Trixie could muster after a period of stunned silence.
"Ebeneezer Goode is the code name, or rather, personification of XTC." replied Twilight "Extasi. "
"Wha...?! How do you...?! " the showmare stopped, and looked at her peer with perplexity "You sure know your street, for a Princess..."
"I. READ ." Twilight growled "It's not hard to acquire such information, when all you have to do is open a cheaper tabloid!"
"Oh."
Another long, awkward period of silence.
"Speaking of tabloids, is it true?"
"What is?"
"That you... Planned a strategical attack on all tabloid publishers?"
Sigh.
"Yes."
"Really?!"
"Yes. In the court room."
"Oh."
Another, awkward pause.
"There's something I still don't get."
Sigh again.
"Which is?"
"Why did Princess Celestia want Discord back?"
"She needed a male concubine."
It was, again, Trixie's turn to freeze.
"You're kidding me..."
"Yes." said Twilight, smiling smugly.
After defeating the urge to make a royalty infertile by punching out her ovaries, Trixie took a deep breath...
"And... The real reason."
Twilight began to think.
"I can't exactly nail down one reason..." she pondered "For once, Discord is an active threat to Equestria and everypony, or rather, everyone within it, and beyond. He's just a menace. And yet, he controls one of the most, if not the ancient and powerful magic of all existence, and a refined clarity and wisdom that is inherently his own, given that he's the God of Chaos. If Celestia can... "Tame" him, then his powers could be used for the benefit of all of us, IF they can be used in such ways..."
It was the showmare's turn to ponder.
So, she did so:
"Hmmm... Maybe you were right about that male concubine concept."
The other mare looked at her incredulously.
"You can't be serious..."
"I am. Think about it: Discord has been imprisoned for many millenniums. He broke out once, but was stoned again. Finally, he was released, by order of Celestia. And in either cases, he didn't do as much as raising his voice, despite the obvious torture he has been put through, trapped within his own consciousness. If he were a normal pony or a more daring unicorn like Sunset Shimmer was, this sort of treatment, without exaggeration, would've gotten the Princesses overthrown, Discord, of course, is obviously dangerous enough to result to such extremes. So was Nightmare Moon, wishing for eternal night which would've killed every living being on the long run, and so was King Sombra, who was ruthless dictator of his own people, and the corruption he brought upon his empire spread all over Equestria. Neither of them was killed, although the Princesses, or Princess Celestia, had the reason to do so. And in the same way, their powers could be harnessed, or be used for good, even Sombra's dark magi, and--."
"I knew that !" Twilight snapped, cutting her off "For Harmonia's sake, Trixie, I've been studying with Celestia for quite a long time. She is not perfect, she's not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, but neither is she arrogant, merciless, envious, vindictive or wrathful. She may not be omnibenevolent, but she has a fairly decent moral code, and she, and her sister, are just about the nicest leaders you can get in an unfair , uncaring , and unavoidable world of hatred , misery and death ."
There was a moment of bleak silence.
"Celestia and Luna are deities, god-like beings with enough power to make the world explode or implode, twice . Yet, they don't demand worship, they don't require sacrifices from, nor do they want us to praise them or blindly believe. They want us to trust them, so they devote their time and efforts to aid us, not letting anypony fall behind. Despite their powers, they reject the personality cults built around them, because it is their talent to control the sun and the moon, not their sheer might. They submit themselves to the chains of bureaucracy and subject themselves to the filth of politics, because they're trying to actively help us. I've seen Celestia, and then Luna's struggle with the desperation, greed and anguish of other ponies, and I can tell you: despite them being as old as the celestial bodies they control, whenever they see a pony reduced to the corrupted mess we see in newspapers or hear about from the shoutcolts, they're just as horrified and disturbed as foals when facing chronic, morally or mentally damaged adult ponies. They have their own fallibilities, which they won't deny, and they welcome criticism, no matter how trivial, subjective or senseless it is, like an old friend. They're deities, alright, but they're also ponies like you and me. And between you and I, I'd rather place my faith and fate in beings whom are among us, that are just like us and visibly care for us, than to place it into a concept or abstract value."
"Like friendship?"
"Yes, like frie--..." Twilight stopped, and glared daggers at a cheekily smiling Trixie. After a few seconds of glaring, the blue mare glared back.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" she snapped "I KNOW the Princesses are benign, they left me alive after the AA incident, after all! What I WANTED to say is that, perhaps , Celestia had her own reason to release Discord. I mean, let's look at the other cases, the most obvious being the case of Princess Opscura, whom we had - until her separation from Princess Luna - known..."
"...As Nightmare Moon." Twilight finished the sentence, nodding "I think I see what you mean. But it wasn't until Discord revealed the content of those old scriptures the we knew about the... Stillborn ..."
"It was only logical that the vast, dark but star-lit space had it's mistress first, before a nearby star could have one."
"And with her... Death in the womb, the King and the Queen where in need of an heir that can balance out the Princess of the Sun."
"..."
"I still think it was cruel from two supposed gods to abandon their child and not try to use their powers to revive her." Trixie scoffed.
"They, like all of us, were bound to their talents." Twilight argued "Intelligent magic wasn't created yet."
"You CAN'T. Change. My emotions about it!" Trixie growled "It was still cruel."
Twilight stood, silent for some time. The guards near by waited for her response.
"Well, the three sisters are together now, reconciled their duties and their bonds are strong."
"Three hearts, as strong as horses, beat as one." Trixie added, citing Celestia's speech made for the reveal of the return of the eldest princess "But that's just it! Look at Sombra! Once the malevolent autocrat of a country of slaves, then a black mist of corrosive corruption, now the field marshal of the Chrystal Army's Night Division, and - if one can place trust in rumors - the "significant other" of Princess Luna. "
"No rumors there." Twilight muttered "It's just that... Their relationship is a bit more... Plateaunic than that Celestia's and Discord's."
"The only case that breaks this theory of mercy and forgiveness is that of the changeling queen's."
"You mean, Chrysalis'?"
"That's her name?"
"Yeah. Say, Trixie..."
"Yes?"
"Have you ever seen the Queen?"
"Only on that colored windownwork."
"Do you know where the home of the changeling's is?"
"I do know where it used to be ..." Trixie sighed "North-westward, north to the Doldrum moors, on a lonely mountain surrounded by that toxic death pit. I heard that only the mining companies of the U.C. were daft enough to try mining for resources there, and all they ended up with was more heavy metals in the already noxious air... So, on that mountain was their citystate. Emphasis on "was"."
"Now, it's in ruins..." Twilight sighed, but the blue pony interrupted her.
"Many clues recently discovered by historians, and our research with the princess seem to point towards one particular pony." she said, giving an all-knowing look.
"Don't tell me..." the Princess of Harmony uttered, looking at her with disbelief.
