Chapters "Other lives... Do they exist? And if they do; can we not see them? And if we can't; do we want to? Perhaps we are blinded to the looking glass of other existences because the knowledge of such worlds may be too great for our minds. Or more frightening, too horrifying for our minds to handle." -Star Swirl the Bearded.
Perched in an overlook of most of Equestria, Canterlot seemed almost like a regal dream to those below. But to the folks of Canterlot, it was the royal castle that seemed like a dream to them as its majesty towered over most of the city. To those that dwelled within those royal walls, not much outranked their living; at least nothing in Equestria. However, many aspired to be as poised and sophisticated at the royal sisters that ruled over their land. Most would, throughout the day, try to take notes or wait on the two princesses, but on this day things had been a bit off.
Princess Luna, who usually stalked the halls at night, was up earlier then usual as she made the venture through the halls and towards the North Tower: her elder sister's room. As she passed maids and guards, they all took to a bow before her, all of which a bit rushed and awkward. The princess paid them no mind as she met with the door of her sister's room. Normally she would've needed only to push the door open with a use of her magic, but oddly enough it was locked. This didn't matter much to the royal family since all locked doors of the castle could be opened by the insertion of their horns into the slot in the center of the door.
Luna dipped down slightly and moved her horn into the small slot of the door, fluxing a small bolt of energy into it to finish the unlocking. With a rather loud click, the door opened slightly and the princess moved in. Step by step, she made her way up the spiral pass that led to Celestia's room, her mind starting to run over why her sister was locked up in her room. Irrational as Luna could've been at times, she felt always justified in worrying over her sister. Finally, she met the arch entry into her sister's room; she was also met by the flickering warmth of Celestia's pet, Philomena, sitting on a wooden desk beside the entrance.
"Sister?" the room wasn't all that big, but entering into a room without letting yourself be known was very rude.
As Luna looked the room over she saw her sister seated on her bed, holding something close to her chest and looking down into it with a beaten look to her face. "Sister?" Luna moved closer with a worried tone.
Close enough now, Luna looked at the possession nestled into Celestia's chest. It looked to her like an ancient sun emblem crafted from copper or even bronze; either way, it looked ridden and scuffed. Celestia, aware of her sister's presence now sighed and glanced to meet her sister's eyes. "Luna... Are you familiar with Star Swirl's forty-fifth lesson?"
"The... Principle of Other Lives? Indeed. He had stated that one could very well live other lives in other worlds... A common theory in today's age, I've gathered." Luna answered after some thought.
"Good..." Celestia once more looked to the sun emblem laying against her, "Do you believe it?"
"It would be foolish if I ruled out the possibility of any idea."
"Smart as always, my little sister. So I ask you this since I value your opinion over so many; as well as your honesty..."
"Honesty has nay been my strongest trait..."
"And you're honest about that," Celestia joked a bit, drawing a bit of a smile from her sister, "Now may I ask your thoughts?"
"Verily."
Celestia took a moment, trying to piece out how to say her words. In the end, she choose the more blunt way of saying it. "In another life; would you think I could become a monster?"
"In all honesty sister... We are not different... If I could become such a beast, thy own track could lead you to the same matter."
"So you say yes... Good."
"Good?" Luna returned confused by her sister's answer.
"You're not lying to me. That in itself is good for me to know. So I ask you this: harmony can't exist without disharmony, correct?"
"There must be at first an imbalance before balance can be brought, correct..."
"But what if through disharmony, order can be reached?"
Luna wanted to answer, but she found herself without a clear answer. That alone was what Celestia was afraid of as she looked into the piece of discarded armor tightly held to her body. For harmony to be made, disharmony would first need to be in existence; through that, order is made. But in the same regard, it also worked in reverse. Celestia was made aware of that every-time she thought back to the other side.
Caballussia.
"Through the endless day, and setting night, we salute to thee, with your divine sight.
"We kneel before thee, blessed with no flaw. Our lord and master, giver of law.
"Raised from the depths, you had us clawed. We are truly blessed, to have you, our one--"
BOOM... The echo of the school gong quaked the entire institution, but the children couldn't have been happier as they scurried off to the exit. "STOP!" all their hopes of leaving and going home were dashed as their attention was brought back to their teacher standing by the blackboard in front of the room. "You foals aren't released until I say so... Understood?"
The entire class grumbled out their understanding, but the teacher furrowed her brows. "Say again?!"
"Yes Mistress Cheerilee..." They all said in unison.
"Better... Now get out of my sight. You creatures sicken me..." they didn't need any more of an excuse to leave.
She watched as students filed out from her class and into the blood red sun lit world outside; the sun was just starting to rise... Just like every afternoon. From the class window Cheerilee could see the full moon making a course through the sky, marking the afternoon of the day. She despised this job, watching over 'the future' of their world? None of them would amount to anything; nopony ever does... They only find their way under the hoof of Canterlot. But dwelling on the thought wouldn't help, Cheerilee had more important things to do. Tonight she had a date lined up; and that line up was with four others right behind it.
Canterlot Castle; nopony with any whits would step a hoof onto any stretch of its land. If one soul did, they would've been met with the swift force of the Royal Guards; but everypony knew that the guards were just as afraid as the peasants were. And to those guards that weren't afraid, they lost their senses years ago...
"Salute!" One unicorn yelled down the royal hall lined with hundreds of guards.
No hesitation or stumbling could bee seen as each guard held firm and put their right hooves against their armored heads. Each guard sported a full, silver plated helmet, blocking their eyes from sight; but they could still hear the sound of those shackling steps. Each step that came down the hall scratched against their years, like metal scrapping up against corroded metal. Even so, not a single guard trembled or lost their hold as many of them saw the center of the sound come by. Many felt burning sensations claw against their spines, but knew the pain of losing their composure before 'her' would be a thousand times worse.
Suddenly, the steps stopped near the center of the hallway. Not a soul dared to look towards 'her', not even those she stopped in front of. A collective inner breath was released from all the guards as she returned to stepping down the rest of the hallway; finally passing through the end of the passage and disappearing from their sight. "At easy!" that same unicorn yelled once more before he too followed the path 'she' went.
Each guard dropped to their knees, except a few who fell in line behind the unicorn that was leading them in commands. One guard in particular quivered at his knees and took in deep shallow breathes. "You alright?" the guard beside him asked in genuine worry.
"S-She stopped before me... She stopped before me..." he wept softly as droplets slipped between the slits of his helmet.
"Every day is a blessing now... Thank the gods you're alive." he embraced the quivering guard as many others looked to the two of them, sharing in their concern.
All, including those that carried out her wishes and deeds, feared their ruler. All feared... Queen Solaris.
"The Trottanian Empire, the Saddle Arabian Dynasty, the Nation of Hoofinstan, the kingdom of Equestria... All of these were not born in a single day. They were made on the blood and backs of work-ponies and the ambition of making a better civilization than the other. However, a kingdom or any sort of system of governing is nay built and believed to stay on ambition alone. It is the hearts, minds, and wishes of the masses that drive the collective structure of civilization to prosper. Even so, prosperity is not brought on by simply the people... There must always be a head to take the brunt ahead." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
Queen Solaris. The name alone some swore could kill the land under the fool who spoke it. It was a name that only brought pain and misery to the people of Caballussia; and it always has. All knew her shape, young and old; but none knew her face. Many said she didn't have one, that the metal frame of her twisted crown-helmet was placed on her neck to prevent the world from seeing her empty visage. Others said nothing at all, knowing her sight was 'divine' and ever-present; just like her guards. But no matter who you asked, they would all agree on one idea about her: hope was put to death when she was put onto the throne.
Many years ago, before Ponyville, before the library, before Luna's uprising and defeat, before the Elements were unlocked; Caballussia was a much different place. The sun rose and set, the moon ushered in the blanket of night, and ponies roamed the streets of Canterlot. It was a much more uncouth time. It was a more restless time. It was the time before Queen Solaris. The times when Solaris was simply princess, and had as much authority as her sister did. She was young, ambitious, intelligent, and most of all...
"Sister, what are our thoughts on these mandates as per the relocation of those--"
"My young one," her tone was velvety soft and only more so made inviting by the gentle touch of her hoof to her sister's cheek, "There is no need to worry over mandates or such..." her hoof worked slowly against her sister's dark cheek as she looked her in the eyes, "we will place all these actions on the charge of the comity. We must focus on the more pressing and enlarged matters. That is why we are royalty..."
"So we may better the denizens on a grander scale?"
"Exactly... It is my deepest hope that we will change our ailing land. And I know that we will be the cure. But only if we work as one, sister."
"My loyalty will always be to you... My sister..."
...She was hopeful.
It was the hope of Equestria, the hope to build a better tomorrow, that made it to the power that it now stands at today. Not one pony or other species could possibly hope to debate this truth: hope built Equestria. That without hope, Equestria would've faltered and withered into nothing. It had been the hopes of its princess that raised it like a rose from the field, her nurtured love and compassion for her subjects bore the way for the Equestria of today.
