Putrid

To live as long as she had, recognizing when something was off just came naturally. Forget about Twilight Sparkle’s poorly muffled tension, the sun sat lopsided in the sky—a placement not quite right for the time of the year and time of day. When she looked up, way up, she spotted the moon painted a faint blue behind in the clear sky. It played the role of the North Star guiding them towards the beach house, and it remained there, directly above it with stubborn defiance.

Luna was home.

With a burst of excitement, Celestia broke into a full gallop towards their white picket fence.

“Aunty!” Cadance waited in the backyard, and when she spotted her she wore the same forced smile as Twilight, only her poker face wasn’t as strong. Raising on her hind legs with the aid of her flapping wings, Cadance opened her arms to offer the approaching mare a hug.

Celestia denied her one, far too aware that she was serving as a barrier between her and her sweet Luna.

“You are looking very well,” Cadance lied.

Celestia leaped over her niece’s head, straight through the sliding door glass, to land into the kitchen of the house. Shards of what was once a dusty window scattered across the puddle of water pooling from beneath the running sink. That all went ignored, what mattered more than glass in her mane was finding out why the parasite had gone quiet.

As if she cared about it. As if she had any incentive to keep the treacherous thing alive.

Approaching her bedroom door, Celestia came to a halt as she held her breath. There was fog between the hinges, through each crack. This dread, this suffocating regret, as if the reaper stood on the other side waiting to greet her for the final time.

Or greet the parasite.

In those moments, those few short seconds, Cestestia couldn’t say she felt much. It needed to die, she wanted it did—at least she thought so? She didn’t know. Gilaffy could’ve done it for her, she could’ve asked him to end it since she was too much of a coward to take it out of her misery herself.

But then she heard Luna’s lullaby, and though it was drenched in her sorrow, it lacked the weight of grief.

Celestia slowly opened the door.

In the dark room, under the warm light of Luna’s horn, the moon goddess cradled the skeletal form of the parasite. She breathed life into it with a gentle kiss, and as she kept it close to her chest, Celestia just knew her sister had fallen deeply in love just by the way she looked at it—and Luna never looked at her that way. Such strong adoration for someone so undeserving of it? It just made Celestia very envious of her own infant child.

“Why did you leave me, Luna?” Celestia came closer. If she got her way, she’d yank the parasite from Luna’s grasps and punish it for stealing yet another thing from her.

Her sister turned her back on Celestia while she kept her sights on the parasite as if it were the only being on earth.

But that wasn’t fair. Not after their long time away from each other. One whole week? Since Luna’s return they’ve never gone a few days without seeing each other’s face.

“Luna?” Celestia begged for her attention.

But Luna reserved all of her love for the nasty little creature Celestia hated more than she knew.

“Quite a beauty to behold, a gift I’ll forever cherish. Rest now my precious child, for when you wake you’ll be renewed,” Luna whispered as she soothed the parasite into pleasant dreams.

And Celestia came even closer, an anger taking a hold of her as her mind was left conflicted. That parasite wasn’t Luna’s. She didn’t have to suffer through its birth, so how could she just claim it as her own as if Celestia had no say in the matter? “That’s my baby,” she reminded her sister who still refused to look at her.

Luna kept singing, and rocking, and keeping her back to Celestia—such a spiteful act of defiance that made her want to erupt. Before Celestia could confront her, Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“The chariots are here.” Why was that said with no emotion? Was Twilight also upset with her? “Luna and the foal will ride in the first, and you’ll ride with Cadance and I, princess.”

Still cradling the parasite in her magic, Luna turned around to head out of the door without uttering a single word to her sister. Celestia, of course, attempted to follow, only for Twilight to once again stand in her way.

“I should ride with my baby.” Celestia reminded her once faithful student of this fact since she had been so adamant on pestering her about this child before, so of course Twilight should understand and be on her side.