"Yes." Trixie hissed "Starswirl . Seems the old geezer has more things to answer two than the number of questions he had answered during his life - one of them being the question of the changeling curse , or, the way I'd like to ask it: "Why would you curse and condemn an entire empire of ponies that have been living in peace on their own, practicing their own brand of magic, without harming anyone, and why would you leave them with a curse that contorts their body and warps their mind, turning them into spiteful insectoids? ". We only have three guess: A) he was an utter plothole at times, and this was one instance, B) he attempted to test a new spell, potion or whatever, and it turned out wrong, or right, and he's a heartless bastard, or C) he did it for personal reasons, which doesn't makes him any less of a prick."
Twilight swallowed a vile curse that was crawling up her throat, whilst holding back a near-lethal spell, lock and loaded in her horn - now THAT'S multitasking!
"These. Are. Just. Conspiracy theories!" she hissed, hoping that her voice was menacing enough to shut the magician up, otherwise she had to kill her.
But she was in no such luck.
"Conspiracy. Yeah." Trixie grunted "Like the "Celestia doesn't actually control the sun directly " theory that we've debunked during that meeting, unveiling the truth ponies have purposely turned away from, thus forcing the princesses to play along with their delusion!"
"THAT'S COMPLETELY UNRELATED!"
"Guess who built up that delusion..."
"CERTAINLY NOT...!"
"It was confirmed. By Princess Celestia AND Princess Luna. "
Twilight huffed.
Trixie merely rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, what's up with the changeling queen?"
"Guess who's helping Princess Opscura with Homeland Security during the day?"
"Wait... You mean that?"
"Yes, the scrawny one with the firefly wings, jagged horn, chitin-stomach and film-like hair."
"..."
"Well?"
"She seems to lack the..."
"Holes, yes, but that's because she found herself genuine loved by a stallion."
"Wait, you mean that?"
"Yes, the scrawny, alicorn-sized, reddish chocolate-brown pegasus with the large, round glasses shaggy mane and straight tail."
"With that deep-toned, flatulent midget dragon, wearing that patchwork cast iron stovepipe hat following him everywhere?"
"Yes. I think he's called Newton Turbine, and the dragon's name is Vulcan."
"Really? I thought that guy had no emotions, just nerves."
"Yet, he genuinely loves her for who she is."
"Luvly."
"Yush, Luvly."
After a bit of */)^3^(* , the mares continued to trot towards Celestia's bedroom.
There was one argument they needed her opinion on to come to a conclusion...
,,,And they wanted the answer badly .
The room smelled of sex.
...Well, this is off to a very good start...
Let me rephrase myself:
The room smelled of sex and bathing, significantly better than the previous state, as the bathing part meant the ones committing "the Act" were kind enough to shower (together, of course), so now, they were clean, dried and cuddly, enjoying the lingering post-intercourse euphoria (which, of course, lasts longer for deities).
Celestia lied, comfortable, on her poofy lying carpet, her fur standing on edge - without proper conditioning, her royal coat had a tendency to puff up into a fluffy mess, once the hair drier had traced her. But her fur was short, so all it did was give her a thicker outline, which foals liked to dig into with their cute little faces - and leave a trail of drool and booger.
Not quite comfortable or regal, but the Princess loved it, anyway - her "Open" days, when ponies could visit her in her study were the best! She could answer all the questions her subjects had in mind (that she COULD answer), and see into what the newest generation of colts and fillies was into. She could see the very same pony, from his or her foalhood, growing into an adult, then aging into an elder. She never attended funerals. Ever. It would've been to much.
Discord was another was the usual occupant of the furry meadow the Princess of the Sun possessed around herself. Coiled around her body, holding her close, but not uncomfortably tight, his face next to her,
They were snoozing, too content with themselves and with each other to care about the sound of the door opening, as eight hooves made their way across the carpet, stopping before them.
Lazily , they both open one eye, to meet with the astounded gaze of the two young mares - heck, they barely left their fillyhood, well, at least, compared to them .
They ogled at the pair with such intensity, that the two lovers began to fear that their eyes will pop out of their sockets - as funny as it was when Discord did it, when others tried to repeat this stunt, it always ended nastily.
So, they sat up - well, Celestia sat up, whilst Discord freeloaded the change in position, not letting go of the Princess. The whole scene was quite comforting, for a distant observer, at least. The two older, but not elderly beings, staring back down at the surprised young ones in peace and utmost hospitality.
A comforting scene.
Until Trixie spoke up:
"That tooth can't be very comfortable while kissing."
Twilight stared at her in utter disbelief.
The two deities just snickered.
"Oh, believe me, it is." Celestia smirked "If he'd wash it properly."
"I don't see your argument." the draconequus quipped "It's a mouth-to-mouth square meal every time!"
The nauseated look on the two mares in front of them made them snicker even more.
"B-But, with all seriousness..." Celestia chuckled, making her mate burst into a fit of guffaw, while she herself found it harder and harder to resist the temptation of irony "But with all seriousness... What brings you two here?"
After fighting down the urge to PUKE EVERYWHERE, ALL OVER THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET vomit, Twilight explained:
"We're here because we need your opinion on a certain topic."
"Oh? And what would that be?" Discord asked.
"I was talking to my mentor, Discord." Twilight replied coldly, before shrugging "But I guess your opinion would count in the lot as well..."
"Glad to be of your service." the chimera replied with stinging sarcasm. Trixie sighed, and stepped forward.
"To get ahead of any meaningless hissy-fits ..." she said, snapping at the young princess and the chaos spirit "We'd like to ask your majesty and her royal advisor about the nature of our progress, specifically..."
Trixie was good at building tension - the sun goddess and the god of chaos leaned forward.
"...Up until now, who is the better student between the two of us?"
They took aback.
"The... Better... Student?" Celestia muttered, before regaining her composure "Wouldn't that decision require the presence of Princess Luna?"
"Not necessarily." Twilight replied "As my and Sunset Shimmer's former teacher, and as my mentor, and not to mention being the leading figure of billions of equines and alike, it is safe to believe that you have a keen eye for personal progress."
"And we'd also like to know Discord's opinion."
"...Mine?!" the chimera spluttered, before growing a grin 6 hoof long "How honoring... "
"Oh, please... " Twilight retorted coldly "Save your sappy, sarcastic sentiments for your own tombstone, Discord."
"You sure are unusually vindictive towards him..." Trixie muttered "You weren't even this repulsed by me when I took over Ponyville. Is it the fact he managed to separate you and your friends so severely? I don't study friendship, but even I can tell that that , indeed, can happen to any group of friends, without the "divine" intervention of the God of Chaos..."
She sniffed.
