“P-princess, you really shouldn’t have,” Twilight said, glancing at the richly laden table, almost drooling at sight. " S-so much food...”
“I disagree, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Once again, you girls put an end to a danger threatening Equestria. This is the least I can do.”
Luna smiled ironically, rolling her cyan eyes. “Hrmph! Please… We all know you just wanted an excuse to eat the best cake, sister.”
“Certainly not! But... it would be rude of me not to eat with our guests, would it not?”
Before Luna could reply, Twilight interrupted their little feud. “Princess, we’re honored to have been invited to this lovely feast—”
“Talking about the feast, can we start already?” Pinkie said as a gurgle let her stomach. “I’m starving here!”
“For once, I have to agree with Pinkie, your majesties,” Rarity said. “The cuisine served on the train was... not palatable.”
Celestia smiled, licking her inner lip. “Very well, please help yourselves.”
And they did. Listening to the pleasant music coming from the gramophone in the corner, all the element bearers began munching on their food like there was no tomorrow. Then there was dessert and some cider. Two dozen mugs were enough to get everyone in the right mood, quickly starting the conversations about anything and everything. Soon, everyone seemed to have a good time. Except for one pony.
“Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?” Celestia said, seeing Dash glancing at the empty mug of cider, lost in thought.
“Um, it’s nothing...”
“Not fond of parties, are you?”
“It’s... It’s not that,” Dash bit her lip. “I-I don’t want to be insulting.”
Celestia smiled. “Is it because I ate your part of the cake?”
“Nah. I don’t like cake…”
“So, what is it, Rainbow Dash? Do you want to ask me something?”
Dash’s eyes began darting from left to right until she sighed forcefully. She glanced Celestia in the eyes with an unexpected serious face and fired away.
“Why do you never help?”
“... pardon?”
“Why do you never help us fight bad guys?” Dash fired again, intensifying her gaze. “I mean, I know we’re the bearers of elements and stuff, but... Why do we always have to do everything ourselves—”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight interrupted with a glare. “I think you drank too much cider.”
“Maybe I have, but… Ugh!” Rainbow angrily smashed the table with her hoof getting everyone’s attention. “Twilight will never say it, but Fluttershy and Rarity almost got squashed by a giant rock on that last mission!”
“Rainbow Dash, that’s enough!”
“No, Twilight! I want to know why she never helps! She moves the sun, for pony’s sake! With her magic—”
“Enough!” Twilight put a bubble of silence around Dash, and with a guilty sigh, turned towards silent Celestia. “I’m sorry, Princess. Cider doesn’t agree with her very much.”
Celestia stood up and, with her magic, turned off the music. Quietly, she walked towards one of the windows overlooking the land and began staring at the horizon. Rainbow Dash’s weak head was no news to her, but drunk or not, she had a point. After a few more seconds of silence, Celestia let out a sigh. It was confession time.
“My apologies to all of you. I realized how that looks. Is she just lazy, or maybe she is not as powerful as everyone thinks? I bet you had asked yourself that question, at one time or the other.”
“Princess, we would never dare to—”
“No, Twilight. You, would never dare,” a bitter smile filled Celestia’s face. “But that is because you idolize me. I think it is time you all learn why I try to steer clear of all the recent trouble.”
“Sister, do you really think they need to know that?” Luna’s said, with worry in her voice. “Those memories are in the past.”
“They are the bearers of the elements, they have the right.” Then, Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash. “What do you know about Badlands?”
“Um… Only that’s it’s a lifeless desert, located between Changeling’s hive and Equestria. Why?”
“Did you ever wonder, why is it almost perfectly spherical in shape?” Rainbow shook her head. “Let me tell you all a story. A story about, how, Badlands got their name...”
***
Seven hundred years ago...
Celestia walked through the battlefield towards the command tent, her nostrils filling with the stench of the swamp and rotting wood. Of all the places on Earth, the damn rebels had to choose this stinking dump as their hiding spot. A bad place to live, but an even worse place to die.
Even though her nose was high, and stoic expression was beaming from under the helmet, Celestia’s eyes secretly scrutinized the bowing troops around her. Earth ponies cavalry, pegasi air support and reconnaissance, noble unicorn warriors and spell casters. Today, all sitting in the same stinking mud, all waiting for the upcoming battle. Unless she could stop it.
