The Queen of the Dark Ch. I

𒄈 More water bled from the ever-giving mountain, washing sitting Celestia up to her knees. She felt numb. She felt cold. Something was very wrong with her.

The swordguard with a stub of melted steel had been tossed aside.

"Hah-h-h…" Celestia exhaled, pressing her forelegs into her muzzle. She traced them down, coating her pale skin with faint traces of blood. That blood in the water must've belonged to Chrysalis.

…How did the damn changeling get her hooves on the girl? How did she pass through magical securities back in the Palace? She had ample opportunity for that… and did it even matter at this point, anyway?

It was becoming increasingly harder to tell what matters and what does not.

Celestia looked at her reflection in the crystal and adjusted her wet hair, trying to get it away from her muzzle. The rain was still pouring, maybe even harder than before. The alicorn looked towards the flashes in the sky—the show of lightning.

"Ah-h-h-haha…" she trembled in nervous laughter. "H-hah…"

'You are calm. You are strong.'

What is a definition of a true strength?

Compassion. Faith. Restraint.

'Whatever I may do... Wherever this road may lead me... Even if the whole world is wrong... I am still Princess Celestia. No one will ever take that from me.'

The water in the new pouring spring was already clearing up.

'They still need me… They need you, Celestia. They need you. They look up to you.'

Nature cleanses itself… The ash gives way to a new life… One day, here might be a garden full of green.

'You've seen worse. You are confident. You know what to do...'

Charity. Integrity. Optimism.

Conviction.

'The show must go on.'

She willed herself to give the poor girl attention. Her feathers lovingly glided against her cheek. Then, she lifted Twilight and pressed the halves together.

A meticulous reconstitution had begun. She was reaching for fragments and attempting to find the right place for them one by one. Her horn glowed as she patched it up with magic, slowly and steadily bringing back the semblance of its previous form.

The statue was half-destroyed and a lot of smaller pieces were already washed away by a current, but Celestia wasn't impeded by any of that. She fished for another small shard and carefully placed it somewhere in Twilight's neck. Or maybe it was a simple rock? Honestly, she couldn't tell at this point.

She couldn't sit still right now, she had to do anything, anything to ward off the Darkness for a little while.

Everything was cracked and broken, but it still held together. Everything can be built back. Everything can be built back.

"You are so, so-o-o lethal..." she heard the highborn arrogant voice.

The tremor in Celestia's forelegs stopped. She took a deep breath.

"You're one persevering leech," she said, calm and clear.

"Thanks-s~" replied Chrysalis with playful modesty. "I try."

Chrysalis was lying on top of the crystal mass, gulping the air, clearly worn down but refusing to show it. Her steaming wounds were stitching up in an unnatural way, giving the impression that her body was merely another puppet, likened to a chimera that was concealing unimaginable things that lurked behind the perceivable.

Celestia pondered her own connection to the Sun.

Mechanically, she returned to her work, waiting for the quilted numbness inside to subside. Continuing the fight would be too dangerous in this state.

The statue of Twilight was silently accusing her of weakness.

Chrysalis lifted her foreleg and peeked through one of the holes in it. "Ever heard of kintsugi?" she asked.

At first, the foreign word was unexpected to Celestia, but then she remembered its meaning and smiled mirthlessly. "You—you're quite a traveler."

"Our little girl is like a broken vase, and no matter how many times you fix it, the cracks will always remain. They are now history, buried underneath," said Chrysalis. "But oh, she looks so beautiful right now… You both look very beautiful."

Celestia gave her a quiet, cold stare.

"Have you ever been a statue?" asked Chrysalis.

The alicorn's movements faltered.

"You did?" Chrysalis deduced, clearly surprised, and then flashed a lazy grin. "A despicable experience, I'm sure you agree."

She was speaking the truth. The senses of the victim of petrification were warped: a single minute could pass like seconds but crawl like eons. It was like a deep sleep, a long coma, a little death writ large. You thought you could move, but you couldn't, and before you knew it, it was already over. All the reactions from your nerves, all at once, were running for an eternity, and irrelevant to how much actual time you've spent in stone, you were drawing a single breath for what felt like centuries.

It was maddening. It was eye-opening, in a very unpleasant kind of way… though, Celestia was aware of cases when the victim was simply shrugging it off and moving on, so maybe it was more her personal issue.

"Do you think the girl was hurt?" Chrysalis kept asking, echoing Celestia's thoughts.

Celestia pursed her lips, not answering.

"I assume she wasn't," Chrysalis concluded with confidence.

"She was enchanted into the stone by a specific type of spell that prevents harm or corrosion," begrudgingly replied Celestia. "If I am to reverse it right now, she is supposed to appear whole."

"Then why do you even bother with her?" Chrysalis asked, suddenly annoyed.

"What do you mean 'why'? Is it not obvious?"

"Why do you try to fix it?"

"Because I worry about her."

"But why!?" demanded Chrysalis, resting her forelegs.

"The spell can prove faulty. I may go away, and she might remain like this for stars know how long... There are so many ways everything can go wrong, I do not intend to leave her future to chance," Celestia indulged in explanation.

Chrysalis remained confused. Was she pretending? "But why bother?" she growled. "I don't get it. What is the point? If you believe her to be predetermined to take over, then she is supposed to survive no matter what, right?"

"It is a simple act of caring for someone," Celestia muttered, then snorted. What exactly was all this about?

"You can be so tender." Chrysalis bared her teeth. "Do you pity her?"

"It is not about banal pity, but understanding the intricacies of cause and consequence. The celestial design of our fates can unravel in unpredictable ways, so the truth is more complex than what may be known to you," Celestia explained.

"I bet it's not that complex," Chrysalis uttered maliciously.

"Well, you are an ignorant creature after all—that's not a mystery," grumbled Celestia.

Chrysalis giggled. "You know… Today, while I was preparing to beat you… I have devoured a lot of my own. Hundreds. I've made such a sacrifice, and you're unwilling to spare a single one.
"…Oh, don't look at me like that. You have no right to be offended, I've told you, they were mine… Full to the brink with the delicious essence of our ponies… Easy pickings. Didn't you, before you learned they're similar to ponies, treat my spawn like flies that can be easily swatted? Ah, my darling, I always knew you were a bigot. A giant bigot! A huge, old, fat cu—"

"You miserable dimwit!" Celestia barked. "You are going to lecture me on morality!?"

"…Don't get so upset," said Chrysalis with eerie calmness, though her wings trembled. "I've left enough minions lying in wait. Should I perish, I commanded them to take out as many ponies as they could."

"And you assume they'd do that after what you did!?"

"Without me they are nothing."

"Poor beguiled fools." Celestia shook her head. "Either way, your scare tactics won't work on me anymore. We're far past that."