"Of course, no wonder you cling onto your friendships, considering that while OTHERS make friendships au naturel , you had to learn it, and learn it so badly that your teacher was the mistress of Equeatria's Foreign Relations Management, and our sole Princess for a thousand years, no less!"
Celestia gawked. Discord hissed - that was a low blow.
"Disregarding the massively protruding level of social awkwardness, and your periodic sprees of OCD, which doesn't help the aforementioned social disabilities one bit, I may ad, the necessity of the Princess to constant watch over you, which leaves her with so little precious time to deal with the country's needs, isn't exactly a reassuring past for a supposed heir of the throne." the unicorn polished her hoof on her chest "Ah well, grooming, in it's finest form, takes time and effort."
"G-GROOMING?! " Twilight screeched, making the two deities cringe "Fancy coming from a pretentious attention-whore, well, only attention-whore in those rare sprees of success! You lived your life, making a living on the road, and who knows, maybe on your back , and you tell me I'm awkward?! I may not be the most street-wise known pony, but at least MY mother is proud of my achievements! Although, after seeing her foal, I wouldn't be surprised if YOUR mother was impressed by your "success"--!"
That was as far as she got, before a blue and indigo thunderbolt introduced the wall to her.
Looking up, she saw a unicorn, glowing in an eye-piercing neon blue color, with arches of electricity soaring over her body - paling in comparison with her crest and tail, which looked like two great bundles of electrical fire.
"Don't. You. Ever. DARE!
And with a bright flash, she was her usual self again - except a bit... Colder...
With legs tightly beside one another, her back straight and her head held high, she looked down at the wrecked young princess from under lowered eyelids - and you know what? There was no acting in that. She just happened to take up that pose.
Discord watched with interest - so did Celestia, with an obvious hint of guilt and shame.
"It would be unruly if Equestria's youngest princess would die so suddenly." the unicorn hissed "But besmirching my mother as your ONLY form of rebuttal to my deduction of what I've perceived about you will only get you closer to the grave."
"So... Who is the better student?"
The two mares turned their looks towards the chimera, surprised.
"We have to forget about Twilight's past studentship under Celestia, or "her" achievement in becoming a Princess."
The others raised an eyebrow over the emphasis. Well, rather, the placement of it.
"In terms of effort, you're of equivalent value." he explained "In terms of success, Twilight has an unfair advantage in having her success linked to her fate."
Discord thought for a moment
"The favoritism of Fate itself has always been a sore spot for me." he muttered "One could say the reason I became the God of Chaos to get back at fate itself by destroying it's arrangement, but the arbitrary bugger just dodges every time. Oh well. I'll get it one day."
His voice hardened.
"One day, "
Upon noticing their puzzled looks, he went on:
"Nevertheless, the "weight" of the effort they put into studying alone cannot form a proper answer. Thus, we have to result to the most obvious, most radical and controversial the mortal mind has ever created and embraced through the course of history: personal opinion!"
And with that, Discord sat back, saying:
"I don't have one."
The two mares then turned to Celestia.
She took a deep breath...
"Let me tell you a story..."
"Here we go again..."
"Discord?"
"Yeah?"
"Shush. "
View Online
A world thorn asunder, or some poetic crap like that...
"K-Krasnaya... Zvezda ?" Discord spluttered.
"Sounds like a norther name." Trixie pondered.
"Because it is a northern name." Twilight replied "Krasnaya Zvezda means "Red Star"."
"Hmmm..." the azure mare pondered again "Seems kinda... Morbid, if you ask me..."
"What is?" the others asked.
"Well... A red star, or a red giant, is a dying star which has used up all it's internal fuel, expanded into multiple times it's original size, has consumed anything in it's vicinity, and has two options: A) turn into a supernova, and go out with a big bang, or B) collapse into itself and turn into a black hole."
"Your point?" Twilight asked.
"Well, Celestia is a sun goddess, the one who brings about daytime, meaning that she controls the nearest star , the sun!"
The young alicorn's eyes widened.
"I see what you mean..."
"So, where did this filly come from - I know it's probably the Northern Region, but do tell me, how did you made acquaintance with her?" Discord asked "What's her story, since you're so willing to tell 'a' story..."
"...Very well then..." the Princess replied, taking a deep breath...
The others got into comfortable positions, as she began:
"Krasnaya Zvezda, or Red Star , as the royal court called her, was my very first personal student. I did taught ponies beforehoof, but those were the unicorn members of the Royal Guard, and I taught them in groups, about combat spells. The concept of an individual student did not occur to me, even when I've took Krasnya under my wing."
"Krasnya?"
"That's how she preferred to be called." Celestia explained. "It happened during the First Revolution..."
***
The beginning of the century prior to the last, the Norther Region rebelled.
Or rather, it rioted.
To be completely fair, it stood up for itself, after years of foreign oppression enforced by a puppet state/military junta, empowered by the Equestrian Monarchy.
No surprise there, though.
The region had a looooong history with bad rulers.
When the last ice age ended, and the solid ice wall that later shrunk into the northern icecaps retreated from the norther region of the Equine mainland, it left a vast, empty continent, barren of wildlife and vegetation, with mountain ranges edging it from the north and the east, fjords and peninsulas from the west, and it's center collapsed in lines where rivers dug trough it - the of the disappearing glaciers.
The snow and cold still inhabited the land, dominating it for five months each year. Spring was brief. Life blossomed and bloomed with haste. Summer was scorching, but Spring's efforts yielded fruit. Fall was brief as well, the dying drama of Summer, and the coming of the merciless Winter.
The first tribes arrived a few decades after the first ponies appeared within the lower part of the continent, and grew in size and number, adapting to the harsh weather of the north. Once grown large enough to maintain huge plots of land, the tribes began to fight - unlike in the south, which was ruled by egalitarian societies or matriarchies, most of the tribes of the north were strict patriarchies. Mares, however, were not treated badly, in fact, they enjoyed more freedom and more adoration in certain tribes than the mares in certain egalitarian societies or even matriarchies. This was mainly due to the protective and spiritual nature of the tribes - they didn't saw them as objects, as cattle, bearers of children, but rather, as the earthly representation of the motherly fertility goddesses, beings who without a stallion cannot be called a stallion, or even a pony.
Fillies and colts played together, until they were of age, form where on they had to chose between to positions: stallions usually became hunters, protectors and gatherers, while mares supplied the tribe with nourishment, medicine and healing spells, and a safe home. The choice was there, however: some colts became healing clerics alongside their female companions, and certain mares became renowned hunters. Nopony was outraged by this - they respected their choice, even if these stallions didn't form a family, and if these mares never gave birth to a new generation - it was their decision, and dedication to a task was just as respected as giving it up to take up your role within the tribe.
In northern culture, there was no good or evil. Only power.
