Chapters Under the loving words of a goddess
The city of Canterlot was swarming with activity. Ponies everywhere were attending their daily business, some in a rush, other surrounded by the dignity of their charge and almost all of them in knowing they were in the most important place in all of Equestria and therefore feeling like, just by being there, they were too becoming just a bit more important than they would otherwise.
Twilight escaped the train with many other ponies, bumped into a few strangers in the crowded streets, found herself almost lost in the market that was taking place that day and after a long and adventureful journey, passed through the doors of the royal castle that she closed, leaving the loud world of ponies behind her to be engulfed into the world of the two sisters.
The silence ran into her ears, transporting a deep and very impressive feeling of full and mysterious emptiness. It was always mind-numbing to come into the castle. The ceiling was so high it seemed to be almost unreachable. The walls were so far apart you could feel like being outside even while knowing you were inside. On every pillar and every stone, the solemnity and seriousness of the place was contrasting with the usual silliness and carelessness of the rest of Equestria.
This was without a doubt the home of the wisest and most powerful pony in Equestria.
To be in her home was most comforting.
Twilight let her feelings sink in and slowly, as not to disturb the place, walked silently to the throne room, hoping to find Celestia.
She only found Luna.
“Twilight Sparkle!” greeted her the princess of the night. “I’m very pleased to see you in our company. To what do we owe your presence?”
Twilight bowed, more by habit than by obligation, and said she had come to see Celestia to discuss a certain matter with her. She immediately understood that her answer had upset Luna. And for good reasons.
It was very well known that Luna was considered as nothing more than Celestia’s little sister. Most ponies were avoiding her, too many didn’t give her much respect because she didn’t inspire much in their opinion and wouldn’t it be for her familial bound with the ultimate ruler of the land, she probably would be considered as just a normal pony, or even less than a normal pony.
But still, no matter how mature and wise Luna might have become, it was still hurtful to hear that her big sister’s advices were considered as important when her own were almost never asked for.
“I understand.” the princess of the night replied. “We are afraid our sister cannot honor us with her presence today. She has left two days ago and didn’t find it useful to tell us where or why.”
“Oh…” Twilight let out in disappointment.
She saw that Luna was considering the meeting as finished, but decided she couldn’t let Celestia’s little sister believe her words didn’t mean anything to her.
“Perhaps…” Twilight began, “Perhaps you would accept to discuss the matter that brought me here with me?”
She blinked at the end of that question and when her eyes opened again she saw Luna’s face at about four centimeters from her own displaying a huge smile.
“We do not see any objection.” Luna said very enthusiastically.
Twilight smiled too. She had spent a lot of time with the two sisters and the more she was getting to know Luna, the more she was admiring her passion and her incredible good nature.
So Twilight explained her encounter with the stallion from the academy of science, a name that made Luna frown for some reason, and the apple experiment, a lot of what they discussed afterwards about the concept of “natural laws” and finally, Twilight came to the most important point:
“When I talked to him about Celestia, he told me he doesn’t believe she even exists.”
“He denied my big sister’s existence?” Luna asked with a very serious tone.
“He did. And when I tried to explain to him that it didn’t make any sense, he just said that the fact he believes she doesn’t exist is why he thinks she doesn’t exist, which is a circular argument and is therefore absurd in all logical sense and…”
Luna stopped her. The princess of the night was thinking and needed a bit of silence. Some time passed, but just before Twilight was about to ask a new question, Luna told her:
“I thank you for that information Twilight Sparkle. We are afraid that this is a very serious case. But do not worry, we know what has to be done and we will handle it from now. You can go with a quiet mind with the knowledge that your friend Luna is taking care of the matter.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked.
But Luna seemed very confident. It could be that she just wanted to look very important in that moment, or to shine in Twilight’s eyes. And if it was the case, she was doing a very good job of acting the part, because she indeed look like everything had already been solved or even more, as if there hadn’t been any problem in the first place.
Twilight decided she should just trust Luna and let her do as she thought was best. Both princesses discussed some futilities, mostly how royally painful royal paperwork could be, and then split off as Twilight slowly went back on her way home.
But as she was going through one of the stained glasses halls, almost intoxicated by the powerful mix of colors of the light passing through the glass, she decided to stop and just contemplate the pictures for a while.
It was very peaceful. Those big pictures in front of her felt like more than simple assemblages of pieces of stained glass. It was something bigger, something deeper and more insightful. Watching those pictures was like having somepony watching over her shoulder, with patience and benevolence.
Somepony like Celestia.
“I remember that moment.” the princess of the sun gently said, talking about one of the picture. “I had probably made the worst decision is my whole life, and that pony had tried to show it to me three times. I wish I had listened to her. But of course, if I had, Starswirl wouldn’t have begun writing his friendship spell and you wouldn’t be a princess today.”
Twilight quickly turned back only to face the white alicorn and to watch her smile at her.
“How are you doing Twilight?”
“Great, thanks.” the young alicorn replied joyfuly. “I’m just surprised to see you. Princess Luna told me you were gone on a journey.”
“I was.” Celestia explained. “I just ended it a bit sooner than planned. I felt I would be needed here. Please excuse me wondering, but would your presence inside those walls mean my feeling was actually correct?”
Twilight blushed. For some reason, she felt guilty for having forced Celestia to have shortened her journey, even if she was perfectly conscious that, rationally speaking, she couldn’t be held responsible for it in any way.
Still, Celestia was here and that simple fact felt most comforting. Without any hesitation, Twilight began to explain what had brought her to Canterlot. The academy of science. Matt the weird stallion and, ultimately, how she, princess Celestia of Equestria, didn’t exist according to that stallion.
At those words, Celestia simply giggled:
“Well, it is not everyday that your existence is being put into question by somepony. Quite funny, don’t you think?”
“You mean you don’t mind it?” Twilight asked, not sure what to think anymore after Luna very serious response just a few moments before.
“Has that Matt done any wrong action against another pony?” Celestia asked in response.
“No, but…”
“Have his beliefs caused any harm to anypony?” Celestia asked again.
