Celestia sat in the front yard of her castle and sipped a cup of tea. There was nothing particularly important announced by the pegasi right now, so she didn't need to worry about rain or clouds ruining her sunny day. The teacup was white with decorative, golden vines wrapped around the porcelain, and the table, although rather bland and white, stood on four pieces of black metal that all narrowed to a point near the floor then spread out and curved upwards, giving the furniture something to stand on.
The mare heaved a tired sigh from her lungs and looked up to the sky. Thoughts flooded through her mind about what her ex-student-turned-equal had told her. Celestia and her sister had both lived for so long. They knew so many things, yet these were things they knew naught. A city with time stacked upon it; A colt fused with the Astral Essence which many thought impossible as even the alicorns could not perform such a taxing task; And technology surpassing what is currently available. The worst part was that they were separated throug time gaps, which Twilight also reported. She would learn more when the researchers returned with their notes, but it would take some time before they would get anything done. Celestia took another sip from her tea-cup and stared into the liquid. Another pony was staring back at her.
"Hmmm. I wonder how that colt is doing."
Back in the guard house, the colt was squished against a wall in terror. He looked quickly from point to point like a bird and didn't like what he was seeing. Several bunk beds were placed in a single line on both sides of the walls and had their sheets properly organized with the pillows correctly fluffed and at the end of the bed. The walls were just a plain white color without any details, and chests were at the feet of each bed. It wasn't a guard house but actually a barracks, and the foal was kept under the watchful eyes of the guards rather than just tossed into the dungeons and forgotten.
"What are you?! Who are you?! What are those things on your bodies?! Are you golems?!" Cucumber screamed.
The guards looked at eachother both with amusement and pity.
"We aren't going to hurt you, little one. We--" one of the guards tried to reassure.
"You're lying!"
It didn't take much effort for the small foal to scamper away and try to jump past the 'golems', but the bizarre growth on his face was solid enough for the guards to grab and toss him gently back against the wall.
"Princess Celestia told us to keep you here and that's just what we're going to do," the interceptor proudly stated.
Another guard hesitated to approach his comrade from behind but still forced himself to extend a hoof towards the pony's shoulders and garner his attention. "I thought she said we take him to the dungeon?"
"Oh, pfff. This is just a terrified foal. It's not like he could do anything dangerous to or anypony else."
The guard smiled and shrugged off the fear of repercussions, somewhat reassuring his comrade.
Celestia had finished her tea and was returning to the castle to check on her sister when she spotted the tiny foal galloping at full speed through the yard with several singed guards going after him as well. He was quite agile as well and showed himself more than capable of dodging the tackling earth ponies, nullifying the spells cast at him, and somersaulting over diving pegasi. 'EnkuLiDae' was definitely a capable combatant and magic user. One of the guards, a rather competent spell caster, let magic run through the spirals of his horn and run towards the foal with the intent of trapping him within a triple-wall, magical case. Yet again, the foal proved himself more than capable of nullifying the spell. It was one of the most advanced forms of imprisonment magic known to ponykind, and it was nullified in an instant by a foal that appeared no older than ten years of age.
Celestia giggled as she watched the Penny Hill chase unfold before her eyes and began to think about what she was witnessing and analyzed everything she possibly could.
"Twilight Sparkle and the other elements mentioned something about this foal being the source of magic discovery amongst our species, and while I was skeptical at first, he is convincing me more and more about his talents. I'm curious, however. The alicorns Twilight mentioned already had some sort of power similar to magic, but she mentioned the time differential to be no more than a few days. What exactly did they use before magic was discovered?"
An explosion brought the solar princess' gaze back onto the scenario in front of her. Judging by Cucumber's charred, flabbergasted expression and cough of smoke in a circle of ash and burnt guards, he tried to use his previous spell again, but it backfired.
"I think it's time I intervened and put a stop to this."
The solar pony stepped forward with a calm gait and separated the ponies with a wall of yellow magic. Cucumber panicked when he saw the wall and its source and attempted to flee but found himself trapped within a bubble of Celestia's make.
"Guards, how did this foal manage to escape the dungeons? I was going to go see him personally."
The guards started to rub the back of their heads and lightly kick the grass on the floor. One stepped forward and fidgeted in place a bit.
