Of Gods and Tomes

Chapters

In the Beginning
A Millennium Alone
Sister's Redemption
Epilogue

In the Beginning

Nightmare Moon screamed in rage and anguish as the multicoloured light from the Elements of Harmony engulfed her, lifting her off the floor. Celestia's horn glowed brighter and brighter in concentration as tears streamed down her face. "I love you." She choked out, lifting her sister higher and higher. The light surrounded Nightmare Moon in a sphere of rainbows, which soon crashed through the ceiling of the throne room sending falling chunks of the roof down onto Celestia. Slabs of stone weighing many tons glanced off the goddess's form like so many pebbles, her horn glowing ever brighter as she raised her sister against her will. "I'm sorry." She whispered, and completed the spell. Nightmare Moon rocketed into the night sky towards the moon, her dark figure silhouetted by the rainbows surrounding her. Soon she was just a speck of light, racing across the sky towards the Moon. The speck finally reached its destination, and for an instant the night was gone as the Moon lit up with a thousand colours. As they faded and the Moon revealed a new face, the image of Nightmare Moon carved across its visible hemisphere for all to see.

Celestia collapsed onto the floor of the ruined hall, sobbing desperately. As she laid her head down on the rubble strewn marble floor, the Elements of Harmony embedded in her necklace glowed briefly and popped themselves out of their sockets. They shattered as they hit the floor, sending multicolored fragments everywhere. Celestia barely noticed in her sorrow, though it seemed to send her into a fit of louder crying. "Damn that book!" She cried, rolling onto her side and closing her eyes.

Some time later she heard large wings flapping and she opened her eyes. Another alicorn stood above her, looking down with eyes that were far more sorrowful than her own. Great black tears welled from his dark eyes and dripped to the floor, evaporating almost instantly but leaving behind permanent black stains. "We had no choice Celestia." He said, his deep voice cracking with sorrow. "The book corrupted her soul." The black flames of his mane licked slowly back and forth over his pale grey coat, highlighting the pony skull cutie mark on his flank. Tears continued to fall from his face as her turned his attention to the shattered Elements. "Their power was changed from containing her for just a short time. Indeed, had we not moved as quickly we might not have been able to stop her." His horn glowed, and the shards collected themselves into piles of each colour of the rainbow. The shards glowed, and chunks of marble skittered across the floor and molded themselves around the piles, sealing them together in spheres of rock. "I'm afraid the Elements will no longer respond to the will of a god. It will take the power of a mortal's love to use them again." The spheres floated up and across the room, landing on the empty orrery-like stand where the Elements were normally kept.

Celestia stood up slowly, wiping some of the tears from her face. "But the Elements are the only thing that can affect a god's soul! What will we do Obitus?" She burst into tears again, and he pulled her into an embrace with both his wings and his forelegs, nuzzling her tenderly. "I can't go on for eternity without my sister." she sobbed into his shoulder.

"And I cannot go on without the love of my life Celestia. But we must. Without us the cycle of night and day will end, and so will the cycle of life and death. We simply have wait until a mortal is born that has the will and the power to reawaken the Elements." Tears continued to flow from his eyes, momentarily staining Celestia's brilliant white coat before fading away. His voice grew stronger and more resolute. "Yes, we will have to wait. But there is something we can do right now that will help us feel better."

Celestia looked up at him. "Yes." Her voice grew stronger too, becoming harsh with rage. "We can send that book back to whatever evil dimension it came from."

They broke their embrace and turned together to face the thrones at the end of the hall, where a large black tome rested on Princess Luna's throne. They approached it together, horns glowing in preparation to unleash destructive forces not seen on Equestria since the time of creation. It lay there seemingly innocuous, but it was absorbing the light emitted by their horns. It's title was inscribed deeply into its animal skin binding in some otherworldly language, only Luna had deciphered it's meaning and learned to read it's words.

In unison they roared, their rage shaking the very foundations of the earth. Twin beams of light speared out from their horns, blasting all before them into incoherent plasma. The thrones were vaporized, as was the wall behind them, and the valley floor behind it. A great chasm was ripped into the ground, destroying the road leading to the castle and obliterating a village that had been evacuated earlier during the fight with Nightmare Moon. Ponies for hundreds of miles cowered in fear as the world shook and the angry screams of gods echoed through the air.

Finally Celestia and Obitus stopped throwing energy at the book. It floated in the air, unharmed by a barrage that could have torn the crust off the planet had it continued. It drifted slowly down to rest on the floor, which was still soft and liquid in places from the heat. The two gods stared at the book, rage contorting their faces. "AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" Celestia yelled, and brought a hoof down onto it in rage. The floor cracked all around them and more of the castle fell to the ground as the book was pressed six inches into solid marble. "This thing deifies the laws of our reality! Is there nothing that will destroy it?" She cried, collapsing to the floor again in tears. "I can't even take vengeance upon the thing which caused all this." She looked up at Obitus, who still stared at the book with eyes that could kill a mortal.

