We Will Live On

Love Will Live On...

By Michael A.

Chapter: 1 - Those Who We Depended On…

Celestia paced in her office, trotting from one side to the other. Her mind was a nervous wreck, and her mane was even worse. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. It had been over two months since the Changeling attack on Canterlot, and the solar goddess still couldn’t get it out of her head. She had let her subjects down. She had let them all down. She hadn’t been strong enough to protect her citizens when they needed her, and that fact had been wearing away that the princess for the past two months. But that was not what troubled the celestial alicorn right now. No, what was troubling the princess right now came in the form of a letter on her desk. As Celestia continued to pace, she was unaware of the door to her study opening and a midnight-blue alicorn trot in.

    Luna’s eyes followed her sister with great sadness. She could see the pain Celestia’s eyes, and the strain in her form. From knowing her sister for so long, and the almost magical bond they both shared, Luna could all but sense the internal hurt of her sister. She had not seen her sister this upset in a long while. Slowly, Luna trotted up to her sister and wrapped her hooves around her neck. Celestia shuddered at the contact, but upon noticing that it was her sister who embraced her, she hugged back. The pair remained in the embrace for several more minutes, before they both pulled back. Celestia used a hoof to wipe away the beginning signs of moisture in her eyes, and motioned her sister over to the fireplace with a hoof. Luna nodded, and trotted besides her sister to the enchanted harth that softly crackled.

They both sat down and Celestia let out a long sigh. “Sorry that you had to see me like this, sister,” Celestia began, looking almost ashamed.

Luna just gave her a comforting smile and put a hoof on her shoulder. “‘Tis okay, dear sister,” Luna began with a smile. “But we dost wish to know the cause of thy upset. Is this still grief from the assault of our capital?”

“No, Lulu. Though that does still pain me, that is not it.” Celestia levitated the letter from her desk and over to her sister. Luna gripped it in her own magic and read.

Luna finished reading, and then gave her sister a questionable look. “Why does this bother you, ‘Tia? It is great news!”

Celestia frowned. “No, no it is not good news, dear sister,” Celestia began aloud, then whispered it again to herself, “That is the not good news.”

“But it says that the changelings are no more — the assault was successful! We are free from future troubles from them!” Luna said with a cheery smile, which fell when she noticed her sister’s expression.

“Luna, things have changed since you’ve been gone. We do not simply destroy all those who wrong us and provide peace through fear. Yes, the threat is now gone. But at what price? Sister… do you know what we...I, just did?” Celestia asked, her eyes threatening tears.

Luna tilted her head slightly, racking her brain for a logical answer. “We eliminated a threat?” she asked with uncertainty, not sure if it was the answer her sister was expecting.

Celestia’s face instantly turned that of rage; her sad frown shifting to a scowl. “Genocide!” she screamed, standing up and staring, with burning eyes, at her sister. Luna backed up at the outburst, scooting away from her sister, but Celestia stalked her sister, not allowing the gap between them to grow more than a few hoofs away. “We just singled hoofidly ended an entire race! No, I just ended an entire race.” Celestia would've continued her rant, if she hadn't seen the look of terror on her sister's face as she stood over her. The princess of the sun shakily stepped away from her sister, and took a deep breath. She'd hoped that moment would have been enough to quell the anger that continued to rise within her, but in reality, it didn't very little. Celestia took another deep breath, and continued. “Do you know what bothers me more, sister? Do you know what pains my heart the most right now?”

Luna shook her head.

“It is that that I am the only pony this seems to bother,” Celestia choked out. A few tears managed to escape, and rolled down her muzzle.

Luna looked shocked at her sister, not expecting the outburst. “But why would it bother them? The changelings attacked us, brought us harm, and we got our revenge. Plus, it is just changelings. Why would it bother them?”

