King of the Dead

Luna sits silently on her haunches outside in front of an unmarked grave, wearing all black excluding a scarf that glows purple faintly. Her sister sits beside her with one large white wing over Luna’s back. Celestia looks at her sister with pity. “I know it hurts. I miss him as well.”

Luna closes her eyes and shakes her head as a few tears crawl down her cheeks. “No, it’s more than that...he doesn’t deserve this. His grave isn’t even marked. Raiden once told me his greatest fear is to be forgotten and now he’s just an obscure legend. Any pony who knew him is long dead of old age and any damage caused in the war has since been repaired. You and I, sister, are now all that is left of him. This isn’t right!”

Luna stomps an angry hoof then hunches over in silent sobbing. Celestia nods her head. “Sister...come with me, I have an idea for you.” Luna lets out an angry sigh but follows Celestia to the palace. The stone walls stood valiantly and without a single mark on them. Any holes in the ground had been filled in and had fresh grass as far as the eye could see. Canterlot bloomed with ponies who strutted around, heads high in the air, glistening with different gems and reflective colors. Flowers of every color grew from massive bushes that were kept in golden carriages.

Celestia has a small grin on her face with her head held high. Luna hangs her head and does everything in her power to restrain a glare. She looks around and grumbles just loud enough for her sister to hear. “Look at all of them. Not a single pony knows what took place here. They don’t know the costs it took to even have this life!” Celestia looks at Luna with just her eyes, keeping that satisfied smile on her face. “Now now sister, you can’t be mad at them for having it easy. That’s why we protect them so they don’t have to worry about all the things of this world.”

Luna rolls her eyes and snorts. “Except that they should know. There should be at least some form of remembrance for the Taraskans.”

Celestia cocks an eyebrow. “That’s what the Walk of Remembrance is for. A trot from coast to coast is no easy feat sister.”

Luna lets out a frustrated sigh. “But that’s for everypony who’s ever served. It was different for the Taraskans. They spent their entire existence at war, not just a few battles. But of course it’s all hush hush isn’t it?”

The pair reach the palace and are let in by two guards who give a quick hoof salute. Luna looks confused as they hang a left and end up at the library. Celestia strolls into the room and sits down on a cushion. Across from her is a desk with a massive stack of blank paper. “Luna, why don’t you tell me more about the Taraskans, about what they mean to you.”

Luna with a blank stare sits at the desk and eyes her sister curiously. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at. You were there for all of it and I’ve even gone into length of my feelings. Why are you prompting this?”

Celestia sits silently with a small smile on her face. Luna rolls her eyes and sits up straight. “The Taraskans were more than just soldiers….they were my friends. They were...special friends. They understood the darkness that can lurk inside that very few creatures alive knew. I could talk with them about my deepest feelings and what troubled me. Every rant was met with understanding, not sympathy.”

Luna leans forward and rests her head and front hooves on the desk, staring across at her sister absently. “And Raiden...I miss him more than anything. How he changed, how he grew. What he was willing to do for everypony around him. I miss being in battle and having nothing but his commands to go on and somehow, we’d push past the impossible and win even when all hope was lost.”

Luna lays on her back and stares up at the ceiling. A fan spins slowly in place, gently ruffling the edges of paper on the desk. “I also missed how they made me feel so...valuable. My input was always taken seriously and when I asked for more to do, there was no argument they just assigned me jobs.” Luna pokes her head over the desk at her sister. “And not just small jobs that were secretly busy work. I was literally in charge of some seriously important stuff! Do you know what it’s like being told that you have to repair a wall or we’ll get overrunned?”

Celestia sips from a cup without speaking. Her expression changes from a small grin, to a look of admiration. Luna goes back to laying on her back. “Despite all the combat and friendships and all the adrenaline...I miss how he loved me. He understood me. Hell, he was more broken than I was. I miss waiting for him to make the first move, or how he’d completely miss me flirting with him. Maybe he knew and just was too petrified to react. Imagine a man who’s entire life was spent trying not to be eaten alive and he’s afraid of me batting my eyes at him.” Both sisters let out squeals of laughter. Luna quickly falls into small chuckles as she stares up at the ceiling reminiscently.

