Celestia was not yet past grief, but she had reached the point where she was able to concentrate on matters of state once more. And in the weeks since she began wearing her regalia again, one thought had consumed her.
What if I am next?
There had been no contingencies for Luna’s betrayal. There were no contingencies for her own hypothetical fall. That was untenable. Celestia had no intention of turning against her little ponies, but she wouldn't let that blind her to the fact that ponies change. She was no exception, and it would be a millennium before there would be anypony to stand against her again. Thus she had arranged a meeting to begin the first steps towards righting this issue, late into the night and far from the ears of her court.
An ocean blue earth pony with a white mane knocked on the open doorframe of Celestia's study. “Your highness, you requested my presence?” The pony was about to enter, when she saw the intricate spellwork laid out on the other side of the door.
“Enchanted Evening, thank you for answering my summons on short notice. That is an oathbinding circle. I will ask you to swear that anything that occurs in this room tonight be told to nopony. I must insist, as these are matters of Equestria’s safety. If you don't wish to be bound to this, you may leave with my understanding.”
The mare didn't hesitate to step into the ring before her. “I swear to never reveal what transpires tonight in this room for as long as I live, Princess.” The chalk that had made up the circle flashed, then disappeared in a puff of dust as the magic consumed it.
Celestia beckoned Enchanted Evening inside. “Excellent. Now we can begin. I am in need of the finest enchantress in the kingdom.”
“I would say my mother is, your majesty.”
Celestia sighed and tried to speak as gently as possible. “Very well then, but you're the best enchantress in the kingdom that we can find. I know not whether you or Meadowbrook is more skilled, but we have neither seen nor heard from your mother in moons. We all wish for her safe return from wherever she's gone to, but until then the crown may call on you as we called on her.”
Enchanted Evening nodded. “Very well then. Until my mother returns, I will try to fill her role. What can I assist you with, your majesty?”
Celestia brought her attention to a desk, covered in notes. “Equestria clearly needs additional protections in place in the event I can no longer be trusted.”
The mare next to Celestia gasped. “Princess! Surely that cannot be! You would never turn against the ponies you rule!” She was nearly in tears by the time she finished speaking.
Celestia couldn't let these matters be affected by sentiment, however. “Just as Luna would never turn against us?” She said. “I do not wish to ever betray any of you, but circumstances change. What may look like a betrayal today might seem like the right thing tomorrow. There needs to be something to stop Equestria from being destroyed if I cannot, and there is no other alicorn to prevent it this time. We were fortunate once, Madam Evening. I do not wish to depend on luck again.”
Enchanted Evening sniffled as the tears started in earnest. “I cannot even bear the thought, but if you say you need me, I will be of service. What… what would you have me do?”
Celestia reached into the bottom drawer of her desk, opened the false bottom, and withdrew a small stone triangle. “That,” Celestia said as she placed it in Enchanted Evening's hooves, “is pure avacite.”
Enchanted Evening nearly dropped the stone as she jumped in shock. “I didn't know there was this much of it in all of Equestria! How did you-”
“That's not important. I have here designs for a magical device that will enhance an earth pony’s speed, strength, and innate connection to nature. Any earth pony using it will be a juggernaut with nature's fury at her beck and call. I need you to examine the spellwork for errors, and make any changes you believe would improve it. Those changes would need to be personally approved by me.”
Enchanted Evening balked. “And you wish for me to inscribe the spellwork onto a chunk of avacite the size of my hoof?” Celestia nodded. “Any earth pony using this wouldn't just be able to challenge you. They would be able to destroy Equestria.”
If Celestia was moved by that, she didn't show it. “Enchanted Evening, I could destroy Equestria right now, and nopony could stop me. I am adding failsafes to a system lacking them. This may seem extreme, but I don't want the attempt to fall short simply because I was scared to place that much power into a pony's hooves. We will simply have to trust our savior like you trust me, when the time comes.”
“I am not sure if this is the best way to ensure Equestria’s future. But I will perform the enchanting if you think this is best. I have one question remaining, your majesty.”
“And that is?”
Enchanted Evening took a deep breath. “Why specifically an earth pony? Is there not some kind of enchantment that could benefit all ponies equally so that this… weapon… would be better suited to its purpose?”
Celestia gave her most practiced, mysterious, and utterly unreadable smile. “Enchanted Evening, I have more than just one solution to this potential problem. Will you do this?”
Enchanted Evening nodded. Celestia dried the tears on the mare’s face, then sent her on her way.
As Enchanted Evening rounded the corner and closed the door, Celestia retrieved a piece of chalk to draw a new oathbinding circle. There were more meetings to be had.