As she entered the tent, a seasoned pegasus bowed down. His scar covered face a witness to many battles.
“Your Highness! We’re ready to proceed as planned.”
Celestia smiled. “At ease, Semper Fi, before you stretch something,” he complied, smiling himself. They were alone, no need to be formal. “What is our assessment of their forces?”
“I’m afraid that even more raiders joined them. Our reconnaissance team estimates twenty thousand minotaurs and the same number of diamond dogs. We also spotted about ten thousand griffons. They also seem to have some dragons, and even command some timberwolves, among other creatures. All in all, we estimate they have about sixty thousand troops.”
“I see… What about our forces?”
“With griffon mercenaries, we have about ninety thousand troops, but… half of those are barely trained conscripts.”
Celestia knew that even before he told her. They would probably win, but with the loss of life, their victory would taste as bitter as defeat.
“Do you think they will accept the offer?”
“I... I shall make the best efforts that—”
“Cut it, Semper. We are alone, speak up your mind. Do you think they will take the deal?”
Semper Fi let out a sigh, then shook his head. “I doubt it. I don’t think they fight for something. I think that right now, they simply fight against us. They’re not in this to win, but they want to make sure we won’t win either.”
Celestia’s mask shattered then, revealing the face of concern behind it. Even if deep inside, she thought the same way, this wasn’t the news she wanted to hear.
“Celestia, I know you’re not a warrior—”
“I beg your pardon?!” Celestia frowned. “I had led Equestrian’s armies to battle before you were even born, mister!”
“Oh, I didn’t say you don’t know how to fight. I’ve yet to win a battle with you,” Semper smiled. “But we both know you want peace above everything else. But this time, I don’t think you’re going to get it. I’m sorry.”
Celestia glanced away, trying to hide her worries, but it was a futile effort. “Maybe… Maybe I should send somepony else—”
“No! If you want any chance of this to succeed, you need to send someone important. As a second in command, that’s me.”
Celestia’s eyes went to the floor in silence. Once again, she knew he was right, as usual. But that didn’t stop her gut from nagging her.
“Don’t worry, we will take every precaution. I doubt they would be stupid enough to attack the emissary,” Semper smiled reassuringly, but his twitching eye was a dead giveaway he wasn’t sure of his words. “My men are waiting for me. I need to get going.”
Semper turned towards the exit, but as soon as he made the first step, Celestia’s magic enveloped him, pulling him closer.
“F-for the record. You came the closest to winning that battle...” She hugged him tightly one more time, and he returned the embrace. “Please, be safe.”
“I will, Tia. I promise.” Semper said and left the tent, and soon the encampment.
Celestia watched as his chariot left towards the enemy camp, disappearing a moment later. It was time to turn the hourglass and wait…
Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Celestia was nervously trotting inside her tent, waiting for the news.
“What’s taking him so long...”
“Um, I’m sure, general Semper Fi will be back soon, your Highness,” captain Stone Spear, the leader of the cavalry, said, but the skepticism in his tone was clearly heard. He was a good soldier, but couldn’t lie to save his life.
“He should be back already...”
“Maybe, he’s negotiating the agreement? You did give him a lot of leeway.”
Celestia knew that she did, and she wanted to believe that Semper Fi was, in fact, negotiating. But that lie wore thin after the first hour, let alone two. Something was wrong, she just knew it. She needed to act and act now.
“Stone Spear, send a covered reconnaissance of our best pegasi watchers. Let them assess the situation. I need to be sure that—”
“Y-your Highness...” The voice of a young unicorn suddenly interrupted her. She smiled immediately, she could recognize that high pitch tone anywhere, it was Plucky Charm – the youngest member of Semper’s guards. He was back after all.
“Finally! I was starting to worry that something happened.”
Celestia turned around, only to see some blood on Plucky’s usually white coat. His face was white as death, and he levitated a basket in front of him.
“W-where is Semper Fi?” The only effect her question had was an uncontrollable shake of the frightened unicorn. “Where is he?!”
Plucky’s breathing intensified, filling the air with short gasps. Then, his eyes widened and locked onto the basket he was levitating. Slowly, Celestia approached the container, trying her best to remain calm. But then, she opened the lid...
“No... NO!” All her efforts went to hell, filling her face with dread and shock. “P-please, no...” Her hind legs turned to jelly, and her rump hit the floor with a thud. This couldn’t be happening.
