The Radiant

Nightmare Moon is gone. No more does the night mean darkness and terror, but coolness, shade, and the starry, infinite heavens. But in accordance with ancient pact and secret ritual, it is also the time of countless bloodthirsty creatures and numerous evil magics. Much care must be taken, especially in the everfree forest, if you are to prevent being caught up in that which you do not understand. Princess Luna is not the only thing that wakes by moonlight.

It was with this in mind that Zecora crossed into the ancient ruin that was the Castle of the Pony Sisters, her hood and shawl drawn tight. She had, of course, taken the utmost precautions before departing her thatched-roof hut: Hinn's Decoction of Deception, refined from ingredients most rare, muffled her steps, and blurred her form. Sussuruss's Cunning Cloak, a mixture most difficult to prepare, muddled the minds of those who would observe her, causing them to mistake the zebra for something more innocuous. Yet, even with such magical protections, she tread carefully. The animals of the forest, from hydra to timber wolf, ran from the ruin as though it was on fire. Something was driving them away.

She marched easily through the massive, open entryway that was once sealed with doors of cedar and iron, those doors now rotted into dust centuries ago. She walked silently, passing quietly through abandoned halls and empty rooms, each filled with nothing but silence and ruin, pausing to inspect the occasional ivy-wreathed frieze of Luna and Celestia, or to stare at broken windows of stained glass.

At last she came to the great double-doors that led to the Throne Room, the great stone doors a beautiful mural of lapis-and-ivory, inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl, now nearly ruined with neglect and thick with ivy. It was beautiful now, too, in its own way, she supposed.

"Now is not the time for watching scenery. Nor admire rapacious greenery."

Zecora put her shoulder to the doors and pushed. They opened slowly, a great, creaking noise that made her shiver. As soon as they were open just a crack, she slipped through, the massive plate of stone immediately sliding shut behind her. She had reached the Throne Room.

The great chamber was a chiaroscuro of moonlight and shadow. Watching over everything were the Twin Thrones, one gilt with gold, the other with lapis. The wide couches had backs that came to a peak, and each was crowned with a symbol of the sun, and of the moon.

"The Princesses each have a separate care. Why then twin symbols on each chair?"

Zecora didn’t have time to ponder pre-Discord symbolism. She kept looking. Luna's light gleamed bright as it poured into the great, stentorian room of basalt and white marble. Besides the thrones that held court over the shadows still, A small, solitary patch of moonlight, allowed in through the broken roof, illuminated something else, too. Right in the middle of the floor, the thick basalt had been broken like an eggshell, revealing stairs that led down into darkness.

"Never have I seen this before, but that is not new, beneath this floor."

The zebra's hooves sounded mutely as she cantered towards the hole. She stopped at the edge, peering into it, before closing her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, they glowed golden, her pupils slitted and catlike.

It was a long way down, the stairs going far deeper underground than she expected. Or perhaps it was simply her nerves getting the better of her. She sucked in a breath, and let it out slowly. She could see the bottom of the stairs now, it wasn't too much farther, and hopefully she would find some answers as to what was going on. As soon as she reached bottom, she saw torches gleaming down the hall, framing a doorway ahead. She froze.

Zecora exhaled, careful not to make a sound. She took another breath. Her hearing strained, searching for the faint sound of breathing, the sound of hooves on stone, anything.

Silence.

She took a step, moving even more gingerly than she had been before, and then another. Nothing reacted to the muffled sound of her hooves. She paused again, then cantered forward slowly, her jaw clenched.

As she got closer, she could make out that the room appeared to be a burial chamber. The view from the hallway was dominated by a large, stone coffin. As she got even closer, she realized that the open doorframe hadn't always been so. The doors had been ripped off their stone hinges, lying flat inside the room.

She stopped just outside, and listened. Again, only silence greeted her.

She stepped inside.

It smelled old. Musty. Like something had died, and decomposed to dust long, long ago. The room itself was not very big, perhaps twice as long as the coffin and just as wide. The fallen doors made it seem more crowded than it was.

The stone lid was open, slid just to the side to allow someone to look at the body. Zecora took a breath, her muscles tense, and peered inside.

A...skull. Nothing else, just a skull. Frightening to some, perhaps, but bones were familiar to Zecora. She let out the breath she'd been holding in, and suddenly felt very foolish.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. It's a strange skeleton, yes, but a skeleton nonetheless...hm?

"A crown atop your bony head? A king keeps not a crown who'se dead."

The crowned skull had little to say in response. She looked over the rest of the coffin, and found what she was looking for. An inscription, written across the coffin lid. The letters were in Old Equestrian.