The solar alicorn’s eyes lit up like the sun. “Because it is wrong! That is why! I try, day-in and day-out, to try to preach love to our citizens. I tried to preach to them tolerance and understanding.” Her eyes began to tear up. “When I had the meeting to decide our counter-actions of the invasion, every single member voted to kill. Every single suggested action was just a different way to kill. Even in my rage, I suggested less harsh actions.” Celestia began to let tears fall freely down her face. “It is my fault because I wasn’t as good of a leader to convince them otherwise.”

    “But why not force them to do otherwise?” Luna asked. I remember a time when we did not have to suffer the stupidity of fools.

    Celestia just bowed her head. “Because I am not a goddess, Luna. I am not a tyrant. I am merely a protector of our land. The greatest gift that I can give to my subjects is the right of free will, even if it means watching them make terrible, terrible mistakes.” With that said, Celestia threw herself at her sister and began to cry into her chest.

Luna winced a little at the sudden embrace, but soon hugged back, running a hoof threw her sisters celestial mane. As Celestia's tears continued to fall, Luna continued to run her hoof threw her sister’s mane, whispering soothing comforts into her ear. Luna had never seen her sister this upset; she had never seen her sister completely break down in tears. Luna had never had to be the strong one... But she would be damned if she would let that be an excuse for not being there for her.

It had taken hours, but the princess of the sun had managed to pull herself together. She had cried in her sister’s shoulder, and then remained in Luna’s embrace until she felt stable enough to get ready for her day. Luna had offered to stay, but Celestia insisted that she was fine. Celestia knew that she had to remain strong for her citizens, making sure to not show her weakness in front of them. She was the figurehead for her entire nation, being anything other than strong would severely crush Equestria's reputation with other nations.

With a warm bath and some excessive mane brushing, Celestia had managed to get her physical state almost as presentable as her mental state. It took a minor spell to get rid of the redness in her eyes from all her crying to finish it off. Smiling into her mirror, Celestia, metaphorically, donned her regal mask and trotted out of her study.

As she trotted, Celestia gave a regal wave and smile to any staff she encountered on her way to the royal court, and their happy smiles and wave back greatly helped brighten her spirits. She trotted through the courtroom door with an actual genuine smile on her face.

The court room was large, easily three times as large as her personal study. The walls were painted white, and had large windows that allowed the sun to gaze in. The ceiling was also white, but had a large window who's metal rebar was shaped into a rearing alicorn. Celestia remembered how that particular window had been designed so that the sun shone on her throne, that sat in the back of the room, at exactly noon. On the floor was a large mural of the solar crest: a white alicorn rearing in front of the sun. The the sides of the room had benches that anyone who attended the royal court could sit.

Celestia trotted up to her throne and took a seat, and snuggled into it's soft, velvet material. Celestia had hoof picked the material that composed her throne, and never regretted her decision. Even after it's many years of service, her throne was still as soft and comfortable as the first time she had sat in it. With a semi-sincere smile, Celestia took a deep breath and announced: “The day court is now in session!”

With those words spoken, the mob of pony's that had been meandering the court room slowly shifted into an orderly line. Those who held standing in the court took their places along the walls of the room. Celestia designed this system so that she'd personally hear out each pony that came to voice their complaints, propose something of governmental value, or simply shown up to end a petty dispute. After hearing them out, she would either personally resolve the matter, or send the pony to one of her representatives that would...

Celestia had never, in her many years of reign, had ever had such an... emotionally challenging day at court. Even the assassination attempts that she's had during day court hailed in comparison to today. But unlike those occasions, she felt like it was all of her pony's that held a knife to her heart. For some reason, her vision seemed to be clear of her clouded, perfect view of her ponies. And instead, she saw them for who they really were: Monsters.

Almost all of the attendants at today's court had congratulated her on the extinguishment of the changelings, or asked about the process of such efforts, depending on their level of ignorance to the issue. The others that showed up, however... Such selfish issues.