If her love had never been nurtured, Equestria wouldn't be what it is.
"The serfs are starving. I move for all possible resources be sent down to them this minute. Every moment they are without food, another could very well die."
"That's a well and good wish, princess . But they are merely slaves..."
"Slaves that feel and have families; much like you or myself."
"And those families and feelings are inconsequential for the ponies of Canterlot. If one were to die, it would only mean sodding for the land they should be tending."
"That's despicable!"
"That is life, princess . Some work, the rest live off of that work."
"Even by your logic, their work provides a service for those above them at the very least. I no longer move for these actions, I demand them."
"By what authority?"
"By the authority of my crown and my royal name."
"Very well. But tell me this, what happens once we feed them? They will want more and more until they are strong enough and healthy enough to strike at us."
"One should've thought of that before treating them like such lower life forms."
"Are you saying you wish for all lives to be treated equal?"
"Equality is what our kingdom stands for!"
"Survival is what we stand for, your highness ! And if the weak must suffer so that those of Canterlot may live for another day, so be it. This meeting is adjourned."
Wishes had gone unanswered. Hopes left to dry. The serfs that tried to feed, slowly died off and where replaced within days... The crops came in better then ever that harvest. But from that lessen, a greater knowledge had become known. In weeks, the halls of Canterlot Castle were filled with the howls of death and cries of curdling murder as guards and knights carried out their princess's first royal decree. It was a dark day, and has been that same dark day ever since as the sun remains hung in the dawn of the day with a harsh red glow.
"Citizens of Caballussia, hear your royalty's call! This day, in accordance with the belief of nothing is gained without sacrifice, I've made a great sacrifice. For the future of our civilization and indeed our prosperity I've made our sacrifice. Let your woes be washed away in the stream of blood fresh from the fallen few who questioned my word and crown. Today, our kingdom is reinforced and bettered by the this simple sacrifice. Your lives will be made safe with the loss of your freedom... Your future, your lives, your businesses, your being; they are Solaris's... They are mine. By my crown be protected, by my sun be in terror."
Treachery is brought on by one's own greed to breed sorrow through their cruelty and deception for their own gain. This, is the ideal seed of animosity.
Passage Three: Inops victus.
"The state of being is a near universal law; we exist, that is impossible to disprove. But what is not impossible to disprove is that the style of decadents and poverty is the lowest form of living. It is hard to put into exact words, but put simply the idea is this: 'when you are in the dirt, the hounds can not smell you. When you are in the air, your scent will travel further'. This is not to say that being on top is not preferable, but instead that each way of living has its advantages." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
Ponyville; Colony Two; it didn't matter what it was called, it was a basic hell. The streets were clear, clean, and well swept for the guards that marched through them in the wee hours of the morning to the setting of the moon in the evening. Very few mares or stallions would step a hoof out into the morning or noon, afraid that they may break one of Solaris's laws. However, the fillies and colts were given nearly free range outside the safety of their parents' homes. Children were the future in Solaris's eyes, but everypony knew that there was no future... There never was going to be one. Yet they lied to the children and allowed them to go to their classes and learn of Solaris's greatness, how she gave us the world and how her many laws keep us from straying. Many spoke fear and loathing for their Queen, some even brave enough to tell a guard or two to the face; but not a single mare or stallion had the bravery to say a word before "them".
"'Solarium: The full works and history of Solaris', in beautiful condition still too," low was the mare's tone yet still at a volume for her and the drake behind her to hear her.
The drake, seated at a wooden table behind her lazily scribbled down the name and condition of the book he was told. The few glints of dawn light that slipped into the musty old library showed the violet mare the way to her next stack of books, carelessly hopping over to them by using other stacks as her stepping way. Each hopping clop sent the stacks teetering over and collapsing down onto the young dragon, "Twilight!" was all the mare heard before a powerful thud.
The mare briefly looked back and offered a barely audible apology before going back to her studying. "Hmmm... Ah! 'The Compendium of Solaris'! A wonderful piece!" once more her eyes darted a look back just in time to see the dragon squirming his way from under the books, "Brush yourself off and take a note of that... and please put those books back up in their stack. Solaris did not leave me this library so you could leave it in discord!"
"Twilight..." was all the dragon said before carrying out his given task, visibly dragging his off-put leg in the process.
"While you're at it, make it a nice new order... Oh! 'Disharmony in Six Parts' in mint! How exciting!" Spike, Twilight Sparkle's dragon assistant looked up at his negligent master and fought back a tear.
Not a day went by that he did not have to clean up her messes and mistakes that somehow were his. And more so, not a day went by that he did not wish that he could escape this world. But those wishes were never to be so; Twilight was his only family... And despite the animosity that she fed off of her ignoring aura, it was the only life he could ever reside in.
It had been written in history's past that there was a time when equality was shared between the two royal sisters. However, a day came when Queen Solaris took hold of the Elements of Harmony that she and her sister once used to vanquish the chaos demon Discord and perverted their power. The once beautiful and colorful gems that once represented blissful and vibrant harmony had become listless and dark. Solaris's sister had made the attempt to stop her sister's continued abuse of the elements and was justly banished for the act until such a time that she could understand the good that came from absolute control.
Thus, the Elements of Harmony became the Elements of Disarray. However, Solaris found that she could not control the elements herself anymore, so she sought out the six who would embody her new order of elements... The Six most greedy, deceitful, treacherous, cruel, scorned beings that had ever lived; or at least lived now. Six souls that would be bound by the tether of fate... Even if fate had to be perverted itself.
"Three bits?" shaking head, "four bits?" much of the same, "alright. Nine bits."
"Madam, this truly shocks me..." low was that mare's cackling laugh as her blue magic scooped the fabric before her up, "I was to assume that you were a mare of substance and class. Yet here you are, attempting to -as the foals say- stiff me on such a magnificent garb."
The garb was indeed magnificent to the eyes; it shimmered in the right lights, the shading was superb, and the feel was simply heavenly against the body. "I have to agree... It is beautiful..." as she said this she was quickly overcome with the sight of the mare selling the garb to her coming ever so close to her; almost to the point that she could smell her sweet breath against her nose.
"Oh it really is... But not so much as you..." the garb, still hooked in the magic hold brushed up against the flesh of the startled mare, sending a wobbling sensation through her limbs.
The mare remained stunned as she absently allowed this salespony to continue her acts; brushing the soft, tantalizing fabric against her body and taking in that mounting scent of the mare herself. "...Twenty bits?" her voice had cracked and the sapphire eyes of the mare before her glinted before darting back to her station.
"Very well... I'll part with it for that much..." the salesmare submitted, starting the transaction.
As the other mare placed her bag of bits down and tucked the fabric into her saddle bag, she couldn't help but find her eyes cursorily drawn to the mare she bought from once more. "For now?"
"Oh yes. For now. You see, Rarity knows that that garb will be tucked around you at some Gala or party... But she also knows that you will be discarding it the moment she comes knocking at your door to see that lovely, toned body once more..." Rarity, the salespony, purred hypnotically low.
Dazed, confused, and a bit intoxicated by the actions, the other mare turned away and left the boutique, still wobbling in her legs. Rarity remained in her place, listening closely to the chime of her door closing once more so she would be alone in her store again.
DING...
"Hm... It will certainly look lovely on you," Rarity's lips curled sickly as she listened to her own voice, "But much like everything, it will and would look better on me... Oh well. Rarity always collects when she wants..." She then left her sales table and moved to look at herself in a wide panel of mirrors.
The mare studied herself lovingly, entranced with her own form and appearance by every aspect. Velvety mane, soft white coat, trim toned body; she was indeed beautiful. But in truth, and though all knew it and ignored it at times when they saw her; greed was never beautiful deep down.
Passage Four: infirmus amor.
"The heart longs for several things; power, closure, healing, and love are more prominent figures. However you may view them, each is as much evil as it is good. Power keeps you and those you choose safe at the expense of those you fend away. Healing mends your wounds over another's. The cycle goes on. The heart is a fragile piece to the living system. Perhaps it was The Makers' grand intent for us to be wry when they made the heart the epicenter of our mortal and imortal existence." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
Dusky noon came and went like any other passing, no alteration to be noticed. But to the very few cheery spirits that had yet to be crushed by Solaris's rule, noon brought a ray of moonlight. That one hope that had many fillies, colts, and all ages alike stagger through their tiring lives was and always had been that wonderful shop in town; Sugarcube Corner. It was not glamorous, in fact a bit gaudy; but to the souls of Ponyville, it was a sanctuary. Day after day, ponies would flock to that small bakery to receive a portion of what the Cake family had made for them. The Cakes had no reason to give candies, pastries, and desserts to anyone; but they had also no reason not to in their kind souls.
At times, guards of the city would even be willing to look the other way for freely handing out treats to those that came, granted that they themselves were given a snack on the side as well. All of Ponyville and -yes even Equestria- knew of their kindness and selfless nature. But no one more than the pony they raised as their own since she came. That once little filly who was had the misfortune of being given the cutie mark that contradicted her own body...
