Truth Behind Harmony

Twilight and the others kept pace with the Alicorns as they walked along the corridor to the stands, Twilight listening to them as they talked in urgent voices.

“How bad do you think this is going to get?”

“I do not know, but I can feel Anastasia’s anger from here, she is not in her right state of mind.”

“Dam dam dam! I knew I should have never invited her here, I knew she would pull this fucking shit!” yelled Mercury, her voice becoming metallic as it roes several octaves.

“Prin…I mean Mercury, what exactly is this weighing of magic’s, I mean it doesn’t sound that dangerous, right?” asked Twilight, trying to keep the note of panic out of her voice.

“Appearances can be deceiving Twilight Sparkle, for this trial was used in the old days to settle disputes between ourselves when words no longer worked, and honestly I had hoped we had all grown past such…barbaric methods”

“But you make it sound as if they are going to…to…” Rarity started behind her, gasping in shock as realization dawned.

“I am impressed Miss Rarity that you are the one to come to such conclusions,” said Dreamstride, “it is indeed how you have guessed; the weighing of the magic is done through combat.”

Twilight and the others gasped, Twilight's mind racing through all the possible outcomes, and possible ways to try and prevent this. But Luna sensed her growing turmoil, and she quickly walked up close to her, placing a wing over her in comfort. “Don’t worry Twilight, this has happened many times before and we shall not let things get out of hoof, for if the fighting gets too out of control, I and my sisters will put a stop to it.”

Twilight sighed with relief, not noticing the concerned glances that flew between Luna and her other sisters. It was true that in the past such incidents had occurred, but it had always been either Anastasia or Celestia that had been the ones to break up the fighting if it got out of control, not them.

Now it was the ones who kept them in check that were the ones about to fight, one consumed by an ever growing hate while the other racked with self-imposed guilt. Luna couldn’t think of a worse combination to be throwing into an arena style battle to fight it out, for she knew that Celestia was looking at this as a way to finally let somepony rip her to pieces, to tear into her and make her pay for all the things she blamed herself for.

And while she may not have known what drove Anastasia anymore, she knew that her anger now would most likely make her take advantage of Celestia’s plight, and most likely try and drag the regal sun monarch further down with harsh words as well as hooves.

But the thing that frightened her most about this fight was one simple fact, for Luna and the others all knew Celestia and Anastasia were the strongest of them, and if things got out of hoof, even all five of them combined would not be able to stop the bloodbath that would follow.

They finally reached the platform which overlooked the grand chamber that served as a refuge for ponies in times of strife and turmoil. Now it stood bear, the polished stone floor gleaming in the torchlight as they entered. On the opposite side, another platform faced them, showing the mares that had accompanied Anastasia already seated there.

Then they heard the doors at the bottom open, and watched as the two Alicorns entered the chamber; Twilight gasping when she saw Celestia, for she had never seen her in the armor she wore now.

The golden armor looked like it had seen many battles, the scars of ages passed covering each rugged piece. She held a helmet at her side, a split running down the back of it to allow her main to flow out, but otherwise the helm looked like it would entirely cover her face.

Anastasia on the other hoof wore no armor, and had also done away with her regalia, looking at Celestia with deep seeded hatred.

“Why is she not wearing armor,” asked Rainbow, her face showing her confusion.

Luna stared down at Anastasia, hesitating for a long moment before answering the question, knowing how they would react. “Because Rainbow Dash…when this starts, she will not need such mortal protection.”

All the elements looked at her with worry, for they could practically feel the fear dripping from Luna’s voice. However Luna had to ignore them, walking up to the edge of the platform and clearing her throat before speaking in her Royal voice.

“The challenge of the Weighing of Magic is convened, the witnesses have been gathered, and the combatants have prepared themselves. Celestia, stand thee ready?"

“I,” said Celestia

“Anastasia, stand thee ready?”

Anastasia just nodded her head.

Luna breathed in deep, and then let it out slowly, “Then let the Weighing of Magic commence, Solaris, I bid thee, come forth!”