“Not really, I don’t think so…”
“Then my dear Twilight, no, I don’t mind.” Celestia gently said. “Ponies have the right to believe everything they want. Most ponies don’t even know that this Matt you met even exists, but that doesn’t hurt him, does it? So why should I feel hurt that a pony doesn’t think or know I exist?”
“I guess it makes sense…” Twilight whispered.
“Oh Twilight, you have the right to think it doesn’t make sense.” Celestia added with a joyful tone. “You are very smart. Please trust your own judgment and do not just blindly trust mine. Don’t think something because I think it, but only if you find out it is right. I would gladly appreciate it, because I believe in you, and I trust you and I like you.”
For all response, Twilight blushed very violently. It was not only flattery, but flattery coming from the most respectable and most revered being she knew. She was feeling like a child being praised by her mother. And even if Celestia’s words were still a bit confusing and complicated, she couldn’t care less as they were coming from a pony she knew only wanted the best for her.
And the best came very soon.
“By the way Twilight.” Celestia added, “I brought some jade ice-cream from my journey. Do you want to taste it?”
Of course Twilight wanted to taste the ice-cream.
Therefore, the rest of the day was spent tasting different jewel-flavored ice-creams, having fun and recalling some old memories, until Celestia’s duties found her back and forced her to part from Twilight who then decided to go back to Ponyville, just happy to have had such a beautiful day.
For a whole week, Twilight lived her life having forgotten almost all about the matter that had brought her to Canterlot. But having a break at some point in her daily routine, she suddenly remembered the existence of the academy of science and decided to go talk to Matt again. She wasn’t certain what to expect from such a talk, but was certain she couldn’t just avoid it forever. She could at least go apologize for her behavior the last time they talked together, even if she wasn’t certain her behavior could be blamed.
Figuring out if her behavior had been wrong was a reason good enough to go in the first place.
It took her a while, but she eventually found the academy of science and asked to see Matt. Very quickly, however, she found out that not only did nopony seem to know where he was, but all of those she tried to talk to were avoiding her and then fled.
“What is going on here?” she asked out loud.
“He was arrested.” told her a voice.
She turned back and faced a mare.
“He has been accused of treason against the crown.” the mare said. “Because he talked with you. He has been thrown in prison. That’s why he isn’t here and that is why everypony is afraid of you. They all think they will be thrown in a cell if they talk to you.”
“What?” Twilight asked in surprise and horror. “Treason? Why?”
“Because it is against the law to doubt the divine nature of the sun princess.”
Twilight simply couldn’t believe her ears. She couldn’t even remember such a law ever existing and even so, it felt completely absurd. Twilight didn’t want for the stallion to be imprisoned. Celestia hadn’t asked for the stallion to be imprisoned.
But she could deal with the little sister later. The first thing Twilight wanted was to free Matt from his unjust chains. She thanked the mare and trotted to the dungeon of Selene, one of the night guard garrisons, where she had logically concluded Luna would have had her prisoner taken. Her reasoning proved to be right and upon her arrival and her demand to be taken to the imprisoned stallion, she got brought to a very depressed Matt who she startled by her sudden arrival.
“Here he is your majesty.” said the guard. “Poly Matt, earth pony, arrested three days ago for treason against the crown.”
“Your highness?” Matt asked, still not completely sure he wasn’t imagining it.
“Yes.” Twilight reassured him, before suddenly realizing: “Wait, your name is Poly Matt?”
A long awkward silence ensued, during which Twilight got the time to regret her question and Matt got the time to find out he was awake and the princess had indeed come to rescue him. Or maybe just to ask him about his name…
“With all due respect, isn’t there any more pressing matter than how I’m called?” he finally asked.
“Of course. Please excuse me.” Twilight apologized while blushing a little. “Let’s get you out of here.”
She turned to the guard and ordered that the prisoner be freed.
“I am sorry your majesty, but I cannot obey.” the guard responded, obviously very embarrassed to be in the position the princesses were forcing on him. “Treason is a very serious charge. I mean, he does deny the existence of her majesty princess Celestia.”
Twilight sighed. She had talked with Celestia and the princess herself had told her she didn’t mind Matt attitude at all. This was all a very obvious and stupid mistake.
“Alright.” she said, turning to Matt. “The easiest way to get you out of here is for you to admit that Celestia actually exists and then we can all go back home.”
Her tone had betrayed how upset she was about the guard stubborn behavior, a feeling that she was ashamed of at the very same time, because she knew the guard was merely performing his duty to the best of his capabilities. And no fate could be worse for a member of the night guard than to disappoint the night princess, so it was to be expected that they wouldn’t go against one of her instruction very easily.
Still, she knew it would be over very quickly if Matt just played along.
Of course he didn’t.
“I can’t do that.” Matt affirmed. “I am not a liar. I strongly believe that this Celestia everypony praises isn’t real. In fact, I know she isn’t real.”
Twilight facehoofed out of frustration. Now she had two stubborn stallions to deal with. Rarity was right: stallions did tend to make everything more complicated than it needed to be.
“Matt.” she began. “I talked to Celestia a few days ago, directly, in person. I can assure you she is very real.”
From the look she got from the stallion, she might have just told him that she had died a few days ago and come back to life only because she wanted pie. Her words had obviously sounded that crazy to his ears, even if pie is actually a very good reason to briefly come back to life.
One should never doubt the power of pie.
“You talked with Celestia.” Matt asked with a mix of incredulity and mockery.
“Yes. Just a week ago.” Twilight explained to him.
“You actually believe you talked, as in saying things and getting responses, with the princess of the sun?” he asked again, with this time mostly mockery over a huge layer of disbelief.
“Yes, I did.” Twilight assured him.
And she clearly remembered having spoken with Celestia, back during her visit in Canterlot.
“Sure you did!” Matt said with the tone one would use with a crazy friend.
His sarcasm angered Twilight. She had no reason to have to put up with such an attitude. In fact, she wasn’t certain to know why she was helping him in the first place. He was clearly being arrogant, he was stubborn and he was clearly ignoring the most basic facts about the world around him. Maybe being in a cell was actually the best for him. Or maybe she was just having those thoughts because she was very upset.