"Come again tomorrow, ya hear?" Mrs. Cake called out before closing the shop's front door, satisfaction ringing in her face.
"Enough satisfied afternoon, honey," Mr. Cake, who was just finishing up with clearing the counter, smiled to his darling wife, "You know what that means?"
The both chimed in at once, equally with a harmonious smile to them, "Time to start for the next day~~."
Not a moment was wasted between the two as they went back into their warm kitchen to start on the next day's confections. They whistled and sang lyric-less tunes as they pulled and plucked ingredients and cleaned tins from shelves and counters. The kitchen sang along with them with warming dings and clanging pans. So much so that it drowned out the dull clopping of hooves against the wooden stairs. The Cakes continued their work a bit more until both their hearts and bodies stopped when they finally heard a skittering clack of a weak hoof against the tiled floor.
Two heads shot a look to the staircase leading to the kitchen and both fell into sorrow when they saw the puffy pink hair of their adoptive charge. "Hey guys..." the voice was faded and almost inaudible, but the two had grown tuned to that tone too well.
"Pinkie... Sweety. Why're you out of bed?" Mrs. Cake asked without leaving her spot.
"I hear-heard your pans..." Her narrow eyes scanned across the chaotic workplace, "Did I miss the noon rush again...?"
"You didn't miss it!" Mr. Cake snapped quickly with a shaky grin, "We just let you sleep in this time and moved your shift up to tomorrow!" He looked to his wife for support, to which she offered just as quickly as he wanted.
"Oh... If you say so... I just don't want to be a--"
Mrs. Cake closed the gap between her and the younger mare, placing her front leg on the cold forehead of the mare. "That's enough, Pinkie Pie. You stop right there," Her tone had become motherly and firm, but still very loving.
The hoof of Mrs. Cake had begun to stroke through the young, poof mane of this pink mare as she continued to reassure her. "You are no burden to us. You never will be. You can help out the moment you're ready to."
For the first time since entering, Pinkie had started to smile, a light cough escaping her lips all the while. "Thank you... Mrs..." Before the words could come out, Pinkie's world had blurred into an empty darkness.
Thud...
"No!" Mr. Cake yelled out in a panic as he saw his wife cradling a limp Pinkie Pie in her front legs, "Not again... I'll call Red Cross! You just keep her breathing!" It was so easy for him to say those words, he had said them so many times in the past ten years, it was almost as common as 'Welcome to the store'.
Mrs. Cake listened to her husband trot out of the store to get the help they needed. She remained there, holding her charge, her guest, her 'eldest daughter', for dear life. No matter how many times Pinkie had fallen victim to her illnesses, it was never any easier for any of the Cake family. Nearly everyday was a gamble for the family, hoping that this day would not be the day that Pinkie finally ended.
It was not Pinkie Pie's fault exactly that sickness was so easily inflicted on her; it had been that way since her youth. There was no medical identification to why she was so sick all the time either. But the Cakes -after all the years of raising her- had come to a conclusion. Pinkie Pie wasn't sick because of some born medical condition... She just didn't have the spirit, the drive, or the motivation to ever have a will to live...
Solaris strives for one goal; one core principle that has led all of her motives. Order.
But so many years ago, back when she and her sister had the Elements of Harmony, she had a revelation. 'As long as Harmony exists, so will chaos and its struggle to snuff out the harmony'. And while harmony would always win, the aftermath of the battles would always leave scars on the land, the people, everything. That is the reason she twisted Harmony into Disarray, because controlling the good of the world was one thing, but to control evil; to control what you wish to destroy, was the greatest solution. She created what she wanted to destroy, so she could regulate it and snuff it out from the claws of those that wished to use it against her.
Solaris strives for one goal; one core principle that has led all of her motives. Law.
Absolute law.
Passage Five: Nequam cognomen.
"In my days of youth, distant though they may be, my mind hearkens back to a simple but wise teaching that has not been lost in any amount of years I have lived. 'You may pick your nails, and you may also pick those that you are associated with; but you are not able to pick your family'. Though I am sure this teaching will change along with the generations, but the core will not change I am sure. You are born into the breed of your home. There is no choice in what your blood-line issues you as. Despotism, yes, but unavoidable. Not one being can control what family they are born into... But they may control how that controls them." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
If Canterlot was the crown jewel in Solaris' crowning empire, Ponyville -Colony Two- was the clasp holding the gold of the crown in order. Say what you will of Solaris' empire, dare that you do, it ran a tight shift with nothing but order being put in the highest priorities. Seasonally, Colony Two had exported their chief commodities that the other colonies could not provide. Rural education, common flowers, the best of baked goods, and of course apples. Apples served majorly as the basin for Ponyville's services to Canterlot and Solaris herself. Though in the past the Apple Family that provided the apples did so at low prices in the exchange of levying some of the charges on the other colonies, those days were far behind.
The asking price, even to the ponies of Ponyville, had only recently been placed at the obscene price ranges that dwarfed any prices set before. Ponies had concluded this to Canterlot demanding more and more, causing the need for more funds to provide for the demand. Others think it had developed from the fact that the Apple Family needed to provide for themselves and abandon kindness to all others. But in truth, it was none of these things. Those days of giving and honest wages died along with the head of what used to be Sweet Apple Acres; Granny Smith. No pony knew why, not even the lot of her family, but on her death bed, she left the farm, orchard, and control over the business transactions to -not her eldest grandson- but to her second youngest grand daughter; Applejack.
Even at the releasing of the will that Granny Smith left her family, something felt off setting. If there had been anyone that should have been left in charge, it would have been kind, self-sacrificing Big Macintosh. But Big Macintosh would never speak out against his family; doubly so for Applejack. Applejack herself was a hard working pony. But hard working of her kind wasn't the brand that made the Apple Family well known. It made her well known though. Con-Mare Applejack, co-owner and head of "Apple Family and Flim Flam Farms".
The trees in the south west side of the orchard were stripped of their apples and were put into the wheelbarrow waiting at the end of the hill. Bucket by bucket, both Apple Bloom and Big Mac let the apples they collected roll into the barrow until it was well filled. "Can we fit anymore?" Apple Bloom jumped up onto her big brother's back and wagged her tail with excitement.
The barrow was clearly filled and was threatening to drop some of the apples already, so Big Mac looked at her sister and smiled. "Eeeeyup!"
The little filly dropped off from his back and took another basket of apples from by the trees. Holding the rim in her mouth, she hurried the basket over and dumped a clutch of apples in; none of which stayed and simply rolled off onto the field. "Good job. Ah' think we got one extra in there," Big Mac said.
With the same energy as before, Apple Bloom hopped up onto her big brother's back and planted her hooves against it. Together, but only using Big Mac's strength and Apple Bloom's 'help', they pushed the barrow through the orchard in the direction of the farmhouse. There had been many other workers in the orchard, but none of them were on their own hooves. The air hummed with the sound of engines roaring from the machines that sucked the other trees of their apples before beating them into workable pastes or cider. The wheelbarrow that Big Mac pushed and Apple Bloom filled was rusted and wobbly from lack of tending. Why tend something useless when you can tend the machines? Then again... Why keep two ponies around that won't use those machines?
The farmhouse -makers' blessings- wasn't changed on the outside. It still had its red wooden planking and bleach white frames. The inside was filled, however, with beating machines and the smell of thick, hot smoke that burned the lungs and eyes. At least on the outside it was the same. For Big Mac, that was a victory. He unloaded the clutch of apples into a dispenser on the side of the farmhouse before giving a nod to Apple Bloom. His filly sister hopped off his back again and cuddled up against his leg while he finished the unloading. Once they were done, they would go to Apple Bloom's room and see what sort of adventures her dolls got into this day; just like every work day. But both their hearts went cold and knew that wouldn't happen when they heard that familiar call. "Big Mac and Little Bloom? Yeee-doggies!" From the farmhouse came the slow steps of their nightmare.
The cowpony hat she always wore was sprinkled on the top with black marks from smoke blending into it. The rim of her hat had also been stitched with a white doily style gilding. Her body was partly covered with a red and white coat and a short limb-cut under shirt that went only a bit down her front legs. She flashed the two a broad, sickening smile as she spotted them. They didn't move from their spot, but Apple Bloom did opt to hiding under Big Mac and cowering behind one of his broad legs. "How're the trees doin' out there, sibs?"
That smile she gave them, it made Big Mac want to just... "The're fine... A few stripped branches that don't give any apples anymore though..."
"Price o' business, Big bro. But you just keep on workin' out there and I'll keep on keeping you two in the saddle," her laugh made Apple Bloom cower a bit more and made Big Mac cover his little sister some more.
"Mighty kind a' ya... Sis..."
"That's why Granny left me the deed to the land. Now you two scamper on. Got some work ta' do here." Applejack only waved the two off and went towards the orchard.