Twilight did not understand, or she did not care. “I don’t think that’s a good idea—“

“And why not?” Still a head taller than Twilight, Celestia raised her neck to stare down at her as if she had the right to hold such a cold judgemental stare on the nation’s current monarch. As if Celestia had her head screwed on straight, as if they both weren’t aware there was something very, very wrong with her current mental state. As if she weren’t a breakdown away from becoming a living bomb.

So Twilight eased up, and she did what was best for all the creatures of Equestria. “Princess,” she smiled, and through the glow of her heavenly magic, Celestia could be coaxed to calm down. “I’m excited to ride with you. Just like old times.”

“Like old times?” They locked their gaze. Twilight infiltrated her mind with her will. Do as I say, it’ll be alright. “I’m smarter than that,” Celestia reminded not only her former student, but herself of this fact. “Your magic is only as strong as I allow it.”

“You are strong.”

“I know that.”

“So be strong for her and comply?” With such desperation in Twilight’s voice it was easy to give in, to just get this over with, but Celestia didn’t want to. She wanted to fight for what? What was there to push back against.

“Luna hates me.”

“Luna only wants to save the foal.” Twilight tucked her head beneath Celestia’s chin to offer her comfort. She wasn’t upset with her, she just didn’t want her to be broken anymore. “Don’t you?”

Celestia didn’t know how she felt anymore.

Milk dripped down her forelegs and to moisten the velvet cushions beneath Celestia. Cadance had noticed but had said a word about it. She hadn’t said a word to Celestia at all, not since they entered the chariot a while ago. The windows were covered by curtains. The world outside was muffled by high winds.

They sat in silence.

Everything felt off. Celestia had lived long enough to know when she was being led into a situation she couldn’t simply walk away from, yet she stayed put. She put up no fuss. She behaved like a good filly despite knowing what was likely planned for her.

Luna knew what she had done.

By her sister’s reaction, there was no mistaking that she was, in fact, present in her dream. She knew about Gilaffy and what Celestia allowed him to do . Now the question was whether or not Twilight knew too.

The laws on such an offense were very well known to Celestia considering that, well, she helped write them. Technically, she could be held just as liable for the crime of sexual misconduct of a foal under 3 years of age, and charged with molestation, foal endangerment, assault of an infant—there was enough to place her on a list for a long time. She would deserve it too. charges that could get tacked on there too. How such a loving princess could become a bad pony. Celestia felt ashamed, but there was no redoing the past.

And to be quite frank, Celestia wasn’t too keen on being punished for such heinous crimes—it’d ruin her holy image.

Now that is if Twilight was aware of Gilaffy.

Judging by Twilight not once mentioning his name, the lack of concern on what he possibly did to the parasite, if Celestia had to wager a guess she’d say she was none the wiser. But that begged the question of why Luna would tell Twilight everything else, yet keep the worst part of it to herself.

“Oh, Luna.” Celestia shut her eyes and hung her head. Of course Luna wouldn’t want the world to know the monstrous thing Celestia had done.

“It's going to be alright. We’re almost there.” Twilight smiled as she nuzzled against her.

“Can I explain myself?” Celestia had to distract from the fact she felt herself heating up. “I didn’t believe it was real.”

“You didn’t believe what was real?” Cadance placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

“The para—the foal…my baby.”

To see the forced smile on Cadance's face gradually sag into that of a frustrated frown was oddly the most satisfying thing Celestia had witnessed all day. She’d rather raw honest truth than the fake politeness she’s been receiving, and honest truth was just what Cadance was going to serve to her.

“No I can’t,” Cadance pushed away. “I know you want me to be kind, Twilight, but I just can’t do this. As a mother I just—“ Taking a deep inhale, she bite her tongue.

It was awkward as they fell into silence. Each mare exchanging looks between each other.

Twilight nodded. “Okay—“

No, they would not drop this to place the masks back on. Celestia wanted to confront this, she wanted a conflict—or a resolution. Whichever happened first. “Just say what you want to say.” So she loomed over her niece, both well aware who the superior alicorn was—and Cadance was far from superior to anyone beyond her bratty husband.

