In Youth Eternal - Origins

Chapter 7: Shocking Revelation Part 2

There was darkness.

There was almost nothing but a void of darkness that surrounded the alicorn.

There she sat, alone, slumped lazily on her bed in the darkness. Only the dim moonlight which shined down through the window, piercing the shadows, illuminating only the alicorn.

The alicorn was filthy mess, having not bathed in days. Her mane remained static and unkempt, all color having now faded from its once brilliant form. Her sickly white fur had somewhere along the lines gathered dust and grime. Sleep persistently evaded the distraught alicorn, leaving her. Having obsessed over one thing, and one thing only for the past several days, her descent into madness had taken a nosedive.

The room had long since fallen silent, with her thoughts as her only company, focusing only on what she believed she could never obtain: Eternal Life. An apprehension like no other strangled the alicorn like a tight noose.

Her fits of rage had long since subsided as of now, having been holed up in her room since yesterday. All that remained in her heart was despair and turmoil, like a knife that plunged and twisted itself.

‘Why should the world exist without me?’ her thoughts asked. She felt almost ready to just keel over and die in her dreaded state. Her thoughts trailed back to her near death experience, causing the alicorn to cringe with a furrowed brow, followed by an audible grunt. Never again did she want to experience such a thing.

Eventually, her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of hooves knocking on her bedroom door several times.

“Princess Celestia?” a muffled, male voice called. The alicorn’s eyes shifted towards where her bedroom door would be, darkness blotting out any actual sight of the door. “Princess Celestia, are you in there?” it called again.

Princess Celestia took a moment to think to herself. ‘Do I even care anymore?’ asked her inner thoughts. ‘Should I care anymore?’ A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes snapped shut as more knocking sounded at the door.

“Princess Celestia? It’s about Star Streak and his mission,” the voice pointed out.

Princess Celestia’s ears perked up as her eyelids crept open. ‘Maybe... maybe I should care. Maybe it can take my mind off of things for a while...’ she reasoned as she slowly, but surely climbed off of her bed. Her hooves made an audible clop upon touching the floor.

The sickly alicorn’s horn activated, creating a golden aura around the door. With that, her bedroom door had crept open, with Celestia approaching the entrance, stopping once she reached the doorway.

On the other side of the doorway stood Star Swirl the Bearded with a cerulean pendant levitating next to him. The aged unicorn’s jaw nearly hit the floor upon seeing the physical state of Princess Celestia.

“Good heavens, Princess!” Star Swirl bellowed, throwing his hooves into the air. “You look even worse off than before, if that is even possible!” His brow quickly furrowed with concern. “You look like you’re dying...” he solemnly observed.

Princess Celestia’s eyes widened, taken by surprise. The entire time, the alicorn had been too preoccupied with her troubles to even take notice to her physical state. Her head turn towards the interior of her room as her magic levitated a mirror off of a night stand, positioning it in front of her.

What she saw was a sickly, broken mare with little to no will to continue. Princess Celestia grimaced at the sight. ‘It... It does look that way, doesn’t it...’ said her inner thoughts as her dull eyes stared back at her.

As her eyes snapped shut with a grunt, Princess Celestia tossed the mirror away, hearing the glass shatter against the hard floor. ‘I do not wish to be reminded of my own mortality...’ her thoughts hissed.

Star Swirl the Bearded cringed at her sudden reaction. Although, he felt awful for the broken Princess. He lifted a hoof to place it on her shoulder to try and comfort her. “Please, Princess. If there is anything I can do,-”

“It’s fine, Star Swirl,” she interrupted, brushing his hoof off her shoulder with one of her own. “For now, just tell me about Star Streak and his mission.”

‘There will be no arguing with you, I’m sure...’ thought Star Swirl the Bearded, thinking back to her previous outbursts. “Very well, Princess,” he replied, giving a short bow.

“I am afraid to say, Princess Celestia... Star Streak is dead,” he claimed as his brow furrowed. For a moment, the aged unicorn’s head drooped. Princess Celestia’s eyes widened noticeably at the unfortunate news.