Misdeed, of course, existed, and many tribes were quite strict when it came to punishment, especially during the warmongering years. However, the tribes began to mix and trade cultures and methods, due to their uneasy alliances during times when the ponies of the south made their presence known. Eventually, the tribes were forged into one large empire.
In it's early years, the empire suffered dreadfully at the claws of a new, invasive nation: the gryphons - they assaulted them in every way possible, before the ruler of the griffons, the "king", decided that preying on the hapless ponies of the tundras and taigas was not worthy and honorable for his kin. So, he offered a treaty: for the safety and prosperity of the Northern Empire, as he labelled it, they pay them fur, textile, tusks and horns, and ores which they find but not need. In time, the gryphons forgot about their initial position in the treaty, and began to exchange weapons, machines, new material and new methods in hunting, education and medicine, for all the fur and tusks the Northern Empire served to them.
Around the time where the three pony races of the south unified - during an usually modest winter -, the former clan leaders of the tribes made a decision, and elected their own ruler (the last ruler to ever be elected for a VERY long time), the first tsar: Tsar Северный Ветер, or "North Wind". Under his leadership, the Empire successfully became an agrarian superpower within a decade. This further improved it's connections with the Gryphon Empire of Eagleland and both product and cultural trade between the two young countries increased. The life and well being of the northern ponies continued to improve, even after the death of Tsar North Wind - others Tsars and Tsarinas followed his steps, introducing newer and newer systems and newer levels of comfort and progress.
This all changed with the enthronement of Tsar Мертвое Зима - Dead Winter...
He was ruthless megalomaniac and militant fanatic, coming the cold embrace of the season which's peak he was born on. Bent on modernization, his command-planned economic "reforms" nearly destroyed agriculture in the Northern Empire, while is industrialization thoroughly destroyed the life of thousands... Truth to be told, the Empire was behind many other countries when it came to industrialization, and the lack of mercantilism or any other forms of trade and exchange held it back greatly. Most other countries, including the Equestrian Monarchy, had already developed some primitive form of capitalism, but the "Bastion of the North" still remained firmly feudal.
It had to. Zima enforced it.
But Tsar Dead Winter was anything but stupid or foolish. Even with his megalomania, none could call him arrogant or delusional. As the ruler of a country lagging so far behind, he kept his gaze looking toward the future. He did it so much, in fact, that one may have called him a medium, or rather, a visionary.
Using the latest technology available at the time, he made sure to tell - or rather, to show, considering the illiteracy rate -, that he loved his people, his country, their culture and their freedom, and did everything for them.
And the people loved him.
He was the first to discover and popularize a Cult of Personality, something which marked the fate of his country for a very long time.
In his death, millions grieved him.
He starved, beaten, incarcerated, impaled, burned and destroyed twice as many...
The tsars and tsarinas after Dead Winter didn't proceeded to follow his every step. Literally all of them had some degree or form of personality cult following them in their wake.
Tsar Холодный Болото - "Cold Marsh" - made sure that even the last of the peasants will have the ability to bathe at least five times a week. In return, said peasants were to work on the Cathedrals of Music, Arts War, and Glory that he ordered to be built and finished under his reign - only the Cathedral of Glory was finished.
Tsar Меч Сталь - "Sword Steel" - led a campaign against organized crime that ended an era of syndicates... And started another one, now under the guidance of the tsarist court. He taxed vehemently until the goal was reached - afterwards, he abolished the taxes of the poorest of his people, the Крепостные, or "serfs".
Tsarina Черное Храм - "Black Shrine" - ensured that even the last, most weakest, youngest, and eldest of her people had three square meals a day to eat. For this, she indoctrinated, incarcerated or executed every large of smallholder of land, and organized, for the first time in equine history, state-owned collective farms. She also revolutionized the currency system, adjusting the value of money not to foreign gold or silver, but to the most valuable mineral of the country itself: Ruby. Thus, the currency known as Рубин, or "Rubin" was born, with a value that outlasted the lifespan of all other currencies, before switching to comparative valuing.
And so on...
Over time, however, it was noted that, barring a few, the tsars and tsarinas became increasingly corrupt, and even the exceptions barely reached the people's expectations... The one prior to the last, Tsar Ужасный Страх, or "Terrible Fear", as he later became known in world history, was a monster in a pony's skin. Driven by paranoia, fits of rage caused by plausible genetic defects - suspected to be the result of inbreeding -, this stallion ruled the country with an iron hoof, pressing down on everpony around him with the threat of crushing looming over them in every second of their lives. And he lived on to rule the longest.
His successor - Tsar Короткий Судьба, or (quite fittingly, considering the events that later occurred) "Short Fate" - came as a family man, and died as a family man: with his family.
It was never stated (at the time, at least) that it was the Equestrian Monarchy's intervention - especially since it had just recently turned into a monarchy, after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, or, as her defeater knew her: Princess Luna.
Her vision, clouded by grief, failed her, so the underhanded deeds of her ministers got unnoticed. She agreed blindly to let her soldiers intervene when the ponies of the North rose up against their leader, demanding a complete change in government. Foreign agitators boiled their tempers to the bursting point, and in one quick riot, they obliterated the tsar's personal guardsponies, and murdered their royal family, causing an international outrage.
This prompted Celestia to action, now making the fully focused (but still blinded and uninformed) decision to stop the North from further violence - and the result was the annexation of the Northern Region.
It was great setback to democracy in the equine world, as it reared up it's ugliest face: despite the openness and reformist views of Tsar Short Fate, not even his complete agreement to his dethronement and the declaration of a republic saved him and his family from the massacre, which served as proof for many other countries to avoid the rule of majority, as the uncouth, and ungrateful crowd will only bite the hand that gives it food - or removes the leash, in this case.
What followed was roughly 500 years of oppression, misery and agitation, another revolution followed, destroying the puppet state of weak leaders chained to Canterlot, and establishing a shaky, but still firmly supported government...
Meanwhile in Canterlot, retribution followed the revolution - Princess Celestia found out about the ministers and army officials that undermined her trust and goodwill, destroying the lives of many ponies in the Norther Region (by then, known as the Northern Republic, a no-party state which all members of the government were either selected by their predecessors or elected individually by the public). The show-trials (albeit based on hard evidence) shook the ponies of Equestria - never before had they seen their Princess become so indignant, so... Wrathful.
Around a hundred ponies were executed, their wealth and property confiscated and redistributed among the public.
Surprisingly, the new Northern government remained open towards this newfound enemy which it never had a good relationship to begin with - many would say that this is what led to the demise of the Republic and brought forth the Union, but let's not get so ahead in time. One could say that they had a verified reason to do so, what with the whole Great War going on (it lasted 40 years, it came in years and devastated every generation involved, forever changing the concept of war within the minds of... Well, basically everyone)...