"Good..." Chrysalis made a pause and began earnestly, "While I was consuming them, I wondered, really, just what had driven me to spawn them in the first place? The Queen needs her subjects and Hive, sure, but what if I was lonely too, once? Can you imagine that? Me, being lonely? Ridiculous… but, that's funny..." She grinned. "I figured out something. You were there when I thought my dreams would be achieved, when I stole the appearance of your little niece.
"We had already been twice on the dais with the altar. Remember the first time? You were staring down at me, like you usually do. Oblivious. Immersed in your righteousness. Not knowing what I am preparing for you, soon-to-be my prized possession.
"So I kept thinking about it and about how everything else was twisted into repeating anew but under different circumstances. Was it another shot at getting what I owed? Was it some kind of deception? Was that your beloved destiny, perhaps?... The repetitive pattern that we find ourselves in? Like the new coils of a tree..."

'Pushes and pulls.'

Celestia sighed, considering her approach. "The mechanics of destiny are akin to the pattern of a tree, an asymmetrical one, never completely identical but confined to a same general shape. It is the spiraling stories that we tell and the pits that we fall into again and again. It is the recognizable patterns that we call into existence by observation, by being ourselves."

Chrysalis lashed her tail. "I do not trust it," she complained. "I despise being led. It cheapens everything."

Celestia felt a sense of resignation, and embraced it. "You think you can be free from its influence and that your actions are fully your own? Then show me. Leave right now."

Chrysalis scowled. Her attentive eyes were tracking every Celestia's movement.

"Leave," forcefully repeated Celestia. "Go and fight another day. I won't come after you."

"You are ever so awfully generous…" Chrysalis murmured with a soft chuckle.

Celestia's horn flared gold, and Twilight's statue disappeared in a flash of teleportation. She stood up, and Chrysalis followed.

Despite the ongoing heavy rain, the silence between them was so thick that it was palpable. Chrysalis was in doubt, but her answer was obvious. All the signs were there, right behind her bug eyes.

"When the choice is offered, you will always pick the worst option. That is who you are, that is your nature," said Celestia quietly. "You will never do something so contrary to yourself that it will affect your destiny in any significant way, and on the same merit, I might say that you do not have any choice at all. You are a slave, if not only to fate but to your compulsions as well."

"Is that a feeble attempt at showing me mercy? You think you're winning!?" Chrysalis sneered.

Celestia loudly snorted. "You've got from me all you wanted and far more than you deserve, so let's both stop pretending, shall we? The rush is over." She narrowed her eyes. "It is over, Queen. You hear me? We're done playing. You've had your fun—you've tasted my strength and burned aplenty. It won't get better from now on. You will die here. If it wasn't obvious before, it should be now. It is time for you to gather whatever common sense you have and scamper away like you always do."

Evidently, Chrysalis was having a taste of her own medicine. She seemed confused, even intimidated. Her tail, which kept nervously lashing at her flanks, went still.

Celestia pressed on. "But you will not run," she uttered venomously, keeping up an intense glare. "Oh no, now you are in too deep for that. You're like an aggressive little hound that tasted blood and won't let go until you ruin my realm. You're into this for some warped lust for glory, for your juvenile ambitions and thrills."
It felt good to say out loud all that was on her mind, like scraping grime away from her soul.
"You trivialize life, so you must be thinking that you do not have a lot to lose… and you do not want to return to your senseless, futile existing day by day and hunt by hunt, always afraid that someone will come and punish you for your wicked deeds! More beast than a sapient being! Now that you have become someone of consequence, you've never felt yourself more alive, haven't you? You, damned creature of the dark! Abomination of twisted magic! You will stay and keep making everything worse; that's all you do! You and the likes of you, for all your petty bluster, are absolutely worthless."

Even before Celestia had finished speaking, she could already see that her words did not produce the desired effect. Chrysalis wasn't angry or even amused this time. She stared back with a calm, contemplative expression—one of the worst kind.

Her voice was exceptionally raspy, though. "This mercy… that you attempt to show me… is a weakness," she rapped out.

"Still, my offer stands," Celestia replied coldly.

Chrysalis fell silent again. Her gleaming eyes followed living shadows that swirled around her, and she glanced askance. "So you'd say anything to get rid of me, is that it?…"

"Will you leave or not?"

"It sickens me." Chrysalis' voice became lower. "You simply can't help yourself, can you?"

"You've been asking me what I want. I want you out of Equestria so everything may go back to relative normalcy. This is your last call, and it is not about your wounded ego. Is that clear?"

"Hmpf!" Chrysalis cocked her snout like some arrogant diva. Naturally, she wanted it to be all about her. "Fine." She gave a sly grin. "I might leave, but only on one condition. You're coming with me."

"Excuse me?" Celestia blinked.

"Elope with me."

"You want me to elope with you?" repeated Celestia, if only to internalize the sheer absurdity of the proposal. She frowned. "Oh, but of course you'd want that..."

"And why not? It's not like you're happy here."

"Hah! And what can you offer me, you lousy reprobate?"

Chrysalis' teeth were widely bared, showing an array of sharp fangs. "So direct."

"You have nothing!" challenged Celestia. "You are nothing! And I am not your victim!"

Chrysalis stared without blinking. Her smile grew, contorting into a vile, unappealing rictus.

"You... you..." Celestia's voice dropped to a hiss, and then a sudden fire enveloped her, "—you, defilers, you are all so self-centered and narrow-minded, seeking in your debased lust for supremacy to destroy lifetimes of my hard labor, how can you not understand that nothing of what you can possess is a real power? You think this is power?" Celestia thrust her flaming hoof in Chrysalis' direction. "This ability to burn, to demolish, is power? The real power is in creation, in forging connections, in saving those who are fragile, not amplifying their pain! -"

"Do not take me for a common pleb!!" Chrysalis erupted in short, mad laughter.

"- It is in not being afraid of your own fragility!" Celestia kept going. "But even—even now, you have not heard a word of what I said, did you? You never learn! No one ever learns—"

"Silence!" Chrysalis fiercely snapped.

The dark green mist poured around the changeling, concealing her with shadow-like flames. Celestia snarled and flared her wings in a battle stance. She saw how the inequine eyes, glowing yellow, rose in the column of transformation magic.

A giant paw stepped on the crystals, and they cracked under its weight. A primal dread that is known only to prey stirred within Celestia. She had never seen this creature up close.

In the green misty fumes, there was a great canine beast, and the sight almost made her forget her surroundings, dragging her back to the beginnings of time when she was a filly—before her stood a lycan, one of the wolves of old that dreamt a long slumber amidst the roots of the World Tree. The beast tensed up, and Celestia snapped back into reality.

It lunged. Chrysalis had to rely on the element of surprise, but once again Celestia proved to be too nimble. She flapped her wings, evading great teeth by what felt like inches, and a rush of air allowed her to soar higher. Her horn flashed white, and the alicorn disappeared behind an invisibility shroud.