"Well, we didn't think he was that dangerous. Plus, he's a foal. We kinda took pity on him and wanted to watch over him ourselves rather than trap him in the dungeons. He is just a very young pony, after all."
Celestia sighed and looked at the guard with compassion and understanding. "I understand what you mean, and I also understand your compassion for such a young foal, but he is a danger both to himself and to anypony around."
"So...what are you going to do to us?"
"Oh, I'll let General Bullseye take care of that. I must bring this foal inside and have a little talk with him."
Celestia too the floating ball of yellow light along with her and smiled along the way while the guard started to stress and sweat.
"G-G-General Bullseye? Isn't that a little extreme?"
Celestia's only answer was a chuckle that seemed to scare Cucumber even more in his bubble. Meanwhile, a gentle voice spoke behind the group of seven guards, making them stress and stand upright like poles.
"So, you think I'm a bit of 'excess'?"
"N-n-n-n-o sir! I-I-I--"
"Am stuttering? Why, whatever for? Certainly, I'm not THAT mean."
"Uhhhh."
The unicorn who stepped right in front of the guards was completely covered in a unique, customized version of golden armor encrusted with emeralds of various sizes and shapes, the biggest being in the chest and with a lozenge shape. His fur was olive green, his eyes were a darker shade of green, and his tail was jungle green. His smile was terrorizing the guards who sounded like chains being shaken by a ghost.
"THEN YOU'LL BE HAPPY TO DO FIVE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND THE CASTLE!"
His roar quite literally created an immense cone of wind that blew the leaves off of nearby bushes and trees. Catching a glimpse of the pegasi bolting upwards to escape his wrath, the unicorn levitated towards them and glared them down.
"I don't recall saying you could fly away," He spoke calmly.
"You didn't, sir."
"Well, since you're so eager to stretch your wings, you'll be doing SIX HUNDRED LOOPS AROUND EACH TOWER OF THE CASTLE! GET MOVING! I want to see the air swirled up like cake batter fresh for baking!"
"He's quite...excessive, but he knows how to instill discipline," Celestia thought aloud.
She was walking back alongside the castle and went through a hedge-gate to reach the front of the castle again. Several gardeners were working on the plants while guards patrolled regularly on the immense walls surrounding the castle, its grounds, and its air. It was necessary, after all. The leniency the sisters had up until now cost them several times in the past. This time, they would be prepared for any threat, although Cucumber was completely unknown and unexpected.
"So. A cosmic being. How did that come to be?" Celestia asked.
"What are you going to do to me, pegacorn?"
"Pegacorn?" Celestia lift a 'brow.
"Yes! You're just like the other two! They promised me my greatest wish but never let it happen!"
"You mean wanting to govern your own city?"
"Yes! It was supposed to be the central area for researchers and philosophers. I was going to reign supreme over them and organize their findings!"
"But you are so young. You would never be able to do all of that."
"Yes I can! I'm the one who discovered magic!"
Celestia chuckled gently. "Discovering magic and using it are two different things entirely. Just as having a city and governing it are two different things."
"What do you want?"
"I want to learn from you. You lived in a time before I was born and before the tribes came to be. I want to know everything you remember, but first, I want you to meet somepony."
"Who? My banisher?"
Celestia shook her head in disappointment and continued through the castle grounds before reaching the entrance of her castle. The doors were golden with a rounded top and opened inwards. Normally, they were closed, but as today was a good day of ambient temperature and cool breezes, she kept them open to freshen up her castle. The entrance was as it always was: a rounded entrance with several tall windows built into the white walls to illuminate everything, with a small, rounded elevation directly in front of the entrance that led to two different hallways. Proper staircases with golden ramps and small, white columns holding them up flanked both sides of the entrance, rounded the walls, and led up directly to the second floor where four polished doors awaited opening. The floors weren't naked anymore. I fact, they had just been decorated with a deep blue carpet decorated with many white designs curving and twisting all along its length.
Several plants were placed all around the area as were multi-colored tapestries hanging from the walls and several paintings of various different ponies and locations. Cucumber didn't seem as enamored by the appearance of the entrance as were the employees and a few nobles who were admiring everything until they noticed the solar princess and immediately bowed.
"What's with the hoof lickers?" Cucumber huffed.