“You can’t convince me a pony with your age and wisdom couldn’t recognize a foal.” Cadance broke their eye contact in favor of feeding her more faux politeness. “But it’s fine. I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end after you get the help that you need.” That was a bit smug.

“Help this, help that…” as Celestia shook her head, her mane whipped all corners of their tight space. “Who’s to say I want the help? What if I decide to reject it? Fly out of this cabin without a second word? Never speak to either of you again?”

“Then you’d be throwing a tantrum, and we’d have every right to put you in timeout,” Cadance scoffed while she sat up with her forelegs.

“I’ll take that as my cue to leave—“

“Enough!” Twilight slammed her hoof on the red cushioned floor of their cabin. “Princess Cadance, I request that you be mature about this.”

“Of course, princess.” With a royal bow, the ruler of the Crystal Kingdom returned to her silence.

“Please, calm down for me. This is hard on everypony.” Unlike with Cadance, Twilight handled Celestia with kid gloves. And as she extended a hoof like a seatbelt over her mentor, the chariot descended from the atmosphere. “You’re already doing so well—“

Celestia stuck her long neck past Twilight’s shoulder to steal a glance out of the drawn curtains concealing the world outside. They weren’t landing on solid ground, but approaching a cloud castle—rather a fortress that went on for miles in either direction. Below its feet were dark ominous thunderclouds occasionally flashing from bolts of electricity. The earth below was but a figment of one’s imagination, there was nothing in this void beyond their destination.

This was no happy place. The line of pegasi guards taking formation as the chariot approached its landing strip didn’t help ease her mind.

“Twilight…” Celestia didn’t know what to say. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, took in a deep breath, and just let it out. “You intend to imprison me?”

“We need to focus on making sure your foal is alive, Princess. Here is the best location to do that while keeping things discreet.” Twilight’s response was predictable, robotic even, vague in a sense that it didn’t answer her initial question. She used her magic to obscure Celestia’s view, but she already caught a glance of Luna’s chariot landing and before the doors could even open, a group of doctors flew from the fortress’ doors to retrieve the dying parasite.

Celestia gathered up her tail as she prepared to leave. “I’m sure with the right magic, and in the hooves of professionals, it should be alright.” She assured herself, but said it aloud so Twilight and Cadance wouldn’t think she was a psychopath.

Perhaps it was too late for that.

“We do have a few professionals who’d like to speak to you too.” Twilight smiled.

“How come? I’m not sick.”

The surface of the clouds were so thick that Celestia hadn’t felt the cart land at all. Suddenly they were moving, and then they were not. Twilight wouldn’t give her a response. She simply opened the door to a line of saluting guards. “We should go,” she said.

Cadance got up behind Celestia, clearly seeking to exit, and thus forcing her forward. A lesser pony might’ve felt intimidated by this, but Celestia was well aware of her status. Nothing could make her feel frightened by her niece. Not even her husband approaching the three in his clad in wartime best.

“Princess,” Shining Armor bowed at his sister’s feet. “I hope your ride was favorable and my soldiers didn’t give you too much trouble.”

The group turned towards the two pairs of pegasi pulling their chariots. They wore blinders on the side of their helmets, and tight earmuffs. If they weren’t standing directly in their line of sight, they wouldn’t know they were still there, let alone referring to them.

“It was…fine enough.” Twilight sighed, but continued on before her brother could draw conclusions and blame the wrong ponies for the figurative turbulence during their flight. “Status update?”

“All operations are as requested.”

“Thank you, General.” Twilight motioned with her head for him to stand. “Though, it’s crucial that we keep this discreet, so I am a bit disappointed at the number of guards present.”

Shining Armor turned around to gauge the repeating faces of white winged stallions. He nodded and grinned behind his polished gold plated helmet. “They are an illusion, princess.” His grin had been shining the entire time, likely to grant himself the ability to walk on the clouds, but as he shook his head like a wet dog, the lines of guards disappeared like clearing fog. “I’ve gotten pretty good at that, haven’t I?”