“What is it, your Highness?!” Stone Spear asked, but seeing Celestia frozen, he glanced inside, immediately regretting it. “Oh, my... Ugh!” The view of Semper Fi’s mutilated head made the content of his stomach splatter on the tent’s wall. “Those bastards! Those… goddamn bastards!”
For a moment, they all remained in a loop, Stone Spear swearing, Plucky shaking in fear and shame, and Celestia staring like some gargoyle statue. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she managed to utter a single word.
“H-how?”
“A-ambush. We tried to fight them off, b-but we were outnumbered ten to one,” Plucky’s eyes went to the ground, and filled with water a second later. “T-they killed everyone but me. And only so that I would d-deliver the... p-package.”
Once again, silence filled the air, but this time Celestia broke it quickly. “Leave me…” She said, her stoic mask back on. “Both of you get out of my sight.”
They left without a word, and Celestia was left with nothing but silence. With her empty stare locked onto the ground, she curled into a ball and her lip started to tremble. She sniffled and whimpered, quietly at first, but getting louder with each passing second. Her whimpers turned into weeps, then loud sobs, until crescendoing into a powerful wail that turned her eyes into a stream. Alone, broken and hurt, she was crying her eyes out, like some abandoned filly.
When she had thought it couldn’t get any worse, all hell broke loose.
“We’re under attack! Battle stations—”
A massive explosion echoed through the air, quickly followed by a frightening roar.
“Dragons! Dragons! Unicorns, shields! Protect the Princess!”
“Too late!”
There was a glow, and in an instant, the entire tent turned into a blazing inferno. It collapsed onto Celestia a second later, burying her under the fiery remains.
Lying immobilized under the burning wood, and feeling the fire consuming her surroundings, Celestia realized it was their plan all along. To lure the second in command into a trap, and attack while she was being tormented by the loss – that was the real purpose of the ‘peace talks.’ They never intended to negotiate. They thought they could win by taking out two key commanders and sneakily attacking while the army was still in chaos.
The screams of dying soldiers, the carnage coming from outside, and the roars of feasting dragons, were a dead giveaway that everything was going according to the enemy’s plan. Except for one tiny detail. She wasn’t just Celestia. She was Celestia, the Princess of the Sun! And she was far from dead. The fire around her and the sounds of slaughter were building out her rage. And once it started, there was no stopping it.
“Cowards… Murders… I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY!”
Celestia launched into the air along with the burning pieces of her tent, with hollers louder than the roars of the few dragons around her. With liquid fire covering her eyes and horn glowing red like a piece of molten steel, she looked like a demon out of hell. With a powerful spell, a wall of pure energy hit the dragons looming above her, sending the house-size creatures crashing down onto the army of the enemy, squashing dozens of troops. But that was just the beginning.
The sky above Celestia turned into a blaze, getting wider and wider, hotter and hotter, until reaching an exploding flashpoint a second later. When it happened, the sun’s shine intensified a millionfold, focusing its power onto the enemy. Then, it was armageddon.
The air filled with liquid fire and vaporizing everyone and everything it touched. The extreme heat turned ground under the enemy’s army into a molted lava, swallowing those few sheltered from the direct blast. Dragons roared in agony, writhing on the molten ground for a while longer, but even they were no match for the heat. Their cries stopped abruptly as their bodies turned to ash, and a second later, blown apart like leaves in the wind. The sun returned to normal then, and it was over.
For a while, everyone froze, just gaping in horror at the glowing crater of lava. What was a green, stinking swamp, was reduced to a lifeless pool of molten stone, boiling and bubbling. The liquefied fury of the Princess of The Sun.
“All hail Celestia!” Some soldier suddenly shouted, breaking the silence.
“All hail Celestia!” Another repeated
Then another, and another, and before she knew it, the entire army was cheering her name. The view of her handiwork, and shouts of joy, extinguished the fiery inferno burning inside her, turning the Daybreaker, back to her original form.
With the stoic mask back on, Celestia landed near her cheering troops. The battle was won, and this war was over, but the struggle inside her, had just begun…
***
Back in the present, ponies in the room stared at Celestia with expressions ranging from confusion to shock. Rainbow Dash was in the latter camp, gaping with jaw hanging low. Until...
