Terror in Equestria 11: Death and Destruction

Secret of the Royal Pony Sisters

After another attack by Colgate and the death of another leader, only four Alicorn monarchs remained. Three of them were beginning to have doubts but one was not about to simply give up, Princess Celestia. When the four got into the throne room, Celestia gave her fellow monarchs an intense look and began, "Alright everypony, the time has come. The time has come to march on the black tower and slay Colgate and her minions."

Luna was the first to reply, "Sister, this isn't going to be as easy as you think. Yes we can duplicate the army but she has that eye, she is always watching and any size of army we may have, she can make hers bigger."

Ruby added, "Even with my sword, I have a feeling that it may not be enough. One sword can not outdo an army that she could make into the tens of thousands."

LaurFa said, "If only we had the same type of advantage she had. If only we had a way to transform some ponies into something like those beasts Colgate has, or should I say had."

LaurFa's comment caused Celestia to realize that the time had come for the Royal Pony Sisters to reveal something that they had been hiding for many, many millennia, something that could very well cause her allies to turn on her. She turned to Luna and asked, "Shall we little sister, shall we unveil what we hoped we would never have to?"

Luna gasped, "Sister, we can't! We vowed to never use it, we vowed that it would remain hidden forever."

Celestia snapped, "Look, we lost Brevity, we lost White Magick, we lost Blue Star, and we lost mom and dad." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "I'm sorry little sister but we have no other choice."

Luna sighed, "Very well big sister." She turned to Ruby and LaurFa and said, "Follow us."

Again they headed towards the restricted section of the library. As they all headed towards it, Ruby and LaurFa both couldn't help but wonder what it was that Celestia and Luna had been hiding for so long and wondered why they were so secretive about it. When they finally arrived at their destination Celestia headed to the back wall and lowered her head. She inserted her horn into a hole and released energy into it, causing a passage to be revealed.

Celestia began to head into it and was followed by the others. Given the secrecy of this passageway, Ruby and LaurFa couldn't help but wonder what Celestia and Luna had been hiding for so long. After what seemed to be a long, downwards walk, they finally entered a large room. Celestia and Luna both lit up their horns and in the very back of the room was a small bookcase. Celestia walked back to it and almost as though she knew it by heart, she pulled a book out and held it up.

"This," she stated, "this book has the spells in it that we would need."

To brighten the room further, Ruby and LaurFa lit up their horns and would be terrified by what they saw. Before them, in Celestia's aura was book on forbidden magic, a book similar to the ones Colgate had duplicated. LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Princess Celestia, may I ask why you have such a book in your possession? May I ask why you have been hiding this from the world?"

Princess Celestia replied, "How we acquired this book does not matter nor does why we have it. What matters is the information inside." Celestia's face became more grim as she continued, "As much as I hate to, we are going to have to use black magic to fight black magic. Given the situation we are in, we have no other choice."

LaurFa however wanted answers, "Look Celestia, I will not partake in this unless you two share with us how you found this book, where you found it and why you hid it."

Ruby added, "Nor will I. I will not aid a pony who uses dark magic unless it is for a good reason."

Neither one of the sisters were thrilled that they would make such statements. Luna's eyes began to shine a bright white as she yelled, "Listen, didst thou not hear what our sister said, she said it does not matter! She said it must be used!"

Luna had not used the Royal Canterlot Voice in many, many millennia. This angered Ruby and LaurFa but it caused Celestia to also use the Royal Canterlot Voice, "Fine then, if thou dost not wish to assist us, then perhaps thou can go up against us AND Colgate. Perhaps thou aren't such good allies after all."

After Celestia finished speaking, the two realized that Celestia and Luna were not about to share the information they wanted nor did they want to have multiple ponies using dark, forbidden magic as foes. Ruby sighed, "Very well then. Don't tell us but we do want to know what exactly this will do."

Celestia headed towards the exit and ordered, "Follow Luna and I. It will be much easier to study this when we are back in the throne room and once we have studied it, I can show you how it works."

Ruby and LaurFa, for the first time in their lives, felt nervous around the pony sisters. They could not help but wonder what it is this spell does and if it had to be cast on anypony. One thing they did know, they knew that it likely wasn't anything good given where it had been stored for so long and the fact that they had not wanted to use it unless it was absolutely necessary.