They did as they were told and went into their home and away from this world. They both loved their Applejack more than anything... She was protective and never once crossed them or did them wrong. The three of them were family, and they always would be. They would always love one another. When Big Mac opened the door to Apple Bloom's room, he saw his sister scamper between his legs and went right for her toy chest. "Yer' gonna be the hero today, right?"
Every time they played, Apple Bloom would give her brother the toy that was to be the hero. Who else but her big, strong brother could play the hero? "Eeeyup..." Apple Bloom tossed a wooden doll to her brother while she continued to look through the chest for her own toy.
The doll was simple to say the most. It had no coloring and no personality to it other then the brown, felt hat on it and ratty blonde hair on -what one could only assume was- the head. When Apple Bloom found her doll, she carried it over to Big Mac and sat down on the floor. "Same game as always, Mac. Yer' the pretty mare that saves the land..." Apple Bloom propped her doll up, which was much more detailed. It was, in a lack of better words, a grotesque, boil covered troll that was holding a tree as a mace. "...And Ah'll be the monster that she beats to save every one!"
They loved their sister more then anything... And the day she comes back and destroys the monster that took her place, they would just have to pretend... She would come back... She had to.
Granny Smith went peacefully in her sleep on the day after she changed her will. Granny Smith, who was of the picture of health even in her old age, simply went in her sleep. A good mare died not twelve hours after her will was changed by her own words to name Applejack her heir. But the strangest thing of all for that whole transaction wasn't that she named Applejack her heir. What was strange was that nopony contested the will. All of the Apple Family, even the most distant relatives that made their homes in Manehatten, thought -knew- that Big Macintosh was the rightful heir. But no one would argue with Applejack... And no one would argue with the lawyer who signed the will.
With the last day of her own life, Granny Smith had Flim change her will to name Applejack her inheritor. The will was not contested, and not one soul had ever looked at the will other then Flim, Flam, and Applejack. So many knew there was a shifty tone behind the whole ordeal, but not one of them would say anything... Because no one wanted to be a casualty of business.
Passage Six: Clementia aliquis.
"Ponykind is a term we use to address our species. Simple, but it also neglects the gryphon race, or the goats for that matter. This is avoidable through many different renditions of our words. However, among any word spoken between any species or race that is able to speak, there is one word that all understand the meaning to, or at least respect enough to be mutual over it. This word is humanity. What it means is mercy, being able to have a rudimentary understanding of right and wrong. Humanity does not dignify thoughts of is this right or wrong, it only understands the basic knowledge of how is this effecting someone. It is hardly a complex ideal... Yet I find it perplexing in itself that we must ask ourselves if there exists even a shred of humanity in us." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
Common practice throughout the kingdom was carried out the same between all lawbreakers: they would be taken the one of the royal figures for judgement. Guards would drag a pony from Saddle Arabia to Canterlot if need be. However, on most occasions, a member of the royal family was always within each of the major settlements. This led to lawbreakers at times to plan out if they would risk a crime in the city they were at or not...
Princess Mi Amora Cadenza; Makers help you if you do not say it in full when addressing her. Though rare to be one in place to pass judgement, her judgement was far from kind. It is her belief that the act of crime reflects poorly on the face of all the citizens in the area; so they should all be punished. Should you set fire to a stand? The guards will set fire to the fields. Should you assault a guard? The guards will assault a your place of work. One does not even want to entertain the idea of what could happen if the princess was harmed by anyone...
Queen Solaris. Queen Solaris' name alone has criminals begging for the noose. Anything would be better then to stand before her judgement. It is not that her punishments are undeserved, or greatly gruesome... It is that her word is law. If you break a law, you may as well have spit on Solaris' armor. At least in that case, you would suffer a swift death. There is no sympathy of any level in her judgements; only enjoyment. Stayed a few moments out passed curfew? Fair enough... You will be given a few minutes of timber wolves gnawing at your body. Have you stolen a batch of apples? Hardly something to steal, why not steal the crown jewels? So short sighted, perhaps a week with no food will learn you proper thieving ideals.
Should you be found under Nightmare Moon's jurisdiction, fortune smiled upon you. The royal ambassador to all segregate nations was known among all the citizens of Solaris' nation as many things; among those names was one many -if not all- agreed on: Samaritan of Night. Her hoof was cold, heavy, and equal; but that alone was a far greater cry to that of any of the other royals. Should you have robbed a stand, you would find yourself working for that pony until you paid back twice what you were to steal. When you assaulted a guard, you were left to that guard in the castle dungeon until they saw fit to release you. And when you committed murder... if it was a child, an adult, a pony, a gryphon, anything... The result was always the same. The sky over Caballussia was painted with the souls that shed the blood of others. Each and every star that made up the night sky was one such soul, sent there and placed there for eternal scorn for all to see by Nightmare Moon.
The Armor of Solaris. It is believed to be as heavy as the sun and as durable as diamond. No scratch has ever been found on it by anyone that has braved the chance to look at it. The armor has never once been seen without Solaris herself wearing it. Her helmet served just as much as a crown to her; and what a perfect example of her true being. As much a ruler as she was a vision of power. Each curving of her armor was built to protect what stretches the metal could reach. What parts of her body were left exposed could not even be called pony-like. Under her flawless armor was cracks and fissures that showed bleeding lava throughout her body under black, gravel skin.
"Sister!" the flames that lashed off against the walls and pillars charged and clashed against one another at Solaris' call.
In a twirl of conjured bats and thick black smoke, her sister appeared before her with the lack of her armor showing her ebony body clear to her sister. "Yes, Solaris."
"I... am tired..." The days had gone by so soon, Nightmare Moon failed to have noticed it herself, "You are aware of your duty..." the fires died at Solaris' words, leaving the room bleak and smelling of cinders.
"Of course, Solaris. Will you be leaving the armor with me?"
"Only my helmet..." a click echoed through the room and Nightmare Moon clamped her eyes shut.
Slowly, the helmet adorning Solaris' head began to rise from her with a golden ring of magic gripping it. Once it began to crack up over her chin, white and red flames lashed out all throughout the throne room, some flames cutting down pillars and crashing through windows. The flames screamed like ghosts as they tore apart banners, reducing them to ashes in the process. Solaris only continued to remove her helmet until her glowing yellow eyes could be seen burning though the air. The flames quickly flew back into Solaris and left the throne room a horrible mess like always. Nightmare Moon opened her eyes, assessed the damage, and looked at her sister. The throne around Solaris had been set on fire, still smouldering when Solaris dropped her helmet to the floor. The crown-helmet did not make a clang of any kind when it touched the floor; instead, it made the sound of a burning hammer striking against cold steel, shaking the throne room in the process.
Solaris' eyes went upon her sister, filled with golden light and piercing energy. "I will trust you with my crown for the time of my slumber..."
Solaris would keep the world in eternal dusk for months to perhaps years without end. This, however, was segmented just slightly by the time that Solaris had to rest. The time when she grew tired and would sleep for one day, two days, maybe even a month. These were days of celebration for the citizens. For on those blessed days, they were given night...
Passage Seven: Beatus Luna.
"Light and dark. The most curious of eternal battles. This is because unlike fire and water, earth and wind, hot and cold; Light and dark cannot live without the other. Darkness needs to consume the light so that it can reach further; Light needs to repel darkness so that i may grow more. What a perfect example of this is the moon and sun. Both so equal, but not one being able to exist without the other in our world. When the dark of night has cooled the world too much, the sun must rise and bring life to the world again. When the light of the day has tired the world and has brought growth to too far a degree, the moon must rise and give rest to the land. Both equal, both needed..." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
The land itself, one could swear, was holding a breath as no eye could mistake the rare occasion setting upon the world. The eye of Solaris, the orb of fire that burned an endless red dawn upon the was dimming. All ponies and alike looked to the dimming ball as it dipped a final trickle against the horizon. Tears fell down from pony eyes and legs collapsed under tired forms as an encompassing darkness blanketed over the land of Caballussia. But no sound filled the air, as if the wild life itself was waiting for the final act to show that the time of celebration was here.
When the final sign came... the land rejoiced. Cheers and merrymaking, hollers and ponies taking to the streets. Many ponies danced in the dark streets and laughed with one another; reconnecting with friends they had not seen for weeks. Banners stretched from house to house with glittering letters of gilded text that would even show through the darkness. Stands were quickly set out of every pony's home and little colts and fillies broke their savings to enjoy this wonderful moment. In a single moment, all of Caballussia had changed.
In that moment when the sun was sent away, and the full moon hung above Canterlot as a vigil of peace...
"Citizens of Caballussia, hear my decree! I, Nightmare Moon, chancellor and royal commandant of the mighty Caballussia Empire, have been named high ruler of our wonderful land in stay of my sister, Queen Solaris, as she regains her might so that she may continue to rule you as she does. In the period of her rest, I grant my citizens the raise of my night. Though tyranny and absolute law governs the citizens during the time of day -a time my sister grants you all throughout her time of watch-, in night, you are granted amnesty by my hoof! Do as you wish, and act as you would under my eye... Though know that my sister will arise, and should you do anything that would effect her reign or defile my own name before her, amnesty will not protect you from final judgement."