Twilight watched as Celestia put the helmet over her head, then watched in horror as her body began to change. The fur along her body began to burn away, leaving black charred flesh which cracked to reveal glowing orange scars. Then she watched as Celestia threw back her head and screamed as her mane, tail and wings burst into flames, a great solar wind beginning to swirl around the armored princess, scorching the stone beneath black as she turned burning yellow eyes upon Anastasia.

“Skadi,” commanded Luna, her voice tinged with fear due to her sister’s transformation. “I…I bid thee, come forth!”

The first thing to change was Anastasia’s cutie mark, one of the symbols glowing brighter than the rest and expanding to consume the rest as a black and purple pool of energy began to form under her hooves. The energy began to crawl up her, wrapping itself lovingly around her form as it began to lift her off the ground, changing her and causing her to grow. She was soon consumed by the growing darkness that roes around her, its shape shifting as the semblance of an equine head began forming, followed soon by a neck. Arms soon followed, emerging from a large feminine body as it rose up from the pool, stopping just short of its hips as it towered over the burning sun goddess, its mane looking like slithering tendrils as they coiled and slid around its equine neck and horn.

“Le…let the challenge…commence,” said Luna, barely finishing her sentence as the two creatures lunged for each other.

Celestia’s mind was only half in the fight when the shadows first hit her in the stomach, causing her to fly into a wall. She struggled to her hooves, forming a ball of fire and blasting Anastasia with a weak blast of solar flame, meanwhile combating the beast that was screaming inside her for release. It wanted to hurt, it wanted to dominate, but most of all, it wanted to break the one who had dared challenge her unopposed might.

Celestia knew she had to keep it from taking hold, for she would never be able to get passed the beast that now ruled Anastasia’s mind if she was in a similar state, so she fired another blast, leaping into the air as a black cone of energy blasted its way toward her.

Twilight watched in fear as the two creatures fought against each other, petrified by the awesome display of power that she was witnessing. She watched as Celestia flew through the air on her fiery wings, sending blast after blast at Anastasia as she sent wave after wave of dark energy at her.

But Twilight could tell something was wrong, all Celestia’s movements seemed sluggish, like she was fighting to keep control of her body while battling with her sister, so in desperation for answers she turned to Luna for explanation.

“Luna, what’s wrong with Celestia, she doesn’t seem like she is all there?”

Luna looked down at her, knowing her confusion but hoping she could steer the conversation elsewhere. “It is hard to explain, we doubt you would understand…”

“Luna please!”

“Very well,” said Luna, watching as a fireball slammed against the barrier that had been placed around the balcony with a sigh, before finally looking down at her again to speak. “Our power has two sides, one side we use in everyday life, while the other we only use in the darkest of situations, times when the gentle touch of our power is not enough. But this power comes with a price, for it latches onto the more primal emotions of our being, an animalistic hunger that nags at us to be released. Released moderately and in remote places, control can eventually be won over this aspect of our power. But Celestia has not released her true power in some time, thus it is harder for her to control.”

“But…but you speak as if it’s a sentient thing.”

“…That’s because it is.”

Twilight stared at her in disbelief, but before she could ask another question she heard a screech of pain and looked down, seeing blood flying from a cut running along Celestia’s smoldering body. Twilight stifled a scream behind her hooves, tears coming to her eyes at the sight of her princess being hurt, but it was already too late…

Celestia heard the cry of her mare, turning to look in the direction of her love only to see her mare in tears, and then her vision filled with fire. She turned to the creature that had cut her, for it was the cause of that pain, and it was the cause of her mare’s tears, and in that moment Celestia let herself go, not caring about maintaining control anymore.

Solaris roared in triumph as Celestia’s mind went to sleep, rearing her head and roaring in challenge toward the shadow that caused her mare pain, flaming spittle and the heat of her breath heating the stone in front of her. She pawed the ground as the final changes wracked her body, flames begging to leak from the cracks in her skin as spines ripped their way across her back to the back of her head, resting behind her horn.