No matter what the reason was, she decided she had to do the right thing, and the right thing was to free him. He had done nothing wrong, at least as far as she could judge, and therefore had no reason to be held in a cell.
But if he wasn’t going to cooperate, she would have to take another approach.
She assured Matt she would get him out and left to go see the one pony that would help her achieve that goal: Luna.
“I am sorry, Twilight Sparkle.” the princess of the night told her after the informal formal greetings in the castle in Canterlot. “That pony is a threat to our society. His ideas are defying the existing order and therefore justice must be done before we descend into chaos.”
“Come on princess.” Twilight responded. “He did nothing wrong. He is stubborn, I’ll admit that, and frustrating, and clearly ignorant, but he is no threat.”
“Our judgment won’t change, Twilight Sparkle. We cannot allow to take any risk with such dangerous ideas.”
"Well, I won't change mine either." the purple alicorn replied. "There cannot be any good reason to keep a pony in jail who has done nothing wrong."
Twilight understood she wouldn’t convince Luna to change her opinion. Too much pride, or just incapacity to recognize having been wrong. Or the will to show strength in front of another princess and friend. No matter the reason, it was clear Luna wouldn’t allow herself to do any concession there.
This left only one way of action for Twilight. One she would have liked to avoid, but she was certain would work in her favor in the end. Because it was justice, and in justice right would always prevail.
“Very well.” she told Luna. “Then, as we two princesses disagree, I demand as the law states I can in such circumstances, that Matt be trialed by his peers.”
Luna stopped and thought deeply about it. It could be seen on her facial expression that she was considering the pros and the cons of allowing a trial. She was assessing her chances of her case being won with normal ponies judging and she must have found she had very good chances, as she just said, with a sigh and a smile:
“So be it Twilight Sparkle: we accept the trial.”
And as she said those words, her horn lit up and the cover of darkness fell over Equestria for the coming night.
“I just don’t understand why you, a princess, are asking me to lie in front of everypony.”
Twilight let her face meet with the table, as she was feeling exhausted.
“I am not asking you to lie.” she replied for the seventh time. “I am asking you to recognize publicly that Celestia exists.”
“But it’s a lie.” Matt remarked.
“No, it’s not! It’s the truth!” Twilight explained one more time, frustrated to have that easy victory still closed to her. “The fact you are unable to see the truth doesn’t make it less true.” she explained.
“But that’s just it.” Matt responded. “I understand you can’t see the truth, that you truly want for Celestia to exist and it’s normal, she would be a wonderful pony if she was real. But she isn’t.”
“This is madness!” complained Twilight.
“Other ponies are the mad ones. You are mad. You never cease to repeat how you get to talk directly with Celestia over and over again.”
“Because I do speak with her very often!”
This was leading nowhere. Twilight just couldn’t understand that stallion. There was a brick wall between her and him. He would never recognize he was wrong, no matter what. There had to be something wrong with his mind for him to be unable to see what was so obvious to simply everypony else. She wished Celestia would have accepted to just come and speak with him, but she had said, in her own cryptic way, that “this challenge she must face relying on her own skills”.
He was an innocent honest pony. Just a very wrong innocent honest pony.
She suddenly realized it was time. The court was already waiting on them.
“Look.” she told Matt. “Just let me speak and don’t do or say anything stupid in there, alright?”
He agreed to comply with that instruction and both of them passed into the next room where the jury, the judge, Luna and an incredibly huge audience were waiting.
“I see we are all here. I hereby pronounce this court in session.” judge Fairy solemnly said. “Mister Poly Matt.” he continued. “You are suspected of treason against the crown, a very grave charge. How do you plead?”
Twilight stood up, cleared her throat and then replied:
“As the fourth principle of justice allows me to as a princess, I affirm that the intention of the law was misinterpreted and therefore must be rewritten and shouldn’t apply. In that sense and that sense only, mister Poly Matt pleads not guilty.”
She allowed herself a few breaths. All that technical jargon was way too complicated for her understanding of what justice should really be in such cases. But procedures were procedures and she had to comply. Still, she would have preferred to just say “that law is stupid and so are the charges against Matt.”
“Your Highness princess Luna, you may begin.” judge Wright Fairy said.
“We call the defendant to the witness box.” Luna immediately responded.
Under the anxious look of Twilight, Matt went at the designated place, swore to tell the truth in Celestia’s name, which, as was obvious to everypony there, wasn’t pleasing him much.
“Mister Poly Matt…” began Luna. “How come you were name Poly? Isn’t that a mare’s name?”
“Objection!” shouted Twilight.
“Yes?” replied the judge, happy to see the judgment wouldn’t derail from the very beginning.
“Hum… actually, I would like to know where his name comes from too…” Twilight realized.
“Objection rejected.” the judge said with a sigh. “Your highness…” he said, looking at Luna. “Please focus on the matter at hand and not the defendant’s name.”
Luna agreed and began questioning again, this time more seriously:
“Sir Poly Matt.” she told the stallion. “Could you tell the court what your thoughts are on the existence of princess Celestia, my big sister, ruler of Equestria and the one who brings us the sun every day?”
Matt looked at Twilight with eyes that were already apologizing.
“I don’t believe she exists.”
The audience gasped out of surprise, as nopony had revealed that detail to them yet, and also out of sheer horror.
“Do you wish for her to exist?” Luna asked, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t see why I should wish for such an impossible thing.” Matt replied.
“Do you have any proof of my big sister’s supposed non existence?” Luna asked.
“Well, her existence contradicts the natural laws.” Matt explained.
“Are you saying that the natural laws are more important than my sister’s laws?” Luna asked.
“I think they are, yes.” Matt said with conviction.
“Objection!” shouted Twilight. “I need to… go. Just a minute. I won’t be long.”
And she ran away directly into the first place she could find, which happened to be the mares’ room, and sulked.
Just how dumb could that stallion be? It was one thing to come out as stupid by ignoring the most obvious and central point of any pony’s existence, but he was now putting her authority in question? Twilight tried to cope with the fact she had decided to defend such a pony and once again asked herself why she had decided to choose to put herself in such an absurd position. She didn’t even really know Matt and couldn’t say she liked him.