"No. It must be because it is from another dimension." He hung his head low in defeat, an emotion never before felt by a god. Suddenly he stood up straight and looked through the collapsed ceiling at the Moon. "No, we cannot destroy it." He said in a strong voice. "But we can put it somewhere that it will never be a problem again." He ripped the book out of the stone floor with his hoof and then levitated it with his horn. "Come with me. Even now it saps my strength, you may need to carry it for me after a while."

"Where can we put it that none shall ever find it, Obitus?" Celestia asked, her tone hopeful.

"Where none but us can go. Come!" With a bound they took to the air, rapidly accelerating up and away. Cones of super compressed air formed around them, soon breaking and expanding out in a circle of multicoloured light as they broke the sound barrier. They flew west, reaching Draconia within minutes. Obitus veered towards a mountain with smoke billowing from its top and lava pouring down its side, Celestia close behind him. He paused above the rim of the volcano, preparing himself. "Are you ready?" He asked. Celestia nodded, and they plunged downward. The lava rippled in great waves as they struck it faster than the speed of a shout, it's heat and power warming them. They flew down and down through the lava, it's viscosity becoming thinner and thinner as they deeper and it grew hotter. They followed the massive main vent of the volcano down and into the mantle of the planet, leaving the crust and the living world far behind. Deeper they plunged, past the mantle and it's many layers, until finally they reached the ball of nickel-iron that made up the core of the world. Celestia took the book from Obitus, and from his horn lit another stream of pure energy. It ripped a hole in the core, and Celestia cast the book into the hole with all her strength. The core shook and rang like a bell when the book struck it. Far above, every volcano in the world erupted simultaneously. Obitus and Celestia focused their wills together, and before them the hole sealed itself up and the core compressed by just a tiny fraction; forever sealing the book away.

Celestia and Obitus emerged from the volcano days later, the sun shining down as they shook the molten rock from their manes. Celestia's crown and other jewelry had melted away in the heat, leaving nothing behind. Obitus looked forlornly up at the Moon, faintly visible in the brightness of the day. "What limits are on her, Celestia?" He asked.

"Her powers are restrained to nearly nothing, just enough to allow her to survive up there." She grimaced. "Even if we retrieved her from her prison, her power will be contained forever. Only the Elements can return her to godhood now." She pawed at the ground in thought. "What did you mean when you said only a mortal's love could use the Elements now?"

"The elements helped our ancestors create this system out of stellar material. They have limitless power, but are not weapons. They are tools of creation and unity. Using them to restrain a god has changed them; whatever created them didn't want us using them against each other. So now their power can only be wielded by a mortal, and to ensure that mortal cannot abuse the power it must be used out of love. When we find a mortal that can use them I don't foresee that healing your sister will be hard to do, considering that it is an act of love."

"Then why were the Elements unchanged after our battle with Discord a century ago?"

"Discord was not the same kind of god we are. He was a god of chaos, a creature of the great void; the Elements are here to create systems from that chaos. So in effect, Discord was a natural enemy of the Elements."

"Obitus, how is it that you know things that I do not?"

"We each have our spheres of influence and responsibility, Celestia. You are the Princess of the Sun and summer, your sister is the Princess of the Moon and winter. I am the Prince of Death and reincarnation. I assume that I know these things because I may have to judge the soul of a mortal who has wielded the Elements, and I cannot accurately judge a soul when I am ignorant of the power it wielded." He laid down on the solid stone of the volcano, it's coolness soothing after days basking in the heat and pressure of the planetary interior. "You know that we only know some things because we must know them, not because we learned them. It's just the way we are." He laid his head down on the rock. "I fear that you must rule alone for the time being. I'm slipping away, for a time." He closed his eyes slowly. "This volcano will erupt once more and then go extinct. I think I will sleep here for an age or two. The book sapped much of my strength." He yawned, mouth opening wide and revealing sharp teeth.

Celestia laid next to him for a moment, extending a friendly wing over him. "Yes, you did carry it much longer than I. But what of your duties? How will ponies souls find their way back to this plane for rebirth without you? The Sun and Moon can progress without me for a short time, but not for an entire age. You cannot abandon what you are here for."

"The lesser aspect of my power can guide souls while I'm asleep. And you know that I haven't had to judge a soul in eons; ours are a good people now, pure. You know what the signs of an evil soul are, you can awaken me easily if I'm required. Once I have recovered, I will rule and you can sleep." His voice grew softer and softer. "Wake me when you need me, Celestia. But if you find a wielder... " His voice died to a whisper. "Send Luna to wake me."

