I Am Not a Monster

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

--Abraham Lincoln

I Am Not a Monster!

Princess Celestia walked through the hallways of Canterlot Palace, looking dreary and depressed. She kept her head looking at the floor, watching her reflection dance across the marble, swaying with each step. She was fine, except for one thing. The day was the anniversary of Discord's first defeat, and original imprisonment in the statue garden. Normally, somepony would be elated to know this, but it dreaded Celestia more than even Luna knew, or rather remembered. None of the history books mentioned it. Luna barely even remembered what Discord did with the last of his magic.

Celestia approached the doorway of her bedroom, relieved that there was no paperwork to be done for the night. Yet. She opened the door, nodding slightly to the single guard stationed outside, and entered the chamber. It was a very simplistic room. An enchanted cloud bed, a bookshelf, a fireplace, and a balcony to raise or lower the sun. After locking the door, the princess mindlessly walked to her bed, almost like a zombie, and fell down onto it. For the first time since Luna returned, she cried. She poured her soul into the fluffy white pillows, regretting the events that occurred over a thousand years before.

"Why him and not me?" She mustered, in between sobs. "Discord should have turned me to stone, instead!"

She cried for several minutes, remembering the last moments before Discord was sealed in his stone prison. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and stood back up. She focused on a small purple sphere on the top shelf of the nearby bookshelf, and hit it with a beam of magic. Unlike the normal golden aura that she normally used, this beam was a dark purple-and-green in color. Dark magic. The orb floated to the middle of the room, and fell onto the floor, flattening out and causing a stairway to form. Sighing heavily, the solar princess started her descend down the long stairway. She noticed the gradual change from the white marble of the palace, into the dull crystals of the abandoned mines below the city. Since Cadence's wedding, she had personally helped "explore" the caves, despite already knowing about them. she also helped in the effort to try to drive out the several changelings who managed to infiltrate the city once more. As she reached the bottom of the mine, she looked ahead at the statue in the center of the cavern. Similar to Discord, it held somepony inside, but there was more. It wasn’t just anypony. He was very important to Celestia.

“Chaotic, I- I’m so, so very sorry. For everything. None of this should have ever happened to you. You were accepted as the heir to my throne. Everypony loved you. Luna loved you. I loved you! But Discord took that away from us both. And I can't reverse it. I'm sorry. I'll find a way to get you out of there. And we'll be reunited once more. Just like the family we are."

She took a final glance at the statue of a small colt, and turned around, heading up the staircase. She failed to notice a small crack on the bottom of the statue, slowly growing.

Several hours after lowering the sun, Celestia fell down onto her bed, exhausted. Aside from the emotional turmoil she suffered earlier, there was a report from Twilight about some unicorn who got her hooves on the legendary Alicorn Amulet. How she got it was a mystery, but it was a dangerous artifact, nonetheless. The princess had to personally travel to Ponyville to confiscate the amulet, and bring it to the Canterlot Archives, where it would be kept safe. The moment her head fell onto the pillow, Celestia's body instantly relaxed, welcoming the soft cloud. The princess tried to fall asleep, happy that the day was over.

"Ughurrugh"

Celestia shot up. What was the strange noise? It seemed to come from... below the floor. Nopony knew the chamber under her bedroom was tere. Could somepony- or something have gotten down there? Drowsy and paranoid, the princess used her dark magic trick, and opened up the staircase.

"Ughurrugh"

There it was again. It sounded louder this time. Illuminating her horn, Celestia began her descend, curious about the strange noise. It almost sounded like somepony was... groaning. She traveled down the seemingly-endless staircase, until she saw the ground below. She cast a small ball of light down, and followed quickly behind. Placing a hoof on the cold stone floor, she quickly illuminated three small lanterns she placed in the cavern placed earlier. They all turned on simultaneously, and Celestia saw the source of the groaning.

"No. It can’t be. I have to be dreaming.”

This couldn't be a dream. It was too real. Celestia rubbed her eyes with a hoof, but realized something.

I never went to sleep.

She took a few steps forward, hoping that what she was seeing wasn't a dream. In the center of the room, struggling with the shards of stone on him, was Chaotic.

"By the stars... Cha- Chaotic? Is that really y- you? You're free?"

The small figure stopped, and looked at the stuttering princess. Even with the lanterns, it was still fairly dark. Celestia continued walking forward, tears filling her eyes, and saw the one thing she had been wanting to see for the past one thousand years. Her son. She fell to her haunches, but still towered over the colt. Using her magic, she accelerated the process of freeing her son. Despite being no more than a simple petrifaction spell, Discord had poured almost every last ounce of his magic into it, as it was originally intended for the princess herself. Unfortunately, the spell was too powerful for Celestia to reverse, even with Luna's help. She had originally placed her petrified son on a pedestal near Discord's statue, purely for sedimentary gain, but had moved it underground three-hundred years prior, as she felt it was a disgrace to put her son on display. She would rather hide him than have ponies laugh at the "silly-looking colt." She was quite honestly surprised that Twilight and Cadence never discovered him when they were imprisoned in the caves.

As the last of the stone fell from Chaotic's body, he fell onto his mother's forehooves, barely conscious. Between shallow breaths, he cried his heart out, finally reunited with his mother. His father, however, wouldn't be able to see him. Chaotic lightly wiped his own eyes, but continued to cry. Celestia could barely contain her own tears. Her forehooves were soaked with the colt's tears, but she didn't mind in the slightest.

"Ssh, everything's alright. I'm here now, you're not alone... My son." Celestia said, barely above a whisper. "I promise you that I'll never leave you again."

"W- why did d-daddy do it?" Chaotic asked. "I thought he l-loved m-me."

"Chaotic, your father wasn't feeling right. He was... Sick, alright? I'll explain everything to you tomorrow. I want you to rest. You need to regain your energy."

With that said, she scooped him up with her magic, and lightly placed him on her back. Balancing Chaotic with her wings, Celestia began the ascent up the staircase. After re-entering the bed chamber, she plucked Chaotic from her back, noticing the quiet (and adorable) snoring coming from the colt. She placed him on her bed, tucking him in. Celestia kissed him lightly on the forehead, and walked several paces back. Collapsing on the floor, she rubbed her temples, stressed on what to do.

"Luna is going to freak out. She probably doesn't even remember." Celestia said to herself, quietly. "Oh well, that's tomorrow's problem."

She laid herself down by the extinguished fireplace, and began to fall asleep, exhausted.

"Goodnight, my son..."