A low, frustrated growl reverberated through the scorched clearing. The wolf turned, its teeth bared in a grizzly snarl. Its searching eye quickly moved, leaving a bright yellow trace.

'No doubt, she tries to catch my scent… I might be able to take her out in a single strike, but the first order of business is to lead her away from the innocents," Celestia thought grimly, watching as the beast rose its head to the sky. 'So it's better to incite a chase—she is impetuous; she could not resist. Now steady, old girl…'

The wolf tucked its limbs. Its muscles were taut. Its gaze was trained directly at her.

'She can't possibly see me, is she?' Celestia veered to the side, folding her wings.

The wolf followed her. Their eyes met.

'She can't—oh.'

It leapt, swift as the wind.

Its maw was full of incredibly sharp fangs.

'Oh.'

Celestia was snatched from the air and brought to the ground. The massive jaws clenched around her chest, grinding against a thin, near invisible barrier of her magic. Focusing all her effort against the overwhelming crushing force, Celestia folded her wings and forelegs, straining to not give up another inch. Her hinglegs involuntarily kicked against the beast's tongue and throat, and she groaned, unable to draw breath.

In a baleful, desperately murderous effort, Chrysalis threw all her body against Celestia, dragging her back on the rocks and gravel. A vivid image flashed in the alicorn's mind—her own lifeless corpse, cleaved in two; red blood, seeped onto the feathers of her twisted wings; dull eyes, upturned to the blue sky.

'Maybe it is bound to end like this,' she couldn't deny a treacherous and pathetic thought. 'It is always this balancing on the brink. No one can fight forever, and now the world is changing, and I cannot stop it, and she will not back down until she eats me. I know it. She knows it. Why prolong this? For what? More suffering?'

Her will faltered, and the wolf pressed harder. Chrysalis already tasted her upcoming victory, she could feel the faltering resolve. Celestia closed her eyes. She was sure that it wouldn't even hurt, simply a momentary discomfort, and then, then…

Something cracked down below, and Celestia glanced in morbid curiosity, wondering if it were her ribs. Instead, she saw that her golden breastplate dislodged under the pressure, and then a completely different kind of trepidation consumed her.

The remembrance punched through her mind with the force of a sobering jolt. Her duties. The Seed. The ponies. The guilt for nearly giving up kicked down the door into her being, overpowering the dark thoughts.

'You still can breathe.'

Celestia scowled and began to push back. Her smoldering hoof slipped under the wolf's lip, scorching the sensitive flesh. The enraged beast strengthened the grip of teeth stabbing into her hard shell.

Celestia summoned all her strength, infuriated that it was lacking. 'Damn cake will be my undoing,' flashed in her mind. Concealed in Chrysalis' canine form was a youthful eagerness bordering on pure infectious fervor. 'This lycan is not a beast of legend. It is only a confused and lost pup.'

Her mind quickly went blank, filled by nothing but hot, mad, passionate rage. Her hooves flailed wildly, searching for purchase, and then Celestia stabbed her hindlegs in Chrysalis' mouth floor. From the throat of the beast emerged a pained gurgling howl.

The wolf rushed into the darkness, and branches of the forest trees hit both its muzzle and Celestia's back. It crashed into the trunk of one, but it did not impair the alicorn's efforts, and slowly, she began to pry the jaws open, burning them to the bone in the process.

The wolf fruitlessly clawed at her wings, unable to penetrate her magic. Chrysalis' eye was filled with pure, animalistic fright. The putrid smell of burnt flesh and fur suffocated Celestia.

But she persisted. She pushed, and she pushed more.

She screamed. With a snap!, the jaws went almost unhinged, and Celestia found herself standing at full height in the maw, alit with blinding light, with the dark beast coiling beneath, its head shrinking into shoulders.

She was not going to be stopped. Her horn gone ablaze with unmitigated energy—a single strike will finish this.

A released ray pierced the lycan, and she heard a choked, weak whine. True to her usual resilence, Chrysalis still remained standing, and Celestia blasted her again and again, until the defiant pressure withered away completely in the presence of her billowing awesome power. She raised her horn high, summoning around them a torrent of incinerating flames.

Toxic green streamed into it almost immediately, and at the same time, all support under her hooves vanished into thin air. An extursion of unknown powers unexpectedly threw her backward; she landed on her hindlegs, took a few balancing steps, and with a completely unprincesslike "Buck!" tripped over her own tail and fell.

Pain shot through her spine. She groaned, and then huffed, blowing away the fiery strands of hair. She watched as a silhouette darted off into the dark, cloud-burdened sky.

So Chrysalis was running away with her tail tucked between her legs. Too late for that!… No, came a startling thought, it's not a retreat—she was aiming for Canterlot. Celestia strained to get onto her hooves, and leapt into the fast chase.

Despite the distance, she could still discern how Chrysalis' malignant eye blazed over her shoulder. Instead of her usual gossammer wings, the changeling adopted a leather-like alternative, and with it, a substantial speed. Celestia squinted against the wind and rain, then stretched her body, launching a magic ray.

It missed. Chrysalis swayed to the side, lingered as if mocking her failure, and with the final flap of her wings, disappeared on the city's platform. Celestia overshot it a moment later, rising far into the sky and fluidly moving into hovering. Her eyes flared white as she crudely and haphazardly performed a searching spell.

Luckily, Chrysalis had no intention to hide, and her fire beelined to the furthest outskirts, keeping in the recently flooded northern district. Watching her go, Celestia stayed her wings and attempted to ascertain the trajectory of this maneuver. There was nothing of note at the destination, utterly nothing, except maybe for—

"That Starswirl's Tower," she involuntarily breathed out, and that breath still lingered on her lips while she teleported to intercept the changeling.

Bursting flames went off with her arrival. She saw Chrysalis wreathed in green fumes, plunging under the surface of restless water and rapidly swimming away, her body warped into some sort of slippery big eel.

Celestia's horn burst with blinding corona, the ivory heated to magma red. She flapped her wings and stretched them in the changelings' direction, striking the dark body of water with a gust of solar wind. A brilliant ball of fire and lightning formed on her feathertips and plummeted down, sending more arches of energy.

A gout of water was sent up high from the impact. Everything became covered in cracking electricity and unbearably heated steam, but despite the wild discharge of the magic, Celestia could still see the changeling dashing towards its goal. Celestia breathed out a cone of fire; her hooves hit against the steam. Engulfed in flames, she began to gallop above the water surface, trying to land another hit with rays.

The pursuit was short lived, as the Tower appeared close, too close—it almost loomed above them, an abominable amalgamation of crystal and bark, of ancient magic, nature magic, and basic architectural design. Chrysalis shot upward to it, and in yet another show of spiraling witchfire, shed her fish form for that of a gigantic roc, a bird of prey. Celestia gritted her teeth, striking it with a powerful kinetic blast. The bone-crushing shot almost forced Chrysalis to the ground, but she instantly recovered, and used her superior wings to quickly get to the destination.