But suddenly, her head emptied of all worries. It became light in every sense of the term. She knew the air around her was cold, but her body was caught into a wonderful comfortable warmth. She felt peace. Simple, innocent peace. What was looking so complicated before had become clear and easy.
She knew that feeling and she smiled.
“So, how are you doing Twilight?” Celestia asked.
“I’m not sure…” the purple alicorn replied. “I feel like I’m fighting alone. I feel like Matt doesn’t even want me to save him.”
“So why haven’t you given up?” Celestia asked out of genuine curiosity.
Twilight thought about it. She didn’t agree with Matt, he wasn’t really one of her friend, he hadn’t asked her anything and it seemed he was doing everything in his power to be condemned.
“I’m still defending him because he being arrested because of his opinion was unjust?” Twilight asked Celestia, to have her conclusion confirmed.
“Then what are you doing here? I think he needs your help right now.”
Twilight realized she was still in the mares’ room and was fleeing from her duty. She thanked the princess for her wisdom and quickly went back into the court.
“Sorry everypony. I had… some urgent business.” she told the audience.
“It is alright.” Luna responded. “We think we have obtained the answers we needed from the defendant. He is all yours.”
This was Twilight’s chance to turn things back in her favor. She took a big deep breath and went near Matt.
“Poly Matt.” she began. “Is this the first time you got arrested?”
Matt thought about it, and then replied:
“Yes. Actually, it is the first time.”
“Why is that?” Twilight asked.
“Because I try my best not to break the laws.”
That was good. This was going in the correct way. Twilight still had to go one step further.
“Tell us, mister Poly Matt.” she said. “If, in a purely hypothetical way, given that it is obvious to everypony else but you for some reason, Celestia were to actually exist. Would that change your behavior in any way?”
Once again, Matt thought about it. It took him some time and Twilight grew a bit anxious, as he could still say another stupid thing. But in the end, he finally responded:
“No. I don’t see what it would change concerning how I behave.”
“Thanks.” Twilight said, both to express the fact she was done with her questions, but also because she was grateful for an answer that wasn’t completely crazy.
“I would like to call another witness to the box.” Twilight asked.
Of course her demand was granted and a second after, Pinkie Pie emerged next to Poly Matt with her everlasting smile and a lot of popcorn.
“Hello Twilight!” she shouted to the alicorn.
“Pinkie Pie.” Twilight began. “We all know you and you know Poly Matt. Do you consider he is a bad pony?”
“Of course not!” Pinkie replied, horrified at the idea and hugging Matt in response. “He is a great funny weird friend and I like him a lot.”
“Do you believe my big sister exists?” Luna asked Pinkie Pie, as she had the right to do due to procedure sixteen alinea four.
“Of course I do. We played chess just last night. She let me win again.”
“We heard you know a lot of ponies, would you agree it is the case?” Luna asked again.
“Yeah! I know everypony. They are all great friends.”
“We are certain you know who Dark Murk is then.” Luna innocently asked.
“Of course. He lived very long ago and he had a lot of friends but he wasn’t very nice and he is known for having led the rebellion against you and Celestia and that really wasn’t good of him to do so and in the end you beat him with your magic and your armies and he repented and then you became friends and you had pie together.”
Twilight retook control of her lower jaw only to put it back up. She had read hundreds of history books and couldn’t remember that name. Only that there had been, in fact, a rebellion once against the princesses authority. How Pinkie Pie was able to know such things was beyond her comprehension.
“Tell us.” Luna finally said. “How did Dark Murk justify his rebellion back then?”
“Oh, oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie said, raising her hoof for Luna to call on her to give the answer.
Luna pointed at the pink pony, understanding what the game was, and Pinkie Pie answered:
“He was doing it in the name of the natural laws of order, right?”
Everypony turned their looks to Poly Matt and Twilight, the latter feeling a sudden faintness.
“Objection!” she shouted, before realizing she had nothing to object to. Or in fact, she actually had something.
“Yes? What is it?” judge Fairy asked.
But Twilight wasn’t following procedure anymore. She went to Luna, grabbed her by the hoof and took her to the next room, saying that they, princesses, needed to have a talk together.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the rebellion?” Twilight finally asked once they were alone.
“I am sorry Twilight Sparkle. I know you must feel betrayed right now. But we felt we had no other choice. You were so caught up in the idea of helping a pony in need, which is a very honorable trait of your personality we highly respect, that you probably wouldn’t have heard what we would have had to say. We thought it better to let your friend tell so that you would listen.”
Twilight didn’t know how to react. She was shocked, disappointed, afraid and overall was feeling ridiculed, almost humiliated.
“So this is why you had him arrested…” she slowly said, realizing the true intention of the princess of the night.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna replied. “It is our duty to do what has to be done to protect harmony in Equestria.”
And then, after a little pause, Luna added, with an even gentler tone:
“We know that this Poly Matt probably isn’t a dangerous pony himself. He probably doesn’t realize himself what terrible harm his beliefs could do. Be certain he will be very well treated, he and his peers.”
It was making sense and was probably a good compromise. If not for one detail:
“Peers?” Twilight asked.
“The academy of science is just as much as a threat as Poly Matt. We have tolerated its existence for too long. It will be disbanded, the study of those absurd natural laws will be forbidden and all those who would oppose it will have to be taken away as well. Only then will Equestria be safe from another civil war.”
Twilight felt cornered. She knew, deep inside, that there was something wrong with Luna’s plans, but she couldn’t find what. She didn’t want ponies to turn against other ponies. She didn’t want to see harmony disappear over something as ridiculous as doubting Celestia’s existence.
“Twilight Sparkle.” Luna called out to her. “I accepted to do the trial to reveal to you what is really going on and what is at stake. I…” Luna hesitated a bit and blushed. “I do not want however for you to think I do not valor your opinion. We… I deeply respect you. So the decision is yours: do we let those ponies free and therefore threaten our world, or do we act to prevent it?”
Twilight was cornered. It wasn’t a feeling anymore. She had to decide. She didn’t want to. She couldn’t. Because there was only one way she could respond.