The ponies raised their eyes slightly to glare at the imprisoned pony, but their gazes became mangled in emotions once they saw te appearance of the prisoner.
"They are not 'hoof lickers', as you so comically state." Celestia smiled. "They are my servants, but I pay them properly as should any employer."
" 'Servant'? So they're your slaves!" Cucumber's voice echoed through the many halls leading front the entrance.
The solar princess shook her head in disappointment and walked into the largest of the halls, directly in front of the entrance. It was large enough to allow at least ten ponies to walk side-by-side despite the armor and guards standing watch on the sides. As was the outside of the castle and its grounds, the hallways were completely devoid of any sort of dirt and dust, giving it a clean and fresh look while having a nice, minty freshness sprayed into the air. During the traverse Cucumber noticed, at Celestia's immediate right, two immense doors of white marble with golden trims. The left door had the same symbol as the mark on Celestia's flank while the right one had a symbol with a moon and and a purple background extended slightly from the moon via purple splotches.
The solar princess checked on her 'prisoner' from the corner of her eye and noticed that his gaze kept switching from the doors to her flank and back again. She was estranged at first, then a a thought hit her and she rotated his bubble slowly despite his obvious protests and shouts of sickness, but the Celestia noticed something surprising.
"You don't have a cutie mark?" she asked.
The captive stared at her with a face devoid of any sort of comprehension. "...What's a 'cutie mark'? That sounds stupid as well as sounding like a seven year old named it."
"Huh. How peculiar. He doesn't know what a cutie mark is. It's the mark that appears on the flank of anypony who discovers their special talent. It's born from the magic of their hearts."
"Magic? Magic doesn't do that. It helps with work like making levitation fields or making things lighter. It helps with healing by keeping a wound closed when someone is bleeding until they can be cleaned then covered. Magic doesn't put a tatoo on your butt! That's stupid." HE huffed and crossed his forelegs. "That's like saying chaos has a physical embodiment. It's impossible."
Celestia looked away nervously but wasn't very discreet at that precise moment. Cucumber quickly caught on and dropped his forelegs. The only thing he was doing now was letting his left eye twitch in irritation.
"Well, I would say that what you discovered were the ancient forms of magic."
"I...can agree on you with that. I have been gone quite a while and I'm certain that you have discovered new forms of magic, but only the most talented of unicorns can use their magic for things like 'levitation' and 'weight alleviation'." He grinned proudly, indicating that he was easily capable of such feats.
"Yes...The most talented..." Celestia trailed off.
The little foal caught onto her unintentional sarcasm and seemed to boil with anger. "What are you not telling me?!" he roared.
The alicorn scratched the back of her head then headed up a circular staircase to the second floor. "Well...Those kinds of spells are basic knowledge nowadays. They're the easiest to use, in fact. Why, even the youngest of foals must first learn how to levitate a small object until they can be sent to their next year of school."
"Y...Babies?" The foal slumped down in his bubble, showing his rather vulnerable bubble and an extremely sad face that made Celestia cringe inside. She could've sworn her heart had stopped for just a second. "But...But...It took me months to discover those spells and master them. They were extremely hard."
"And, as one of the rulers of Equestria, I thank you for that. Without your hard work we would have never gotten to where we currently are let alone discovering all the genius that succeeded you and discovered more things based on your work."
EnkuLiDae narrowed his eyes. "What kind of 'work'?"
"Let me see if I can remember. Hmmm...Alchemy, potions, chemistry, and quite a lot of other things as well."
Cucumber only pouted in response. "And I wasn't there to witness them become what they are nor be able to direct the studies to more convenient areas."
"Direct them? You can direct the studies and discoveries a pony makes."
"You misunderstand. I meant redirect them to more convenient areas to help their studies. This is why I wanted my own city. I can assume that your technological advancements haven't gone far since the discovery of magic." He raised an eyebrow.
The alicorn cleared her throat embarrassingly. "Well, we have devoted most of our research into magic and fantastical elements of the world."
Cucumber narrowed his eyes. "This is why I still wanted my kind to develop technology. Magic can only be cast by an individual or a group. It cannot be used infinitely. How are you supposed to protect a...city using just magic? Things can come from the sky, monsters can attack from extreme distances, and so forth! That was what I was going to devote my studies to afterwards; Technology."