The voice of their chancellor, the mare who stands beside Solaris and aids her in the conquest of the entire world, filled every Colony and every colonists ear. No pony dared to speak while she did, not even the youngest and brazen of the ponies. For a moment, only her echoing voice filled the towns; and when it finally stopped, the ponies cheered. "Long live the Queen!"
"Glory to Caballussia!"
"Our hearts to you!"
Joy escalated from all their lungs for hours on end, cheering the gift given to them by Nightmare Moon. Even guards, harsh enforcers of Solaris' law, threw down their staffs and helmets to join in with the celebrations.
To Nightmare Moon, who watched over her standing kingdom from the balcony of Canterlot Castle, the cheers brought to her a sense of right as much as the whispers of woe.
To one end, this granted the citizens a moment of peace and a sense of freedom. Something Solaris never granted them while they were under her hoof and sun. To this idea, Nightmare Moon believed that the citizens were given hope. And in spite of what Solaris believed, Nightmare Moon did not believe hope was dangerous. She found herself thinking back to a fair white mare that believed hope was to save everyone...
But to the other end, she felt a twinge of pain. It was not because she knew that the citizens would be placed under Solaris whenever she awoke. It was not because she was giving them only a glimpse of freedom. It was not that she was going against her sister's ideals. It was because, at this moment, this very, very, very rare moment... Solaris was powerless. Without fire, without her sun, without protection... She was asleep, vulnerable... And in one swift motion, she could end the nightmare...
In one motion, just one swift spell, Nightmare Moon could end the dawn forever and grant a normal life to everything...
In one motion... She could become what the citizens called her...
"Long live Queen Luna!"
"Glory to Luna!"
"Our hearts to you, Luna!"
In one motion, she could end the nightmare... But all she knew was the nightmare.
Passage Eight: Illacrimo censura
"To cut the paw of a thief: is this justice? To set fire to the den of bandits: is this justice? To execute a murderer: is this justice? Justice is a word I rather avoid. There is no justice... only judgement. To cut the paw of a thief: this is your judgement. To set fire to the den of bandits: this is your judgement. To execute a murderer: this is your judgement. To you, it may seem just. But what of the ailing thief that stole for medicine? Is cutting their paw just? What of the poor family that was looking for food? Is burning their home just? And what of the murderer who killed the man who threatened their family? Is it just to punish him? Granted, it will not always be like this; if hardly ever. But the point I wish to instill is this: there is no absolute justice, because justice is only someone's judgement... Right or wrong." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
Queen Chrysalis the Changeling ruler. Brilliant, beautiful, and so loving of her subjects. She rules over a race of creatures that feed off of raw emotion; the most life-giving being love. If they could feed off of one another, or even their queen's love, they would never need to feed off of another pony again. But their queen is cunning; formulating plans to always find routes to more food for her subjects... At least that was how it used to be.
The Changelings hardly ever had to leave their run down empire at all. So often ponies would come to them and offer them companionship or aid in growing their lands to be more presentable. For this, the Changelings never need to swarm or feast on the energy of others. Their meals are given to them freely... And they only take what they need. But why? Why would Changelings not swarm, feast, or do what they are inherent to do? It is because their Queen, Chrysalis -brilliant, beautiful, loving-, was weak...
She was scared...
She was powerless...
But she was not hopeless. Hospitality between the Changelings and these ponies that had settled down near their empire had brought hope to a defeated queen. Where hate and bile once stirred in her inky body was now replaced with care and compassion. Mediation replaced stealing. Compromise replaced argument. Friendship replaced loathing. The Changeling empire, though ugly on the outside, had become a cocoon of thriving futures.
The ideal of a future is a wonderful hope that they have began to strive for...
The future is a wonderful hope that they began...
The future is a hope they began...
Future is a hope...
Future is hope...
"Queen Chrysalis..." Her mane flapped with a roaring fire as her tone clanged against a metallic echo by her helmet-crown.
Sole queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, stood within Canterlot Castle's royal hall, sweat trailing down her neck as the fire choked air away from her lungs. "Solar--Queen Solaris... Why have you summoned me."
"Chrysalis... What are you?" Solaris looked not an eye to the Changeling Queen, not that her eyes ever showed.
"I am a Changeling... A being that feeds off of emotion and can take the appearance of any living thing."
A strange, almost empty chuckle came from Solaris as she looked out one of the windows of her throne room and off to the distance of a mass of mountains. "Yes, you are. And what do those 'children' of yours 'crown' you as?"
It felt sickening how belittling she said those words... "Queen. I am--"
"Nothing," Solaris interrupted with her flames flaring a bit and her head twisting to look at Chrysalis. "You bugs are nothing..." Solaris stepped closer and closer to Chrysalis until her body set a threatening shadow over the Changeling, "Do you not see that? You are not royalty, you are an ant, leading an anthill that the sun casts over..."
"I... I am royalty... My subjects..." Chrysalis put on a brave face and returned a strong look to Solaris. "My subjects love me."
"Love?" Solaris scoffed a laugh at that word before turning back and walking towards the window once more, "What is love? A means to draw what you need before you slay the giver. Correct?"
"No... It is the right to be powerful and mighty... I know that now from true love ponies that have run from you have shown me and my subjects..." Years of waiting, years of pent up hatred for this monster could finally be unleashed. "You are not loved; you have no power..."
Solaris seemed to ponder those words. Her flames curled and dipped into her armor as silence over took the room. "...Hurting words from a parasite..."
Something wedged out of Chrysalis, and her mouth kept moving. She continued to berate the tyrant with her back to her. "I will always be strong...!" She would. The Changelings she raised, the ponies that have helped her, they showed her strength. True strength. "As long as... as long as my people believe in me."
Solaris remained physically calm; not an inch of her body moving as the Changeling yelled at her. However, when Chrysalis took a breathe to think, Solaris spoke up once more with a low tone. "You will always be weak in comparison to my sister or I... Vastly so in comparison to me. But as long as you believe that way of thinking, that your subjects and your kingdom grant you some sort of power, you will always be a thorn in my side..." Suddenly, a shift of light moved through the room and it seemed like all the light of outside was moving.
Sure enough, out from the window, in the corner of it, the sun was moving across the sky in an awkward manner. It was not setting, it was not rising; it was only adjusting a bit against the sky. "Sister had the right idea about cutting you things off..." Solaris continued, the sun moving along with her helmet covered head as if she-- "The only difference is that while she decided to simply banish you into the Dead Lands, I view it is time I settle it..."
"S-Solaris?" Chrysalis' hateful tone had gone, replaced by a sinking tone.
High in the sky, visible to both Chrysalis and Solaris, the sun continued to move until it was framed perfectly against the outlook before Solaris. For just a moment, the fire of the sun seemed to churn against itself and become even brighter, bordering on an almost white yellow. "By my right as Queen and mediator of the world--" The air crackled and grew almost blinding to the outside world; though Solaris did not look away, and with fear filled eyes of realization, neither did Chrysalis'.
"Solaris, no!" The Changeling queen pleaded, her voice cracking as she watched the flames in the sun waver and edge against its body.
"I will cleanse the world of you creatures!"
"NO!"
The whole world was bathed in the sun's light for just a moment... The white light of heaven touching against every window, every leaf, every eye, every inch of fur... For only a moment, the whole world could see the pain of the Changelings. In that moment, that blinding moment of Solaris' fire, the Changelings, their kingdom, the ponies that helped and fed them with their love...
"Gods NO!" Tears cascaded down Chrysalis' face as she desperately tried to go towards Solaris, watching the fire lash out of the sun...
In a moment, one mountain and all life around it felt the wave of a sun; the fire of Solaris crash against it and reduce everything there to a crater and ashes.
"No...!" Slowly, Chrysalis wings died to no motion and she reached a hoof out the window, looking to the smoking hole that the ray of Solaris left behind. "No... My children..." Ten thousand elite changelings, five hundred thousand worker drones, over a thousand giving ponies, and... millions of unborn larva... Gone...
"God has heard you... And god has delivered them... Such is holy judgement..." Solaris departed from the room, leaving Chrysalis hanging against the window with a choked expression and shaking eyes.
Silence did not take the room this time... Nor did it take the city. All of Canterlot was now filled with the pain filled cries of a mother who saw her whole family killed before her very eyes. The cries sounded into wails as the sun returned to its set position once again as if nothing had happened... As if an entire species was not reduced to a kingdom-less queen left only in tears.
Passage Nine: Cognatus monstrum.
"The sword. Mighty, swift, traditional, the first thing one's mind goes to when the idea of honor is presented. Yet I query. Why is the sword a symbol of honor? The sword is an instrument of death brought by bloodshed. A soldier may go down the street with a gun in hand, but that is only a casing. The sword is always drawn, always ready to strike and kill. So what honor is there in the sword? My answer: for it is personal. The sword does not release projectiles or hide you from a threat; the sword is an extension of your own being. What actions one takes with a sword at their control must be done at a range of personality. The will of the blade does not allow you to murder or pass orders through it; it allows you a stretch further than your own body can reach so you may reach those actions." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
"I beseech thee sister!" No matter how she begged, words would not reach her sister's ears. "This cannot be just!"