“We have to act… I guess.”
Her decision clearly pleased Luna.
“Then as we both agree, let’s announce it to the court. It won’t be too hard to convince the jury to follow us.”
“Go on without me.” Twilight replied. “I… I need to be alone for a moment.”
Luna understood, thought of hugging Twilight to show her some support, but felt to awkward doing it and gave up.
“It is going to be fine.” the princess of the night said. “I shall take care of the matter.”
And then, Luna went back into the court room, leaving Twilight alone who decided to leave and go back home and probably eat some ice cream. A lot of ice cream.
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The truth, just the truth and the whole truth
“…and therefore, in accordance with princess Twilight, we ask you to consider the danger of letting the existence of the academy of science continue any longer.” Luna was saying, gathering the attention of absolutely everypony in the court room.
She had made her case, and looking at the jury and at the audience, she knew they were all agreeing with her. Even Matt seemed to have accepted in fate in his weird passive way of being. And for his submission to the greater good, Luna felt grateful to him.
But then, unexpectedly, the front doors opened wide and Twilight’s voice shouted:
“Wait! This trial isn’t finished yet!”
They all turned to the princess of friendship who, with a lot of confidence, walked to the judge’s stand.
“What are you doing?” asked Luna, without getting any response.
“Your honor.” Twilight said. “I wish to call one last witness to the box.”
“And who should that be?” the judge asked.
Twilight smiled and turned back to the door where all the enlightenment of Equestria was entering, surrounded by a huge halo of radiance and power.
By simple instinct, everypony bowed down, knowing not to look directly into the sun, caught in the amazement of being in the same room as no other than Celestia.
“We forbid it!” suddenly shouted Luna with anger. “This trial is over. Guards!” she ordered.
And ten bat ponies entered the court room, ready to execute their princess’s commands.
“Luna.” Celestia gently responded to all the fuss around her. “It isn’t for you to decide if I shall or shall not offer my words to this case.”
“Of course it is! It has always been!” Luna almost yelled with tears of violence in her eyes. “I won’t let it happen. Not today, not ever.”
“We owe them the truth Luna. The truth, just the truth and the whole truth.”
“I won’t let you ruin everything.”
“Step aside Luna!” Celestia said, with a slight tone of order in her voice.
But Luna stood there, in her path, shivering on her four hooves, defiant of her big sister’s authority, like a pale and afraid pony would defy a dragon.
“Luna, I love you very dearly. Please let me pass.”
And Luna obeyed, almost against her will, out of sheer love and admiration for her big sister. She saw Celestia enter the witness’s box and quickly went to the captain of the bat ponies.
“How many guards do you have here?” she asked her.
“I’m afraid the ten of us are it your majesty.”
“We need reinforcement.” Luna said. “And fast.”
As Celestia had taken place, and the guard ponies had retreated, under the reprobating look of Luna, Twilight began asking her questions. And just how happy she was to have achieved to turn the situation in such a favorable angle.
A few minutes before, she was walking outside, defeated. At that moment, she was certain there was no other way than to let the academy of science, the study of the natural laws and everybody who ever supported it disappear. And she had begun convincing herself that it was good that it be so.
That is when she had felt that presence, that everlasting comforting presence, at her side.
“Is it finished?” Celestia had asked.
“Yes.” Twilight had replied.
“You know, I may not want to help you as a friend and a mentor.” Celestia had added with innocence. “But I would be compelled to testify if you demanded it.”
Those words had left an imprint onto Twilight’s mind. She had obtained the proof she needed that Luna’s conclusions were wrong: Celestia herself was indirectly trying to save Matt and his peers. Celestia didn’t want her to give up. And that could only mean one thing: she had been right since the very beginning and was given the tool to convince everypony!
She had run back to the courtroom with Celestia behind her and was now ready to unveil her grand victory with just one argument: “Celestia herself doesn’t want you to condemn this pony, so you shouldn’t.”
She asked her first question to the new and regal witness:
“Princess Celestia… what is your opinion on what punishment should be imposed on mister Poly Matt for not believing in you?”
Celestia smiled and replied:
“I have never punished a pony that hadn’t done something wrong. I don’t see why, having done nothing wrong really, mister Matt should be treated otherwise.”
Twilight smiled too. This was going exactly as planned. All she had to do was push the advantage.
“So in order to punish a pony, he must have done something wrong. Do you think that not believing in your existence should be considered wrong?”
“Objection!” shouted Luna. “The question isn’t correctly formulated.”
The judge, not certain how to consider the objection, turned to Celestia and, interpreting the calm and comforting look of the sun princess as a confirmation that everything was actually alright, turned the objection down.
“No, I do not think that disbelief in my existence should be considered wrong.” Celestia answered.
“And why is that?” Twilight asked, knowing absolute victory was in her hooves.
“Objection!” Luna shouted even louder. “We do not need to know why. We accept that Poly Matt is innocent and shall be freed. There is no need to answer that last question.”
This time, the judge turned to Twilight, to make sure the princess of friendship agreed that, if Luna was ready to abandon all charges against Matt and forget about condemning the academy of science, he could end the trial at that moment.
But this was counting without Twilight’s devouring curiosity.
“What do you mean by we do not need to know why?” she asked Luna. “It is very important for everypony to understand that an opinion or a belief isn’t a reason good enough to judge another pony. There is a lesson to learn here.”
“Alright.” Luna replied. “Big sister, would you say that an opinion or a belief isn’t a reason good enough to judge another pony?” she asked Celestia, who replied:
“Yes, it is what I think.”
But still, something felt weird in Twilight’s mind. Something that was hidden from her. Something she had to discover.
“Princess Celestia, I would like you to answer my last question. Why do you think that disbelief in your existence shouldn’t be considered wrong?” she asked.
“Because it is illogical to consider it wrong.”
“Illogical?” Twilight thought out loud, not understanding the use of that particular word. “Why?”
“Stop that now!” Luna ordered, but too late.
“Because it is true I do not exist.” Celestia explained.
As you can imagine, a long, huge and deep silence followed that statement.