Celestia kept trying to strike her, wary of hitting the Tower. She rushed into flight, getting to the roc who erratically flounced in attempts to find a window to break in. The bird snapped to the alicorn and its enormous claw gouged her flank. Celestia neighed in pain and blasted without holding back.

They collided with the wall while surrounded by stone-melting heat, effortlessly destroying all the types of spellwards.

═════════════════════════════ 𒀭𒀭𒀭 ═════════════════════════════

𒄈

…

Dreaming is integral to the existence of many living beings, sometimes far more than they may give it credit for.

To her, dreaming was existence. She was a being of dreams made flesh—they compelled her, enchanted her, welcomed her to step in-between the shadows of reality that were cast by projections of the refraction-filled labyrinths of consciousness. She was in slumber during the day, retreating deep into her own dream-garden and resting in the relatively noiseless dreamscape. She was in slumber during the night when it was time to venture after the tentative, sublime calls of her subjects, who ached to lift their dark burdens.

Sometimes, during her waking hours, she questioned herself if the border with the dream world had become too thin for her to keep noticing.

What was real, and what was an illusion?

Where did the magic begin, and where did it stop?

It was like a show, a trick of a prestigitatior who's gleefully drags you along into a purposefully crafted deception. Luna stirred, inhaling a thick floral scent. She was lost somewhere in the dark hallways of her mind that reflected nothing, and in some ways, it was pure bliss.

"Princess! Your Majesty, please wake up!"

Cries of yet another little mare were reaching her through a dream-weaved dark shroud. How long had she been called for like that? Maybe for hours, maybe days, maybe centuries… It mattered little. Luna's head was heavy; her thoughts were non-existent.

Something was happening somewhere else, and all she wanted was to sleep some more.

"Princess!" A panic in the young, urgent voice was disquieting. "Princess! Agh, by Celestia…"

Reality was attempting to bring her back from the soothing darkness. Luna lazily lifted her foreleg and bumped someone's soft snout. She heard an irritated gasp, and the corners of her lips tugged in a smile.

The world can wait. The Princess is dreaming.

Then a sudden pain in her ear woke her up.

These teeth weren't particularly suited for biting, but the powerful chomp on the soft cartilage was displeasing enough to notice. Luna opened an unfocused eye, accusingly staring at someone pony-shaped and rosy pinkish.

For some reason, she felt cravings for whipped cream's frosting.

"Starlight Glimmer," she murmured through a subdued yawn. 'Back to her villainous deeds already,' she lightheartedly assumed. "What doth thou require?"

Entrenched in the hazy blur of the dream realm, she barely registered how the world rumbled around them. Starlight whinnied in agitation and turned Luna's head to the distant ceiling. Rude. Her exclamation of protest died in her throat when she was taken by a new sight.

In her field of view was a shimmering tree she lied beneath, gorgeous and cold, but above all, in the middle of an unfamiliar tower, there was a battle. Two figures, surrounded by fire and Darkness, relentlessly clashed against one another with flashes of churning golden, black, and emerald, sending with each clash waves of heat and emanating a booming sound that only the feverish colliding of reserves of raw arcane energies could make. In the background, there was a chronoplast device, appearing as the giant hourglass suspended between the moving clock faces.

'Who are they?' She squinted in disbelief. 'Is that Sister?'

An uncanny sensation was born somewhere in her ribcage and then spread all over her body, taking her into dominions where most bold dreams couldn't tread. Luna stirred again and only now noticed the plants that were keeping her bound to the roots of the tree. Some of those plants were growing through her body.

That was concerning.

"Starlight Glimmer," she said calmly. "What is all this?"

"I do not know," admitted Starlight.

"What am I looking at?" Luna pointed her horn at the flowers.

"I have no idea!" Starlight stared at her, distraught.

The sight of her sullen little muzzle helped Luna collect her thoughts. She noticed the books strewn around the place—no doubt the unicorn tried to investigate her peculiar condition. She felt a pang of guilt.

The combatants took their fight somewhere in the towers' spiraling tiers, and out of view, more ridiculously powerful magic struggled against one another. Spouts of flame streaked the ceiling across the dimly lit hallways—a fire was settling in. Someone ear-splittingly shrieked, and it made Luna shiver.

'That can't be Chrysalis?'

"Quickly, help me to get rid of it," urged Luna, trying her binds.

"Is it safe?"

"'Tis unknown to me. Pull it! Make haste!"

She splayed her ears as another explosion echoed throughout the spacious room; the adversaries were taking the battle throughout different sections. She could sense wild arcana spilling all over the place. With each heartbeat, remaining here posed more danger than before.

She pulled one of the weeds with her teeth. It detached easily, harmlessly passing through her body without a trace. "Starlight Glimmer! Quickly!" Luna urged again, trying and failing to suppress her nervous alto.

Starlight rushed to her help, tearing down the wicked flowers. Luna got one of her limbs free and felt disturbed by its numbness. "How long—" she began, and then the combatants emerged again under the ceiling.

There was no mistaking now—that was her Sister battling Chrysalis. Luna's heart sank down to her bowels. She watched as they both rose higher and higher in the near-indiscernible fiery dance of death, until the dark witch landed a perfidious strike and tossed the alicorn on the hourglass.

"Celie!" Luna gasped.

The whole construction above them was proving to be too fragile; the tendrils around the chronoplast snapped, and the mess of broken glass, metal, and purple sand began to fall down—right on the tree and both mares.

Tearing herself free, Luna leapt toward Starlight. The instantaneous crash deafened her, and the gust of substance that was filling the hourglass enveloped everything in a thick fog.

Luna rose on shaky legs, gulping for non-existent air and hoarsely coughing. She heard something soft falling nearby and readied herself in a battle stance. Her horn shimmered, pushing away the fumes around her.

There wasn't any light around at first—only magic and darkness.

"Celie?…" repeated Luna, noticing someone moving.

Celestia was emerging from the dark shrouds, beaten, bloodied, unbroken. She lacked her crown, but whatever was going on, it wasn't enough to take down her elder.

Luna felt proud for her. "Sister!" she called, trying to remain calm, but wariness seeped into her voice nonetheless. "Is it you?"

She began coughing again, trying to keep an eye on the bright alicorn. Everything about Celestia was dulling the senses with warm familiarity, even her weary, concerned expression—was it possible to be replicated in such detail?

"Are you fine?" the elder asked, moving closer.

"Stay where you are!" Luna warned. "I need to… I need—"

"What do you need, Sister?" a same familiar voice called from behind.

Luna turned, staring at perfect replica of Celestia. 'One of them is the witch,' she thought grimly. 'Or maybe—maybe it is one of her spawnlings?' Trying to keep them both in her field of view, Luna stumbled aside.

The third Celestia expected her there.

Luna jerked away with an agitated whinny. "Cease thy trickery!"