“You have. It was wonderful!” Cadance stomped her hooves in praise. “Quite alluring, if I might add,” she purred like a kitten.

Shining Armor stood a foot taller. “You liked that, didn’t you?”

“Mhm, I did—“

“Okay, let’s get moving!” Twilight interrupted before things got a little too steamy.

To traverse the fortress was like walking blindfolded through a carnival fun house full of mirrors. It didn’t help that Celestia was kept in the dark about a lot of details; like where were they going? Why here of all places? Would the parasite be okay? Nothing was answered, nothing was said even, beyond the sound of their clopping hooves over the cloud castle’s glass floors.

Eventually they arrived at a large corridor adorned with ceiling high statues of winged unicorns—alicorns she hadn’t seen before. They held the elements in their hooves as their stone eyes watched them from their high position.

Celestia noticed Cadance whisper in her husband’s ear, so faintly that she needed to strain her ears to hear a portion of it. “…thing we never left Flurry alone with...” Cadance had her gaze all over Celestia, spiting her to act out. “Who knows what she would’ve done.”

“I still can’t believe it.” Shining Armor replied, but it was a thought in his head. Just as Luna could walk through a pony's slumber, Celestia could gaze into a daydream, but to get the full picture of a pony’s imagination was far more difficult than through a full night’s sleep. The darkness allowed for little distraction. To daydream was to be half awake, and thus the mind could snap back into focus in a second’s notice.

Like at that moment when Shining Armor suddenly yelped from under the red hot iron of his armor.

Immediately Cadance’s eyes shot towards Celestia as Twilight stopped her silent trot to see what was happening.

“You’re hurting him!” Cadance screamed, reared up, then slammed her front hooves against the glass floor shattering it to get at the clouds below. Her horn lit up, Shining Armor was knocked off his feet and into a pool of cool water. The group watched as he sizzled in his magical fishbowl before the temperatures returned to normal. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”

“I’m simply standing here.” Unlike her niece, Celestia didn’t raise her voice. “I haven’t used my magic once.”

“Liar! You liar, aunty!”

Shining Armor, with his mane dripping over his eyes, stood up, only to be pushed right back down by his wife. “I’m alright—“

“She’s trying to burn you alive!”

“I’m simply standing here,” Celestia repeated.

Twilight removed Shining Armor’s helmet and helped him on his smoking hooves. “I don’t believe the Princess can control her temperatures. That is on us, Cadance. We should’ve been more vigilant of the rising heat.”

“Us?!” Cadance blinked in utter shock. Her face wrinkled into something feral, furious. “How was I supposed to know she would do that?! She’s over a thousand years old yet needs to be babysat?! Stop infantilizing her!”

“Princess Cadance,” Twilight looked down at her sister-in-law, wings spread to add size, while she challenged her disordenice with her gaze alone. Cadance might’ve been older, but Twilight was the lead mare in Equestria. She wouldn’t allow her to forget that.

Both Cadance, and in turn Shining Armor, bowed in reverence. “My apologies, princess,” they said in sync.

“Perhaps Princess Celestia wouldn’t have gotten so worked up if you two weren’t gossiping in earshot.” Twilight shut her wings but allowed her glare to linger for just a second longer before she released them from her Medusan hold.

“Our apologies,” Cadance said alone.

“On your feet.” As they continued forward, Celestia slowly wandered to Twilight’s side. How odd she felt to have their roles reversed. Twilight the motherly monarch, and Celetia the starry eyed subject—though she wasn’t exactly starry eyed, moreso suspicious. “You don’t need to defend me, Twilight. A few mean words hardly make a dent on my psyche.”

Through a room, then a long hallway, and through yet another room, they were approaching a wide stone door over ten feet in height. It took a moment, one far too long, before Twilight gave her a response. “I think you’re currently in a fragile state of mind. Some things will affect you more than usual.”