She takes in a deep breath and lets it pass out her nose. “If there was one creature who deserved to live forever, it was him. After everything, all the torture, death, tragedy, betrayal...he still fought for us. Strangers in a new land and yet he didn’t hesitate when we needed him. He showed up with everything in his arsenal, ready to put his life on the line for a fight that wasn’t even his. He trained our troops, helped fortify our cities. He put up with our lack of stability in the face of such uncontrollable destruction.”

Luna rubs her upper legs with her hooves. “I miss Emeris and Lucretia too. Having a back and forth session on what to do strategy-wise felt amazing! Lucretia was always so brilliant but I also loved how she didn’t do well when things went to Tarterus suddenly. She felt so...relatable. And Emeris’ way with words. I enjoyed how he’d tell me stories of Taraska...that didn’t involve death. And how he kept trying to up play Raiden. Him and Lucretia always kept trying to set us up. I miss the cuteness outside of the combat, it made it so much sweeter. All the moments Raiden and I almost kissed. It was like one long, unending fairytale.”

Luna sits up and the blissful expression on her face quickly contorts to grief. “And it’s all gone. Every bit of it.” Luna looks over at her sister. “It’s been eighty years since he passed and I still miss him the same every day. Why does it never get any better, sister? Even when I had to take care of Termin’s eight children once they had gotten old, telling them about the Taraskans just...didn’t feel like enough.”

Celestia scoots over to the table with a suspicious smile. Luna eyes her cautiously.
“Luna, I actually have a way of preserving Raiden and his entire legacy.”

Luna frowns and looks over.
“Sister, we agreed we would not use any from of magic for the Taraskans. It’s bad enough I had to eradicate all the Og Nag but we agreed to never preserve anything from the war.”

Celestia holds up a hoof and calmly pats the stack of papers. “Stories are a unique form of magic though. In them, you can preserve anything you want. You don’t just have to write something for historical references. You can make people feel what you feel and see what you see.”

Luna looks at the papers in confusion. “Sister, telling them about Taraska would void out the entire reason we wiped their memories!”

Celestia shrugs with a small smile. “I mean...only if they knew it was a true story. For all they know, it’s a wonderful fantasy you thought of. Are you not the princess of dreams? And with us no longer being the official leaders of the throne, you have plenty of time to write.”

Luna looks at the papers and sighs sadly. “I...I don’t know. I wouldn’t know where to begin, I’ve never written a novel before, let alone something big enough to do the Taraskans justice.”

Celestia gets up and casually walks over to the door. “Tell you what, why don’t I get us some tea and snacks so we can throw some ideas around. You don’t have to start with the beginning, just go with the feeling. I’ll be back shortly.”

Celestia walks out of the room but pauses around the corner out of sight. She grins when she hears the sounds of magic, paper flying and scribbling from a quill. She strolls slowly and without concern, watching the sun set across the distant peaks. She sighs with content and chuckles to herself. “Fresh grass, booming forests and no fires to be seen. The Taraskans would have loved to see this day.”

She makes a quick stop in the kitchen and pours herself two cups of tea. Two mares quickly run around the kitchen, almost blind to Celestia, who occasionally has to dodge to the sides or go up on her hind legs to make room. After grabbing a quick tray of biscuits, she loads it with two cups of tea and carries it out. She walks calmly with a serene smile on her face and stops in a hallway. From here, she sets the tray on the edge of the balcony and looks out across the land. A light breeze tosses her hair around as a lone guard approaches her.

He puts a hoof to his chest and bows. “Pardon me, but are you princess Celestia?”
Celestia looks over at him and giggles before returning her gaze to the land. “Former princess Celestia. You can just call me Celestia though, I’m retired.”

The guard nods again and follows Celestia’s gaze. They both stand there silently. Celestia takes in a deep breath of air. “You know, I was here when this palace was first built...and rebuilt..and rebuilt again.”