Something clicked in Celestia's mind and she was reminded of an event Twilight described. "Then you were the one who made what was a...hmmm. How did she call it? A mechanical wolf in the old city?"
Cucumber stopped talking and stared blankly at the distance for but a short millisecond then started to think. "Mechanical...wolf? What is that?"
"I see. I guess it is something that came after he left Equestria. It's nothing. For now, I want you to meet my sister."
"SISTER?!"
Celestia pushed a set of brown doors open to reveal a personal spa for royalty. The room was actually small in comparison to the one built in Ponyville, as Celestia had witnessed, and everything was cramped together. The mud bath was placed directly to the left of the entrance, the hot bath was placed further outside onto a balcony but had the option of being enclosed via a set of retractable walls and roof. Four tables were on the right and a blue alicorn was lying down on one of them with a giant, yellow stallion with an orange mane and tail massaging her spine and wings. Luna had bags under her eyes and her color was much paler than Celestia was used to let alone the state of her mane and tail. Once a floating tapestry of the starry sky, it lay limply next to her with but the faint twinkle of a few remaining stars.
A resounding pop attracted their attention to Celestia lowering a tiny foal with a strange face onto the ground. The 'masseur' wasn't too happy with his client being disturbed and turned to face the offenders, showing himself to be sporting a handlebar mustache. He spoke with a strange accent that one could consider very...hisponic.
"Uhhh, Princess Celestia, I understand that you are the ruler of Equestria, but I would like it that you not disturb me when I work. It is, how you say," he looked upwards and twirled his left forehoof in the air. "very annoying and rude towards my client. You can see that she isn't doing too well. Also, I would suggest you get the tiny foal to a dermatologist quickly. Oh my."
The white alicorn just chuckled lightly in response, but Cucumber simply tared at this bizarre stallion and his mannerisms with some disgust and horror.
"I am simply here to introduce him to my sister. Please leave us be until I say that you can return." The stallion tensed up in response. "Do not worry. It will be brief."
"...Fine, but do not aggravate her further than she already is. And with that, I take my leave of temporary absence. "
Luna gave a sigh of relief and let her head dangle limply off the edge of the table. "I thought he would never leave. He constantly these bizarre mentions about my 'stress' and my 'tenses muscles and shoulders'."
"Are you doing any better, sister?" Celestia asked.
"Ugh. Not at all. I feel like all my magic has been drained again and then some. It's a very painful feeling, and all this because somepony was absorbing my stars." The mare caught sight of the foal staring at her with big eyes filled with confusion and, possibly, frustration. "Who is the foal with the strange face?"
"This is the one that put you in that state?"
Luna just stared at her sister in disbelief.
"It's true. He calls himself 'EnkuLiDae' and he's much older than he looks."
"How old?"
"He is the one who discovered magic."
"Wh-Impossible! Whoever discovered that has long since passed, and there are no records saying who it was!"
"I AM the one who discovered it, and I knew two other alicorns and hated them. I doubt I'll like you two any better."
His idle whining did not incite Luna's ire. Instead, she was curious. "How did you absorb my stars?"
"I am filled with astral energy. I can go to worlds beyond. The stars are part of that."
"Astral energy. So it's not focused?"
"I am focused. That's all I need."
"I..."
"Luna, save your strength. I'm going to bring back your masseur. He should help you get better in due time. I was just curious about how you would treat the one who absorbed your stars for energy."
The mare waved a foreleg. "I can always make new ones. My only gripe is that it has left me weakened and sickly. It's not a pleasant feeling. I already have an idea for one made from two different clouds of particles that converge upon one-another forever, making the infinite sign."
"Interesting. I can't wait to see it. We will take our leave ow. I have much more, less stressful things to show this little one."
"I will see you soon, sister," Luna assured.
Cucumber remained in place, expecting himself to be bubbled again, but instead saw himself being pushed forward by the white mare's hoof and into the hallway.
"You aren't bubbling me?"
"I have no reason to right now. You have yet to perform aggressive actions."
Cucumber narrowed his gaze and pointed at Celestia. "What's your game?"
"No game. I simply want you to feel welcome in this new time frame. My sister was also a victim of displacement, like yourself, but with some help from her friends and I, she has coped well and is now comfortable in this world. I had hoped you would be as well and would divulge some more information concerning the two alicorns you knew as well as the hidden city beneath the mountains."