Her next guest arrived an hour later. He was a red-brown pegasus, clearly tired from being up too late and with his dirty blonde mane unkempt. He nearly scuffed the delicate runes of the chalk circle as his hooves dragged, but Celestia gently grasped him in her telekinesis before he could.
He took a measure of the spellwork below him before grunting. “Ah, it’s that kind of meeting. Secrecy?”
Celestia nodded.
“Very well then, I swear to never reveal what happens in this room within the next… two hours?” Another nod from Celestia. “Two hours, without explicit permission from Her Highness Princess Celestia for the remainder of my mortal life.” The chalk below vanished. “Now, what's so important that I couldn't get a good night's sleep, your majesty?”
“I'm sure you have had similar thoughts to my own about what should happen in the coming decades and centuries if I prove as untrustworthy as my sister,” Celestia said.
“I've concluded that there is little risk of you following the same path, and the proposed political reforms to give you some oversight should-"
“Staggershock, please. Every theory about the stability of our nation was thrown out when Luna betrayed us. But it has laid bare several flaws we can address. We need to lay the groundwork for heroes. To that end, I have a project for a stallion of your talent for thunder runes.” Celestia went to her wardrobe, and from a hidden compartment behind her garments withdrew several different minerals.
Staggershock appraised them as they were placed in his hoof. “Runestone, a high grade.”
“The finest I could arrange for.”
“So the finest in the land, then. Purified silver. That'll make perfect inscriptions. And ruby?” He gazed curiously at the three gemstones. Two were matched in size, with the third smaller but already cut.
“Andesine, actually,” Celestia replied. “It holds the necessary energies better in my experience.”
“If you're worried about energy consumption, this must be one powerful charm,” he said warily.
Celestia withdrew one last thing from the hidden compartment, which she placed on the desk to his side. “I have the plans here. You have a keener eye for this craft than I however, so I'd like you to do the construction and tell me of any improvements you would like to make.”
Staggershock reviewed the schematics, his eyes widening as he took in the project's scope. “Princess Celestia, I must say I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea of a pegasus who is faster than the eye and able to summon storms with their mind.”
“Then what would you suggest to empower a pegasus to be capable of defeating me?”
He sighed, before examining the materials he had been given. “How long do I have for this?”
“I would prefer the work be complete inside of the decade, but my nature allows me to be patient,” Celestia said matter-of-factly.
“And if I refuse?”
“Hmm, I suppose I'll have to find another runecarver to take your place. I'm sure many talented young ponies would leap for my patronage.” She let a little mirth slip into her voice.
Staggershock’s voice matched hers in tone. “We both know you would never do that.”
“Only because we both know that you are going to agree. Now imagine a nation entirely comprised of those as loyal as you,” Celestia steered the conversation back to her point. “Admirable, certainly. But were I to become compromised? Problematic. Nopony would be willing to rise and stop me. I seek to create tools so that fear of my power will not contribute to this. There needs to be some level of dissent, even if we do not like it.”
“I worry that this will not stop you from ruining Equestria, but instead empower somepony else to do so. These destructive powers would be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hooves. Where will you even keep this if its purpose is to defeat you?”
Celestia sighed. “I have a place in mind for where to keep it, but let that be my business. And yes, there is danger in what these runes will let a pony do, but sometimes you must accept a certain level of risk to prevent worse problems further along.”
Staggershock placed the components he’d been given into his saddlebags, then went to examine the notes further. “You swear to me that this will be kept safe?”
“I do, Staggershock.”
He rolled up the notes, then placed those in his bags as well. “I hope you are right, then. I'll begin work on this after I've had a good rest. It will be ready sometime in the next decade, per your request.” With a bow and silence, he exited the room.
Celestia’s final meeting of the night was with a unicorn who looked more like a ghost than a mare. Pale blue coat, almost white, with a mane to match. She glanced down to the chalk circle at her hooves with a chuckle.
“I suppose this is why Staggershock is passed out on my couch, unable to tell me what had him up so late?”
“Why did he go to your house instead of his?” Celestia asked, puzzled.
“It's closer to the palace and he was very tired. So tired he missed the implications when I said he could sleep on the bed instead. He said he didn't want to bother me more than he already had and passed out before I could even offer tea.” The mare sighed. “He will understand someday, I hope.”
Without further discussion, she stepped into the oathbinding circle. “I swear to never reveal whatever critically important secret of the nation Her Majesty is about to discuss with me,” the mare said with an impish smile.
The chalk vanished, and she closed the door behind her. “Phantasmal Image,” Celestia began, “I have need of your talents for a project of mine.”
“With all due respect, your majesty, that is quite obvious. What does this project entail?”