"Are you fine, Sister?" called a fourth voice, forcing her to turn like a hunted animal.

Luna couldn't trust her senses anymore, so she called upon her magic and tried to dispel the obvious illusion. It was for naught. Each Celestia seemed as real as it could get. "Reveal thyself!" the alicorn demanded.

"I have a question for you, Sister," another one called warmly.

"I'm not listening, pretender!" Luna hissed. Memories about days spent being trapped in the cave were coming back to her—and with it all the anguish and anger she felt. She raised her horn, covering herself with a magic shield.

"Do you love me as I love you, Sister?" The fake images were circling her.

Watching in grim trepidation as one of those poked the barrier, Luna reinforced her spell.

"Do not hide from me," tutted Celestia, and effortlessly crumbled it down.

"Gahh!" Luna gasped, recoiling and nearly flying right into the embrace of another one. "Stay back, I demand of you!" she whinnied and then clenched her teeth, reprimanding herself.

"Have you ever felt desire for me, Sister?..." the fakes were asking with the same pleasant smile… Celestia's touch sent shivers of sweet disgust down Luna's coat. She exhaled loudly, while attempting to recall everything that she knew about magic of illusions.

What she experienced was too complex… powerful… too powerful… why it was so powerful?...

"I think you should've proposed to me long ago, Sister."

"You disgraceful abomination!" Luna growled, aghast.

"You've been missing out, Sister..."

"'Tis naught but parlor tricks," Luna muttered.

"Have you ever considered how lonely I was, Sister? -"

"- You should've tried to comfort me at night. Maybe I've allowed you, just once... -"

"- Or twice... -"

"- Or thrice..."

A sharp pain in her flank forced Luna out of a strange, sugary haze. With a yelp, she lurched, but fakes were holding her strongly. They were everywhere—and everywhere was their warm, intimate embrace, and their tactful, joyful expressions. Luna shut her eyes, but it was no use. The image still lingered on her retina.

"What if I wanted this? - " the vile, seductive whispers continued.

"- What if I expected this? -"

"- What if I craved you all along? -" the words were supplanted by a careful yet possessive caress on Luna's back.

"- What if I wanted to -"

"- share thoughts with you. -"

"- share burdens with you. -"

"- share every little thing with you? -"

"- Think you will ever get another chance?"

"You will never learn how it feels!" one of them jealously snarled.

Luna began to turn to it, but another pulled her away. Soft lips moved against her ear.

"You should be more careful, Sister."

A golden light flared as another one ignited her horn.

"Stay away, Sister."

Luna was picked up and hurled through dimensions with an overwhelming force that violently thrust her into a cold, damp night. She fell on the cobblestones outside of Starswirl's Tower along with the illusory doubles of Celestia. The doubles melt under the rain, and they laughed while doing so, their echoing, eerily voice unmistakably belonging to her Sister, but at the same time couldn't be hers in a million years.

The magic was rapidly unfolding itself from existence until nothing left at all. Luna staggered backwards from the gruesome display and nearly stepped on a small lying form that anchored her in reality.

"Starlight Glimmer…" she croaked, picked up the mare and shook her into consciousness.

The unicorn blinked at her, dazed but awake.

"How long—how long it all was going on? How much time have I spent in that tower?" asked Luna.

"I don't know…" Starlight admitted weakly. "A day?…"

"A day? A single day!?"

Soon, there was a loud rumble, and the Tower began to come apart.

═════════════════════════════ 𒀭𒀭𒀭 ═════════════════════════════

𒄈 "I am surprised you've played along."

"I wanted them out just as well."

They circled each other, leaving fiery imprints behind—yellow and red for Celestia, green for her double.

Chrysalis stopped. "You must admit, the look on her face was delicious."

It felt infinitely wrong, but Celestia couldn't keep herself from grinning. "It was definitely in terrible taste."

"Why did you bit her?" Chrysalis laughed.

"Don't get wise with me." Celestia snorted. "She was taking her time to get out of here... We shouldn't ever do anything like this again."

"We won't," assured Chrysalis playfully.

"I'm serious," warned Celestia.

"Yes-s…" The green flames ran along Chrysalis' body, and she emerged in the form of a gnarly insectoid. "Now…" her hoof paved the ground, striking more fire.

"Well…" Celestia ignited her horn and flared open her wings.

She considered the situation. The time when she could keep up a similar output for days was long past—her body was already aching from all the abuse, and the damnable heart thumped so hard that her temples were pulsating with it. The more the fight keeps going, the more wounds will compound, and the alicorn was becoming too sluggish already.

Celestia loathed this feeling of strain. Celestia enjoyed this feeling. Celestia's feelings about this feeling were complicated.

On the good side, Chrysalis was in dire need of a respite as well. Her fire was diminished, and she couldn't reliably call upon her stolen power. One lucky strike was all that was needed to take the changeling down.

One lucky strike…

"So…" Celestia breathed out, moving closer.

Chrysalis mirrored her, but then halted, focusing on something above.

A small envelope fell from the lingering mist-like sand. Celestia caught it, eyed the royal sigil, and suppressed a deep sigh. The letter came from the dragonfire channel, which meant that it was of paramount urgency.

"I have to answer this," said Celestia, deftly opening the envelope.

"Oh, seriously!?" scoffed Chrysalis, her tail lashing in anger.

"What we are having right now can wait—this is a message of interrealm importance, which trumps all other dealings I am having at the moment. Now stay there and be silent," demanded Celestia.

"Am I not an interrealm threat?" Chrysalis snarled.

"Stay." Celestia regarded her with a stern gaze, as if the changeling was an unruly student.

Chrysalis chortled in amusement, diligently sat on the floor, and wrapped her tail around her legs.

On the plain parchment, the letter read in curved writing,

stellar anomaly+celestial bodies OOB. what is going on? S.

'He noticed only now? Odd.'

Celestia listened to her connection with the Sun, and to her mild disappointment, the actions and instability in the past twenty four hours were putting a severe strain on the behavior of the star. The electromagnetic disturbances weren't as numerous as she could expect, but the star was lingering right above the horizon line, and it began to affect the world's congruence in hardly predictable ways.

And here she thought that she could manage it without any excess… though her actions were hardly optimal in the first place. Celestia's horn shimmered gold as she slightly course-corrected the direction of the Sun. She pulled it away from the ice-rim spine of the world and then made a mental note to inspect the spine for possible damage.

A constant headache.

She summoned a quill and ink, thought for a couple seconds about the answer, and then wrote in bold motion,

fixed. slaying a bug. brb

The message evaporated into another dimension. Celestia counted to five, heaved a breath, cracked her neck, and drew herself upright, mentally pumping up. "Now, where were we?"

Chrysalis springily jumped back into battle stance. "Right..." she hissed, lowering her shimmering horn.

At the same moment, a letter fell at Celestia's hooves again. "Oh, the sake of… One second," she held a feather-finger.