“You speak as if that’s fact.” Celestia looked up at the peak of the door. There were intricate inscriptions running along the entirety of it, and by the way the light shined chromatically against each crease and crevice, Celestia knew that every fiber of its being was oozing with ancient sorcery. Whatever this place was, Celestia didn’t know, and she assumed she knew every location on the Equestrian map, be it deep underground, or hundreds of feet in the air.

So she took a step back. This was no chamber to Tartarus, but something far worse.

Twilight looked beyond her with a smile. “Starswirl! There you are.” She gladly motioned him over with her neck.

“Princesses,” he bowed, and as he did, two other young sorcerers followed suit. Celestia might’ve been a little rusty on her royal duties, but despite seeing millions upon millions of faces throughout her lifetime, she recognized the lilac mare as the reformed Starlight Glimmer, and the caped stallion as Sunburst.

And in those moments it all came very neatly together.

Celestia looked towards the large open window, her illusion of escape if Shining Armor intensely watching her was anything to go by. She hardly feared him, a hot helmet was enough to make him cry, but she knew he wasn’t there to serve as muscle. He was a battery for Cadance. So she found herself in a room with two alicorns, one she was certain she could take in her sleep, and another she was…very doubtful about. Beyond those two there were three wizards, and not just any wizard, but Starswirl the Bearded, a sorcery powerful enough to cheat death himself without the need for ascension. Celestia wasn’t too certain about his underlings, but the simple fact that Twilight requested their presence was enough to cause her to hesitate.

“I’m glad you all could make it. Please, on your feet.” Twilight smiled.

Celestia scanned for another escape. The architecture of the fortress was nothing she'd seen before. Markings of beasts with two heads, and sharp teeth, and crazed eyes lined the center of the ceiling, and on the far right were equine chopping the heads of these beasts with curved blades and golden plated armor. In the far left? In the far left, just above the door, were alicorns transforming into the monsters the ponies fought.

Starswirl chuckled as he spoke. “It’s a pleasure, princess. All measures are in order to ensure the erasure of our memories after our duties are fulfilled, just as you requested.”

“Perfect. The same will need to be done to the surgeons, and the set of soldiers that escorted us here today.”

“Of course. They won’t remember a thing once they leave this place.” Starswirl kept his gaze on Celestia. “We were just going over a few preparations for the ritual. There is no room for error after all as in the best case scenario, we simply fail to open the gate. In the worst case, well, we could unintentionally release a malicious entity.” As Starswirl spoke, his beard swung back and forth from the bells dangling from it. Were those new? Tiny gold bells to match the ones on his hat? “Fortunately, I have very brilliant help with me today.” His eyes crescent as he made room for Starlight and Sunburst, both equally humbled by the compliment.

“I would say it’s the time I’ve spent studying on Skyros that is to blame.” Sunburst magically pushed his glasses up the bridge of his snout. “That and Starlight.” His cheeks burned red.

Starlight didn’t appear to notice his flustered state at the mere mention of her. “Well I—“

“What is this ritual for?” Celestia butted in with a tilted head. She knew that they knew that she knew what they were planning. It was a mind game they were playing, she figured. Perhaps their way of making her too nervous to think straight since everyone present knew that whatever they had planned, it was for her.

Twilight placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “You’ll get the help that you need.”

“Right.” Celestia observed the sea of smiling faces. All phonies, all fake.

“It’s not a prison,” Twilight added.

“Right.”

“It’s for your own good.” That same comforting hoof now rubbed her shoulder as if to claim everything would be just fine. It was believable for a young foal, but obviously not for Celestia.

Through the burst of the collective magic of the three sorcerers, diamond cuffs appeared, and judging by its plain matte finish, it wasn’t diamond for appearances but durability. Seven cuffs in total, four for each leg, two for her wings, and one for her horn. The leg cuffs weren’t shackled together, they only served to suppress her strength. The wing cuffs, to ground her. The horn cuffs, to seal her magic. Celestia had lorded over enough criminal cases throughout the years to know how these things operated, and to know that once the cuffs were on they weren’t coming off short of amputation.