Her jaw cracked open, her razor sharp teeth gleaming as she charged the shadow, biting into its flesh and tasting black blood on her lips. The shadow yelled in rage, grabbing the flaming mane in her hands and ripping her off, throwing her at a wall.

Solaris hit the wall with her hooves, creating a crater with its impact before quickly leaping off and landing on the ground, opening her mouth and forming a sphere in front of it as large as a boulder, before suddenly compressing it to the size of a marble and unleashing a torrent of solar flame at the shadow.

The shadow moved, disappearing only to form behind the enraged sun goddess, grabbing her by the back of the head and driving her face into the ground. The shadow raised another claw to punch forward, only to be stabbed in the side by one of the sun goddesses flaming wings, causing her to roar in pain as the heat scalded her shadowy flesh.

Solaris then rose quickly, driving the spikes of her helmet into the chest of the shadow, bringing her further pain as she used her wings like swords, slashing at the elemental goddess wrapped in the blankets of darkness she most despised.

On the sidelines Twilight watched it all in horror, tears flowing from her eyes at the sight of that…that thing that had been her love. She thought she had seen what the princesses were capable of, what they could do if they got mad, and even what they might be capable of when they lost control. But that had all been a poor comparison to the feral creature that she saw before her, whose rage had unleashed because she had seen Twilight in pain.

“Luna, you have to stop this, they can’t keep doing this!”

“I…I’m sorry Twilight but I can’t…”

“What do you mean you can’t,” yelled Twilight as she rounded on Luna and the others, “your all alicorns aren’t you, and you said you could stop this if it got out of control, so why won’t you do so now?!”

Tears flew from her face as she yelled at them, glaring at them with her pain stricken gaze which demanded answers. They all looked away for a long moment, and then Fantasia spoke up, gulping back her fear as she looked at the distraught mare. “We may be alicorns Twilight, but Luna lied when she said we could stop this, for we are not as strong as Celestia and Anastasia. Celestia and Anastasia are the strongest out of all of us, but also the most dangerous because they have repressed the animal inside them…rather than embraced it as we have.”

“But why would that make a…”

“Because it has made our animals docile,” said Fantasia, “our predators have no teeth, thus we cannot hope to stand a chance against such primal creatures as they.”

Twilight just stared at them in disbelief, and then turned to look back at the ongoing confrontation between the two monsters. She wanted to yell at them, wanted them to stop, but she just couldn’t see a way of doing that when they obviously weren’t themselves any more.

Then a spark lit up in her brain, an idea forming as she focused on what she had just been told. This animal and Celestia were part of the same being, and that meant Celestia was still in there somewhere, trapped in the mind of the beast now controlling her body.

She closed her eyes, focusing on a desperate plane and a spell that Celestia had taught her after she had decided to live in Ponyville, for when distance forced them to be apart. Her horn flared bright for a moment, then went dark as her body fell to the floor, her mind soaring into the mind of Celestia, leaving the others behind.

She landed on an unfamiliar world, heated wind rolling across the surface of scorched earth as smoke rose into the flame filled sky. Twilight looked around, trying to place were she was in the drastically altered landscape, for it still looked familiar even in its current state.

In the past, when she had dived into the princess’s mind on those nighttime visits when they were far from each other, this place had resembled beautiful rolling hills with a lake of the east, a private place for them to be together. Now however the place looked like it had been hit by a meteor shower, the land scorched and blasted and any water that might have been there evaporated, leaving behind dried out pits and crags.

She galloped over the unfamiliar ground, heading in the direction she sensed the princess to be in, and after much searching she found her, lying asleep inside a secluded cave upon furs that cushioned the hard ground.

Twilight ran over to her, nudging impatiently into her to try and wake her up, “Celestia, Celestia you’ve got to wake up!”

Celestia stirred, lifting her head groggily as her eyes opened, seeing Twilight in front of her.

“Twilight…where…?”