There was no way anypony could know how to react to such a concept. They could all see the princess of the sun, right in front of them. They had all observed the consequences of her actions every day of their lives. They had all seen the sun rise every morning under her influence. They had all seen her picture on every Equestrian flag. They had all heard the stories of her feats and how so many ponies had met her in Canterlot.
Or maybe the princess had become mad. Or was playing a joke on them. Or maybe this wasn’t the princess. Or they were all just having a terrible nightmare. Anything was making more sense than Celestia actually not existing.
“I don’t understand…” Twilight eventually said.
“Your friend Matt is right. I don’t exist. It is the truth.” Celestia explained.
“It can’t be!” Twilight responded, unable to accept the idea.
“Open your eyes and open your minds.” Celestia said. "And face the truth."
And when they all blinked and opened their eyes, the witness box was empty: the princess of the sun was gone, as she had always been. They all realized the incredible illusion they had been living in, fairy tales with no comparison. And one truth became obvious:
And that truth led to another one, more important in its consequences, that all the ponies quickly felt: they were alone.
Every pony there could feel the fabric of reality shaking all around them, as everything was revealing how threatening and mysterious it actually was. They were alone, they weren't safe, they had no light to guide them in the darkness, no voice to unite them, no goal to follow other than stumbling all over in a big empty world, blinded by their own weakness with nopony with the necessary power to help them out of that condition.
Some simply stood there, too terrified to move, act or even think, just paralyzed by the shock. Many began to cry, many to feel a sudden an irrational fear for those at his or her side. And the more everypony was discovering how powerless they actually were, the more unrest began to build up.
Twilight first found her way back to her senses. The facts were clear. Frightening, disorienting, but clear. And in such a time, she had to help others face them like she would have to face them too.
Twilight took the matter in her own hooves and went on the judge stand to be visible from absolutely everypony and began speaking:
“Everypony, please listen.”
She hesitated. What words should one use in such circumstances? She had no idea, so she let her mind and heart run free.
“I can only imagine that you are all very afraid right now. I sure am afraid myself. And I think we are right for being afraid, because we just found out that everything we believed to be true was actually false. But in such times, we need to take hold on what hasn’t changed. For example: we are all still here, all of us. And we haven’t changed. We still have families, friends and a community to help us achieve everything we need to achieve. Maybe we can actually face the facts together and also overcome them together.
For a little moment, she saw signs of ponies agreeing with her, under the hope this new truth wouldn’t be that different from the old one. But then, one pony, in the crowd of the audience, shouted:
“They took the princess away!”
And those words echoed immediately in the heart of all the ponies present, as those hearts wanted nothing more than to see the princess come back.
“It’s their fault!” the ponies began to yell. “They planned it together. They made the princess disappear!”
“What?” asked Twilight, unable to understand why everypony was acting so irrationally all of a sudden when confronted with such clear facts.
But she felt something hitting the back of her head and fainted, as the crowd, guided by some invisible force made out of anger, fear and madness, had decided to take matters in their own hooves and taken custody of Poly Matt.
“Stop it! I order you! All of you!” Luna was ordering.
But everypony ignored her, as all authority had been ripped from her without the shadow of her big sister to make her shine.
“Protect the princess!” commanded the captain of the bat ponies.
They quickly regrouped and surrounded Luna, opening a path through the crowd and taking her away to safety, which was made easier as the crowd’s wrath seemed focused only on Twilight and the stallion she had tried to defend: Poly Matt.
The crowd took their two prisoners outside, joined by many other ponies that had opened their eyes too as the word was spreading all over town. Enraged, the ponies tried to argue about what had to be done in order to bring Celestia back to them, but couldn't exchange coherent ideas as they all wanted it to be done immediately and to give immediate results.
And so they decided to burn the heretic stallion and the unconscious princess and in not time at all, two stakes got erected from the ground to which the two prisoners got tied up as fire was being brought under the fanatic and mad chanting of the crowd.
With only ten guards, the reinforcements too slow to arrive and her word having no weight anymore, there was nothing Luna could do without risking committing even greater crimes but watch in horror the torches come closer to the stakes to end the existence of her friend Twilight and the innocent stallion tied to the masts.
This was a nightmare. Matt wished he could wake up. It had all been just a huge nightmare from the day he had chosen to go do his apple experiment to this very moment, the last of his life that would end in the most horrible of suffering. And all he could think about was what he could have done wrong to come to such an outcome.
He had never wished to be burn alive for his beliefs. That was a certainty. But also, he had never wished for Celestia to actually not exist. Or maybe just a little, but he would have been fine with her continuing to be there. And still, that wasn’t the cause. He thought of the trial and Twilight Sparkle, that was no tied beside him, unconscious, and how wrong he had been to trust her with his defense. How wrong had he been? Well, actually, not so much. She had tried her best, he should have just abandoned his principles and said what everypony wanted to hear. “Yes, sure, Celestia exists”. How easy would that have been? Then neither he nor Twilight would have had to face such a terrible fate.
And in the end, knowing who to blame wasn’t changing the fact he was going to be burned alive. He saw a pony putting a torch on his stake and the fire beginning to expand all around him. Already the air was difficult to breathe in as the smoke was replacing everything else.
He looked around him, in the hope to find any sign of help coming, but saw none. He was simply there, surrounded by an angry crowd. Twilight still hadn’t woken up. Luna was too weak to intervene. He was alone. Completely alone and powerless.
He began to cry. The pride he had taken comfort in since his childhood wasn’t serving him anymore in such circumstances. He didn’t need to hide the fact he was different form the others, he didn’t need to value himself after everypony around him had told him he was wrong and crazy.
It was all over and he fainted.
But Twilight's voice took him out of his slumber. The princess of friendship had woken up and, even if Matt, tortured by the flames and the smoke, had difficulties to grasp it, was talking.
"Stop it! Stop it in Celestia's name!" Twilight was shouting.
But the crowd, of course, didn't listen. So Twilight adressed her words to another interlocutor.
"Celestia, please, we need you more than ever!" she shouted as loud as she could, hoping the princess of the sun would hear her against all probabilities.