During the next 300 or so years, the social, bureaucratic and military elite found newer ways gain extra profit or power within Equestria's newest and most awkward ally.
They were aided by the very same elite from inside the Norther Republic, and although cultural differences were apparent, one thing remained certain:
Both elites knew no morals when it came capitalism.
The unaligned economic system, which influenced the society living with it, turned from a healthy competition of merchants, entrepreneurs producers to a race of life and death between the common workers of factories, workshops, and the peasants of the fields, while their masters enjoyed dinner together in the club.
The masses starved while that selective few enjoyed multiple square meals a day. The workers died because of unreliable machines, and even if they didn't, the awkward positions of their jobs damaged their skeletal frame, and the repetition and monotony of their lives sapped them of any will to fight. Even if they did fight, the police brutally suppressed even the most peaceful of demonstrations. In return, whenever the police demonstrated for better wages, workers often attacked them, and got out of the ensuing mess unpunished.
The environment of the workplace and the homes deteriorated, while the fat cats enjoyed their comfort of solitary living outside the smog-choked, crime-infested cities.
By the end of the 300 year, the protests were organizes, the elite was sprawling mess of equinists and the hard-line top hats, public misery was at it's peak. The deployment of new machinery lead to rising unemployment in both urban and rural areas. Any agreement made between the labor unions and the ruling class was ultimately broken by the latter, causing an increasing frustration.
Long story short, tempers were nearing their boiling point.
The air was heavy with the smell of another revolution, and it wasn't just the Norther Region...
The losers of the Great War were embittered by their loss, and the treatment they had to endure from the victors only increased their bitterness.
It became more and more clear that the next war wouldn't be fought in the name of heroism.
It will be started in the name of heroism, sure.
But one peek behind the curtain told everything that needed to be known: fear, greed and loathing.
For a nation, the "Most Sacred War of All Wars" was to be fought on these three basic equine fallibilities.
But all of that is still in the future!
***
There was a knock on the door.
Then silence.
The rapping came again.
The two guards exchanged looks.
The latch opened.
"Who goes there?"
"Меня.."
The quiet voice sent shivers down their spine. They opened the door, and stared out into the murky darkness.
Nothing.
They lowered their gaze...
She sat before them.
Her voice was very impartial, though her accent shone trough:
"И vish to speak vith the Princess."
She was led to Celestia's bedroom. The Princess, having just gone to sleep, was easy to wake. What was hard for her was to comprehend the situation.
The filly that stood before her didn't even reach up to her knees, or even the top of her shins. Her fur was wheat brown, with beige socks and big tan spots, whilst her muzzle and snout. Her mane and tail, both medium-long for a filly of her guessed age, were both plain brown, but had a combination of stripes in them, reminding the Princess of regional flags (quite a few decades later, she would've said that they resembled the stripes on racing chariots). Their pattern was strange: one taupe, one bistre, surrounded by two much narrower, chestnut brown lines. Her eyes were auburn, staring up at the alicorn with what can only be described as sincere neutrality with a hint of curiosity. She had a linen bag on her back - not saddlebags. A bag, in a dirty white color, which the Princess recognized - it was color of the Northern Republic's military uniforms. It was small, but for the filly, it was just perfect.
Celestia looked over her with mixed feelings - the main ones being perplexity a confusion.
An earth pony filly.
Quite young.
Her colors composed of various shades of brown.
Her body carried the slightly stocky, slightly svelte stature of the ponies of the North, which was further emphasized by her backpack and large irises.
A very plain, simple filly.
Apart from her cutie mark...
It looked quite large on her small flank, and quite complex - two golden wreaths of wheat, forming a circle shape, with a large, gold-edged, five-pointed crimson star on the top. Golden rays extended from underneath it, across the sky blue plane in between the wreaths, with a crossed, straight ear of wheat and a hammer on top of it. The wreaths were covered at the bottom by a horizontally expanding, rippled black ribbon, with the words "Нет Трибуна!" written on it.
"Hello?" the Princess asked, cautiously.
"Добрый вечер!" the filly replied "Ar you Princess Celetia?"
"Yes?"
"И hav something for you."
And she tugged out a letter from her backpack, and hoofed it over.
After opening and reading it, the Princess stared down at the filly, wide eyed. Her thoughts were racing at the speed of light, as she contemplated. Finally, she smiled. The filly blinked.
"Very well then." she said "None of the guest bedrooms are furnished at the moment... Do you wish to sleep with me?"
She nodded.
"Come in then."
She took a quick look around.
The bedroom was a large, square room, with bookshelves covering two walls, the bed and a nightstand covering another, and a study covering the last, opposite to the door, with a railing-covered window. The bed was built to fit Celestia's size, but nothing too lavish or luxurious - a simple, plush bed, with a row of shelves above it, connecting the two bigger, full-wall shelves on either side of it and the nightstand. The floor was made of wooden tiles.
She ran up to the bed, stopping before it, and looking back up at the Princess.
Celestia smiled again, trotting over to her, and helping her climb into the bed, before slipping under the quilt herself.
With both of them resting their heads on the large pillow, the alicorn turned towards the filly.
"Well, good night..."
"Добрый вечер..." she replied, yawning once more before drifting off into sleep.
Still smiling, the Princess followed her example, when a thought struck her:
"What is your name, by the way?"
She sleepily turned her face towards her.
"Красная Звезда..." she muttered "Kall me... Krasnya..." and she fell asleep once more.
"Krasnaya Zvezda..." Celestia repeated "'I'll remember that..."
"Wait... So you just let her in?" Discord asked, incredulously "Because she was a little filly with a little body, big eyes, big head, and some parchment, while I, a draconequus with more knowledge about the weight of your duty and more sympathy towards you than anyone else, aside from your sister, had to bust my ass for centuries?!"
He took a deep breath, glaring at the Sun Goddess.
"How freaking shallow IS that?!" he snapped, much to the shock of the two young mares "Just because I'm not that aesthetically pleasing , it doesn't mean that you have the right to treat me like crap!"
And he kept grumbling to himself, while the princess looked away sheepishly, her face red with embarrassment.
"You don't suppose that she didn't sympathize with you because you were, I don't know... You bucked up the whole world in one go, scrupulously experiencing with your chaotic powers?" Trixie asked, sounding rather unimpressed "And yes, you are a grizzly-looking bastard! Out of all of us, YOU should be the one first accepting it! And by accepting, I mean: also understanding others' reactions to your skewed-up appearance !"
Celestia still kept looking away, ridden with guilt.
Discord continued to sulk.
Trixie sighed.
"Jus... Just continue!"
The Princess sighed...
***
The filly was having breakfast - a simple oatmeal.
Upon the Princess' question "What do you want for breakfast?" she replied "Vhatever there is.".