"Just or not, it is the proper course of action..." Solaris watched as the world below her cried and crackled with cinders escaping into the smoke choked sky. "Countless lives are lost to the Everfree Forest and the beasts that wonder it... I have granted fair warning to those that dwell within days ahead. Should they stay, it is of their own consequence."
The Everfree forest down at the foot of Canterlot continued to smolder and crackle as the trees passed the raging white-red fire in an endless stream. Solaris watched from behind her twisted crown, never once flinching as large trees would crack loudly against the land as their roots were burned away. Her younger sister's eyes plastered onto the sight. She watched as critters and great beasts howled painful as they were either caught under a fallen, burning tree, or they were set ablaze along with their homes. No solace could be found outside of the grim idea that, with hope, most of them would be choked out by the smoke so their pain would last shorter. Timberwolves scampered out from the burning thicket, their own bodies reduced to tinder and becoming living conduits of fire charging towards the settlements. For better or worse, not one made it close enough to the villages as their bodies turned to piles of ash after each whimpered at their final resting place.
"This..." Luna's face twisted with rage, pity, and swells of other emotions that she could not hope to contain as she watched the horror, "This is genocide, sister!"
"Purging... Luna. This is purging," Solaris' tone was devoid of any drop of emotion.
When Solaris set her eyes away from the fire, they looked to Luna. Precious. Innocent. This sister of hers was nothing less than a gem in her eyes. Solaris caressed a plated hoof against Luna's star covered hair. For a moment, Luna felt her heart raise. It was faint. But it was there. Celestia's hoof was pressed against her hair and had been stroking it. Time had long buried away the way this felt. Safe. To have the ways things were return... Though still, Luna could not bring herself to smile. "...They were merely a casualty..." Those words were not said by Celestia. Luna had not heard the sweet chime of her sister's voice in decades. All that remained was a raspy, hollow echo against the frame of steel.
Decades. Centuries. The hoof of Solaris had existed upon the backs of the ponies for too many endless days to count. From birth to death, Solaris had you. Although, there exists one who can recall when Solaris did not exist. All know this being, yet none ask. To ask such a thing of Nightmare Moon would be of the highest scars against her. Solaris was many horrid things; but her care towards her sister was her only redeeming trait. Many feared that should they ask of Solaris' past, such a care would no longer exist if Nightmare Moon answered...
Thus, none ask. None know...
Solaris... Solaris is a mantle. A facade to be worn when the call for a true tyrant is needed. But, unlike most mantles that are worn over another's body; Solaris is a living mantle that is worn over a shadow. I had often asked myself where did the mantle end and the mare began? A fair question. A question that has kept me sane behind my own mantle. Why? Because that question grants a hope that there is something under her mantle still. A shred of humanity...
My sister had once been a loving mare... One thousand years ago. By the makers. One thousand years ago. Celestia... If I had only listened... Would that have prevented this? Would Equestria still stand? Would the sun still set? Would Discord still be in the garden? Would Everfree forest not be burnt? Would the Changelings exist? Could harmony still live? I... I do not know...
I will ask you when you return. I will ask you when you open your eyes. The day when I do not stand over your bed, holding a blade against your throat but being to afraid to make the swipe... On that day, I will ask you. I will ask you why. Why? Why did you put Solaris on? Why did I not stop you? Why did you twist the elements? Why did I not stop you? Why did you do this? And why... Why did I not help you?
No... Do not answer me sister. I know the answer.
Why?
Because I left... Humanity made me leave you in my time of torment. When... This... took me. Greed. Treachery. Corruption... I saw it in your eyes that day. You wanted to banish me. You... My sister... were hurting. What I had done to you, the citizens, our land... I could not bare it in that moment. Darkness did not overshadow my vision sister. So I departed from you and joined the moon until my mind was cleansed...
...Was it something I had done to you? Yes... I left you with doubt... You must have blamed yourself for my actions... I cannot beg enough for your forgiveness, sister Celestia. But I will beg until the world ends... Just do not blame yourself... And remove the mantle.
Come back Celestia... Please...
Passage Ten: Benevolentia obtestor.
"In the truest gift of compassion, even a beggar is a respectable being. I am not saying that with no compassion a beggar is a lowly creature; no. What I mean is that through compassion, while the negatives of all else still exist, it is still very hard to deter. It is like the old question asks: 'what happens when an unmovable object is met with an unstoppable force?'. A curious question to be sure. What does happen when unbridled cruelty meets against unwavering warmth and love? Very, very curious..." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
Everfree Forest... Or, what remained of it, still outlined the reaches of the neighboring settlement cradled within its charred bosom. But no home was closer, and still untouched by the blaze, then the cottage stationed just outside of the ashen destruction. It was a cottage that stood a staunch contrast to what was left of Everfree. Bright, vibrant, and surprisingly green given the fallout that still came from the struggling forest. Few took treks out to this home, nonetheless. Not out of fear, not out of worry, not out of pity. But perhaps only out of respect.
The cottage itself had wildlife working about it twenty-four seven. Even from a distance, a pony could see birds spreading seeds, bunnies thumping new soil, and a few hives of bees pollinating and spreading new grass. So many wild animals, all working in one harmony with one another to keep the cottage and land around it alive and well. Day by day, new animals would come and go, using the cottage and grounds as a resting spot or a short settlement for themselves. It was a very strange site to be sure. But, above all, the most strangest thing was what the animals grew. Most, if not all of the animals, were scavengers or foragers; the idea of them growing and harvesting flowers, wheat, and even tomatoes seemed almost otherworldly.
However, not a single animal ate any of the harvesting. Instead, they would gather the wheat and other products and bring it into the cottage through one of a few hatch openings that had been built in some time ago. What they did inside, none outside knew. All that was known was that they entered with it, and left without it. None knew, but many had a clue. That clue fed into their collective respect to not bother the home. A respect to not disturb the habitat, and a respect to not disturb her.
Fluttershy... Years ago, she removed the two doors leading into her home and replaced them with solid walls. Though the outside air and light still came in from the windows and hatches she made for her little friends to come in and out with, she herself hadn't left the cottage in years. It was fortunate that her animals and all other creatures that once lived in the Everfree Forest took a liking to her to such a degree. Because of them, she always had a steady supply of food and company. To her, they were all each the dearest of friends. She taught them all she could through her books, actions, and anything else to make them productive for themselves. In exchange, they provided for her and helped her stay out of the world. It was for the best in her opinion.
Outside, there was fire, destruction, forced control; darkness. It wasn't a beautiful, peaceful world like the one inside and around her cottage. Everything else out there wanted to hurt her... And she couldn't hurt them back. She could never hurt anyone. It wasn't her nature. And yet... Why? Why did Solaris, ruler of the land, give her that necklace? All it ever did was look at her weird with nonexistent eyes. It scared her to the degree she locked it up in her room... For years, she has not once gone back into her own bedroom. That necklace, like everything else outside of her world, wanted her to hurt people.
To be cruel.
There was no way she could be cruel. But, even she could be corrupted by the horrible world outside her cottage. It pained her to know that her little friends braved themselves each day to provide for her out there. But, at least they were safe in this one stretch of safety. They were not in the clutches of those that wanted to only hurt them. For now, as long as they were close to her, they were safe. And she, as long as they were close to her, was safe.
"Kindness is a very unstable factor. It can save kingdoms! It can destroy empires... It can give love to one who needs it! It can leave you open to infliction... When are you able to show kindness? This is a plaguing question. At the same time, when can you show a cruel grip? It is just as unforgiving as kindness. With it, you can crush a kingdom! With it, you can be overthrown in rage... One could command an entire world! Many could retaliate against one... As anyone can see, unstable factors are a bother. However, they are unavoidable. But, in there lies a beauty... You must always have one or both at play. This is of course true. However, what happens when you place a kindness that refuses to budge against a cruelty that never ends? The answer is simple, and it provides me with my solution... They negate, and give up..."
Passage Eleven: Plurimi fatum.
"As one could surmise, I am one who is well versed in many theories and philosophies. From history to all else, I have always prided myself on knowing the answer or at least a fair assumption of the outcome. One could derive from quotes of mine that I have said many things that could be right or wrong. Some even come to me personally and ask my for my philosophy on other categories. However... There is one thing I do not have any sort of answer to. A thought that has plagued me for my forcefully elongated life. Even I in all my hubris am humbled by the thought. Though, I have come across many who believe they understand the answer... Perhaps they do. Perhaps age has worn this old stallion's mind to such a level that I can no longer comprehend it. Even so... I would like to believe that destiny is not able to be answered or surmised. A beings purpose and meaning behind everything they do... It seems almost cruel to place someone's destiny... But, perhaps I am just old. Perhaps it is my destiny to ponder these ideas while I allow my body to finally accept defeat. Perhaps so... What a destiny that would be." - Star Swirl the Bearded.