"Riiiight. The city with the mechanical tiger--"
"Wolf."
"Wolf. I don't know anything about the technology used in that place, and I don't know anything about the city. I don't even know if that's a place I recognize. You haven't even told me anything about it. I've just been picked up by you and tossed into a guard house full of metal ponies."
"How about I tell you about it over some candy, and then you can tell me whether you know it or not."
"What is 'candy'?" Cucumber asked with a lifted eyebrow.
Celestia had him in her grip now. "If I show you, do you promise not to tell anypony?"
The colt's ears perked up in curiosity. "Is it magic?"
"A...specific kind of magic."
"Fine, but why should I tell you about my home?"
"Because it's part of pony history. My sister and I have been trying our best to archive every part of pony history as we can for future generations, but as you noticed with the outcry of my sister, there's not much of our past left so we make do with what we got."
"Hmmm. I do admit that such a thing for future generations is indeed what I want. Fine. If I recognize anything you detail, then I'll tell you. Now, show me this 'candy' spell you are keeping," he ordered.
Celestia took him to the third floor and into her own room which was blocked by a large pair of circular, wooden doors surrounded by a brighter shaded type of lumber serving as an arch. Celestia's room looked more like an office than anything. There was a single desk in the middle of the room with a type-writer on it surrounded by many colored files full of paper, not to mention the stacks of them on the piece of furniture. Shelves surrounded the entirety of the room and all the rows were filled to the brim with folders and files. A little mini-balcony extending above the whole area led to what looked like a quiet spot directly in front of a large, circular and letting all the sunlight into the room. Cucumber couldn't see what was through it, but he was more interested in the candy than anything. The cage of Philomena hung near the desk and an enormous, circular bed covered with white comforters was far in the right corner of the room. In fact, while the ground was covered in polished, fake wood, the walls and ceiling of the roof were pure white.
"What's with you and the color 'white'?"
Celestia was near on of the shelves when she was asked that question and briefly stopped what she was doing. "Ummmm...I just like the color. It's soothing and comforting."
"Yeah, there's a difference between liking something and having an obsession with it."
"I'm not obsessed with it!"
"Sure you aren't. I bet you don't even dye your coat, either."
"I--" Celestia's anger was about to erupt but a thought came to mind. "Wait, you had coat dye back then?"
"Oh yeah. We used beetle crushings and stone grindings for it."
"Huh..." Celestia looked into the distance while she pulled a red folder.
The shelf moved to the side and into the wall, giving way to a surprisingly clean 'secret passage' leading to an unknown location of the castle. Cucumber was cautious, but his foallike curiosity was getting the better of him, and he followed Celestia in. The further he went, though, the colder it became, and he was soon shivering.
"It's c-c-cold in h-here."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I forgot. I'm usually the only one who comes in here so I didn't think about your well-being."
Celestia spread her wings wide and glowed a faint shade of orange briefly before it faded. It made the air a little less chilly and Celestia's presence started warming about the small colt, but he refused to acknowledge it.
"Why is it so cold in here?"
"To preserve the treats, of course. I don't want the ice cream to melt," she said matter-of-factly.
"What is 'ice-cream'? Is it another spell in the same category as candy?"
"Not exactly, but you'll see."
The two left into an opening chamber that was as large as could be. Several hundred ponies could definitely get into it and there would still be enough room for a carriage or two. There were jars lined along the walls in various, colored manners. One side had a huge sign above the jars and containers with the word 'Sweet' painted onto it in red and white stripes to resemble classic candy canes. To their opposite was another group of jars placed within shelves built into the walls and had a similar sign, but this time painted in what were obviously random circles of yellow and purple. This one spelled 'sour', which confused Cucumber even more than he already was. Barrels were on the floor and several pieces of multi-colored, gelatin candy were strewn about. Some were long and red, other were twisted and covered with tiny, white crystals. Further along, the room changed from looked like a giant ginger-bread to being all brown and syrupy. There were several giant tablets of varying shades of brown as well as white ordered along the floor with various names. The foal could only surmise these were the makers. How they were capable of making so much of this substance on their own was beyond him. The worst part is that some were small, others were huge, and the vast majority had random shapes. There was even at least four dozen transparent fountains spewing the substance.