"Please, Celestia, help us. Save us. We need you.... I need you..." Twilight said again, her voice slowly fainting to leave place for tears as the wood under her was also being devoured by the fire that would soon consume her.
But at that very moment, from the flames, from the heavens and from the deep core of everypony's souls, a voice made itself heard that was shaking the most foundamental components of reality. A voice that seemed to come from the dawn of time itself, a voice that was both personal and eternal: the voice of Celestia.
"HOW DARE YOU?"
And from behind Twilight, the white silhouette of the alicorn appeared, jumping over the burning stakes and landing in front of the pony crowd, revealing all of her wrath, as the air, the sound and even consciousness was leaving its place to the sole will of Celestia and behind her the burning sun in its glorious majesty.
To please her, a strong gust of wind blew and extinguished the fire, leaving only Celestia's anger burning. Then, the gust of wind quickly disappeared to not upset the royal figure.
"Your majesty..." a pony faintly said, caught between the joy of seeing the princess again, and the incredible fear she was imposing on them at that very moment. "We thought you were gone."
He stopped there and bowed down again, seeking forgiveness, as it was clear he could have spit on the princess and still insult her less.
"And that would give you the right to harm innocent ponies!?" Celesita reprimanded them all. "You should all be ashamed of yourself. I am very disappointed."
At those words, cries and scream of despair came from the crowd, as they all felt like their goddess had decided to give up on them. They all tried to implore her to pardon them, they told her how sorry they were, they shed every tears they had to show her how great their regrets were and upon everything else, they implored the princess not to abandon them in the darkness.
"If you truly regret what you have done, then begin by doing what is right." Celestia told them.
Seizing that chance to redeem themselves, the ponies quickly freed both Twilight and Matt, began treating their wounds, all while apologizing over and over again.
"It will do." Celestia stated, and all ponies stopped. "Now go home and think about the crime you were about to commit. We shall then speak again."
All too happy to know the princess was willing to give them a chance, the ponies bowed down once again and obeyed her command diligently.
Then another pony came to Celestia for forgiveness.
"Big sister..." Luna began. "I am so sorry. I failed you. I couldn't save anpony."
But Celestia embraced her little sister and comforted her.
"My dear Luna. You have no reason to blame yourself. You did your best to help and that is already more than I could ask."
Then Twilight came near Celestia and she too asked for forgiveness:
"Thank you for saving us. Thank you for saving him." she first said, pointing at Matt. "But I know that, contrarily to Luna, I bear the blame for what happened. It is my stubborness that resulted in such a catastrophic ending. I am deeply sorry princess."
But Celestia embraced the little princess and comforted her.
"My dear Twilight. You have no reason to blame yourself. You tried to help an innocent pony and that should never be considered as something bad. I wish more ponies would blindly take the defense of those they don't understand just to do what is right."
Both Luna and Twilight were feeling embarassed, and still guilty, but the comforting words were helping them forgive themselves. Whether or not those words were true, they were the words they needed to hear at that moment, and that in itself was sufficient.
Then Celestia went to Matt and, using her divine magic, healed his injuries, to the point where he couldn't even remember what the bites of the fire had felt like, or what the black smoke tasted like.
"I... Thank you your majesty." the poor stallion gratefuly said. "I am so sorry I doubted your existence. Please forgive me for my blindness."
Hearing him say that, Celestia sat down near him to bring her head more at his level, and then booped his nose with her front hoof with a little giggle.
"You are a weird pony, my dear Poly Matt, and that is something to treasure and never be ashamed of. And if you wever live as long as I have, you will probably realize that blindness is a very relative concept when it is applied to what one believes."
"I'm not sure I understand..." Matt replied, having a little idea of what Celestia was trying to tell him, but unsure how it would make any sense whatsoever.
"I do not demand from you to believe in me, my dear Matt. You are a good pony, so I don't need you to. And certainly not out of gratefulness that, quite frankly, I don't think I deserve."
Her voice was gentle, her smile comforting and her words sounded like freedom. And still, Matt had difficulties understanding them.
"I understand that you are a bit disconcerted. After all, I told everypony that I don't exist and now we are discussing together. This must look very contradictory to you." Celestia told him, almost reading his mind.
"Yes..." admitted Matt.
"Here is the truth I offer you." Celestia told him. "I am here for you. I will always wait at your side, no matter who you are or what you have done, and if one day you need me, I will be there for you, trying my best to help you. Because I am your friend."
None of those words made any sense to Matt, but he smiled nonetheless, because he liked how their sound.
"Now please, dear Matt, you must be exhausted. Rest. You have deserved it well."
And under Celestia's wing, Poly Matt quietly closed his eyes and found peace.
THE END
From the academy of science
Author's Note
"There is no way I'll regret this. Not in a million years!"
From the academy of science
Twilight was reading a book.
She couldn't believe it herself.
This one was about Celestia’s life. A very interesting read in that it was completely wrong from beginning to end. Twilight snickered a bit, as she was enjoying the privilege to know the goddess of the sun personally and therefore had a direct access to the truth.
And the truth was, Celestia never sung in a jazz band back in the days.
She played the battery.
But as the story had to begin at some point, a hoof grabbed the princess of friendship and a second later, she was caught prisoner in a huge comfortable hug.
“Hello Twilight.” Pinkie Pie greeted her.
“Oh, hello Pinkie.” Twilight replied, catching her breath again.
“Have you ever heard of the Equestrian academy of science?” the pink pony asked, not letting her friend any time to wonder why she had come in the castle.
Twilight tried to remember where she had encountered the name before, as she was certain to have heard of it once, long ago, and eventually remembered what it was all about.
“Oh yeah. It’s that club of ponies who like to play with non magical experiments, right?”
“Exactly!” Pinkie Pie congratulated her. “I came because one of my friends would like for you to participate in one of his experiments and I said you probably wouldn’t have time for that and he said he understood and I saw that it was making him sad and I said it wouldn’t hurt to try asking and he smiled and that made me smile and we came here together and that why he is blushing right now, because he is kind of shy and easily intimidated.”
Twilight turned her head and saw a stallion at the doorstep who was looking at the two mares with a clear feeling of embarrassment. The princess quickly regained her composure in front of the new guest and greeted him.