"Ridiculous," Chrysalis hissed in dismay.

"One second. It won't take long," Celestia forcefully said, inspecting the parchment.

what does it mean???

Celestia snorted in irritation, but then calmed herself down and futilely attempted to visualize an eloquently composed response that wouldn't agitate anyone more than necessary.

She was almost relieved when the green aura snatched the letter and carried it to Chrysalis. The changeling took a glance at it and giggled. "Seriously, dear?"

"Give it back," Celestia demanded.

"No." The parchment was burned in the blink of an eye, and Chrysalis swept Celestia with an inquisitive glare, asking, "Why are you here?"

"Are you talking about us fighting?" Celestia frowned.

"No, no—not what I meant. I am asking why are you here."

"In what sense? Metaphorical, allegorical, literal?…"

"In most plain sense there is." Chrysalis lashed her tail. Her lips went into a thin line. "Tell me… were you even meant to be a ruler?"

"Excuse me?" Celestia regarded Chrysalis with a stern, offended glare. "What do you think you're implying?"

Chrysalis loudly giggled. Her eyes narrowed into happy slits, and she hunched, observing the alicorn.

Seconds dragged on, each more poignant than the last, and when Celestia began to feel unnerved, Chrysalis broke the silence. "Freedom," the changeling said in a delicious, husky voice, drawing out each syllable.

She smiled, observing Celestia's confused reaction.

"Is it not the most perfect word in the world? Freedom. Don't you feel how everything trembles inside?… When I say the most sweetest word..." Chrysalis inhaled deeply, and her forked tongue flicked across dark lips. "Freedom."

Celestia did not reply. Her muzzle was a porcelain mask intended to contain the fiery storm that was set off in her mind.

"Your body is so taut with anticipation…" Chrysalis was thoroughly satisfied. "Oh-h, this word holds such promise, such yearning, such thrill… Can you hear it, Celestia? Freedom!" she snapped with an expression both fierce and pained. "Say it with me… Freedom. Liberation."

Celestia was incapable of enduring the sight of the happy Queen. She felt exposed, suffocated like never before. 'Who does she think she is to speak about such a matter so simply…'

"When I look at you, I see someone who wasn't supposed to rule," Chrysalis' voice slithered quietly. "I see a mare who belongs in enchanted forests, appearing only at best as a fleeting vision. I see someone carrying a belief in innocent ideals that weren't supposed to be tainted by an outside influence." Her voice fell even lower. "I think you were supposed to be free. Untamed. A wild mare. An uncut jewel."

"You look at me and see some feral mare? What, like yourself!?" Celestia's laughter rang out across the room. "You pathetic cretin! I am the Princess of the Sun! I am the one who acts in the interests of upholding order and peace! How dare you suggest otherwise!?"

"You can be so, so much more… You could've been like a fairy queen, ruling in the ancient deepwood domain, amidst the carved stones and structures that were as old as you, if not older… I wonder, why be here, on top of this mountain, trying to maintain this sham of a realm?" Chrysalis giggled. "Magical creatures do not truly belong to these towered cities, don't they? It's all a gilded cage that needs to be broken and obliterated.
"Life should be simpler, don't you agree?…" The Queen narrowed her eyes, expecting some specific response from Celestia. "I imagine us waging wars across centuries, but on battlefields more intrinsic and true to our natures, in places where power means all and cowardice means nothing. Where fire and love flare brightly, and these small heroes, like your little wards, always have an opportunity to contest their strength and prove their mettle." Chrysalis hoarsely laughed. "Imagine us, in thick of it all, making our own legend, inspiring awe amidst all deceit, toying with their fates, and able to move away and start anew as we please. Everything is a playground! Isn't the world like this would be beautiful? Why worry so much about your peace, this Harmony?" She shook her head. "There's no life in it."

"It would be a fine legend indeed, but do not hold me in such low regard that some pipe dreams would be able to seduce me," replied Celestia quietly. Still, Chrysalis' words were evocative for her. A smile wandered on her muzzle as she remembered distant times, full of strife.
Celestia sighed. There was no reason to hide her thoughts. The Queen knew who she is.
"When I was younger, I could fly more freely, so I preferred forests and not mountains to host my castles. I always felt more at home there, back when my Sister was by my side. I especially enjoyed particular enchanted woods in lands far away from here… Even you probably have never been there, and if you were, that place is unrecognizable now."

"You had a castle there? If we fought," murmured Chrysalis, still enjoying her fantasy, "would you allow me to take it?"

"You think you would've asked me? You'd come and conquer it."

"Right." Chrysalis pursed her lips. "That is what I meant."

"For such a conniving creature, you have an almost infantile side to you," observed Celestia.

"I am simply talking about what I'd want." Chrysalis shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"What you want, hm-m?…" Celestia turned her head away with a quiet sigh. "When I am thinking about what I want, I…" She turned her head away further. "Ah, it doesn't matter."

Chrysalis wasn't interrupting.

Celestia glanced in her direction. She was like a hunter, waiting for the alicorn's weakness to reveal itself. 'And I cannot be silent. I do not want to carry this burden anymore,' Celestia thought, trying to consider her feelings at the moment. She never spoke about this with anyone.
'Oh, Moonlight…'
She simply wanted to talk. After a brief silence, she began again. "I am lost. I've looked deep within myself for the longest time, and it had come to my understanding that there's nothing inside me at all. Only emptiness. Nothing real. How can I want anything for this emptiness?… And I looked around and saw that nothing was real anywhere else, too… There is only a choice to fill this emptiness, and when I choose to be happy for others, I fill it with love."

"Go on…" said Chrysalis quietly.

"Do you have regrets?" asked Celestia.

"I am an immortal witch. You disgrace both of us with this question," Chrysalis confidently asserted, but then added, not hiding her amusement, "I mean, really, dear, regrets? What regrets can there be for beings such as us?"

"Oh, but regrets are wonderful. Having regrets means being alive. They helped me remain sane for a very long time. Once, I was humbled by a harsh lesson on regret, one that I had to die for, truly die without hope for second chances. My regrets have allowed me to comprehend myself as a living being and not someone who merely exists on borrowed time," Celestia said with sorrowful spite and then hesitated, processing her emotions.
She breathed out through clenched teeth, subduing herself into calmness. "…Make no mistake, I am the Queen of the sun-blessed lands. But I had to push on despite those regrets, and after a while, my guilt had become less of a necessity and more of a luxury. I had to take action and project strength. I began to notice how I repeat the same mistakes over and over and how there are many things that I am unable to grasp, and so I've become more considerate and acted more safely.
"As it turned out, overindulgence in regrets erodes both will and mind. They become but a burden on the soul. Invisible wounds that do not heal." Celestia's eyes gleamed darkly. "I never could remain stable while I dwell on the consequences of my failures, and rulers have no room for sentimental and emotional whims—and so I had to dull myself and keep evaluating the persona I was making. I needed to maintain a balance for Equestria, for myself. I have become static, warm, and ever-present guardian for everypony. Is it not the epitome of power and authority?
"But imagine keeping up this status quo for hundreds of years…" Celestia scoffed. "How wretched it all may seem: beneath it all, Princess Celestia is an overworked mare who can take a dive but is unable to quit. And now this will never end, will it? There will always be a problem for me to face, and you are simply another one."