Celestia stood up and walked to the edge of the rim, preparing to leave now that Obitus was asleep. She crouched to jump into the air, but Obitus's faint voice held her fast."Celestia" He whispered "You must forget." She nodded to herself. A gods will was reality, and if they willed themselves to forget something then it was forgotten. So she took off from the volcano, and willed herself to forget where the book was.

A Millennium Alone

Year 300, Celestia's Reign

Yet another foreman prostrated himself before her as Celestia toured the construction site. After the battle at her original home it had been far too damaged, and far to full of bad memories, to live in. Here at the site of the new city of Canterlot she had commissioned a new palace to be built, where she could better govern her subjects. Construction of the vast facility had been ongoing for the last two-hundred fifty years, and was only now nearing completion. Besides her home something else had also been ruined during the battle with Nightmare Moon; pony kind's attitude towards their god. Before that night no pony had ever seen a god destroy, only create. So now instead of a relationship of comfort and cooperation with her subjects she had one of worship hiding a deep seated fear. Even now, fifteen generations after the battle, the racial memory of her unleashed power kept anypony from being truly comfortable around her.

"Please, rise. Your impressive work has more than demonstrated your love for me." She had long ago given up on trying to tell them not to worship her, no words could ever counteract her actions. She turned to the soaring tower the foreman lay in front of. "Tell me, how tall will this be when it is completed?"

"This particular tower will be three-hundred thirty feet tall your majesty, and its highest point will be almost two thousand feet above the valley floor." The palace was built on a natural shelf on a mountain overlooking Canterlot, allowing for absolutely beautiful views in any direction.

"And what will this particular tower be for?" She asked. Most of the palace was actually offices and chambers for government use, with only the top of one tower for her personal use.

"Well your majesty, the lower portion is offices and such. But the top five stories are to be set aside as your secondary quarters milady."

"Ah." She said, remembering. "Yes. I had them set aside a place for Luna." The foreman flinched at the name, his hoof coming up reflexively to press against the sun pendant hanging from a chain around his neck.

"Er, yes your majesty." He gulped. "If you'll excuse me, I have some workers that need direction..."

"Yes, of course. Thank you for your time."

"You are certainly welcome your majesty." With that he scurried off and fell in with a group of laborers preparing a pallet of construction material to be raised magically to the roof. Celestia sighed, pawing at the ground with a hoof. It would take her centuries of social engineering to rid Equestrians of their fear of her sister; but hopefully she could rid them of their fear of gods in general sooner than that. Obitus was just a legend now, but then he had not been well known even before he had gone to sleep. Even as the Prince of Death he hadn't been feared before the battle with Nightmare Moon, ponies understood that death was a part of life and that he would never take a pony before their time. But now, with their fear sometimes naked in her presence, she was glad there wasn't a god of death around to worry them.

Year 750, Celestia's Reign

Celestia watched the students playing on the lawn, bouncing about and fooling around with their nascent magic. The idea to use a school to search for potential wielders had occurred to her two centuries ago-and had produced some promising candidates-but no mortal pony had yet harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony. She sighed softly to herself, feeling the familiar crush of frustration.

"Do you desire something, princess?" Captain of her personal guard Brightlance Blueblood asked, approaching at the sound of her sigh.

"Nothing you can give me I'm afraid, Brightlance." She turned to face him. "Why don't you join me for a bit. Take a seat."

"As you wish, princess." He sat down on the offered cushion next to her. Her people no longer feared her-finally-but even the ones she worked with every day still treated her as a monarch, much as she would love to be a little more informal. In fact, forming her personal guard had been a big step in eliminating that fear. Even though she knew that there was nothing in the world that could hurt her, having personal guards subliminally affected her people. It gave the impression that perhaps she might need protection, and that therefore she perhaps was no more than an immortal unicorn with wings. The racial memory of her battle with her sister had almost completely faded, allowing such subliminal thoughts to seep into the minds of her people.

"A very promising group this year, princess. Some very impressive power, especially at such a young age." Brightlance remarked, observing the foals at play.

Celestia studied his face in profile. A good strong stallion, and almost as large in stature as she was. Quite attractive by equine standards, in fact. She followed this train of thought with interest; would it help her people for her to have a consort? Yes, she thought, it would make her appear even more equine to have a normal pony's desires and needs. In fact that was the reason she had started eating and sleeping regularly, to be more equine and less godlike. Brightlance was a single stallion and would perform as ordered; but that wasn't the point of such an endeavor. In order for this to have the effect she wanted, they would need to have a romance.

Brightlance turned his head to look at the princess and found her already looking at him. "Yes, princess?"

"Brightlance, this may sound like an odd question, and an unusual one from me, but what do you find attractive in a mare?"

He blinked. It was odd, but his princess was not one for idle chatter. He knew she was always thinking of her people and how to help them, so perhaps this was something important, some kind of research perhaps. "Well, ah, that is unusual princess. Let me see. I tend to like mares who are strong of will, you know, no pushovers. I like a mare that works hard, that always strives to better herself."