The guard’s eyes widen and his head darts to Celestia. “Is um...is it true you used to raise the sun and moon?”

Celestia closes her eyes and giggles. “I’m afraid not. It was a tradition that got taken too literally. However, I was quite the powerhouse during my time. Thankfully monsters are no longer my concern.” The guard bows and walks away with a head held high and alert. Celestia gingerly walks back to Luna’s quarters with her tray of snacks and drinks. She sticks her head in the door quietly and watches Luna, who sits hunched over a desk already with five pieces of paper on her left with words all over them.

Celestia enters and clears her throat gently. Luna looks up, her eyes wild as fire. “Sister! I just wrote a few lines and it all just started..flowing! I decided it would be best to first construct a timeline of events and go from there.” Luna looks at the five pages she already has and smiles reminiscently. Celestia picks up one of the pages with her magic and hums in approval. “This is quite something!”

She sets down the paper after hearing Luna groan. Luna covers her face with her front legs and peaks just over them. “Sister, this will take forever! there’s so much to talk about!”
Celestia motions with her head to the backpack in the corner of the room. “Good stories take time. Pack your things, I have something I think you’ll love but it must be kept a secret between us.” Luna raises an eyebrow and quickly packs her stuff. “Not fair, you know secret adventures are my weakness!”

The pair giggle as they quickly walk through the palace. Celestia keeps a contented grin on her face as Luna continues to go over all her ideas.

Eventually, the sisters reach a large, golden tower hidden deep in a nearby forest. Celestia’s horn glows and the doors open. Luna goes quiet and looks around confused. The sisters walk inside and Celestia’s horn flares again, forcing the doors closed. Celestia calmly follows a spiraling staircase covered in magical runes. Luna keeps pace but with wide-eyes and a raised eyebrow. At the bottom is a large archway with all sorts of wires and glowing glass tubes attached sits in the middle of the room. Luna walks up and gasps at it.

“Celestia, what is this?!”
Celestia walks besides it and taps it with a hoof. “This actually opens up a portal to other worlds. I managed to finally make it connect back to nova, Raiden’s world.”

Luna’s eyes fill with both rage and wonder. “You mean we could have sent them back this entire time?!”

Celestia shakes her head then walks over to a table full of notes and calculations. “No, I finished it a few weeks ago actually. Also I don’t think the Taraskans would have wanted to go back. That and arch portals are frustrating to say the least. This does lead back to his planet but I don’t think it’s really his world anymore. I took a small peek and they’re way ahead technology-wise.”

Celestia puts a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Luna, you said the one thing you wanted more than anything was that people would know what really happened, that a group of humans, against all odds, defended a kingdom they hardly knew against an onslaught of monsters and won. On the other side of that portal, is an ocean of Raiden’s people. While ours cannot know the truth, they certainly can. When you’re done with your story, we’ll make a special copy just for them and send it through. His people will know of him, just as you wanted. Happy birthday, sister.”

With tears in her eyes, Luna throws her front legs around Celestia and they hug. After a minute, Luna pulls away. They begin walking towards the entrance. Luna turns to Celestia. “I was thinking, the copy for the humans...I should write it from Raiden’s perspective, but I don’t know what to call it.”

Celestia nods in thought. “His story is not one limited to a single genre so I can imagine how hard that it going to be. If I were to pick a few, I’d certainly say drama, action and of course...romance.” She adds while giving her sister a wink. Luna giggles and flashes a beaming smile. “Ah...you know, I have just the name. It’s his old nickname and I think we should honor that it has a new meaning. I will call my story...King of the Dead.”

The pair stop in the hall as Celestia hums to herself. “Um...why don’t we put that in the maybe pile.” Celestia starts walking after opening the entrance. Luna chases after her angrily. “No, it’s perfect! It’s mysterious, dark and relevant! Plus the meaning changes throughout the story!” Celestia laughs playfully as Luna continues to rattle off reasons for the title, knowing deep down that the Taraskans would finally get their due glory.

The End