“That was... AWESOME!” Rainbow shouted with a grin of joy. “You defeated the entire army by yourself?! Wow—”
“NO! It was not awesome, Rainbow Dash!” Celestia frowned and shook her head. “Do you not understand? That day, I learned the true potential of my magic and what it can do.”
“Yeah, and you kicked some butts!”
“Rainbow, I did not defeat them. I vaporized them. All of them! In a blink of an eye, I had killed thousands of creatures and turned a pile of land into a lifeless desert!” Celestia stopped, then turned around and sighed. Those were the memories she would rather forget. “The thought of how easy it was, still haunts me...”
“So, when you fought Chrysalis—”
“Could I have vaporized her on the spot? Not without vaporizing everypony else around her. My full magic is powerful, but it lacks precision. Besides, after that day on the battlefield, I promised myself I would never use my full potential again, ever.”
“Because you fear to lose control?” Twilight said, timidly. “I... I don’t mean to be rude, but... I have never known you as a mare with a temper.”
Celestia smiled. “Seven hundred years is a lot of time to get my temper under control, Twilight. Even so, it is still there, lying in wait.”
“And from my experience with Nightmare Moon, I know what an alicorn with a temper is capable of becoming, once she loses control,” Luna said. “That’s why both my sister and I prefer diplomacy over power.”
“Luna is correct. Thanks to the diplomacy, friendship, and reformation, there is no danger that either of us becomes Daybreaker or Nightmare Moon.”
“Still...” Rainbow grumbled. “You could help us from time to time, you know. It’s not like we chose this job.”
“And I did not choose to be a princess either, but sometimes fate plays cruel tricks on us. Like it or not, you have been chosen to be a bearer of the element, and yes, that means responsibility, but also adventure and thrill,” Celestia smiled again. “Do not tell me you, of all ponies, have a problem with that?”
Rainbow bit her lip and blushed gently. “... touché.”
“Besides, Rainbow Dash, just because you do not see it, it does not mean I am not helping,” Celestia’s smile turned into a sly grin. “You think that rock that almost squashed Rarity and Fluttershy missed them by chance?”
Dash opened her mouth, ready to ask for details, but Luna muffled her with her hoof. “No! You don’t want to know! Trust me… Suffice it to say, Celestia’s almost as obsessed with your well-being, as she is with cake.”
“A lie!”
“I said almost, dear sister. Everypony knows nothing beats the cake,” Luna’s snicker earned her a usual frown from Celestia. “Speaking of which, are we gonna get back to the party or what?”
“For once, we are in agreement. We had gathered here to celebrate, and this party turned into a wake,” Celestia said and restarted the music. “Pinkie Pie, could you help get the party back on track?”
With a stoic expression, Pinkie saluted, then grinned. “Come on, girls! The day is still young!”
“I will join you shortly, I need to move the sun.”
Celestia left towards the west window, but before she could start her work, Luna interrupted her.
“Can I ask you something?” Luna’s said, suddenly serious. “Semper Fi... He was more than a friend, wasn’t he?”
For a moment, there was no answer. Celestia just stood motionless, her eyes locked on the horizon, thinking. Then, as the memories once again hit her, she let out a deep sigh, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Yes... Yes, he was.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Tia, he seemed like a good pony. But I just want you to know that neither his death nor the incident was your fault. They started this rebellion. They were the ones raiding towns and killing innocent. And when they killed him, they ignited the fire that consumed them in the end. It was all on them, not you.”
“Maybe... But that does not make me feel any better. I just hope that once Twilight takes over, she will never have to do something like that.”
“With friendship and harmony by her side, she will lead Equestria into an age of peace and prosperity.”
“I hope so...” Celestia sighed, quickly moved the sun, and then a little grin filled her face. “Come on, sister! Before they eat what is left of the cake.”
“Hrmph! I knew this whole thing was just an excuse to eat goodies!” Luna smiled and rolled her eyes. “Lead on.”
Author's Note
I wrote that because I always thought that Celestia is always holding back. That's the reason why she gets her butt whacked so easily those few times in the show.
It makes sense if you think about it, how else would she be able to defend Equestria against dragons for a thousand years, for example? Still, she fears her powers and prefers diplomacy and compromise over dead bodies.
I always liked to think of her as someone like that. Someone who has the power to wipe out armies in a blink of an eye, but understands what using that power can lead to.
What do you think 
?