"Interesting, Brightlance. What do you like appearance wise?"

Brightlance thought on this for a few seconds. "Hmm. Well I tend to prefer pegasi, even though I'm an earth pony. I guess it's cause my first love was a pegasi, and she used to embrace me in her wings. I know I'm a big strong pony and I'm not afraid of much, but I just felt so safe when she would wrap us together like that." He put a hoof to his chin, looking out at the foals again as he thought. "I've also always liked mares a bit on the slender side, who take the time to groom themselves nicely. I like a mare who is... ladylike, you might say, but not one who thinks she's somehow better than other ponies. And I've always found a nice long mane attractive on mares."

"Is that it?"

"Hmm, yes that's about it princess." He looked back at her and saw that she was smirking. "Must seem kinda silly to you, eh princess?"

"No, not at all Brightlance. But I do find it amusing that you just described me almost exactly."

Somehow Brightlance's face managed to turned stark white in fear and bright red in embarrassment at the same time. "Oh no Princess! I would never... I mean... I..."

The princess was grinning now."So you don't find me attractive then?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean, of course princess, but you're the Princess! I..." Celestia leaned over and put a hoof to his lips, shushing him. She leaned even closer, and looked him deep in the eyes.

"Answer me honestly, Brightlance, I won't be angry or offended. If I were a pegasus instead of an alicorn, would you pursue me?" She withdrew her hoof from his lips so he could answer. He was obviously just embarrassed now and not scared, but still blushing bright red. He hesitated, a look of fear flitting again across his face. "Answer me, Brightlance."

He gulped. "Yes." he said very quietly.

The princess grinned at him "Good." She said and leaned back into a normal sitting position.

"Good, princess?" He responded, confusion evident on his face.

"Yes. You see it's a very lonely position I'm in; I've been realizing of late that I don't have to bear it alone anymore. Would you be interested in... being a companion for me, in addition to a guard?"

Brightlance was beginning to come around to the idea of thinking of her as more than his princess now, and the blush was starting to come down on his face. "I've honestly never thought of you... romantically... until now, princess. But aren't there better stallions for you out there? Someone more worthy than a simple guard?"

"There are none more worthy in my opinion, Brightlance. I guess I was wrong a minute ago, there is something you can give me. So how about it? Would you be interested in trying it out?"

"I'll do anything you command princess, you know that."

"I can't order you to love me, Brightlance. If you honestly like this idea, than say yes. If you don't, I won't be offended. I know that I can be very intimidating to some ponies."

Brightlance sat up straight and looked her in the eye, his voice resolute. "Yes, princess. I am honored that you consider me worthy."

"Mmmmm" She crooned, enveloping him in her wing and pulling him close. Already she felt... good. Less alone. She was amazed, emotions she hadn't felt in centuries pouring through her. She was glad she had this idea, and glad that it didn't turn out to be just another duty or subliminal message to her people. Yes, it was those things-in fact-but it certainly didn't feel that way.

"Remember how I said I felt safe in the wings of a pegasi, princess?"

"Yes?"

"Well that goes double for the wings of a goddess." Celestia smiled. She leaned down, and they shared a kiss while the foals played on outside, unaware of their bliss.

Year 984, Celestia's Reign

Celestia stopped for a moment in the royal garden to take in the smell of a thousand blooming roses. She was on her way to bid farewell to a pair of dragons who had enrolled their egg into her foreign exchange program, but the day was just too beautiful to pass up a moment of peace in the garden. While ponies may have considered the idea of sending an unborn infant away for school insane, for dragons it was quite a progressive move. Most dragon children were left out in the wild, and had to survive on their own for fifteen years before meeting their parents and being allowed into dragon society. These particular dragons wanted their child to grow into Draconia's first real diplomat, and there was no better way to do that than having another species raise him from birth.

Something tickled her senses, a faint tingle like she felt when mortal ponies performed magic near her. She looked around the garden, expecting to see a groundskeeper levitating a rake or performing some similar magic. Not a pony in sight. The tingling came again, a bit stronger, and this time answered by five much fainter but distinct sources. She had felt this before when exceptionally powerful unicorns had done something using vast amounts of power, but there hadn't been a unicorn like that alive for at least a century. Perhaps it was a solar flare? Her sun did occasionally emit powerful magnetic pulses that she could detect; but this wasn't quite the same. Not as... raw.

A groundskeeper did appear then, but he was an earth pony. Celestia trotted over to him. "Excuse me, have you seen anyone using magic in the garden in the past few moments?"

The groundskeeper looked surprised that she was even speaking to him, but he answered quickly. "No princess, come to think of it I haven't seen...." He was interrupted by a small explosion and a tremendous roar. Celestia turned to see an unfamiliar dragon poking its head out of a gigantic hole freshly poked in the roof of the education tower, roaring like it's life depended on it. At the same time she felt her senses roar with wild undirected magic, again answered by five other sources.