Celestia went to the map of Equestria on her wall and gently removed it from its frame. Behind the map was a small hole, barely visible to the equine eye, and Celestia delicately used her telekinesis to open the compartment it hid. Within was a thin sheet of parchment, a small hunk of black stone, and a tiny shard of red gemstone.
Phantasmal Image took the items in her own magic as Celestia offered them to her, and read the contents of the parchment. “So, you want an artifact that will bolster a unicorn’s reserves of magic, and impart into their minds every vaguely useful spell for combat I can think of. This is certainly an interesting request. And these materials! Black cerinerite? I'm impressed you could find this much in one chunk. May I keep whatever is left after I carve it?”
Celestia wasn't sure how to respond to that. “I suppose so. You aren't concerned with the ramifications of making this?”
Phantasmal Image shook her head. “I'm sure you have a good reason for making this. Although I suppose I'm curious now.”
“It is for the eventuality that I turn against Equestria and we need somepony who can stand against me.”
The silence in the air lingered as tension filled the room until Phantasmal Image spoke, her tone just as light as when she had arrived. “That seems like a good plan, your highness. It may take some time to make this, but I will have it ready as soon as I can. I anticipate roughly three years with all the different spells I will need to impart on this thing. Is that acceptable?”
“Just like that?”
“Just like what, Princess?”
“You will just agree to this without any argument? No pleas that it is not necessary because I would never betray you? No being uncomfortable with what would happen should somepony untrustworthy come into possession of this artifact? Nothing?”
Phantasmal Image smiled wide at her princess. “Hm, no. I do not think it necessary, but I am also not the one who has to rule this country for the next several centuries and then some. You seem of sound enough mind right now to be making plans for if you are not sound later. I trust your judgement, and relish the chance to ply my craft on something like this. Was there anything else you needed of me, your majesty?”
“I suppose not, you are dismissed, Madam Image. Good evening.”
“To you as well, your highness,” Phantasmal Image said as she took her leave.
With no more ponies she needed to speak to that night, Celestia went to her chambers to claim what little sleep she still could before the sun was to be raised.
Celestia was unsurprised when Phantasmal Image was the first to return almost exactly three years later with completed work, as her project was almost entirely routine study. It was a beautiful piece to look at, lovingly carved in the shape of a unicorn’s head in profile and one brilliant speck of andesine for its eye. She had even added a loop on the back for a chain or fabric, making it easy to wear.
Next was Enchanted Evening, four years after that. The spellwork wasn't particularly complex, but hollowing out the middle and the carving of intricate lines within the stone was slow on the best of days, and only made slower by Celestia’s choice of material. Avacite has highly volatile. But still, eventually Celestia had a curious looking black triangle with a hollow center, and hinges that would allow somepony to put something inside the empty space.
Staggershock returned slightly over seventeen years after their initial meeting. He was deeply apologetic the entire time, but the runes had to be steeped in storm clouds long enough to impart their magic. Unfortunately, the runes made required a lot of magic. By the time he had finally finished, he had married, had children, started looking for marriage prospects for those children, and finally gone gray. The runes eventually took the form of red and black wings, connected by a large perfectly cut gem.
Not long after she had acquired the three works, she combined them. She opened the hinges of Enchanted Evening’s triangle, set the two others in the hollows meant to hold them, and sealed the whole thing with powerful magic of her own. They would never be separated again. All that was left was what to do with the newly made amulet.
Celestia had some ideas, of course. It had to be out of her immediate reach, but not sealed away such that it couldn't be used. She already had one magical superweapon sealed away awaiting the right wielder. It also had to be somewhere she couldn't locate. The last thing Equestria needed was for her to be compromised and wearing the amulet.
The simplest solution also seemed to be the best one in her mind. A week after completing the amulet, she donned the illusory earth pony disguise she used when she wanted to be on the streets without notice. She took a roundabout path to a known fence, and pawned off the amulet as simple jewelry.
The fence was a unicorn, and could likely feel the magic radiating off it. He would have it analyzed, assume she hadn't known what she was selling, and sell it at an exorbitant markup. It was far from ideal for making sure proper heroes wound up with it, but her dreams told her it would cross paths with great ponies in the centuries to come. Her dreams had never led her wrong before.
In the intervening time, she would occasionally catch wind of rumors that sounded like her amulet. It had acquired a bit of a nickname: “The Alicorn Amulet,” they called it. She made it a point not to investigate much into the sightings.
Author's Note
So, I'm not sure if the "twist" with the Amulet is obvious, or thuddingly obvious. Definitely not subtle enough that I could in good conscious use the Mystery tag. Oh well. Yet another not particularly adventurous "Adventure" story.
And a special thanks to Bugsydor and hawthornbunny for throwing eyeballs at this before posting.