Everypony was arguing about petty issues; yelling about stuff that only the greedy would pay notice. Celestia had to hold herself back from yelling about how stupid and immature everypony was acting. All this time she thought that her nation was the epidemic of harmony and compassion, but the past few months have been slowly chipping away at her picture, revealing the truth in the canvas.

Celestia had to excuse herself early from court, much to the displeasure of those  attending, and decided to get something off of her chest. There was something that she had to do, whether she liked it or not...

    Celestia’s hooves clip-clopped on the ground as she walked threw the lower layers of the castle. Her face remained neutral; not showing any emotion. Her composure was rehearsed, and didn’t seem to be any different than the way she normally walked. This particular level of the castle was reserved for the Royal guard and anything that went along with the equestrian military. When the castle was build, Celestia and Luna both agreed to have the military below and out of the common pony’s view. It wasn’t that it was secret, more of that it housed some aspects that the princess didn’t wish for their citizens to notice.

    When she stopped, she stood in front of one of those aspects: the prison. Although there was a "normal" prison located above in the city, it was used for common criminals. This one, that resided deep within the mountain, was used for the more dangerous of captives. Celestia gave the pair of guards that stood sentry besides the large metal door curt a nod. The guards saluted in return, both turning and using the key that hung around their necks to unlock both sides of the door. The guards then swung the door wide, allowing Celestia to trott in.

    The area behind the doors was filled with cells, about a dozen guards patrolled the metal grated of said cells. Celestia ignored them, however, already knowing their rounds by heart. She also didn’t pay attention to the creatures inside of these cells, her gaze and focus set on a reinforced door that stood at the end of the hall. The princess quickly made her way to the door, before sticking her horn into the specialty lock. There was a soft “click” and the door slowly opened. Celestia trotted inside, and shut the door behind her with her magic.

    A single light hung in the middle of the small room infront of her. At the far edge of the room was a slightly large cell than those in the main jail, but, instead of metal bars, this cell had dark pink bolts of magic where the metal bars would be. The magic beams let out a soft hum, supplying the air with a slight scent of ozone. The inside of the cell, however, didn't vary practically at all from the other ones, having the basic components needed, such as a bed, sink, toilet, and small table. There was only once prisoner in this cell, who curently had her gaze set at the opposite wall of the cell.

The hooves of the prisoner were shackled together, a single chain connection the cuffs on their front hooves to the ones around their back hooves. The prisoner's crooked horn had a large, metal ring around it, strange glowing arcane glyphs running around it's circumference. The prisoner either didn’t noticed Celestia's arrival, or didn’t care enough to react—continueing to face the bare wall, a blank and emotionless expression on their face. Celestia, on the other hoof, looked upon the prisoner with the same expression she’d walked in with.

The solar mare loudly cleared her throat, now grabbing attention of the prisoner, who responded by slowly turning their head to face the princess and immediately scowled, her wings making a menacing chirp.

Celestia didn’t react to the display, instead speaking with a clear, even tone. “Hello, Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis hissed in response, not even wanting to speak.

The princess shook her head, expecting the response. “I wish for this conversation to be as civilized as possible; I have all day to wait for you to oblige my wishes,” she spoke with the same, even tone.

The Queen scowled, but did not hiss.

Celestia took this as a sign of agreement. “Good,” she began. “Now, I first wish to know how you are doing?”

Chrysalis scoffed. “How am I doing? Seriously, you have to ask that?” Celestia nodded, while the Queen chuckled halfheartedly. “Fine. I am having a fine stay in your little five-star accommodation, your highnessssss,” she said, hissing the last syllable like a venomous snake.

Celestia did not laugh, she did not smile, she simply kept the same, neutral expression. “I see... that is good to know.” The princess sat down on the floor just feet from the magic bars, shifting slightly until she was comfy. Celestia then returned her focus to the changeling, before continueing. “I hear you gave my guards quite a hard time bringing you here.”

Chrysalis laughed, her chains rattling. “Those guards were pathetic! I took down ten of them even while I was injured from the blast.”