"Excuse me." She muttered to the groundskeeper, who was staring open mouthed at the dragon. Focusing her senses, she determined the largest source of the magical power was in the tower right next to the screaming dragon. She sharpened her will and teleported right next to the source, which was astonishingly a purple unicorn filly not much more than six years old. The filly was floating in midair, her eyes blazing white and her body crackling with raw power. Her magic filled the room, and had apparently transfigured all of its occupants into household decorations. Celestia directed her senses at the dragon, and realized it had been magically hatched and enlarged. The egg from those dragons she should be seeing off right now, she supposed. She stepped into the light surrounding the filly and gently put a hoof on her shoulder. The filly turned and saw her, uncomprehending fear written plainly on her face. Slowly, Celestia absorbed the magic around the filly and began reversing the transfigurations. Ponies popped back into existence, and the dragon quickly shrank back down to the size of an infant. As she absorbed the filly's magic, Celestia got a peek into her soul. It was pure, loving, and kind. As normalcy returned around her, Celestia felt a great wave of hope wash across her. After nearly a thousand years of waiting, a mortal who could wield the Elements of harmony had finally arrived.

Some time later, Celestia paced about her chambers. A wielder! She wanted to run and wake Obitus immediately, but she decided not to. He had asked for Luna to wake him if possible, and now it was. Oh how overjoyed he would be! Once he was awake they could all be together again. For a while, anyway. She could certainly use a rest once those two were ready to take over the throne. And she would soon no longer have to venture into his extinct volcano and clean out the creatures his dreams had started to manifest into. At least every ten years out of the last hundred she had to make the trip, lest the things get loose and terrorize the countryside.

No, she wasn't out of the woods yet. The wielder still had to be trained, and bearers had to be found. That was something she had discovered earlier with potential bearers, that a single mortal's love simply wasn't enough to harness the Elements. The power of the wielder had to be focused and attenuated by the love of five others, each representing a different aspect of love. Wait, five others... She focused her senses again, feeling the ghost of the filly's magic still in the air. She strained, and the other five sources could still be felt. None were too far away, and they all felt similar. This was it, she decided, fate had finally sent her a wielder and five bearers. She sat down on her bed and began thinking furiously, planning out the next fifteen years in minute detail. Yes, the time was near, and after ten centuries another decade-and-a-half were a small price to pay for her to guarantee success.

Sister's Redemption

Year 1000, Celestia's Reign

Celestia watched the scene unfold from high up in space, her vision piercing through the cloud cover to watch the battle between her sister's corrupted soul and the Elements of harmony. Once she knew that Twilight Sparkle and her five friends were ready to bear the elements, she had arranged for her sister to be released from her prison on the Moon. She know things would take care of themselves from there, so orbited high above so as not to interfere. Without her full power, Nightmare Moon could do little more than perform parlor tricks on the girls. And while some of those tricks had been potentially dangerous, Twilight and her friends had proven that her confidence was well placed. Far below, the multicoloured light of the Elements reached out to Nightmare Moon, enveloping her and cleansing her soul; making her into Princess Luna once again. As the light faded they all slowly fell to the ground, unconscious. Finally, after a thousand years, so could see her sister again. As she descended into the atmosphere, she focused her will and set the sun into motion behind her. It would be a beautiful sunrise, fit for such a wonderful day.

That evening she rested on her balcony in Canterlot, Luna held close to her side by a wing. "So what can you remember, little sis?" She asked gently. Luna squeezed even closer to her and shivered.

"I can remember the day the book fell from the sky, and I can remember deciphering it's language, but I cannot remember actually reading it. After that, it's bits and pieces. Wandering the Moon, rage, darkness, not much else."

Celestia sighed. "I assumed as much. I figured that the only way the Elements would be able to truly heal you would be to erase everything that book put into your head." Celestia squeezed her sister tightly with her wing. "Your power will come back to you slowly over the next year, as it flows down from the moon. You aren't too far from being a mortal right now, actually." Luna body was tiny compared to her sisters, no larger than an average pony. Her coat was much lighter than normal, and her mane had none of the ethereal qualities that an alicorn's was supposed to have.

"Where is Obitus, sister? Where is my love? Did I hurt him?" Luna looked up at her with fear and desperation plain on her face, her body tightening up like a steel coil.

"He is fine Luna, just sleeping." Luna sighed and relaxed against her. "He was weakened by the book before we disposed of it. When you have recovered, you can go wake him. He was very hopeful that you would be the first thing he saw when he wakes up."

Luna thought for a moment. "So he's been asleep for a thousand years?"