So she sat there, eating her oatmeal, her face half buried into the bowl, as she munched quietly.
"I've checked my dictionary..." Celestia quipped, sitting down next to her "It turns out, your name would be "Red Star" in General Equestrian."
She didn't reply.
"I've also translated the writing on your cutie mark..."
"Мой vhat?" she asked.
"Cutie mark." the alicorn replied, and once registering her confused look, she explained "That symbol on your flanks."
She looked down.
"Oh."
She stared back up at the princess.
"That's a символ выделения" she replied sharply "A symbol of allotment. It explains our fate, and our role in this world." and with that, she bowed back down into her meal, but not before casting a condescending ' of COURSE you didn't know that!' look at the Princess.
"Cutie marks represent a pony's special talent, which enables the prepare for their future."
She looked up again.
Celestia's expression wasn't sad, angry or patronizing - it was calm and patient, as she smiled at her.
"They're actually called "Acute Marks", as they point out one's specialty, and urge ponies towards achieving them." she explained "Their nickname, "cutie marks" has been rumored to have came from a vendor who had a few too many mugs of cider."
She blinked, then returned to her meal.
The Princess sighed, sitting down beside her. She decided to have oatmeal as well.
After she finished, the little pony sat beside her, her head hanging low.
As Celestia finished, she turned towards her.
"Vill you teach меня?"
The alicorn froze.
The letter the filly had handed over her was a request - from her parents.
The family had immigrated from the Northern Republic - or, as they emphasized it, not without resentment: the Northern Region of the Equestrian Empire . They were running away from the misery that had rooted and flourished in the wake of an economic deception, entitled and glorified as an economic "expansion" - ill-made decisions followed by ill-made actions that evicted thousands from their homes, and left a million in fear of it's personal safety.
Zvezda's parents claimed they "saw beneath the curtains - and saw the strings".
The Norther Republic was no more independent from Equestria than the Everfree Forest - a region with it's own rules that not many Equestrians visited, but a part of Equestria none-the-less.
The country embraced wild capitalism more than it had embraced civil rights, which especially pained the family, whom had also embraced the new economic idea, working in goods trading.
Coming to Equestria, they faced a friendlier world, but with the same hardships: instead of being ordered out of the office when asking for a loan or a plot of land, they were given a guilt-ridden head shake from the scholar at the desk.
Facing poverty once more, they sent their older daughter to Canterlot, giving her whatever money they had left - their savings barely worth a few bits, thanks to the dropping value of the Rubin.
With no other option left, they decided to send their older daughter to the one pony who they still trusted - the Princess. They didn't believe it was her fault, and even if it was, the guilt that came from the loss of her sister and the fact that she to result to such extreme measures with Nightmare Moon was sure to be the cause of her mind being clouded, not seeing reason.
Celestia was both baffled and touched by this genuine trust and honesty, and, right after reading the letter, she decided to accept the parents' request, and teach their daughter the best her experiences and expertise allows her. Admittedly, she had not dealt with foals before, her only potential lover being encased in stone outside, in the elevated gardens of the castle, wonders of contemporary pony architecture - and griffon steel-, and iron works.
According to her parents, Krasnya was an excellent, but willful student and something of an autodidact. She asked for help begrudgingly - even from her own parents. It was a symbol of deep trust and respect from her if she asked for somepony's aid. But beside her lexical knowledge, she lacked almost every form of practical skills - something which seemed to be bothering her increasingly. She went from a social butterfly into an introvert and almost emotionless scholar, her mind old before her age.
Her full understanding of the economy and the field of politics didn't help her mood, either.
According to the letter, the little filly had grown to loathe politicians like the page, often referring to them as one may refer to an alien ethnicity which causes grievance in it's wake.
Unlike her parents, she had acquired quite a vast sensation of distrust towards the Princess,
Coincidentally, she viewed Equestria's ruler as the most vast and solid source of knowledge in the same time.
She now looked at her, eyes filled with concern about her fate.
The Princess smiled.
"Of course." she said "That's why you're here for."
As they left the dining room, she spoke to filly once more:
"But first, we'll have to find out how much you know already."
The first one and half an hour they spent in the library was about Krasnya reciting her knowledge to the Princess, and she making notes. They touched every field the little pony said she knew about.
In the end, she gave a satisfied sigh.
"It seems you're quite the clever one." she chuckled "Although, your notions on geography seem a bit... Antiqued..."
"Ve had old maps." the filly replied bluntly.
"Well, you'll be able to bring your knowledge up to date, and expand it." said Celestia, gazing at the towering bookcases of the room "From now on this library will be your domain. You're free to study to your hearts content, and - only if you request it, of course - you have my aid."
Krasnya stared at her, before looking back down at the sea of books spread out before her on the table - all her's to plunder.
"However... There's one question you still have to answer."
Her stare broke away from the books at the speed of sound - well, at least for her, because locks of her mane whipped her in the ear.
Celestia wasn't looking at her.
Instead, she was looking at the table in front of herself, with a somber expression on her face.
"Do you hate me?"
Dead silence fell upon the room.
She couldn't see it, but the Princess could tell that the little filly was shocked, nay, mortified by the question. She waited patiently for her response.
She had every rational, and emotional reason to hate her. She had been short-sighted, naive and ignorant, letting a million or so live in misery for the extreme wealth of a hoofful because of her disregard towards the actual state of Equestria's newest (and last) conquest. Trough inaction, she brought for the destruction of many living-spaces and lives, allowing crime and corruption to flourish.
Her family's grievance stems from her, her men, and her country's economic policy her men pushed onto the Northern Republic - or rather, the Northern Region indeed.
Finally, Krasnya looked up.
"No..."
Celestia looked at her, surprise visible in her eyes.
"И... Don't know..."
"I... Understand if you do..."
"But... Нет. И don't hate you." she replied. Or rather, she decided. It was not a question of doubt or belief. It was her * choice*.
Celestia shivered. The filly's response to even the slightest, involuntary manipulation of mind or emotion was the sharp rejection of the option she was being manipulated towards.
Willful indeed.
Now, the smiled at her, expressing her first, honest emotion to the Princess (aside from shock, of course).
Celestia smiled back, shaking of that irksome feeling of vagueness.
Then Krasnya uttered her first frontal request:
"И vant to study magik!"
"She... Wanted to study... Magic?"
Celestia nodded.
"But... She was an earth pony!" Trixie exclaimed.
"Like I said... She was quite persistent." said the elder princess, a small smile flashing trough her face "In many ways, she was like you..."
"M-Me?" the blue pony stuttered.
"Not just you... All of you." the white equine whispered, her eyes glazed with memories "She had Sunset Shimmers' industriousness and strength, Twilight's talent and power, and your persistence and skills, Trixie. She all had it in herself, and more..."
The two pony's eyes widened.
