The Nine

‘Dearest sister, I regret to inform you that I can not let you do this. If you remember correctly, you once had a nuke on a course for one dog named Kiqo. That was a dud, and he survived. He visited me, showed me things. He showed me what a nuclear bomb does to a planet. I highly advise that we keep these armaments to ourself, but never use them. Please understand this, sister. It is for our own good. -Luna’

How could he possibly survive? That frizzy haired son of a workhorse said it would work, so why didn’t it?

“Oh, Princess” said a disturbing voice. “Don’t beat yourself, or anyone else for that matter, up about it. It’s highly likely, but not guaranteed, to explode.”

“Who are you? Show yourself! Guards!” I shouted, seriously freaking out.

The guards snapped to attention, looking for the unseen invader.

“Oh, please. You couldn’t kill me if you tried” the voice said, and the guards’ spears proceeded to get floppy. “Oh, I’m sorry, does someone need some Viagra?” the voice cackled gleefully, and all eight guards blushed profusely.

“At least identify yourself” I said, trying to keep my composure.

“I’m hurt” said the voice, the emotion showing through. “You send a squad of men after me, then attempt to disintegrate me, and you don’t even know my name.”

“No! You can’t be alive. We lost too many men for you to be alive.”

“Oh, dear Princess. You would not believe the steaming pile of shit you would be in if I had never come here.”

“Try me.”

“Well, for starters, your protege would not be as advanced in magic as she is now. And, you’d have had a cult slaughter Ponyville, and then probably every town in Equestria. And, knowing you, you’d probably just nuke them. And then the griffins. And you’d come to be known as the Burning Sun, instead of the Radiant Sun. You’d just as soon kill a handful of yours to kill an opposing army as blink. You’d rule with fear instead of respect, and Equestria would bow in fear when you came down off your throne.”

“What of Luna?”

“Well, you deployed her on the front lines, didn’t you? What do you think would happen?”

I stared at the disembodied smile in pure horror.

“I kill her? But, why would I do that?”

“She would go down in the books as a martyr, dying so that others may live. Of course, she wouldn’t actually have to die, but you would become impatient.”

“I don’t think I can believe you. Where do you get this profound blasphemy?”

“Would you like to meet Him?”

“Yes.”

“Your wish is my command” he said mockingly, and reality proceeded to melt.

The walls flowed away, rising away into the sky, and they eventually disappeared. What was left was a dark void with only a pair of glistening smiles and a malicious set of glowing eyes to be seen. I stood there, staring at the larger smile and the eyes, completely horrified. I had been scared before, like when Luna and I first faced down Discord. This was more. It was soul piercing, never ending, infinitely deep horror.

“Speak, little pony” said the mouth, and his voice seemed to be backed by a thousand other voices, each in its own tongue, forming an unholy chorus.

“I am told that you speak to this dog and supply him with blasphemous lies.”

He laughed, and it shook so much that I actually felt it vibrate my bones. “I know you lie. You were told I speak to him, no more.”

“How do you know these things?”

He spoke, one word in a thousand tongues, and there was light. He revealed himself, a swirling mass of letters and symbols, and I suddenly knew everything about how he knew. I saw our conversation, and every one I had ever had.

“So, why do you speak to him, of all beings?”

He laughed again. “I have been put here, in a prison, in order to not threaten the multiverse. He is my warden, he feeds me and guards me, and so I advise him.”

“Why would you help your captor?”

“It is for my own good to be here. An omniscient being should not be allowed to meddle in the ways of the universe. I am also prone to violent mood swings, so they decided I was not up to the task of keeping myself out of trouble, so they set up a deal with me. I would be imprisoned, according to my will, and a warden would be assigned. They think I am not meddling, but they are wrong. I am simply meddling to a lesser degree.”

“So, if Kiqo never existed, I would wind up killing my sister?”

He laughed heartily. “You would, so you should be thanking Kiqo.”

“I guess I should. Thanks, Kiqo.”

I heard him laugh from beside me. “Maybe you’d like to call off your goons?”

“They're dead.”

“Oh” he said, sounding sad. “That’s terrible. I had no idea.”

“Wait, so you didn’t kill them?”

“No, why would I do that?”

“Well, I didn’t know what happened to them, so I assumed it was you. That’s actually why I dropped the bomb on you.”

“So, what did happen to them?” he asked the beast of words.

His body opened up, showing words. The final thoughts of a dying dragon. They warped and twisted, forming that final scene. How he sent his message, then went out with a bang.

“I wish we had met on different circumstances” Kiqo said, sounding awfully mournful.

“Well, that has satisfied that curiosity, but what would have happened if I Kiqo didn’t exist? I have heard, but I would like to see.”