“It’ll only be a short while,” Twilight assured her with the same motherly tone Celestia would previously use on her. She stepped closer, taking the cuffs in her own magic, as all ponies present gradually formed a circle around the rogue princess to trap her like a wild animal.

Celestia could feel herself warming up.

She took a deep breath.

The open window was only a few wing strokes away, but the more she stared, the more she noticed the same chromatic light reflecting off an invisible barrier. They came prepared for her bolting out of there, of course they did. Celestia wanted to feel insulted, but she had no time for that. She needed to think of a way out of this.

“How short exactly?”

“A little while.” Twilight kept it vague. “You’ll be out before you know it.”

So nothing short of a thousand years at least.

“All by myself?” She looked towards the room Starswirl and his apprentices came from. “Isolated in a cage?”

“No, no. It’s more like a facility with other deities who also have similar problems. Fully staffed and all, and the scenery is so soothing, not to mention the heavenly music.” Twilight had a twinkle in her eyes just thinking about it—or at least coaxing Celestia to envision it.

“It really is nice, aunty. I had an opportunity to magically tour the place with the Princess, and if the books are anything to go by, I don’t think there exists a location as nice as that facility in our physical realm.” Cadance, all high and mighty, was the first to make a nice little pathway towards the strange stone door.

“Oh, really?” Celestia feigned excitement. “That’s not so bad. I guess I’ll go.”

Twilight opened the horn cuff as she edged it closer towards its very long and pointed target. “This is so good to hear, and you’re very brave to agree to this, princess. I’m proud of you—“

Celestia yanked her head back before the cuff could shut. “But I want to make sure my baby is alive and I want to say goodbye to Luna.”

“I don’t think that’s—“

“Please,” she pouted. “How will I ever manage to focus on healing while the guilt of never getting to say goodbye to my only sister and foal looms over my head?” Celestia lowered her neck to the ground as if to wipe her tears against the glass floor. “I wouldn’t see the point in continuing on. In that case, I’d rather transition out of this life.” Such threats were never uttered from Celestia’s lips, so it was no wonder that Twilight would take it very seriously.

She dropped her magic completely, from the cuffs that hovered above their heads, to the invisible force field around the fortress.

And tears pricked the corners of Twilight’s eyes, she staggered on her breath, her calm facade fell. “You wouldn’t…”

Starswirl spoke up. “Princess, we shouldn’t delay. There is a limited window of time to perform the ritual.”

“I know, but…” Twilight couldn’t contain her tears any longer. “She deserves to at least say goodbye.”

“Princess,” Cadance picked up the cuffs herself. “Why don’t I do it then? We can just have Luna write to her and give an update on the status of the foal. There’s no need for her to see them and cause more damage.”

“I might be gone for a while,” Celestia sighed. “Can’t I have just this moment?” And she was really outdoing herself with the pity act, though that was due in fact that she wasn’t fully pretending. If they were going to cast her to the realm of bad, naughty, no good gods—something she didn’t even do to Nightmare Moon—then seeing Luna’s face for one last time was the only way she’d survive it. And maybe even seeing the parasite too, for whatever reason. “I won’t put up a fuss afterwards.”

Cadance huffed a, “no.”

But Twilight had been convinced enough through her own tears of nostalgia and aging reverence for her mentor. Of course she’d cave in. Of course she would. “We’ll aim for the next window of time. The princess should be granted a chance to say goodbye.”

“We’re looking at the following full moon at the latest, princess. We still have a few hours today to open the gate.” Through his magic, a book appeared before Starswirl. “If Princess Celestia is indeed showing signs of turning, it wouldn’t be wise to allow our emotions to fog our judgment.” Whatever he was searching for in that book, he had found, but he didn’t share it with the rest of them. “Especially when millions of lives are on the line.”

“I understand.” Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes as she inhaled to regain her composure. “Then we have a few hours. That’s plenty of time to say goodbye.”

Starswirl nodded with a bow. “As you wish, your majesty.”