Celestia's Uexpected Magic

Once they returned to the throne room, Celestia decided that her allies could finally see the spell book that her and Luna had been hiding away for so long. The moment LaurFa and Ruby saw the cover, they knew that it was something unimaginably horrible. LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Wait a minute, you acquired this from Midnight Castle, didn't you?"

Celestia flared up her horn in anger, "It dost not matter where we acquired it! What matters is that we have it and can use it against Colgate!"

The very fact that Celestia would use the archaic way of speaking twice in one day really unnerved the two. They knew now that Celestia truly was bound and determined on slaying Colgate, no matter what the cost. Once she had calmed down she opened the book and continued, "You see, in this book is a spell that will allow us to transform a pegasus into the same type of beast that Colgate used."

Ruby gasped, "So you are going to go sacrificing ponies and turn them into beasts solely to defeat Colgate?"

LaurFa added, "You do realize that would make you no better than her don't you?"

Celestia turned to the next page and said, "You see this, this is the counter spell to return them to being a pony after the battle is over so NO I will not be just like Colgate. I know she would never use a counter spell even if she had it while I will."

The two stood there in a shocked silence until Ruby finally spoke up, "Very well then. I do however want to see if you know how to cast this spell. I want to see if you have the darkness within you to use such magic." Her voice became more snide as she continued, "I want to see if you have secretly been hiding the same darkness within you that has consumed Colgate."

Celestia simply rolled her eyes and led them outside. She led them over to the base where she was greeted by a pegasus guard, "Princess Celestia your Majesty, is something wrong? Is it Colgate?"

Celestia replied, "No, it is not." She took to the sky and continued, "Now follow me, there is something that I need to do."

The guard and the other leaders took to the sky wondering where Celestia was leading them. When they flew to the ground at the base of Canterlot Mountain, the guard was shocked but the others knew what was going on. Celestia levitated the book to herself and ordered, "Stand still alright, stand still."

The guard stood still, Celestia pointed her horn towards the guard, lit it up and recited,

"The pony is currently loyal to none,
That is something that simply can not be done.
His loyalty to me is a must,
Without it all shall be a bust.

His loyalty now belongs to me,
Yet his size must be large for all to see.
A large beast is what he shall be,
One which is loyal to me and only me."

When Celestia finished reciting the spell, a darker bulb of energy formed at the end of the horn and she released the energy. Unfortunately for Celestia, the spell did not have the intended result. Rather than transforming the guard into a beast, the energy deflected off the guard and hit the side of the mountain. In the process, a few rocks fell on them and had it not been for his quick thinking to get out of the way, the guard would have been crushed.

Ruby gave her a bit of a smirk, "Well I guess at least the Celestia we all know is still there. At least you don't have the ability to perform dark magic."

LaurFa stood there in thought before giving a suggestion, "Celestia, maybe you should reword that a bit and put your energy into the spell. It likely didn't work because you aren't consumed by evil, you are still a good pony and good ponies can't do dark magic."

Celestia gave her a smile and replied, "Good idea LaurFa. Let me think of a way to reword this a bit."

Celestia began to read over the spell and realized that the whole thing wasn't right. The spell focused far too much on forced loyalty along with transforming the pony into a beast. She knew that forced loyalty was a thing that was used by not only Colgate, but Twilight back when she was still alive. She turned to the guard and her fellow monarchs and said, "This may take a while so be patient."

Luna asked, "How long is a while big sister?"

Celestia replied, "It could be half an hour or it could take a good part of the day." She gave them all an intense look and continued, "Don't go anywhere, I want to try this the moment I come up with a new one."

"Very well." replied Ruby

Celestia began to focus intently on the spell. While she knew that it wasn't horribly bad and that it could be used as a guide, she knew that a majority of it had to go, she knew that most of it simply wasn't suitable to cast. An hour later something came to Celestia as a new spell came to her mind,

"The pony is one of us,
That is something that is a must.
His loyalty to our cause is great,
Without it all that could be spread is hate.

His aid will improve our chances much,
Yet his size must be large for this to be such.
A large pony is what he shall be,
One which will bring about victory for all to see."

Celestia looked up and exclaimed, "I've got it! I think I know the proper spell."

Ruby sighed, "We shall see."

Celestia was not thrilled with Ruby's doubt but was not about to allow Ruby's doubt to prevent her from trying this. Her horn began to glow yellow as she recited,

"The pony is one of us,
That is something that is a must.
His loyalty to our cause is great,
Without it all that could be spread is hate.