"Yes. I'd never thought a god could tire, but he certainly was. He's encased in solid rock for now, but when your power comes back that will be no problem at all. There is one other thing... his dreams are manifesting themselves as strange creatures. Hopefully they will all disappear when he wakes up." Celestia stood up and walked to the edge of the balcony. "We have to much more... restrained now, Luna. It took me eight hundred years of careful manipulation to get ponykind to forget our battle. They were terrified of me for centuries, and I'm afraid many will still be afraid of you. I'm also worried how they will react to Obitus when we wake him; they have no idea that there is a god of death. I just hope they don't assume the worst about him because of his purpose."

Luna stood beside her sister, leaned against the balcony railing and smiled. "Let them simply know him as Obitus for a while before we reveal his purpose. He's so... pleasant. Ponies will love him easily, and after a few decades we'll break it to them quietly." She looked off into the night, still smiling dreamily. "He really is easy to love." She looked back to her sister. "Did Grail ever come back?"

Celestia smiled. "No, not yet. He did say he wouldn't be back for a few millennia, and it's only been fifteen hundred years." She looked up at the stars and sighed. "Visiting another system takes a long time; but it has been lonely. For a while I found comfort with mortals, but the pain when they aged and died got to be too much. I do have mortal descendants now though, and it does bring me pleasure to see them living happily."

"It must have been horrible sister" Luna embraced her sister. "A millennium by yourself. I'm so sorry, my curiosity has hurt you so much!"

"No sister, nothing was your fault. Whatever that book contained is at fault. If only we knew where it came from, we might be able to prevent something like this from ever happening again." She stood up and paced. "I have a feeling that this isn't the first time that book has caused problems. I'm willing to bet it got here because another god cast it out of their own system. Perhaps when Grail returns he will have some information. But until then, it is safely contained here where no one can reach it."

"Wait, I thought you destroyed it! Why would you keep it here?" Luna looked at her, shocked and scared.

"We tried to destroy it. By its very nature we could not harm it, so we contained it somewhere very safe."

"Where could you possibly put something that dangerous that would be safe?"

"I don't know. After we contained it, Obitus and I chose to forget its location. So perhaps it is even safer now, simply because it is lost where no one can find it."

Luna looked relieved. "As long as no one can find it." She looked up again at the stars."It's origin still needs to be explained, though. I think after Grail returns I will go out and find its source, and destroy it if possible. Perhaps Obitus will accompany me."

Celestia looked up at the stars with her sister. "It would be a long and perilous quest, even for a god. But I agree, evil like that makes Discord seem like a minor irritation in comparison." She embraced her sister with one wing again. "Just don't be in too much of a hurry to leave, eh? We have a lot of time apart to catch up on."

Year 1, Sister's Reign

"Are you sure you want... tonight to be your first public outing, sister?" Celestia asked as Luna as they walked together out of Canterlot's throne room, the sky darkening early outside on the eve of Nightmare Night.

"I have my reasons, sister. Ponies are still afraid of me, I know, but tonight is sort of a celebration of that fear. If I make many mistakes tonight, they may just be passed off as being 'festive', as opposed to being horrifying. And I have chosen to make my appearance where the bearers of the Elements live in Ponyville; if anyone will lend me a helping hand they will. They accepted me as a friend even after we had battled last year; there are no kinder hearts to be found." Luna smiled, remembering the pleasant faces of the Ponyville ponies as they had given her a wreath of flowers the previous year.

"Those are sound reasons, sister. But remember, when they saw you last you appeared as a mortal to them. That is no longer the case." They paused in a hallway before a convenient floor length mirror, Celestia gesturing at Luna's form. "You are almost back to your full stature now, and your mane is back in its proper form." She looked Luna in the eye. "Additionally, you have your full power back. You aren't really used to it, and we must be careful not to make vulgar displays of power. Without restraint, even the simple act of feeling strong emotions can cause noticeable changes in the environment." They started walking again, headed for Celestia's chambers. "Remember that I've been careful to display very little power for the past thousand years. You noticed I'm sure that I left it up to the Elements to deal with Discord when he returned a few months ago; the tiniest slip may put ponykind back in the habit of groveling at our feet." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I hate being feared."

"Tell me about it." Luna sneered. "My guards are the only ones who don't get all wide eyed and start stuttering when I speak to them." Luna chuckled. "Did you hear about the librarian I bumped into last night?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow in interest. "No, I hadn't. what happened?"

"Well I was in the library researching this non-magic technology that's been invented called 'electricity'. It had gotten quite dark and a thunder storm had started outside. So I decided that I should probably turn on the lights, you know, in case somepony else was in there trying to read. And I also wanted to poke around in the 'fuse box', to get a better idea on current flow and such." Celestia nodded. Of course gods don't need light to see by, but keeping up appearances was important. "So, as I rounded a corner in the stacks one of the librarians walked right into me and fell down. By sheer chance at the same time lightning hit the tower next to the library and silhouetted me against a window. Well, apparently that was quite scary because.." Luna looked around for eavesdroppers, then leaned in conspiratorially to Celestia. "The poor stallion voided his bowels right there!" Celestia put a hoof to her lips, trying desperately not to laugh out loud. Luna was giggling behind a hoof as well. "I feel so bad! the poor dear screamed and ran off before I could apologize. My guards showed up before I could magic away his accident and spare him the shame, unfortunately." Celestia stopped trying to contain herself and cracked up out loud, her laughter ringing down the hallway. "Shhhhh, sis! Anyway, my guards found him in a broom closet not too far away and managed to coax him out so I could apologize."

