Elemental: Power is Magic

"Tia?"

"What now, Luna?" Celestia asked, her head resting on her hooves as she sat in the back of the black marble chariot. She had been most surprised to find that the pair of pegasi whom Princess Twilight had ordered to take her to this "Ponyvale" were not, in truth, the strong and powerful stallions that she had expected; rather they were weak and fairly thin, covered in scars and completely out of control of their own bodies. The magical rings which were wrapped dangerously tightly around their wings was confirmation of that. But easily the most horrific thing was the bloodied area around their groins, completely lacking in the masculine adornments which ought to have been there.

She tried not to think on it too much.

"I..." The Luna-griffon, who had once again been zipping around the unicorn's head, now came to sit down next to Celestia's haunches. "I just want to check you're alright? You seem really, really different."

Celestia was quiet for a moment before she turned her head and lowered it to look away. She sighed before she then whispered, "I'm worried, Luna."

"About the Magic Backfire?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, not that..." she replied before she lay down and folded her hooves so as to rest her head atop them. "To be truthful, I'm worried about... some ponies that I know." Celestia shook her head slowly and then closed her eyes, her ears drooped. "But I can't help them now. I... I wouldn't know how. I don't even understand what's going on myself."

Luna was quiet for a moment before she trod forwards slowly and climbed up onto Celestia's forehoof. "If this is about Flat Quill again, y'know that wasn't your fault, right? I mean, I know you liked him and all, but... Well, he did drop litter in the streets. No amount of lecturing him would stop that. And we all know the punishment for littering!" Luna ruffled her feathers slowly and shuddered. "I'll never forget the time the Royal Guard had me stripped for molting on the side path. Ouch! I can still feel the burn—and these feathers are still pretty pathetic! Tia, won't you use an age spell on me?"

Celestia didn't reply at first, too caught up in her own thoughts to consider what the little griffon had said. A moment later, however, she sat up and rose a hoof sharply, her eyes wide as she hissed, "They did what to you?"

The Luna-griffon grimaced and let her head fall slightly. "Well, if you don't remember yet, I don't really wanna talk about it. Besides, you'll remember soon enough."

"Oh." Celestia was still for a moment before she reached out a hoof and pulled Luna closer, letting the griffon's feathers entwine with her fur. "You know, I'm here if you do ever need to talk about it?"

Luna shook her head slowly and sniffled a little. "Nah. I've had worse; we all have." The griffon shrugged and flicked her little tail before she turned her head to slowly prune her wings, an act which made Celestia brindle just a little in jealousy. She quickly masked the expression, however, when the griffon's large eyes landed on hers inquisitively. After a few seconds of silently staring eachother down, Luna then bounded to the other side of the carriage and peered over the edge; she squealed as she did so and leapt up into the air, flitting about in sudden glee.

"Wow!" she gasped, her wings flapping so quickly that they were little more than a blur at this stage. "Tia, Tia! It's Ponyvale! Look at this, quick!"

Celestia frowned and scooted away from the young griffon slowly; at Luna's indignant squawk, however, she let out a breath and shuffled closer most unenthusiastically. She then let her head fall over the edge of the chariot's back and looked at the world below.

It was not what she had expected, to be sure.

Back in Equestria—her Equestria, not this increasingly disturbing replica which was under the rule of Twilight Sparkle—Ponyville had always been a quaint little place. A farming, country village which could not have been more different to the big cities which were littered about. It had been smaller than a single Manehattan or Las Pegasus road and yet it was so much more pleasant a place to live—beaten only by Canterlot, of course.

But such was not the case now, it would seem. A city where the simple act of molting got a pony punished so severely...

No. Celestia shook her head and focused her gaze down on the ground, instead scanning the little village which was to be her new home. It was nothing—or as close to nothing as was important—like the Ponyville that she had known in her kingdom; the colourful homes and bright and welcoming roads were duller. A few ponies walked throughout the streets, chatting in hushed voices among eacher, but for the most part there was nopony nearby; a hasty search later revealed them to be gathered at the local farm, surely this land's version of Sweet Apple Acres. From the distance it was hard to truly tell what they were doing; it wasn't hard to imagine that they were not quite contented, though.

And yet, despite this, Luna still looked ever so excited.

"It's awful," Celestia whispered, a few tears welling up in her eyes as the chariot drew closer to the ground. The poor stallions at the front were sweaty and exhausted, poor things, but there was nothing that she could do to save them.

"Awful?" Luna repeated, her face now a mask of horror. "Just feel the air... It's so sweet out here! So pure!"

Celestia was quiet before she then took a deep breath in, letting the smell of the morning air fill her nostrils. It was cool as it sunk down into her lungs, settling there and sending a shiver through her body; when she released it, however, she could once again feel the weight of the magic which lingered everywhere.

"The air's still thick with magic, Luna," she said as she brushed her mane with a hoof, feeling somewhat dirty when the air settled on her. "I thought Princess Twilight wanted me to come here to get away from all of the magic?"

The chariot touched down with a dull thud and skidded a few metres before the drivers regained control. Luna, however, was already rolling around in the dirt even before they had made the landing, giggling as she did so. "Well, there's magic everywhere. Equestria's run on magic, you know that! But there's less of it here, less to make my feathers heavy and my body gross, and that's awesome!"