Discord looked on with interest - a pony more... Simply more than all three of the royal apprentices put together?
He'll have to find this pony.
"So, what did she study?" Twilight asked, excitedly.
"Well... Everything, basically." the Sun Goddess replied "Her main goal was, of course, as she put it: to harness, possess, understand and utilize magic like any other wizard, witch, warlock, enchanter, enchantress, sorcerer, sorceress, mage, priest, priestess, shaman and such."
"...Quite a dream..." was Discord's response in the name of all three of them, after a short pause.
"This, of course, meant that we had to keep track of any new discovery made, in both herbology..."
"Herbo-what ?" Trixie asked.
"The predecessor of botany, and - along with potion brewing or philtering - biochemistry." Twilight replied "So, herbology..."
"Yes, herbology, biology, both "plain" and magi-biology, the ever-expanding sciences..." Celestia paused for a moment, before adding "But she didn't turn away from the arts, either, especially visual arts, such as paintings, and sculptures, but sketching and posters were her favorites."
The others seemed rather stumped at that.
"Posters?" Twilight asked "Why posters?"
"...Initially, I had no idea, either." her mentor replied "And I don't think she knew it, either... After all, it was where her symbol of allotment was guiding her - what her cutie mark was telling her, if you wish."
***
Kranaya was quickly accepted by the staff. Cold as she was, she never forgot mutter a courtesy ' Доброе утро!' or ' Добрый вечер!', or, at the very least, a ' Добрый день!'.
If she was in a particularly good mood, she would even speak clearly and with punctuation, and if her day has been a bliss, she would even resort to saying ' Здравствуйте!' or ' Привет!'. She was known to be a polite, but earnest foal, always trotting soldierlike with a serious or contemplative expression on her face, her mane and tail wavering or even undulating in the slight breeze caused by her pace.
She was nicknamed "Notribuna" after the meaning of the sentence of her cutie mark was revealed by a talkative and rather careless Celestia. This resulted in her being locked up in her room for three days straight, and not answering the increasingly fervent knocking on her door.
After the Princess got word of the issue, she switched into total panic mode - she rushed across the whole castle, forgetting that she could "hop" from place to place (teleport), and burst trough the great oak door of the library with a spurt of flammable magic... Only to find the little filly sleeping safe and sound, her cheeks tear-streaked and her face carrying the same scowl she always wore when she couldn't find the answer to a seemingly simple question.
A healthy meal, a new door, a stern talking-to, and an incredibly fierce telling-off of the staff later, Krasnya resumed her studies. The event's subsequent result was her new nickname: "Tribune".
She liked (or, at least tolerated) that one.
Visitors to the Canterlot Palace would often notice a brow-tinted filly roaming the halls, eyes looking straight forward with a solemn expression, with a small pile of books balanced on her back. Many believed that she was a ghost until they met her in person, usually during dines or when they got lost in the hallways (usually, because they were searching for the loo).
"Your student is no ghost - she's a guardian angel!"
She sometimes used these events to demonstrate her knowledge and progress.
Artists, geologists, chemists, theologians, philosophers and other renowned ponies from all walks of life, and all fields of science found it most interesting to have conversations with this bright-eyed foreign student.
The only group she neglected (and stayed as far away from as possible) were the politicians and economists, who, to be honest, didn't care much about her. Sure, one or two did grew curious about the filly's knowledge, and many were puzzled by her cutie mark, but they didn't see her that significant - the Princess was known to be a kind and caring pony, so taking a supposedly orphaned filly under her wings didn't seemed like much surprise.
That, of course, didn't stopped them from causing grief to her.
Even when meeting casually, they were pushing their own ideas or shamelessly lobbying, trying to secure higher positions to their relatives and friends.
It may not seem like a big surprise then that Celestia retired early on from such events, along with her student.
After a particularly crowded meeting complete with a dinner, the two of them trotted across the dark hallways like lost souls - loss for words beside the occasional groan, and with an otherworldly tiredness in their bodies.
The Princess seemed especially bereft, and this didn't go unnoticed by the little pony.
"Princess? Ar you alright?" she asked.
The alicorn sighed.
"No..."
"No?"
"I'm just... Tired, that's all."
Silence fell among them.
"Iz it because of those pole... Polot... Politis... UGH!" with a groan, she gave up "Iz it because of the аппаратчики in the ball room?"
Celestia gave a wry smile.
"Yes... They've been bothering me quite profusely recently."
"Почему?" the filly asked, before repeating it in Equestrian: "Vhy? Don't they see that you don't like it?"
"I don't think they care?"
"Then vhy do they care if you agree vith them or not? After all, you veren't going up to them and picking on them!"
Celestia suddenly stopped and embraced her, much to her surprise.
"Princess?"
"You're a very kind filly."
"Thank you." she replied, hugging her mentor back.
She understood.
They stood like that for a moment.
"Tomorrow, we'll test your capabilities in the practical utilization of your knowledge."
"In magik?"
"In everything."
The filly groaned again.
The story begins - for real this time!
"Twilight... You are, without doubt, my most successful student." Celestia declared "Your fate wasn't sealed by the Elements of Harmony..."
"Wasn't it, now?" Discord did not sound convinced. Trixie didn't look convinced.
"In fact, had Sunset Shimmer been a bit more open to others, and less interested in her own success, she would've been the Element of Magic." the Princess of the Sun continued, with a hint of sadness in her voice "But her magic, and her efforts were corrupted by an almost wanton greed for power and authority - the very same way your efforts were once corrupted by the impossible goal of perfection."
"M-My efforts... Corrupted?" Twilight stuttered. To this, even Trixie had to give an incredulous look.
"Look, Sparkle." Discord snapped "You're not perfect, we're not perfect, nopony's perfect!" he scoffed "This stupid chase after a nonexistent concept has to stop! Even from my stone imprisonment, I saw many ponies' lives ruined by this ridiculous goal! So STOP it!"
The young princess was taken aback by the aggression of the draconequus.
"What Discord forgot to mention..." Celestia added, sorrow dripping from her voice "That we were the ones, the first ones, both of us, who had fallen victim to the corrupting belief of perfection..."
She paused, shuddering, which made the chimera embrace her, and hold her tight.
"The... Things... The atrocities we have committed in our quest for perfection... Will forever mark this world..."
Out of nowhere, a story came to Twilight's mind... A story of a town, which's inhabitants committed a horrible crime... And were doomed for eternity...
She shook the thought out of her head, as her mentor continued:
"Sunset Shimmer was the first pony with enough magical potential to become the Element of Magic, and that was the position I intended her to have. She was definitely successful, and she became such with honest work and unfading determination. Where has this turned into a self-praising act and stubborn arrogance, I do not know. It didn't help her ego that I chose her to become my personal student, but I had no choice..."