"Really?" hummed Chrysalis. "When you put it that way, I do wonder why you haven't gone mad."

"Maybe I did go mad, and those countless fearmongers and naysayers who kept testing my goodwill were always right about me. Just look at this, look at what I am doing and where I am, and who—who I am consorting with.
"But by the stars… I am the same for so long… My wings weren't meant for this… And still, I am the right mare in the right place, and I love being myself… and I love my ponies, don't I? Don't I love them?… Is it not what madness is?… When I was becoming a ruler by the original design, I remember thinking, 'it will be an ordeal, but in a few hundreds of years we'll bring the Harmony around', but a thousand!? How could I expect this? Can you imagine remaining the same for a millennium? It is unnatural.
"But—I kept it together. I've managed, if only for so long. I had helpful guidance, and I had set goals. In hindsight, it wasn't even that tough, simply a lot of—a lot of maneuvering and considerations, a lot of doing what needed to be done. And the fewer complications and variables there are, the better."

"Are you referring to how you rule your subjects?"

"Yes. I needed the lives of the ponies to remain simpler. It was integral to the efficiency of my duties. One ruler above all, one alicorn to watch over their sky, and a land that is in a state of peace and prosperity—that was their narrative, a single known truth for many generations, and to keep it undisputed, I was required to exert my influence in every available way.
"I was not only their ruler or guardian, but a custodian," Celestia's voice subtly quivered, "but such are the needs of the cause. I was not meant to be the usher of the new age, and so I kept them safe to the best of my ability, and Equestria remained a magical, secluded realm, free from the chaos of the outworld. The end result is a working model—… What are you doing?"

Chrysalis was lying on her belly, whipping her tail against her flanks. Her forelegs were concealing the lower half of her muzzle, and green eyes hungrily shone in dim light. "Keep talking, dear," she asked.

"Explain yourself first," demanded Celestia.

"No," refused Chrysalis, but the urge to talk kept bubbling up within her and broke through within seconds. "I think that you are ridiculous." She happily snickered. "Simply ridiculous. Are you even capable of hating anyone beside yourself?"

"You—you damn craven!" Celestia burst out. Her foreleg shielded her chest in a gesture of vulnerability. "Get out of my head!"

"I'm not—" Chrysalis rolled on her back and relaxed, staring upside down. Her tail kept swishing like a dirty broom, lashing against her thighs. "Ah, I cannot deal with this…" She giggled groggily. "I must admit, you are a far more powerful illusionist. I may cast a spell over one fool, or two, or a room at a time, but you? You've shaped yourself accordingly and then kept under your spell an entire realm."

"Is that a compliment or an insult disguised as flattery?"

"Just-how-did-you-achieve-it?…" Chrysalis muttered, separating words.

The land of enchantment, where everyone can belong.
The land where everyone has a purpose.
The land where suffering can be manageable.

Celestia pursed her lips. "It wasn't easy," she acknowledged quietly.

"Either way, don't beat yourself up over your actions. I've kept my spawn obedient too." Chrysalis' voice fell to a sinister growl. "The incredible, fearsome power of change is so dangerous that, when left unchecked, it can easily overwhelm and consume those who mistreat it… And dark deeds are necessary to protect those who can't protect themselves… The resulting need to suppress the masses and to consolidate power is only natural."

Even Chrysalis could potentially comprehend that balance isn't something that simply wills itself into existence. It is work. A duty. A sacrifice.

"I had to do it," Celestia admitted calmly. "I've committed to the choice—the only possible choice—that I've made. Remind me, what do you think of compromises?"

Chrysalis stiffened up. "There can be no compromises…"

"You must hate them so much, don't you?…"

"Oh yes, I do…"

"Then you are a wretched fool," said Celestia dreary.
"My choice was a compromise—to offer my guidance to ponies and to find companionship in books, scrolls, and the stars. Long ago, I thought, like you, that a compromise can make you weak and dependent, and someone in a position of power can't ever allow themselves to be put at a disadvantage. I have learned that compromise is not always a sign of weakness but rather a strength. It takes wisdom to know when to stand firm and when to yield.
"And you are perfectly capable of making compromises, aren't you? For all your vile actions, you can fathom the nature of compromise and how it lies at the heart of balance—that the compromise is a binding concrete capable of achieving far more than the destruction and dominance you crave."

Chrysalis made a low hiss but did not argue. Instead, she sat straight and asked, "So you mean to say that your compromise was to adapt?"

"Yes, I suppose that is correct…" Celestia hummed in thought and glanced curiously. "Didn't you say before that we are incapable of adapting?"

A brisk, confused expression swept over Chrysalis' muzzle. "We are meant to be free. If it doesn't mean to be able to adapt, then this freedom is worthless."

"The way I saw it, I needed to give up my happiness and purity for a long-term goal," said Celestia. "Everything has a price, and if the end result was my ponies living in prosperity without wars or hunger, then I say it was worth it."

"You are ridiculous. All you do is burn yourself away for others' sake… Ah, I see…" A flash of recognition went behind Chrysalis' eyes. "It's that unconditional love of yours, isn't it?"

"It is not so useless after all, right, you foolish changeling?" said Celestia bitterly.
"I've maintained principles of unconditional, undifferentiated love for the sake of a goal of longevity. My people did not succumb to doubt and dissent, and instead they lived happy, fulfilled lives under my watch. It is a fate many would be envious of.
"Consider that none of my contemporaries achieved the same. They never understood the power of compromise, or rather, never could maintain it throughout centuries. I suppose I cannot blame them… None of them were giving up their lives for this result, and none were motivated enough to see it through. If anything, their inevitable deterioration was another cautionary tale for me—of what succumbing to vices and fears can lead to. However, in the end, we all shared the same fate of becoming mere shadows of our former selves."
Celestia was silent for a beat. Her unfocused eyes stared far back into the past.
"To follow my path was the only right way," she said slowly, self-assuring. "The only, surefire, way. I did it for the ponies and for the opportunity to meet my Sister again. I did everything in my ability to protect them and keep Equestria's borders secure, and I did it successfully.
"So tell me, the Changeling Queen, do you still think that my ideology is weak?" she challenged, raising her head.

"You were dealt a winning hand. Your ponies are too meek and fragile, they're only glad to be subjugated!" Chrysalis accused.

"Oh, you still think that we are in any kind of competition. That's cute." Celestia cruelly smiled. "You are well aware of how stubborn the ponies can get, especially if they have tasted power, but then again—underestimating us is in your nature. That's what you always do."