His aid will improve our chances much,
Yet his size must be large for this to be such.
A large pony is what he shall be,
One which will bring about victory for all to see."

Once she finished reciting the spell, a bolt of energy shot out of her horn and struck the pegasus. Almost immediately he began to grow into a much larger pony. While he did not grow quite to the size of Colgate's beasts, he was still large enough to be able to take one of them on. Celestia gave Ruby a smirk and said, "Still think I can't do this?"

Ruby replied, "I am sorry about the doubt Celestia. I just felt uncomfortable about the source of the original spell."

In a loud booming voice the pegasus asked, "So am I going to remain big like this or do you know a spell to return me to my normal size."

The fact that he could speak after being enlarged not only shocked the four but it also made them very happy. "Sister," said Luna "he can do what Colgate's beasts can't do. He can speak!"

Celestia replied, "Which means we will have much smarter large ponies going into battle, much smarter than those abominations Colgate created." She then turned to the pegasus and said, "Give me just a minute and I will return you to your normal size."

Given that the original size restoration size was also that of dark magic, Celestia knew that it would have to be re-worded at least. One thing that did please her is that the size restoration spell was a simpler spell, something similar to the types of spells that were used in the days right after Twilight's corruption. Once the words came to her, she lit up her horn and recited,

"Right now the pony is big
But hunger would cause him to snap like a twig.
Back to his normal size he must go
Without that hunger would stop him from being so."

Once she fired her energy at the enormous pony, he returned to his normal size once the energy struck him. The words of Celestia did cause everypony some concern. The pegasus asked, "If I am going to get really hungry at that size, how am I going to have enough to eat before we go into battle? I know that hunger would make any of us you turn big weak from hunger."

This is one thing that did not cross Celestia's mind. She thought that the large ponies would have no need for large amounts of food since it seemed like Colgate's beasts didn't. She replied, "Well what will happen is something similar to the soldiers we will duplicate. You will eat enough before the battle, then I will transform you and after the battle, I will return all of you to normal."

While the pegasus thought it sounded simple enough, her fellow monarchs had their concerns. Luna asked, "Sister, what if they are unable to get enough to eat before the attack?"

Ruby continued, "And what if Colgate and her forces were to attack before we even have the chance to do this? If she has more of those things, we won't stand a chance."

Celestia countered, "Look, we killed two of those things along with her riders in the last attack. Who is to say she has any more of them."

LaurFa gave her a stern look and replied, "Look, I know one of those riders was Twilight and one of them was one that was once one of her friends. If she did that with all six of them and made them beasts to ride, there would be at least four more of them and if I know Colgate well enough, she will likely create one for herself so that would make five of them."

Celestia stood there with an unsure look on her face until something crossed her mind, something that she could see being the case. "LaurFa, if I know Colgate well enough, she will want to bring us down right there by her tower. She will want to slay us right there and then feast on us in her dining hall."

Luna gave her sister an approving smile, "Sister, you are probably right. She would get much more satisfaction out of killing us on her turf."

Ruby and LaurFa nodded while the pegasus gave her a nervous look, "So how many of us pegasi are you going to be transforming?"

Celestia replied, "Well given that Colgate will likely have five of these beasts, I will transform ten of you." The pegasus began to say something until Celestia continued, "And regarding the unicorn guard, it will depend on how many soldiers she has but I am thinking I will duplicate them until we have an army of ten thousand."

Her fellow monarchs gasped, "Ten thousand?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, then thousand. That should be enough to take on those beasts and her dark Alicorn and changeling army."

The three stood there for a moment before Luna replied, "Very well big sister. We shall go with your plan."

Celestia replied, "Good now lets get back up to the castle" she turned to the pegasus and added, "and you return to the base. It is time for lunch and I am sure we are all hungry."

Celestia took to the sky and headed back to the palace. The others followed her and while Celestia seemed rather confident, the others couldn't help but have their doubts. Ruby and LaurFa in particular had concerns because ever since the slaying of Twilight, the other rider, their beasts and especially after the unmaking of Brevity, it seemed like Celestia had transformed from emotional and easy to rattle to becoming a pony hell bent on slaying her foes, even if it meant going on the offensive and risking everything. One thing they did know, is that the Celestia of old was likely gone for good.