Celestia wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. "Yes sister, that is exactly what I had to deal with for a long time. But today's ponies are much more progressive than they were a thousand years ago, hopefully now that you're ready to come back into the public eye we can get them comfortable with you in just a few years." They stopped as they reached Celestia's chambers. "Yes, after thinking on it you are absolutely right that this is the perfect night for you to go out. I'm sure you'll learn a great deal tonight, and I hope you enjoy yourself! See you in the morning!" Celestia bid farewell as she entered her quarters.

"Goodnight sister!"

The next morning Celestia sat out on her balcony enjoying a light breakfast. The many colours of a beautiful sunrise swirled across the city below, enhancing the already beautiful view. As she took a sip from her orange juice she heard hoofsteps beside her; she perked up as her sister came into view. "Luna! How was your evening?"

"It was wonderful! At first I thought I would never get through to them, but your student Twilight and her friends came through for me, just as expected!" Luna stole a hayfry off of Celestia's plate. "Did you know that some ponies actually like to be scared?"

"They do!?!? But that goes against everything I've been seeing for the past thousand years!" Celestia exclaimed.

"Well I think it's actually because of your efforts to make them feel safe, sister. One mare was running about leading a band of foals and saying I was going to gobble them all up. Naturally I was not amused by this, after all my whole visit was to make them fear me less! But when Twilight and I confronted her, this mare Pinkie Pie said that she knew I wouldn't gobble anyone; but that being afraid could be fun. After talking about this with Twilight, I realized that if a pony subconsciously knows they're safe-but allows a bit of fear to grip them anyway-they get a feeling of exhilaration, a thrill if you will. After that, I had a wonderful time scaring those who wanted to be scared. The town even insisted that I come back every year for Nightmare Night!"

"Wonderful, sister! It seems thing went just as you predicted!" Celestia clapped her hooves together in happiness.

Luna smiled slyly. "But you did leave out some very important details about social interaction, sister."

"I did? Like what?"

"Well for one you don't use the Royal Canterlot Voice anymore. Nor the Royal We. And this whole concept of enjoyment for the sake of itself - 'Fun' as it is called - is new to me."

Celestia held a hoof to her mouth, her expression apologetic. "Oh my! I'm so sorry sister, after so long I had forgotten that we used to address our subjects like that. And while 'fun' might seem novel to us, mortals have been doing it forever. I guess our existences were too focused on our duties for us to really understand it until recently; we normally only experience fun if our duties happen to be enjoyable."

Luna smiled broadly. "Well I intend to seek it out as much as possible. Speaking of enjoying duties... I want to wake up Obitus."

Celestia smiled. "Yes, I think it's about time he was awakened. And you've definitely recovered almost completely." She stood up. "Come, I'll show you where he is on the world map in the library. Once you get close you'll be able to feel him."

Luna circled, high above the extinct volcano. It's slopes were lush with vegetation at its base, and it's peak was dusted with snow. She could feel him deep within it though, his power flowing out in gentle waves as he slept. She spiraled down and landed on the rim of its, examining the dark interior. Strange things moved in the gloom. Some resembled misshapen ponies, some appeared as odd lizards, some were totally unrecognizable. At the base of the mountain she had seen many signs warning visitors away, placed there at Celestia's request. While the creatures had not hurt anypony, the dreams of a sleeping god were not something to be trifled with by mortals. Luna stepped off the rim and glided down into the caldera, landing near one that looked like a three headed pony. She stepped closer and examined the creature. It's faces were eyeless and indistinct, and it seemed not to notice her presence. The creatures weren't truly alive-and had no souls-but because they were a part of Obitus, Luna felt for them. "Hello?" She asked it, wondering if it was perhaps a part of Obitus's subconscious.

One of the creatures heads turned it's eyeless fact to her and it spoke in a slow, halting voice with strange inflection. "Waiting every night." It said. the first head looked away, and another looked at her. "I'm as lonely as I've ever been." The last head turned to her. "I am forced back into the start." The creature turned and wandered away, slowly fading into the gloom.