“I’m very sorry to disturb you, your majesty.” the stallion told her.
“Nonsense.” Twilight replied. “I’m always happy to meet a new friend. What’s your name?”
“My name?” the stallion asked in surprise.
He hadn’t considered that the princess would be kind enough to take any interest in his name.
“Matt, your highness.” he proudly replied, mostly because he felt honored that he had made his existence known to a pony he was holding in such high regard.
“Then Matt, tell me what I can do for you.” Twilight told him.
What he wanted was a very simple experiment. He had brought two apples that he put on the extremity of a table. He explained that the goal of the experience was to test the concept of gravity and try to find out if magic was the explanation of why it wasn’t working correctly. Who better than the element of magic to evaluate such an influence?
Matt tested both apples by pushing them off the table and they both fell on the ground. He then put them back on the table and asked both Pinkie Pie and Twilight to push them off the table. They did and both apples fell on the ground.
“Again please.” Matt asked.
They put the apples back on the table, pushed them off again and both apples fell on the ground.
“Once again please.” Matt asked.
Both Pinkie Pie and Twilight repeated the experiment and both apples fell once again on the ground.
“Once again please.” Matt asked.
“I’m not sure to understand what we are trying to accomplish here…” Twilight said, while putting her apple back on the table and pushing it off the table once again.
“This…” Matt responded, while pointing at Pinkie Pie’s apple that was standing in midair.
“You never saw an apple float in the air before?” Twilight asked.
“The law of gravity says it is supposed to fall to the ground...” Matt tried to explain.
“But the law of gravity is wrong. Why would you try to rely on old concepts we debunked long ago?”
“I’m certain there is a very rational explanation!” Matt said with passion.
During their exchange, Pinkie Pie had kept on playing with her apple. It had stopped in midair once again, then taken off to the ceiling, then flown away, done a few looping, two Heimlich turns, a spin and a tailslide to finally land on Matt’s head who just sighed.
“The rational explanation can sometimes be very hard to find.” he admitted.
Twilight could have let go of it all. She of course didn’t, as she was way too curious not to take interest in the weird fixation the stallion had with knowledge anypony knew was false. She began asking him questions about his science hobby, the reasons he had to do what he was doing and to think what he was thinking.
It was all absurd, of course, as magic was the only true factor in Equestria as anypony was able to observe on a daily basis, but it wasn’t hurting anypony whatsoever and was providing a pretty fun hobby for a lot of pony to find happiness in. A nice distraction from the study of magic.
“You should show me more of your hobby someday.” Twilight enthusiastically told Matt. “In the meantime, do you mind if I write to princess Celestia about it? I’m sure she would be as interested as I am.”
The look on the stallion’s face took a very weird turn, basically a mix of surprise, embarrassment and a bit of mockery. Still, he very politely just said:
“It would be illogical for me to mind that.”
This, of course, peaked into Twilight’s curiosity.
“What do you mean by illogical?”
“Well, because I don’t believe that Celestia exists, and as a none existent being cannot have any consequence, I have no logical reason to mind it at all.”
The reasoning was well and sound. Logical in fact.
And then Twilight realized.
“Wait, what did you just say?” she asked.
“Well, it’s not logical, because…”
“No, the part before that.” she insisted.
“I don’t believe that Celestia exists.” Matt told her with a straight face.
She looked at him like he had just eaten his own mane.
“I don’t understand.” she said, not finding better words.
“I don’t believe that the princess of the sun actually exists.” Matt replied.
“Are you serious?” Twilight asked, just in case, as a joke was the most probable explanation in her mind.
He was.
“Alright…” she slowly began, trying to find out where to go from there. “You do know that princess Celestia is real, right?”
“I just don’t believe she exists. It contradicts the laws of nature” he very simply responded, as if it was no big deal at all.
“Come on!” Twilight suddenly let herself burst out of frustration. “Who do you think is raising the sun every single day? Who do you think lives in the Canterlot castle? How can you say she doesn’t exist?”
“It’s actually quite easy.” Matt explained. “All you have to do is decide that what you believe is true, and all you have to do is to pronounce the words: I believe Celestia doesn’t exist.”
Twilight tried it. “Celestia doesn’t exist.” she told herself. She immediately thought of two hundred and sixty seven reasons why it was simply absurd. Celestia did exist. She was real.
On his side, Matt slowly understood that he was upsetting the princess and was feeling worse about it by any passing second. He had had no intention to create such a fuss by sharing his ideas about the world.
“I should better go.” he told Twilight. “I’m really sorry I bothered you with my beliefs.”
“But your beliefs are wrong!” she replied, not to insult him, not to fight with him over it, but only because it was the most obvious of truth. “There is no way you cannot see how wrong you are.”
Matt stepped back, misinterpreting Twilight’s actual concern for anger and disapprobation.
“Thanks for your time.” he told her. “Please have a nice day.” he added, to have the most polite goodbyes possible, even if he was already running away, as Twilight was sort of yelling behind him:
“I met the princess in person. I talked with her! All you have to do is go to Canterlot to meet her!”
He heard her arguments, but didn’t stop trotting away to hide away from what he thought was the royal wrath.
Realizing that he was gone, Twilight stopped yelling and regained her composure. Silence had come back again in the room, just as if nothing at all had happened. And to be honest, Twilight could have used a pinch on the cheek just to be sure she hadn’t dreamed the whole encounter.
“Here you go!” Pinkie said, while pinching Twilight’s cheek with her hoof.
And then, the pink pony added:
“Isn’t my friend fun? He has such crazy and weird ideas.”
While saying those words, she let the apple fall one last time from her hooves, just to see it teleport back on the table.
“I don’t know…” Twilight replied. “I think his weird ideas, as you say, might be more serious than you say they are.”
She looked at Pinkie Pie, who was eating the apple, and understood she wouldn’t find answers with her pink friend. She needed the counsel of a wiser pony. One with thousands of years of experience. She decided to go to Canterlot and discuss this matter directly with Celestia herself.
Which would give her the opportunity to quickly check that the princess of the sun did indeed exist.
Just in case…