She sighed. It wasn’t unexpected, but it was frustrating. Her Old Equestrian was not the best. She leaned closer, trying to see the letters more clearly. As she did, she noticed her breath was erasing part of the message.

She bolted back, looking at the letters with narrowed eyes.

She lifted a foreleg gingerly, and barely touched a letter with a hoof, smuding a corner.

"An epitaph in dust? Ephermal as rust. How could it have survived?"

She leaned forward again, careful to control her breathing, and tried to remember her old equestrian.

"...Grind me to dust." she translated, slowly. "Even then shall I return."

She peered at the odd message, pondering. So deep was she in thought that she almost missed the sound of heavy, wet-sounding footsteps coming down the stairs.

Zecora whirled. That sound...a lion? Too large. It sounded like a hydra, with heavy, broad steps, except for that other sound. A metallic rasp, like chains being drug across the ground, rattling and clinking against each other.

Celestia, that -smell-...

She slipped into the shadows, and readied herself.

“…and so it is with the greatest pleasure that I, and the Tower of Magic, bestow upon Twilight Sparkle the title of Archmage, the first in a century. Congratulations, Twilight.”

The princess lowered her voice so that only Twilight could hear. “I’m so proud.” She said, smiling beatifically at the purple unicorn.

Twilight blushed.

“No, thank you, Princess.” she said, grinning excitedly from ear to ear. “I mean, the only reason I’m even here today is because you took such an interest in me and-“

“You honor me, Twilight.” The Princess said, interrupting the assuredly-underserved self-effacement that was so typical of her greatest student when talking directly with her. “But this is your achievement. You’re the most talented unicorn the Tower has seen for more than a hundred years, and twice as hardworking. You more than deserve this.”

Twilight’s face turned a deeper shade of red.

“I hope you realize as well the responsibility that comes with it.” Celestia intoned, raising an eyebrow archly. “Archmage is not a ceremonial title. You are now the greatest wizard in Equestria, her foremost magical resource, her staunchest ally, Duchess of the Adamantine Tower, her grace the Grand Magus of Equestria.”

Despite herself, Celestia couldn’t help but crack a small smile.

“I’ll…uh, I’ll try and do my best, princess.” Twilight laughed weakly.

Celestia shook her head. She really was something.

She didn’t deserve her.

The speech was next. Twilight stood calmly in the face of the crowd – something that might have driven her nearly mad with anxiety not so long ago. But since being sent to Ponyville, Twilight had grown in so many ways that had nothing to do with magic, and everything do with those five friends that were even now cheering for her from their seats. Her family was there too – her parents, Shining Armor, and even Princess Cadance.

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and even Fluttershy, each one stomping on the ground in applause as she stepped down from the podium after her speech. Celestia smiled to herself again, and gave the slightest of nods to Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus’s magenta eyes grew wider, and she grinned maniacally before taking off like a shot.

“Your Highness, I’m so sorry to bother you, but…”

She turned her head. One of her assistants had climbed up on to the stage and was trying to be as un-noticeable as it was possible to be next to the Princess. It was Coffee Cream, a gray-colored earth pony stallion with a coffee cup as his cutie mark. He wasn’t a particularly important pony, but he was hard-working, and managed to keep the mercurial weather teams working smoothly throughout the entire kingdom. His eyes looked perpetually haggard, a side effect of his late nights combing through expense reports and weather schedules. He was holding a letter.

“It’s from Miss Zecora, ma’am. It’s…Luna insisted you read it immediately.”

Celestia blinked. A gentle golden glow enveloped the scroll and lifted it from his grasp. She thanked him absently and unrolled it.

A piece of Zecora’s mane was glued onto the scroll with some unknown adhesive. A single line in nearly illegible old equestrian was scrawled beneath it.

“Grind me to dust, Celestia. Even then shall I return.”

She stared at the parchment, eyes goggling, then almost as an afterthought held it close to her nose, sniffing. The dry smell of paper, and… horrific rot. The latter she recognized. She could never forget it.

She had almost forgotten about the Sonic Rainboom. With a thunderous crack, Rainbow Dash pierced the sound barrier, the noise shaking the ground, the explosion lighting the gardens every shade of every color at once.

It was gorgeous, as always. A magical vortex of every color, as vibrant and full of life and promise as the pony who made them. The princess rolled the scroll back up, and turned to look at the new Archmage of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle.

Her Faithful Student.

Enveloped as she was in every color of the rainbow, her eyes shining as she gazed in awe with everypony else at the amazing spectacle of the Sonic Rainboom, Celestia had only one thought.

This isn’t fair.