“I see... That it is most unfortunate, but how do you know?” she replied, inquiring how the unicorn knew. Star Swirl the Bearded lifted his head back to its normal position, looking back up at Celestia to explain.

“Well, you see, this pendant here,” he began, hovering the cerulean pendant before Princess Celestia. “It is a magic recording device of sorts. In it, contains everything that happened in his mission. I placed a dormant teleportation spell and linked to his life force,” he continued, gesturing with a hoof as he explained. If his life signs vanish, the spell will activate, returning the pendant to me. It was a countermeasure to prevent anything he may discover from being lost, should he perish. I had hoped it would not have come to that, but it has...”

Princess Celestia slowly nodded, processing what had been explained to her. “I see. Indeed, it is... most unfortunate. He was one of the best,” she said. Her tired eyes drifted to the floor, her expression turning solemn.

Star Swirl the Bearded waited a moment, giving Princess Celestia a moment before speaking up again. “So, I assume you will want to see the contents?” he asked, levitating the pendant closer to Celestia.

“Yes... Thank you, Star Swirl,” said Princess Celestia. Her horn flowed with magic, creating a golden aura around the pendant, forcing Star Swirl the Bearded’s magic away. “You are dismissed,” she ordered calmly.

“Yes, Princess,” replied the aged unicorn. He turned around and began to trot off, feeling as if part of large burden lifted off of his shoulders. ‘At least she isn’t having violent fits of rage anymore...’ he observed.

It was then that Star Swirl the Bearded stopped in his tracks, turning back around to face Princess Celestia. “And, Princess, pease... Get some rest and go see Doctor Patches,” he suggested, the impression of concern heavy in his voice.

Princess Celestia nodded slowly. “Of course. Thank you, my friend,” said Celestia, forcing an unconvincing smile to mask her despair.

The aged unicorn shut his eyes for just a brief moment before giving a small nod. He then turned away to leave Celestia alone while she checks the contents of the magic recording pendant.

Princess Celestia receded back into her room, with the door closing behind. The alircorn slowly trotted over to her bed, the only sound in the room being that of her hooves clopping upon the floor. One at a time, her hooves placed themselves on the mattress, hoisting the Princess onto her bed. Her form knelt down to rest in a comfortable position. The pendant hovered directly in front of her, caught in her holden magic grip.

‘Okay, I suppose I’ll see what happened, then,’ she thought. With that in mind, Princess Celestia’s horn fed a stream of magic energy directly into the cerulean gem piece. The golden light emanating from the pendant suddenly shifted colors into blue, before its glow of cerulean intensified, flooding the room with its light.

Princess Celestia reared her head a little as her eyes widened at the light. Despite their widened state, the alicorn’s eyes conveyed no emotions, as if she were in trance.

Memories contained inside the pendant rushed into her mind. She saw everything Star Streak had seen, and heard everything he had heard since he first carried out the mission. In essence, she was reliving Star Streak’s mission, seeing everything through his eyes.

For Princess Celestia, there was nothing to speak of until Star Streak infiltrated the capitol building of Stalliongrad. Watching through his eyes, she observed Star Streak greet Finn before heading up to meeting with him.

Then the trip up the stairs to the 3rd floor.

Then, before her was the doorway to the conference room, with a guard on each side of the door.

The alicorn watched as the doors opened, and Star Streak stepped through. It was there, at the end of the table that she saw a pony she hadn’t seen for a long time. Following that, the Princess heard him speak, his voice all too familiar.

Good morning, Gentlecolts,’the voice echoed, in Crimson’s exact audible likeness.

The scene continued onwards, with Princess Celestia hearing the discussion as it had unraveled.

It went onto Star Streak’s reveal, then onto his scuffle against the guards and Crimson himself.

Star Streak, as expected, had perished when Crimson sent a bolt of magic tearing through his neck and out the other side. As Star Streak collapsed, the visions went dark.