Luna shivered and began walking towards the center of the caldera where the black maw of the empty lava vent loomed. She could feel him down there, sleeping at the heart of the mountain. She extended her wings and stepped off again, floating down and down like a leaf. After a time, the vent opened up into a vast magma chamber. She landed at the bottom, surrounded by a pool of light that shone down through the vent. Something moved out in the darkness, another creature. "Hello?" She called. The movement stopped for a moment, then something very large stepped into the light. It was very tall, bipedal, and covered in brown fur. It had no head or face, just a massive chest and arms. It was hunched over and seemed very... sad. Luna approached it and touched its massive arm gently. "Are you okay?" She asked it. It turned to her and brought its chest close to her face, as if it could see her somehow. She still felt such sadness coming from it, so she reached up and hugged it, her forelegs barely reaching halfway around. "I'll be there soon Obitus, no need to be so sad." The thing hugged her back gently for a moment. Her arms suddenly passed through it, and it faded away into nothingness. She started tearing up and began walking again.

"I'm coming, my love." She said to the mountain. An opening in the rock face loomed before her, so she continued on; further down and further in. The gloom was complete here, the cave twisting and winding as she proceeded. As she rounded a corner another creature could be seen silhouetted ahead of her, this one looking very much like a normal pony. As she got closer and closer, she had to stifle a gasp. The creature was her. She stopped before it, and it looked directly at her. The hairs on her back stood up and she shivered.

"You were the answer to my life." It said in her voice. She took a step back, and it took a step forward. "Days turned into years and into centuries. For a thousand years I've waited here for you." It stepped even closer, their faces inches apart. "Luna won't you cry for me?" It said, then stepped through her and disappeared. Luna stood there for a moment, heart pounding and gasping for air.

Tears streamed down her face as she started forward again. "I cry for you Obitus. I'll do anything for you." She cave to the end of the passage and it opened into a small cave. A slab of solid obsidian dominated the center of the space, and it pulsed with Obitus's energy. "I'm here my love." She said as she touched the obsidian. She reared up on her hind legs. "I'm here!" She yelled, and brought her hooves crashing down.

The slab shattered into thousands of pieces, and there before her lay Obitus sleeping peacefully. She lifted him with her magic, and took wing. She flew rapidly back through the passage and out of vent, then out of the caldera. She landed on the rim in the bright sunlight and brought Obitus to rest on his back beside her. Gently she stroked his mane of dark fire and whispered in his ear. "Wake up my love. I'm back." He stirred.

"A most wonderful dream." He muttered with his eyes closed. Luna leaned down and kissed him, and his eyes popped open. "Most wonderful indeed." He said as their lips parted.

"It's no dream, my love. I've met your dreams; aren't they a bit to melodramatic for this?"

Suddenly he grabbed her and pulled her close for another kiss. This one lasted a long, long time.

Epilogue

Year 15, Sister's Reign

Luna and Obitus stood leaning against each other on the balcony outside the throne room, their tails entwined together. "A thousand years. I still struggle with it, my love. Celestia should have wakened me a long time ago; if only for her own sanity."

"She found a way to deal with it. She knew how heartbroken you were, and I guess she felt that it was best to wait until I could wake you."

"Mmmm. I am truly grateful, but I still can't help feeling guilty. I owe her." They snuggled closer. "Someday I will repay her. And until then, the least I can do is take over with you and let her get some rest." They parted and turned to enter the throne room.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, my love?" Luna asked. "A lot has changed since you went to sleep."

"Yes, I believe I am. With you beside me, there is nothing I can't do." Luna smiled and kissed him.

"I'm glad. Okay, wait here for us to introduce you." Luna stepped through the curtain separating the throne room from the balcony, and took her place on the throne beside her sister.

Celestia rang a small bell, and the vast room full of ponies quieted instantly. "Citizens of Equestria, greetings and welcome! We have an important announcement to make tonight. As you know, my sister has fully recovered from her confinement on the Moon and has taken her place beside me as a Princess of Equestria. For the first time in a thousand years I can pass on the burden of leadership, and together you will forge a future as bright as the full Moon!" The crowd burst into cheering, love for Luna clear on their faces.

Odd, Obitus thought. Celestia wasn't using the proper level of volume to address a group of subjects. Perhaps the curtains were thicker than they seemed, and were absorbing more sound? That must be it.

"But no ruler should have to be alone as I was. Fifteen years ago, Luna awakened her Prince, Obitus, from his slumber in the mountains to the west." The crowd murmured, confused looks passing back and forth. "Very few of you know this as little more than a rumor, Obitus has not yet been seen in public. But tonight is his coming out, and tomorrow I will begin passing your leadership to him. He is wise and has a deep love for ponykind. He has been working invisibly for centuries, guiding souls back to this plane for rebirth. Equestrians, I give you Prince Obitus!"

On cue, Obitus teleported into existence on the dais in front of Luna and Celestia. He reared back onto his hind legs, black fire mane flaring and massive wings spread wide.

"BEHOLD CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA! I AM OBITUS, PRINCE OF DEATH AND REINCARNATION!"

Luna and Celestia looked at each other and facehooved in unison.