Then she saw where they were, and her eyes widened in panic as she scrambled to get up.

“Twilight you should not have come here,” she said, her eyes scanning the skies as she starts leading the mare away from the cave.

“I had to, you weren’t acting like yourself and your sisters wouldn’t do anything to stop you, so I thought if I helped you get back control…”

“I realize your intentions and I thank you, but you don’t realize how much danger you have put yourself in by coming here now, don’t you realize…”

But she stopped as she felt the temperature rise as the sound of hooves landed behind them, both of them turning around and Celestia backing away in fear, for Solaris had landed behind them.

Twilight was just as scared, but she did not back away, for when she had turned to face her, their eyes had met and locked. Those flaming orbs, like miniature suns held within scarred black skies, they were so different from the Celestia’s, but they held a hunger in them that Twilight recognized as she gasped, for she knew then what she needed to do.

She closed her eyes, tapping into the core of her power and opening the wellspring that connected her with the element of magic. Runes started to form over her body, glowing the same color as her cutie mark, which also began to glow brightly along with them.

Then she opened her eyes, which had turned opaque, glowing a delicate shade of violet red like her magic. She stared at Solaris, her eyes telling the flaming mare all that it needed to know, and it licked its lips in approval before Twilight spoke to Celestia.

“Celestia, you need to go.”

Celestia, who had been so absorbed in her student’s transformation, hadn’t noticed the exchange between the two. She looked at Twilight in surprise as the mare turned to look back at her, her opaque eyes telling her to leave, and then Celestia looked from her to Solaris, spotting the hungry look in the creatures eyes and she gasping in shock, realizing what Twilight intended to do.

“No!”

She made to step in front of Twilight, only to have her student use her magic to restrain her, turning her gaze back to the creature in front of them. Then she began to fade as Solaris relinquished control of her body, cursing as the world faded to black.

Solaris watched as Celestia faded from her realm to return to reality, licking her lips as she looked back at the mare before her. She had longed for this moment, ever since the first night when she had felt Twilight take her host on her bed.

She walked over to the mare, feeling the magic radiating off her body as her eyes drifted over her curves, using one of her wings to grab Twilight’s chin, gently lifting it up to looking into her flaming eyes.

“My beautiful little mare, you are very brave to offer yourself to me, knowing my nature as you do.”

Twilight turned her face away from Solaris, not out of fear but instead out of disgust for the creature caressing her chin, “Just get on with it already.”

Solaris was taken aback by the disgust in the mare’s voice, but she soon smirked, her lust consuming her as she used her hooves to turn Twilight around and pin her roughly to the ground. She then leaned close to Twilights ear, her voice sounding husky with lust as she spoke, dipping with desire along with other parts of her body.

“Be disgusted with me all you wish, but I promise to be gentle with you, my Twilight Sparkle.”

All Twilight was able to do was whimper, and then her world became nothing but heat and flame.

It was a rude awaking to the world of reality for Celestia, made all the more rude as the sensation of Anastasia’s claws crushing her throat registered in her mind. Celestia sucked in a tiny breath, then unleashed it as a tiny ray of fire that managed to stagger the shadow, loosening her grip and allowing her to kick her away.

When she landed back on the ground, Celestia raised her wings into the air, letting their flames begin to mingle with the ones from her tail and main as she began forming a miniature sun above her, for she needed to end this now. She then let the ball descend, firing it forward at Anastasia as she charged, the great fire ball hitting and bathing the entire chamber in flames as it exploded.

Luna and the rest covered their eyes as the flames filled the chamber, cringing as the heat washed over them through the magical barrier. She looked down into the sea of flame, and then turned her gaze back to the unconscious mare in who was being clutched by Rarity, fearing for her as well as her sister.

Twilight’s eyes were closed, but a faint light could be seen behind her eye lids, signifying the workings of a mighty spell.

Luna knew what she had done, and cursed herself for not stopping her before she had completed her spell. She watched as a moan escaped her lips, a moan most mistook for a moan of discomfort, but Luna heard the subtle pleasure behind it, bile rising in her throat at the implications.