At the end, the room became filled with gigantic wafer cones and a ground that looked like it had been covered with snow. Several colors were painted into the wall, cubic pastries jutted through the 'snow' as if it were just frosting, and many giant wafer cabins were erected in the back to hold all the ice cream and cakes possible.
"This is my candy kingdom. It's where I hate all the treats I can find in Equestria. I often come here to relax and enjoy myself." Celestia smirked as she gazed upon her 'treasure' and enjoyed. She levitated a jar of sweet-and-sour hard candy towards then took one out and gave it to Cucumber. "Here. Try it."
The pony looked down at it then back up at Celestia and tilted his head in caution. "How am I sure this isn't poison?"
Celestia groaned in annoyance. "Why would I keep such a huge stock of poison?"
"I dunno...obsession? You are obsessed with the color white."
Celestia stared at him with bemusement, so the colt just shrugged and gulped it down. Even if it was poison, his astral powers would protect him. Five minutes later, he was bouncing and galloping everywhere and devouring as much candy, cake, and ice-cream as he could.
"ICANTBELIEVEIMISSEDTHISSORTOFSTUFFITSSOGOODOHTHISISTOOSOURMMMMTHISISCHOLOATEHUHITSDELICIOUSILOVEITSOMUCHWHATSOVERTHEREOHTHEWALLISBROKENHEREMIGHTWANTTOREPAIRTHAT!" He spouted vapidly while performing many acrobatic feats and back-breaking bends.
"I think it's time we talked about the city and the alicorns you knew."
Cucumber jumped from atop a giant piece of hard candy and landed in front of Celestia, making tons of white powder fly into the air. "OHSUREISAIDIWOULDTELLYOUABOUTTHEMIFYOUTOLDMEABOUTTHECITY!"
Celestia wanted to wait a few hours for him to calm down, but he seemed much more receptive in this state, so she talked through his sugar craze as best she could. An hour later and Cucumber had already returned to his usual self.
"I see. That really is my old home, I'm very curious as to what happened to it."
"Then you don't really know anything about what happened to it."
"Unfortunately for you what happened to it occurred after my departure."
"I see..." Celestia dropped her head in disappointment and kicked a bit of the white glaze she was sitting on. "What about the alicorns?"
"What about them?"
"I know absolutely nothing about them and there are no records about this 'Queen Cosmium' and 'King Astros'."
"Oh. They weren't true monarchy. That was a title given to them because they were the best at governing our lives back then. Plus, while alicorns didn't have magic like everypony else back then, alicorns had transience." Celestia stared at him with bug-eyes. "You know. Transience. All alicorns were taught that. It's like a primitive and much weaker form of magic. You have that." Celestia shrugged. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT WAS CONSIDERED THE HIGHEST HONOR AND GIFT BESTOWED UPON ALICORNS!" Cucumber exploded.
"There is no need to be upset. Like I have said before, much of our past has been forgotten and only bits and pieces remain."
"Fine." Cucumber slumped backwards and pouted.
"Now, I assume your 'king' and 'queen' were the only ones of their kind?"
"Only ones? What are you talking about? There're plenty of them."
"I-if there are so many, why are you acting so aggressive towards me and seemed so shocked to see me?"
"One, because you remind me of those two who lied to me; and two, you ruined everything I had up to that point. Why should I be nice to you? You had me imprisoned!"
"No I didn't. It was to keep you under a watchful eye until I could reach you."
"Yeah right," Cucumber spat as he turned away. "Anyways, assuming I understood you right, there WERE plenty of alicorns back then, but they weren't really anything special. Transience doesn't allow for much to be done so they were rarely anything more than basic ponies with both wings and a horn. In fact, only pegasi had much use considering a unicorn's horn served no purpose other than to be a battering ram of sorts."
"And what do you think happened to the alicorns?"
Upon hearing that, a dark thought came to Cucumber's mind. He turned with a grim and very serious look on his face. "Is your magic anything special in comparison to other ponies?"
"I don't want to seem egotistical, but I do move a sun every day without much effort."
"I see. That must be how those two gave me astral energy. If I'm right, something happened to your kind shortly after I left. Those two...I bet it was their doing. This doesn't explain much, but magic was both a blessing and a curse to pony kind."