When the sun sets, the night begins...
When the sun rises, the night ends...
Solaris, queen of Caballussia, high dictator of Canterlot, and sole magistrate of the law. She lay now alone in her chamber; protected only by the sifting fires that emanated off her charcoal black body. Her armor, given to her sister and trusted followers, were to be well guarded as she sank into her time of slumber. In that time of rest, her guards were at ease and all awareness put on hold. This to the degree that as the door to her chamber was moved open, she did not stir at all. Guarded hooves clopped one after the other as a tall mare ventured within the inferno of Solaris' layer, taking aim to not let any of the churning flames graze her body. In but a moment, the mare stood towered over Solaris' sleeping form. She seemed peaceful; at ease; vulnerable. The only light to the room was to cast the looming shadow of the mare with wavering draws of flames as a horn started to draw small flecks of energy.
I... Am not like you... Some sort of darkness consumed you while I was away, and I cannot change that. But, what I can change is what you have done. For good reason or not, you have plunged this entire world into hate and accorded discord. Elements we once used to do great good you have corrupted into manifests of your own blackened heart. I love you, my sister... But my love for you does not blind me or make me look away from what you have done. I have seen you destroy an entire race, burn an entire forest down, shatter an enemy when he could not defend himself, and bring innocent ponies into your own paranoid insanity. This I will not stand for, sister, any longer.
I hear and see their dreams when they at times rest from their trying tasks you sent them all on. I know what they want... They want you, sister. They want your blood. They dream, even the young ones, of you being brought down to their level so that they may slaughter you. These are dreams, sister... Dreams are to be pure and joyful. But because of you, they can only hope for more harm. This, I will not allow them. If anyone is to hold the weight of your crimes, it shall be me. I shall be the one that brings you to justice.
The dim lit eye of Solaris managed to open with a groggy tone at just the moment to see her sister standing at her bedside with her horn charged with power. From only the light of her flames the the light spark given off from Nightmare Moon's horn, Solaris could see the beads of tears streaming down her sister's face. "Forgive me, Celestia..."
All in one moment, the world faded to white as a sharp scream of pain echoed through Canterlot to Ponyville...
"Power. Not by crown, artifact, talent, right, or cause. Power is to draw and lay the blade into thy foe in but one moment with no doubt, fear, or regret." - Luna.
Part Twelve: Excipio regnum.
"Harmony is not won, it isn't earned either. You can't spend your life trying to make peace or finding it. Harmony, peace, and serenity are lost every second of every day. Once you lose it, you can't get it back... But, you can nurture what's left and love it until it is ready to grow. And, when it does start to grow, maybe it'll be in a time and place that's ready for it. And if not... Well... At least you tried." - Princess Celestia.
Heaving cough after cough, Nightmare Moon could not force out another scream as the flames of Solaris kept a firm grip against her throat while pinning her to the wall. Though the haze of heat put everything at a waver for Nightmare Moon, she could still see her sister rising from her bed and stalking over to her pinned form. "You dare raise your horn to me?" Solaris tightened her flames around her sister's throat, choking her windpipe out with not only the blistering pain but the thick smoke, "I have raised you better than this, Nightmare Moon... I have given you everything and this is how you treat my actions?"
The dark mare managed a few more dry crackles of breath between the living flames continuing to wring her neck out and scorching against her chest. She had hesitated for just a moment... A moment of doubt that she had hoped would not rise at the deciding moment but had. In that one moment, everything fell to pieces. Nightmare Moon saw from over her sister, in the glaze of the window, the sun had begun to rise once more and to bring the dawn. The dawn of Solaris' power... The dawning of her unimpeded reign. "Nightmare Moon, I will grant you but one last moment to speak your will only for the matter you are my blood. That alone is all I will grant you as a chance to save yourself or I will not hesitate to finish you here."
"L..." Nightmare Moon looked down to her sister with glassy, dead eyes, struggling for a breath as a dark spark started to glow through her horn.
"What are you saying?" By whatever force, Solaris' flames dimmed slightly, decreasing the tension against Nightmare Moon's throat.
"M...My... My last will..." Celestia... I wanted nothing more than to bring you home. However... "Dear sister ... My last will..." Suddenly, the entirety of Solaris' chamber was drained of light as Solaris' flames were extinguished and the world outside faded to a blood-red darkness. Nightmare Moon fell to the floor, her lungs clearing and her eyes glowing to a blinding white, becoming the center of Solaris' attention along with the erratic celestial hair of her sister suddenly growing calmed and taking to a central form, sparkling through the darkness. Solaris staggered back towards the blood-red world blocked from them by the windows, her own smoldering eyes stunned by the sight of her sister looking at her. "My last will... Is to free this world from you !"
Solaris hadn't the reaction time she presented before when she had caught her sister; unable to protect herself as a bolt of blue-black energy struck her to the chest and flung her out one of the windows of her chamber. The look of confusion and fear was still across Solaris' face as shards of glass and broken window splinters surrounded her in the air as she was sent into the air. To Solaris, time seemed to slow down; frozen in the air not by her own power or anything else; as if everything was just being pieced together for her. "Why...? Why can't I--" Her own thought was answered when she saw the sun or lack-there-of. In the time of her gripping and choking her sister, she did not notice as the moon had been lowered to conceal the sun behind it. The centers of all her power... Her armor? Given to others for safe keeping. Her guards? Put at ease. The sun? Blocked out by the moon.
She... Was defenseless. That was when time finally caught up to her and she sent for her wings to flick out from her sides, but all for nothing as the flames that filled her wings would not ignite. Her sight fell to the kingdom below, where she was now falling towards. All she could think about was this... betrayal. At that same moment, her plummet was ended as she was consumed by an unseen force of magic. From behind and above her, she could hear the flaps of large wings, along with the feeling of hateful eyes. "...So this is how you end me? With betrayal?"
"Betrayal? You view this as betrayal?" Solaris was made to spin to face her sister and the reality of the event. Before her, framed by a blood-red sky was no longer Nightmare Moon. Before her was a purified being clad in ornate and magnificent armor; shielded behind her by a pair of radiant wings that held the night sky within each plume. "This is not betrayal, Solaris . This is what you have brought pain for! This is what you have destroyed for! This is what you brought nightmares for! This. Is. Retribution !"
What defines us as who we are is every action that happens to us. Not the action itself, but... How we react to it. For better, or for worse, maybe being happy in a case could be bad. Perhaps becoming angry when we shouldn't could be good. In the end of the line, we can't know what each of these actions could have brought us. But, if you ask me...
All of Caballussia looked to the sky, waking their young, elderly, and resting to see what all had given dream to. Blood drained out from the canvas of the sky, bringing to it an almost harsh sparkle of blue to the darkened world. All ponies watched as the moon moved below the horizon while the glaring sun lifted high into the supposed noon sky. Several shooting stars shot through the blue sky in every which direction as a dark form took center in the vision of the sun. "Citizens of... Of Equestria... Solaris... Is. Banished!"
"Equestria" screamed with joy and wept of all the horrors past. For now, Queen Luna had freed them all.
...I think our world has gone pretty well. - Celestia
Author's Note
THE. END.
Epilogue: Exspecto veritas.
Caballussia grew... it flourished... it drew back the hands of time and picked up the pieces that the burning sun had left them in; making with it Equestria. Peace had been reached. Ponies from all around spent off days replanting the thicket of the Everfree Forest one shrub at a time. Much like the citizens, it would take time before it could return to even a shadow of what it once was... But it would grow... It would grow. Daily, ponies would rekindle what they once knew; trying to revive a lifestyle some never knew they had. And in time... They changed.
"YAA!" Big Mac gave the little doll a small nudge, pushing it towards the ugly creature Apple Bloom was handling.
Apple Bloom quickly snatched at the troll and yelped as she fell backwards with it, tossing it across the room with a: "Blarg! Y'all got me!" When she tossed the doll into the wall behind her, she started to laugh and lay on her back.
Her brother joined in the laughing as well, sitting on the floor while his hooves held him to tower of his little sister. It was another successful victory for the hero against the evil monster. In the midst of their celebratory laughter, they heard a sharp bang outside in front of the house. The two exchanged quick worried looks and made way to Apple Bloom's window, looking out to what the center of the sound was. "Take yer' highfalutin machines---!" another crash fell across the air as several stallions staggered back, looking frightful at the sight destroying the apple picking machine, "---And yer' flimflammin' ideas---!" Apple Bloom and Big Mac couldn't believe their eyes, the very sight bringing tears to their eyes at every word they heard yelled, "---And get the flyin' feather off our land!" The Hero had come home...
Down below in front of the house, Applejack bucked a sharp back kick into one of the machines, causing it to make a bang and send scraps of metal and bolts out as it started to break from her aggressive assault. Flim and Flam cowered behind a few stallions, looking at the enraged pony as she used her front hooves to stomp on the vest she had been wearing moments before. When she stopped, she started to stomp her hooves into the dirt and moved closer to all the work ponies, making them stagger away once again with each step she brought against the earth. "Ah' sold out ma' family, ma' pride, an' ma' siblin's respect fer' all this. Ah' don't care about yer' bits, yer' contracts, or any of yer' help. Y'all get on out of Sweet Apple Acres now!"