She turned back to watch as the flames began to faded, praying that Celestia could end this soon, for she knew this could not go on.

Celestia watched as the last of the flames faded from around the shadow, noticing it had lost some of its size due to the power of the attack, but was still awash in the shadows of her darkest element. The shadow lifted itself from the ground, its eyes looking dazed and out of focus, so Celestia decided to take the initiative.

“Anastasia, please let us stop this, I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

Anastasia’s head snapped up, her eyes glaring at Celestia as she let out a feral hiss. “Stop, why would we want to stop; when we have been waiting a thousand years and more to revenge ourselves upon you dear sister!”

Celestia felt a tear of flame fall down her face, looking upon her sister with only confusion. “Why are you acting like this, what have I done to you to deserve such malice from you?”

“What have you done…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Anastasia screamed; her voice cracking the ground around them as it shook the very mountain. “YOU SWORE TO ME YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE MY SIDE, THAT YOU WOULD NEVER ABANDON ME TO THE BEAST THAT PLAGUED ME, KNOWING MY PLIGHT AS YOU DO!”

Celestia’s tears increased, for memories began flooding her mind, unwanted and painful, and still her sister roared on.

“BUT WHEN WE NEEDED YOU MOST, WHEN WE BEGAN SLIPPING INTO THE CLUTCHES OF THE MONSTER WITHIN US, YOU NEVER CAME! YOU LEFT US TO BE TAKEN AND BROKEN BY THIS CREATURE, AND MY KINGDOM SUFFERED BECAUSE OF IT!”

Celestia sobbed, “I…I’m sorry, I would have come, but I had just lost Luna…and I didn’t hear about it till…”

“DON’T YOU DARE PATRONIZE US SISTER; WE KNOW THAT IS A LIE! WE ALL SHARE A BOND DEEPER THEN ANY COULD POSSIBLY FATHOM, ALLOWING US TO SENSE WHEN ANOTHER IS IN PAIN, AND I KNOW YOU FELT ME SUCCUMBING TO THIS BEAST! SO DON’T YOU LIE TO ME AND TRY AND MAKE EXCUSES, YOU KNOW THAT WILL NOT WORK!”

Celestia lowered her head in shame, tears racking her body as her form returned to normal, for she was too tired to continue this fight anymore. Then with a heavy sigh she looked up, beginning to take off her armor and throw it to the ground to the shock of all around.

“What are you doing,” asked Anastasia, her voice full of confusion as she gazed upon her sister.

Celestia removed the helmet last, throwing it to the ground as she gazed upon her sister with tears streaming down her face, before finally choking out a response.

“You want to kill me, go ahead and get it over with, for I deserve no mercy for what I have done to you! I abandoned you, I stole from you, and I caused you pain beyond imaging because of my negligence! So please kill me, I only ask that you make it quick, for I cannot stand to live another second seeing you in such pain!”

Celestia then closed her eyes, lifting her head to expose her throat, all worry leaving her body as she readied herself for the end.

Anastasia just stared, dumfounded by Celestia’s actions. The beast inside her began roaring in triumph, telling her to strike now and take her revenge. But another part of her, the part that was connected to Celestia, stayed the beast inside. She could feel the pain wracking her sister’s body, the years of emotional self-abuse that had ruled her for the longest time, and in that moment her anger was washed away.

She bowed her head as her form began to shrink, shrinking down till the shadowy tar like substance melted off her skin and onto the floor, fading away as she walked up to Celestia.

Celestia gasped as she felt Anastasia nuzzle up close to her, wrapping her forelegs around her as she felt her begin to cry.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

“Shhhh little sister,” said Celestia as she nuzzled into her coat, “its ok, its ok. I know I’m a little late for this, but I’m here now, and that’s all that matters.”

And with that they both broke, the years of separation and turmoil bubbling forth and falling away as they cried into each other’s embrace, happy to be reunited at last.