"Why not?" Trixe asked.
"Because Sunset Shimmer became my student trough victory. Back in those days, the education system was in a dismal state, choked by bureaucracy and ridiculous demands, thanks to a new education minister, who - and I have to be fairly honest - had no place in politics or any sort of office! I really have no idea how she got her position, but with her termination began a wave of replacement in the Equestrian ministries. Her name was..."
"Rose Hoofmane" Twilight spat "She was a scourge to the education system. A hard-line conservative who constantly sucked up to the equally block-headed ministers at the time, and made sure that only the rich receive education!"
"She was fired, and fined for 10,000 bits for causing deliberate public harm - which, at the time, was quite a lot of money, and quite a glaring error. Her... "Superiors", I've lead to believe, followed her fate. All dishonorably dismissed, and some even had a large amount of their wealth confiscated as retribution. They were forbidden to ever actively participate in the fields of economy and politics. Most of them left the country, but instead of mending their ways, they got themselves arrested abroad for similar reasons they were kicked out of their jobs back here."
"Did you bail them out?"
"Like Tartarus I did!" the princess snapped, shocking the others "They've dug their own grave, and I was more than glad to push the earth over them!"
The others were flabbergasted.
"Hmmm..." Discord muttered "So the great Princess Celestia, the Goddess of the Sun and the protector of all living beings CAN be wrathful. This IS an incentive, if you ask me."
"Discord." the Princess said, softly.
"Yes?" the spirit asked, before being pulled down into an eye-to-eye level with his face right in front of hers, his eyes looking into her glaring ones.
"Shut up. I'm not telling you anymore. One more quip, and you're stoned! Capisce?! "
Discord merely nodded.
After letting go of him, Celestia took a few deep breaths, and then continued:
"You were also threatened by this impossible task, and I had to find a way to make you realize that there are things far more important than your studies. And I couldn't just give my word - I've learned from Sunset Shimmer's example."
"So you sent me to organize the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville." Twilight muttered "But Princess Opscura's... I mean, Nightmare Moon's return..."
"I was well aware that my sister, and the curse that had overcome her - the curse created by our parents' negligence - will be returning. But I wasn't sure about the date and location - the old scriptures have been wrong before..."
"And even if she knew exactly what was going to happen, do you really think she would've sent you with the knowledge that there would be, for example, a WAR going on?" Trixie asked, earnestly "Ponies would've panicked, and Equestria would've been thrown into Chaos!
"DISORDER, if you please!" Discord snapped "I do NOT like having my chaos associated with mayhem and havoc."
"ANYWAYS..." the Princess spoke up firmly "You've been sent to Ponyville for multiple reasons, and I have to admit, becoming the Element of Magic was not one of them. You weren't groomed, Twilight, you became who you are on the whim of chance, and so did your friends."
"You mean... Anypony could've become the leader of the Elements?" Trixie muttered.
"Not necessarily the "leader", per say, but yes, everypony had the potential to become an Element of Harmony. And it's not restricted to ponies, either."
"Everyone ?!" Twilight spluttered, while Trixie stared at the floor in front of her.
"If it hadn't been Twilight, it could've been someone else. There are many powerful unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies in Equestria, not to mention pegacorns, griffons, hippogriffs, donkeys, mules, dragons, zebras, and who knows, how many other nations and ethnicities. They all hold magical potential, of course, unicorns and pegacorns are the most adept users of it. The list was quite big." Discord pondered out loud.
"It could've been my nephew, but Blueblood's mock hubris show to the public and his secretive mischief made him discredibile and and inauthentic. Sunset Shimmer was too arrogant and too ambitious, and Trixie..."
The blue pony looked up.
"...You were un ambitious."
Trixie's eyes widened, and Twilight fought, with all her might, to stop herself from smirking.
"You excelled in your studies, but once you arrived to a certain level, you decided that it was enough for you to make a living, which IS honest and humble, but you were wasting your potential. I don't know where you gained your conceit during your days as a travelling magician, but it only halted you from becoming truly great and powerful." Celestia added.
Trixie's eyes grew wider. At this point, she wasn't even looking at the princess anymore, just staring at an empty point in the air. Twilight's smile turned into a scowl.
"And to think, that you were still within the same system as Sunset Shimmer was - your prowess, which with you started living your own life so soon, and the talent you possess in magic competes with that of Twilight's, while your strength and perseverance is matching that of Sunset Shimmer's." Discord went on "All the alicorn amulet really did was open a few doors you already had the keys for. It's corrupting power, however, could feed off of your ire and envy you felt towards Twilight, and further set you back."
By now, Twilight was growing increasingly concerned about the former showmare. She didn't seemed to be breathing.
"You have missed your chance to become the Element of Magic, Trixie." Celestia spoke hastily, taking notice of the unicorn's worsening conditions "But the potential is still within you. However, we - me, my sister, Discord, Chrysalis and Opscura - felt that they could be harnessed better if you'd study under Luna, then, subsequently, Opscura. There's more to Equestrian magic than the Elements, and you're a living proof of that."
That seemed to make the blue pony finally ease her muscles, as the others let out a collective, relieved sigh.
"So, what about that story...?"
The elder princess looked up.
"Twilight Sparkle, you are my most successful student and my dearest friend..."
Twilight felt touched, yet worried...
"But... What about Luna, and Nightma--... I mean, Opscura... What about Discord?"
Celestia smiled.
"The bond I share with my sisters is more... Profound, if you will. And Discord..." she took one, sideways glance at the guileful draconequus before she started to smirk as well "He's more than just a friend..."
The two mares gulped.
"But that's not the point..." the Princess explained "Twilight is the best student that any teacher could've wanted, and even as friends, we stand very close to each other..." and with that, she bowed down, the two sharing a student-daughter-ish-teacher-second-mother-ish embrace (much to the envy of both Discord and Trixie), before resuming their original position "And Trixie, from what I've seen and heard, is THE apprentice that any teacher or professor could only wish for..."
It was Trixie's turn, to swell out her chest with pride.
Celestia kept on:
"Sunset Shimmer was the first student that I was training to be able to harness the Elements of Harmony. Twilight was the second one." she said, pausing briefly, before adding: "But they weren't my only students."
Twilight and Trixie exchanged looks very slowly, before staring back at the Princess.
"...watt? "
"I had more than two students... Well... One more..."
The others were, once again, flabbergasted...
"To this day... I do not know why I started to take care of her by myself..." she muttered, her thoughts drifting off "She was just a filly... With a cutie mark that lacked meaning, yet so full of potential."
"OK, pseudo-pedo ramblings aside, who was this filly or colt or whatever she was?" spoke up Trixie, causing the the deity to snap out of her daze.
"So... Who was she?"
"Красная Звезда..."