They didn't need any more coaxing. Every last stallion tripped over one another as they tried to be the first one out of the orchard, leaving behind anything they brought with them out of pure fear. Applejack continued to stand there, huffing with anger and hunching herself down in an aggressive stance, looking about for any more ponies she had to buck off the land. Moments passed and Applejack's breathing slowed down and her stance softened. When she stood back up straight, she moved a hoof up to fix her hat, bringing it down over her eyes and continuing her silence. "Applejack...?" Her hat went back up, showing a look of utter surprise when she heard her name.
She looked softly to her side, seeing her two siblings standing on the porch with eyes fixed to her. "...Welcome home, big sis." Apple Bloom whispered, tears trying not to drop from her eyes as she spoke the words she had long since wanted to say.
"...Good ta' be back..."
Sugarcube Corner had never been so... lively. Morning, noon, and night, the lights would never turn off in the shop or any room of the house. Music could always be heard bumping against the glass windows or out into the day or night should even a crack be opened to the world around it. It all started on one day after Solaris was dethroned; the shop held a celebration with balloons, streamers, cakes, and jubilation. It went on for hours with everypony coming to join in the celebration. Even among those numbers was a fragile tenant that lived with the Cakes. That day, the Cakes had never been happier.
"Two dozen, please," Mr. Cake slid a sack of freshly baked cookies over the counter to another stallion, who paid him a sum of bits in return.
"Have a nice--" before Mr. Cake could wish him a good day, a popper went off in his ear and stunned him.
"Found the poppers!" an energetic Pinkie bolted out from under the counter and zipped through the store, spreading streamers and decorations all across the walls and display cases with wild abandon.
When Mr. Cake recovered from the ringing in his year, he gave a soft sigh and smile as he watched the mare treat the room. "She sure is an energetic one now, isn't she?" the other stallion pointed out.
"She sure is... She's been having parties here three times a day since she started."
"Really? Don't you get tired of it at all?"
"Not at all... The way the Misses and I see it, Pinkie has been too sick for maybe fourteen years of her life. So, she has fourteen years of birthdays, New Years, congratulations, and all sorts of other parties to make up for it..." Mr. Cake put his eyes back to Pinkie, seeing her slowing down and taking a careful moment to fix up a streamer that refused to stay up, "We'll both take her parties forever if we have to. Just as long as she's happy now."
One could have debated that the peace after Solaris' reign was well worth the strife before. Nopony spoke of it aloud... But all ponies thought it to be true deep within their hearts. For better and for worse, Solaris' had changed them and opened a new world at the dawning of the new world. From the light came the darkness that consumed the world and brought to it calm and bliss. And in that darkness... They prospered.
"Twilight...?"
"Good morning, Spike..."
"It's five in the evening, Twilight."
"Is it really? I guess I lost my sense of time. Pretty ironic. The world now has a sense of time to it, and I've never been more lost to it. But, I guess that's the price you pay when you commit to work over everything else."
"You need some rest."
"I can rest later. I still need to finish these last few lessons before bed."
"They'll be there in the morning."
"But I need them done before morning. If I don't, Queen Solaris will think I don't care about the lessons she left me," Twilight Sparkle looked across the dim, dusky library that had not seen cleaning for some time.
Books tottered with layers of dust and cobwebs being the only sense of equal balance among them. The only light to the room came from the glazed windows and the candle light before Twilight that had been melted down the the dish it stood in. What magic remained in Twilight's horn barely flickered as she flipped through blank page after blank page of books she had clustered before her. "I'm her star student and apprentice. I--"
"Twilight!" Her reality was broken once more by the call from her own assistant standing behind her.
The hours; the days he stood behind her without moving except for the occasion to get food for himself and her were muddied over along with the dusty books in the once taken care of library. The empty book before Twilight finally had something put to it as a salty, bitter drop fell from Twilight's eye and against the empty page. "Please, Spike... Just let me pretend for a little while longer..." she felt Spike's claw rest against her side, giving her the first contact she had felt in days, "...Please..."
Within Canterlot Castle, Celestia's eyes opened to a half lid and she looked back to the ornate, heavy piece of armor she had presented before her. "Where conviction for what you think is right can find itself; grief and shame can just as quickly make a home there and never allow those thoughts of right to ever make a place..." she not only told herself, but Luna as well as her sister stood before her.
"Be this all true... Would the cycle not thusly continue? If Solaris had been banished... Would her sister not fall to the same dread?" Luna questioned, barely able to grasp all that she had come to know now.
Celestia shook her head and continued to look at the armor before her, as if seeing a reflection of herself in the dulled metal. "No... She did not banish Solaris, nor did she kill her," Celestia rose from her bed and slowly circled around it, holding the piece of armor in her golden hold of magic. "In that end, Luna choose Loyalty over all else..."
The throne room and halls of Canterlot echoed with an emptiness since the celebrations and reuniting of all the colonies; but it was well suited. No light passed through the arching pillars or the hung drapes. All that existed within now was a lone mare sitting on a lavish, red throne in bleak shadows. Though the halls held no sound but the soft breeze, the mare's mind rattled with thoughts, memories, and reflections behind closed eyes.
"We will place all these actions on the charge of the comity. We must focus on the more pressing and enlarged matters. That is why we are royalty..."
Her mane wavered out across the throne room floor, bringing a low, foggy dusk across it with a velvet-like black and purple hue dancing within it. The smokey texture her mane brought along with it framed against her tall, elegant and shadow figure. The calm of her dark complexion did not favor bliss, contemplation, or any other... Simply, a dismal calm.
"So we may better the denizens on a grander scale?"
All at once, the dusky hue that filled the throne room floor summoned up back to the mare and was collected into her mane; bringing to it a smokey texture along with flecks of shimmering, white centers along the waves of it. Gradually, the lids of her eyes moved open and with it, light flowed into the the hall and room from the drapes and pillars.
"Exactly... It is my deepest hope that we will change our ailing land. And I know that we will be the cure. But only if we work as one, sister."
The mare's eyes looked straight ahead of her to the entry way to her throne room, but expected nothing to come through it. Instead, her half-lidded eyes remained as they were; watching ahead of her while her mane danced out against her back. Within her eyes, she everything crystal clear. To one side was the darkness, and to the other was the light. For better or for worse, she could see both clearly and could understand all that she saw within them...
"My loyalty will always be to you... My sister..."
And as her with a pink iris shut, bringing a darkness back across her castle, her open eye with a teal iris remained as it was; watching out before her and ushering in break between the light...
"There exists no true answer... Right or wrong? Light or dark? There is no answer to the right amount or the balance between... And yet, they say it is wrong to do nothing and not be involved. But perhaps that is exactly what those with the greatest power must do... Leave those with small sway to decide their own path and work together to push their path the way they desire while those with power do nothing but watch and grant a guiding push. Perhaps, in the end, that is all there is... Or, perhaps the world will forever be stuck between harmony, and discord." - A Loyal Mare.
Final Word: Redemptor Radicitus.
"...For centuries, ponies, griffons, elementals, and all other creatures have warred. War brought for nothing but the desire for power... That desire made me what I am today. I am a twisted monster amalgamated from two halves that were never meant to meet. Yet I stand here before you, your queen and ruler. My sister ruled you out of fear and would have ruled all the universe the same if she had been given the right to. Though... A darker thought now looms upon me... A whispering from the winds. The spirits talk to me and tell me of other worlds. Worlds that are thriving... Thriving from peace and goodwill. These are traits we must all seek out... These are worlds we must know more of. So I, as your ruler, have decided upon these mares to be my vassals and look into this world beyond our own...
"I knew mares like you once... Giving, gentle, truthful, trustworthy, enlightened, hopeful. The world was filled with your kind. A very... beautiful world. But that world is a memory now. It was not the world I grew in. I was born in greed. Hate was what raised me. Fire was my cradle and blood was my baptism. Yet I overcame that... I overcame the disharmonious track others had set before me. But to do it... My hooves now run red with the blood of my own. That is a pain I would never wish upon another... My sister was a horrid monster... But her intentions were correct; not just, but correct. Unity is what sends the darkness back into the hole from which it crawled. That is why I am here... To unite our worlds. To unite all worlds. Know this now... Equinox is upon you.
"Hold yourselves with the pride of Caballussia. The pride of a world blooming from the darkness with the aid of the light. Go upon this world and bring the fortune of their world upon us. I do not mean the trinkets of greed... I mean the fortune of knowledge... Of hope... Of chance. Bring these to me. Yet too, I know this world from the visions the spirits tell me. There will be others of the same shape and forms as your own... So I will grant you a shard of my own power so that you may alter yourself as you may need. Retain who you are, but make yourself known as no pony of their world. Be my eyes, my hooves, and above all... Be my will..."