Celestia finally smiled. “And yet, here you sit—my ‘pathetic’ guards being the ones to bring you here.” Celestia hadn’t known how Chrysalis would react to the quibb, but she definitely didn’t expect her to smile.

Chrysalis continued to smile at her captor as she spoke. “I may be here,” she began, “but not all of your guards are here as well.”  Celestia’s left eye twitched ever so slightly. Chrysalis’ smile grew wider, noticing the small movement on the princess' stonic expression. “How many was it, again? I think it was five. Oh, and I don’t think that pegasus shall be flying any time soon.” Chrysalis’ kept her grin as Celestia’s face turned into a scowl.

The now angered solar mare glared at the changeling queen, who kept on smiling back. “You caused six deaths, thirteen mildly wounded, and three critically wounded,” Celestia spat. “And I am still surprised that my guards let you live after that.”

“Like you, I am very hard to kill. Although, from the beating I got from those guards who brought me here, I don’t think that fact was intentional,” Chrysalis spoke, her face now turning back to only a slight grin.

Celestia took a deep breath, before speaking. “Whatever the reason, you are now in my custody, and I shall deal with you accordingly,” Celestia spoke with a now calm voice. “But I am not here to discuss the details of your capture. I am here to personally inform you of a recent development.”

“Oh? Do tell?” the queen said with fake curiosity.

Celestia took another deep breath. “After your attack upon our capital... it was decided that the best course of action was to launch an immediate counterattack upon your hive.” The captured queen’s eyes went wide, her expression changing to one of shock. “The goal of this counter attack was to capture all remaining changelings…” Celestia paused for a second, regretting the next words. “Lethal force... was allowed for any resistance.”

Chrysalis’ mouth hung open, her body shaking slightly.

“The attack was carried out a few hours ago. It was a success,” Celestia finished. Her expression remained neutral, though she held back her sadness.

Chrysalis closer her mouth, then opened it again; no words coming out. She just stared blankly at Celestia, unable to respond. Then, she scowled, her face turned to that of complete rage. Her glossy wings began to frantically buzz together and she hissed deadly at Celestia, jumping closer to the magic beams, not caring about her restraints. “Those changelings were innocent! They had nothing to do with my actions!” she screamed, her wings buzzing louder. Then, her eyes went wide with concern as a thought popped into her head. “Where is my daugher? What have you done with her?!”

This time, it was Celestia whose eyes went wide. “D-Daughter?” she stammered, “I did not know you had a daughter.”

Chrysalis almost lunged at the beams, but managed to restrain herself. “Where is my daughter?!” she screamed again.

“I don’t know!” Celestia blurted out. “I was not told of any young changelings being captured...in fact, the amount of changelings that were captured was quite low.”

Chrysalis jumped at the bars, desperately trying to grab Celestia. Her eyes were filled with tears as she screamed, “You murderer! You killed my Daughter!!!!”

Celestia was well out of Chrysalis’ reach, but that still didn’t stop the changeling from trying. The solar princess stared blankly at Chrysalis, not knowing how to react.

Chrysalis’ body burned as it continued to make contact with the magical bars, the queen not even reacting to the pain. The room slowly began to fill with the smell of her burning flesh. “Monster! You fucking monster!”

Celestia backed up, her faced filled with both shock and sadness. She quickly turned around and left the room. All the same time, she heard Chrysalis’ voice continue to scream the word: ‘Monster’.

Celestia closed the door behind her and quickly made her way out of the prison, not looking at any of the guards. She banged the large double doors with a hoof and the guards at the other side opened it. Celestia looked at the guards for a second, just the briefest of moments, before walking past them. She trotted slowly down the hall and heard the double-doors shut.

Both guards used their respective key to seal the door to the prison. They both returned to their positions on either side of the door. As they watched their Princess trott out of sight, one of the guards turned to the other and asked, “Was it just me… or was Celestia... crying?”