Celestia shook her head slowly as she stepped down from the carriage. She began to walk slowly over to a slightly dull patch of grass to pluck a few strands for the drivers—the poor things were trembling now, their feeble wings draped on the floor—but did not have a chance when the two instead began to scream. The cries echoed loud around the village's streets; a moment later, in a flash of painfully-bold purple, they and the chariot had gone. All that was left was a slightly charred section of dirt. She winced at the sight but managed to keep back a yelp; Luna, on the other hoof, hardly looked fazed.

"Gee, Tia," she began as she stopped rolling and instead bounded up to her hoof, rubbing around them like a kitten, "I never realised the Magic Backfire would be so bad. You're really not well, are you?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Luna began to climb up Celestia's foreleg slowly, her eyes now thinned. "Well, you seem really... jumpy. And strange. I mean, it's not nice when Twilight does things like that but you always knew it goes on. Everypony does." The Luna-griffon dug her claws into Celestia's side a little deeper and purred quietly, ignoring the latter's yelp and hisses. She then sprawled herself out on the warm hair of Celestia's mane and sighed, purring a little more as she dug her claws in again. Even when the unicorn's magic wrapped around her to pull her off she refused to let go. When Celestia did release her, though, she did relent a little and loosened her grip.

"Why," Celestia began, cut off momentarily as she began to move at the slight pain which came when Luna's claws dug in, "is Princess Twilight like this? She seems so... barbaric."

"You really don't know? C'mon, please tell me you're just joking with me?" Celestia shook her head at the Luna-griffon's words. "Oh. Wow, you're not well. This is more than just Magic Backfire, isn't it?"

"Luna," Celestia hissed, her ears now pinned. She cracked her tail slightly above the little griffon's head in warning before she then continued with, "Just answer my question."

"But—"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it," Celestia snapped back in a whisper, her eyes now filled with flames. Luna winced at the sight and recoiled, sitting up straight and with her claws threatening to dig in once more. It was only the sight of the furious eyes which prevented her from doing so; it surely would not end well, or so she reasoned. Once she had done so, however, the flames died out slightly and Celestia merely sighed before finishing with, "I'll tell you later. Or... at some point. I promise that, and do I ever break my promises?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Celestia gave a feeble smile before she then pulled the baby griffon from her back with her magic and held her in front of her face. After a moment's hesitation she then leaned in to nuzzle her gently, drawing a giggle and a squeal. The sound somewhat filled her own heart with joy and she, too, let a larger smile grow on her muzzle as she retured Luna to her back. She gave her a few second to get comfortable again before she then said, in a gentler and genuinely happier tone, "Well, I won't break this promise. That which I need to tell you... It is not easy for me to do so. But I will, at some point. Hopefully soon, but maybe not; it all depends on when I feel safe."

"Safe? But Tia, you're Princess Twilight's pupil. Nopony would—"

"You don't understand, Luna. This secret of mine... I fear that, if she knew, Princess Twilight would not react too kindly to it. And that would endanger us both."

The Luna-griffon was quiet for a moment before she opened her beak a few times, unable to find the words. Eventually, though, she had to say something; reluctantly she said, in a slow and quiet voice, "Okay, Tia." She glanced about uncertainly for a few seconds before she then finished with, "Whatever it is, I'll be here. Yeah?"

Celestia grinned and went to open a wing to embrace the griffon, only to remember with a sinking heart that she didn't have them now. She then sighed and simply shot a grin backwards, her eyes now soft. "Thank you, Luna," she whispered, then stopping in her tracks and looking about slowly. “So, did Princess Twilight say where we were staying?”

The Luna-griffon shook her head slowly and fluttered up into the sky. After a few minutes of frantically zipping about, she then shot back down to the ground and stretched her claw in the direction of what Celestia could only presume was the Everfree Forest—or this land’s version of it.

“There’s an inn over there?” she said with a shrug. “I’ve got a couple of snaffle on me, and I expect there’ll be a bank nearby where you can take out some of yours?

“Sna—“ Celestia began, a frown on her muzzle until she cut herself off and shook her head. Before she could carry on, however, Luna sighed and fluttered forwards.

“You don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, do you?” she asked, her expression neither amused nor annoyed. With a blush on her cheeks Celestia shook her head and mumbled something inaudible; Luna’s eyes rolled almost immediately at the response. “Okay. It’s money. You get the snaffle, which is worth the least, and then there’s the curb, which is five snaffles. A pelham’s three curbs, then ten pelhams in a gag. I’ve only ever had snaffles and curbs, though, ‘cos you wouldn’t give me any more than that in my allowance.” Luna grinned and slowed in her flight so that she fell back to flutter near Celestia’s ears. “You know… if you’ve forgotten how to use money, you could always give me all yours and I’ll sort it all?”

Celestia was quiet for a moment before she laughed and raised a hoof to nudge Luna away as she said, “Cheeky thing!” The little griffon pouted but quickly landed anyway, not too upset as she shrugged.

“Worth a shot,” she said, still smiling before she then sighed loudly. Not long after she bounded forwards, running circles as she waited for Celestia to catch up and squealing all the while.

Luna didn’t notice the two small, silver coins which now rested in the unicorn’s hoof.