So he showed me. Equestria surrounded by atomic ash and soot. All foreign relations severed. Equestria had become a land of war, not to mention a monarchy state. He decided to show me one specific scene. It was the cult Kiqo had spoken of. Their leader sent a squad to Ponyville, and they slaughtered everyone indiscriminately. I dropped a beta stage nuke on Ponyville, killing everyone in the town, even my beloved student. I watched a later scene, the final griffin battle. It looked much different. Instead of on the border of griffin territory, it took place at the capital. Our ponies came in in hazmat suits, doubtless because of the radiation surrounding the capital. Luna was there, looking a lot less regal in the white plastic suit. Then, they were beaten back. The griffin’s final stand, hunkering down in the wreckage that was once their glorious capital. Luna took a shot to the chest and had the scribe tell me to end the griffin race once and for all. So I did. I didn’t know that she would watch it fall, a grim smile teasing her lips. I did know, however, that she would be turned into nothing but dust. I should have never asked to see.

“I want to go back” I said, not even conscious of what I was saying. “Please. Take me back.”

At my behest, I was taken back to my throne room. But not before seeing one thing that would haunt my nightmares. The griffin emperor. He survived, and I saw that Luna didn’t even die a martyr. She died for no reason. She died because of me, that’s all. I killed her. She didn’t die from the bullet wound. She didn’t commit honorable suicide. I killed her. And I could feel that alternate Celestia. When she received the letter, she wasn’t sad, she was happy. She wanted to be rid of her. I killed my own sister in cold blood.

“Hey, Princess, are you alright?” asked Kiqo, sounding a lot more sane.

“Yes, I think so. I may have nightmares, but I think I will be alright.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No” I said defiantly. “Now leave. And fix my guards’ spears.”

“Do this, do that” he said mockingly.

He repaired the spears and left me to my thoughts. I sat upon my throne, waiting for Luna to return and raise the moon.

“Sister?” Luna said, ripping me from my thoughts.

“Oh, sorry Luna. I’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“Well, I’m going to raise the moon, and then I’m going to sit you down and have a chat. Whether you like it or not.”

I couldn’t help but grin at her motherly tone, and watched her raise the moon. For being banished so long, she was still very good.

“Now then” she said when her duty was done. “You are going to tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Yes, ma’am” I said, mock saluting.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been dealing with soldiers all day.”

“No, I should be the one who’s sorry. I should have never put you on the front line, I could have had a general out there.”

“No, I understand why you did it. You did it to make me stronger, and I appreciate that.”

“Well, I still feel bad.”

“Why?”

“I saw some things.”

“Like what?”

“Kiqo took me to his informant.”

“The Beast of Words?”

“Yeah. He showed me an alternate timeline. One where Kiqo didn’t exist. He wasn’t there to stop a cult from slaughtering Ponyville, so to stop them, I destroyed Ponyville and all its residents. I began a reign of fear. Kiqo wasn’t there at the military demonstration to rally against the genocide, so I went ahead with it. The griffins protected their capital with stolen magic, so I had to send you in with a squad. You took a shot to the chest and told me to nuke them. I did, but...” I faltered, unable to say the next bit.

“But what?”

“Well, the emperor of the griffins survived, so you died in vain, but that wasn’t the worst part” I said, staring at the floor.

“What was the worst part?”

“I could feel my alternate self. She received your letter, and she was glad. Glad to hear that you were mortally wounded, glad to hear that you wanted to be vaporized. She ordered that bomb dropped with unbridled glee. She wanted you gone. I killed you in cold blood, Luna.”

She sat there, dumbstruck. “No wonder he went mad, having that voice in his ear all the time.”

“I don’t even want to know what that would be like.”

We were silent for a while, but she eventually spoke. “So, how did I look?”

“What?”

“When I died. How did I look when I died?”

“You were happy, Luna. You were so very happy. Happy because I told you the griffins were evil. Happy to be martyred in order to end them. Happy just because.”

Her eyes streamed with tears, and I held her close. “It’s alright, Luna. It never happened.”

“We were both happy when I died. That’s something, isn’t it?” she asked in a shaking voice.

“Oh, Luna. I would never take joy in killing you. I would never want to, and I hope I never will.”

“Oh, sister. I know you wouldn’t” she said, drying her eyes. “I wouldn’t either. Now, why don’t you get some rest?”

“See you in the morning, sis.”

Luna

Maybe that was her punishment. I said I would get back at her, and, in a way, I did. It may not have actually been me, but a circumstance that involved a form of me emotionally destroyed her. Maybe I wouldn’t have to get her back. If she hadn’t seen that, would I ever have? Could there possibly be a timeline where I am the monarch, and I am that way because I got fed up with her? I feel like that would never be possible, but in a way I know it could be.