Princess Celestia snapped out of her trance-like state with a small gasp as her head jerked backwards, with the pendant dropping onto her bed. It was then that her head began drooping forwards. With her head hung low, the alicorn’s eyes remained wide with shock.

‘Crimson... How can he still be alive?!’ her thoughts shrieked. ‘He looks exactly the same as he did 200 years ago. And that wound did nothing to deter him...’ Princess Celestia spent the following moments trying to make sense of what was revealed.‘This doesn’t make any sense. It’s as if he’s...’

“Immortal...” she spoke aloud.

Princess Celestia laid there motionless on her bed, processing what that meant. The realization sparked something in her heart; Hope.

“He is immortal,” she said with an eerie calmness, the shock on her face still present. It was then that her lips suddenly arched into a wide grin, stretching across her visage in a borderline maniacal fashion.

“Heh... Heh heh!” she began, starting with a slow chuckle, which quickly turned into an almost deranged laughter. “Hahaha! AAAHAHAHA! Yes!” For Princess Celestia, the feeling of laughter after her mental breakdown felt euphoric. A relaxing feeling rushed through her limbs and body, washing away her despair away in a river of hope.

The effects on her body were immediate. Already, color began to fade back into her mane, although it remained static and unmoving.

Her eyes narrowed as she stood up on all four hooves, her smile ever so present. “It looks like I will have to pay Crimson a little visit,” she chimed, spreading her wings in the excitement.

“But first, a nap. It may be too soon to go see Crimson,” the alicorn reasoned, levitating a small timer in front of her, twisting a knob on the front with her magic. “In one hour, I shall go pay Crimson a... little visit,” said Celestia as she laid back down on her bed. The small device lowered itself onto a nightstand next to the alicorn’s bed.

Princess Celestia lowered her head onto a pillow as her tired eyes crept shut. With that, the Goddess of the Sun slipped into a peaceful state of slumber for the first time in days.

*     *     *

The day time had come once again, with the Sun shining brightly in the blue sky above. Its golden light flooded the land with its life giving energies, resuming the natural cycle of things.

Princess Celestia had risen the Sun into the sky to the correct position to make up for lost time after her 1 hour nap ended.

The nap was just what she so desperately needed. It may not have been a full nights sleep, but the alicron felt at least somewhat more refreshed. Princess Celestia also decided it would be a good idea to bathe before departing, as it was something she had not done in days.

Princess Celestia had filled her personal bathtub with clean water from a golden faucet. Pink and white soap suds formed small islands on water’s surface. The alicorn slipped her tiara, neck piece, and hoof shoes all off before climbing into the water.

The Sun Goddess let out a pleasant sigh of relief. The water felt so warm against her fur and skin; oh so relaxing. She leaned her head back on the edge of the bathtub, closing her eyes to savor the wonderful feeling that gushed through her, with her mane dipping freely into the water.

It was then that Princess Celestia began to think to herself about how she would confront Crimson.

‘I suppose I should confront him, and only him without making a scene. But if that is impossible, then so be it,’ she reasoned. ‘I will not have my best chance at immortality denied. Even if it means a forceful confrontation.’

After several minutes of relaxing in her bath and planning her move, the alicorn drained the tub by yanking the plug on the drain with her magic. Princess Celestia climbed out of the tub, dripping from head to hoof with water, prompting her to levitate a snow white towel from a nearby rack to dry herself off.

The white piece of cloth slid its way across Princess Celestia’s body, revealing her pristine, immaculate white fur for the first time in days, followed by her mane. Once her mane was also completely dried off, the long, multicolored form flowed majestically in the air, with the colors restored to their former glory. With a touch of her magic, Princess Celestia slipped her royal adornments back onto their places on her body.

With these all taken care of, Princess Celestia opened the window of her bedroom after tossing the towel aside. She spread her wings with serious look about her features, and pushed off the floor with her hooves, taking flight into the sky.

As Princess Celestia soared through the air at almost impossible speeds with her strong wings flapping furiously, she gave one last thought as a sinister smirk of confidence crept onto her face.

‘It won’t be long now, Crimson. I’m coming for you! And I will get what I want.’