"You are impossible," Chrysalis muttered.

"You dare to stare me in the eye and question my existence?"

Chrysalis shook her head in silent disbelief.

"I am an alicorn, and I came from an era when this word truly meant something." Celestia's eyes swept over the gnarly form of Chrysalis. "Tell me, the Changeling Queen, do you hate me right now for how similar and yet different we are?"

"This is ludicrous. You really are impossible..." said Chrysalis, all tense.

"What is it now? Are you, the ignoble Changeling Queen, having problems with your emotions?"

"No. No." The Queen's patience was running thin. She bared her teeth.

"You're all emotions, as you said yourself. To feel them is like keeping breathing for you—for both of us. You awful creature, all you are -"

"Shut up!" Chrysalis barked.

"- is some twisted reflection," finished Celestia with grim satisfaction.

"I am no one's reflection! I can collect the reflections of others, but I am a being of my own!" Chrysalis growled with primal rage.

"If only it was true." Celestia wanted it to sound mocking, but only long-festering sorrow echoed in her voice. "There's no such thing as being of their own. There is no true freedom in the world. There isn't a single soul that isn't confined, if only by virtue of their birth. They do not exist."

Chrysalis howled an inequine roar, shaking Celestia down to her core. She recoiled, staring at the changeling. The darkness, the transformation magic—all power was pouring from the Queen, as she was preparing to battle yet again.

A shroud of ethereal blinking eyes covered her, and Celestia saw how Chrysalis expanded, moving in all directions at once. The raw magic around them condensed into a fog, became thicker. Afraid of being caught in it, Celestia launched herself into the air, quickly flying to the ceiling.

She heard cries, animal noises, roars, abruptly cut off phrases and shouts. Dreading the sight, Celestia glanced down and witnessed a fleshy mass of heads, claws, limbs, and fangs advancing at her, devouring all possible space.

⠀⠀⠀⠀═════════════════

═════════════════⠀⠀⠀⠀

The alicorn remained calm in the face of danger. Chrysalis was going all out—they had no more masks to let loose, it was simple as that. A massive head on an impossibly long neck burst out from the flesh pit, and Celestia guarded herself with a barrier, being carried through the stone of the ceiling to the outside.

The fire enveloped her body that shone brighter than a star. She directed her power in a wild telekinetic surge, crushing the brittle bone of a half-formed maw she was in, and flapped her wings, soaring higher.

no constraints. no limitations. no definitions.

More heads burst from the Tower, breathing green fire. Celestia laughed, seeing before herself a dragon—a multi-headed dragon, but a mere dragon nonetheless. It was quite a while since she killed her last dragon, and in this day and age, they knew better than to attack her directly.

just these movements

"You foul monstrosity of chaos!" she yelled, her ardent voice cutting through the cacophony of roars. "You have no place in this land of harmony and light!" She evaded more of the wildly flailing and coiling dragon hands. In a blinding flash, a massive spear appeared in her hooves, and Celestia whipped it, tossing away charred bones that were stuck to the tip.

The dragon heads lunged, getting in each other's way, but Celestia daintily evaded, weaved in-between, and then hurled her spear. The fire-blood spilled from the cut-open neck of one of the heads, covering the grotesque, fat body of the creature that was growing out of the building.

this passion for living

The lightning struck at the dragon, and Celestia folded her wings, spiraling into a blind spot beneath the snapping maws and hurling her spear yet again, deep and true. The fire, ready to burst out of the throat of the monster, instead burned its scales and eyes.

if you can hear me

All of the heads of the creature were giving her undivided attention, and the more she cut and sliced, the more the Queen's power diminished. Celestia lost her spear at some point, broken in two by a lucky snap of yet another gigantic jaw, and instead sent hardlight with pinpointed blasts of her wings.

look around. this is your paradise

She knew enough of the dragon anatomy—the weak spots were ears, eyes, nostils, and the sides of its neck, and Chrysalis was making no attempts to defend herself.

The Tower, located on the edge of the city's platform, began to fell over, dragging the shapeshifter with it. A green fire enveloped one of the last surviving heads, and as it breathed an enormous scorching column aimed at the alicorn, it spat out the changeling Queen, prepared to strike.

High in the Canterlot's sky, they clashed their horns with unrelentless force. Celestia scowled, enjoying the feeling of might tested with hers', and both the pain and pleasure it brought. With a kinetic blast, she hurled the changeling backwards, and clasped her wings, commanding the skies to strike down the creature.

A lightning bolt electrocuted the Queen, who contorted her body and contracted her limbs.

More.

Another lightning strike pierced the changeling. Chrysalis threw her head back in a silent cry.

More.

A bolt went through the changeling after another one. Celestia was on the cusp of victory.

More.

More.

Mo—

Everything faded into the darkness.

…

Celestia forced her eyes open, suddenly becoming aware that she was falling down. A small eternity had gone unnoticed in the last few seconds. She caught a glimpse of Chrysalis hovering above the spot she only recently occupied.

Celestia saw green traces of magic around the changeling. 'Ah,' the thought process numbly delivered to her cognition. 'She hurled herself at me, isn't she? Well…' Celestia leaned back into the fall, rushing past the Canterlot to the distant ground. 'It seems I have to go now… but it's alright. It's alright. If I get to choose, I wanted to go out at duskfall, anyway.'

A faint noise reached her.

She heard Chrysalis' laughter.

Her foreleg moved to her chest as she glanced at it with more awareness.

Her peytral was gone, torn from her body by the Queen's last strike. The Seed was gone.

In a bout of defiance, she tried to catch herself with an aura and soften the hit with the ground, but it still went hard—too hard, and Celestia cried when her wing twisted from the impact. Torn white feathers fell around her. Staggered, the Princess lifted her head to the dark mare that was celebrating her victory in the sky.

Celestia kept falling into an open well of memories that consumed her.

Everything was repeating.

Everything that she achieved in the past thousand years led to the same outcome—with her on the ground, wounded, splayed before yet another Nightmare Moon.

A defiant anger squeezed her throat and poured out with flames and a raspy growl.

'It can't be. It can't be.' And yet it was, and it was nothing but yet another spiral, another move of destiny enacting its incessant play. Faced with the utter futility of all her actions, Celestia howled from the pain of her soul.

This fate is inescapable!? Then so be it! Their souls are bound. Their destinies are one. A mad revelation dawned on Celestia, and she pulled herself from the ground, resolute in the face of the only possible move left to her. Chrysalis dies because they die, together.

With all her fiery might, Celestia launched herself back into the air, aiming her horn dead on at Chrysalis' chest.

The changeling didn't move out of the way in time. The horn skewered the dark mare with ease.

Giving into tranquility, Celestia closed her tired eyes. No thoughts waited for her. All worries were finally gone. The hot blood spilled on her muzzle. The air rushed past her ears. It felt like she flew for the first time in her life.