Chapters The Curse of the Princesses
As I step into the main hall, I could hear the rain hit the windows. I never scheduled the pegasi to make it rain THIS hard... at least it isn't snowing. The Winter-Wrap up is in a few weeks... I am very happy about that. It has been pouring outside, so I let Discord stay in the castle until the storm blows over. Right now, he is sitting in my throne, ordering the guards to get him some food... this is going to be a long week...
"Hello Princess Trollestia" Says Discord.
I choke on my own words, "W-what did you just call me?"
"Celestia, what else?"
"I thought so..."
I walk up to the guards. "Keep a sharp eye on him, and don't let him order you around" I whisper. "Discord, get off the throne, when I told you that I will let you stay here until the storm blows over, I didn't mean completely take over the guards and 'my' throne." Not trying to sound too selfish here...
"Calm your pony-feathers, I'll get down" I raise an eyebrow but gladly watch Discord get escorted off the throne by the guards, one of them being Shining Armor. As I walk up to the throne, I hear the doors open behind me. I see Cadence and the Mane Six come storming in and the next thing I know, I have seven ponies on top of me. I can see through the corner of my eyes that Rarity is off to the side shaking her head. The seventh pony on top of me is my own sister, Luna. With the air knocked out of me, I could only hear a little shriek coming from Twilight Sparkle, "SLEEPOVER!!". When the ponies get up, I start breathing again.
"Sorry princess Celestia, I am just soo excited!" Exclaims Twilight.
"Excited for...?" I use with the first breath I get after standing back up.
"We were going to have a sleepover... right? You sent me a letter, stating that you wanted to have a sleepover with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Apple Jack, Luna, Cadence, and me.."
"I...did?" I am very confu- I turn to discord and frown
"DISCORD! YOU INVITED THEM HERE TO HAVE A 'SLEEPOVER'?"
All he does is laugh evilly then grin. I think he is up to something...
"No, why would I ever do something as irresponsible as that?! Okay maybe I did." Twilight pops her head in front of me,
"Is the sleepover still on, Princess?"
I sigh "I guess it's alright.. Luna what are you doing up?"
"Tis night time, sister, thou the clouds make it difficult to tell when tis night" I understand now, and yawn.
The Curse of the Princesses
"So.. what do you do at a sleepover?" I murmur.
"You have never been to a sleepover?!" Gasps Pinkie Pie
"N-no.. our parents never let us socialize with other ponies our age when we were fillies.."
Luna looks down at the ground, I could tell she feels hurt about what happened thousands of years ago...Who could blame her?
Twilight's horn glows as a bag of marshmallows flies from the kitchen into the room, and a sudden fire forms in the middle of the floor. I guess I'd go with it. Then a bag of Horsey's chocolates come flying in as well as some gram crackers. Everypony starts heading towards the fire. Discord is behind us sitting on the throne once again. "Discord, what have I told you? And why aren't you down here with us?"
"Oh dear Celestia, I am only up here to watch, I enjoy smores and what-not but I will just sit back while you mares do your things." Mhm.. just sit back? Sounds suspicious.. but maybe I should just relax.. Twilight puts a marshmallow on a stick and puts it over the fire. I watch the delicate skin of the marshmallow burn and turn into a crispy shell. Then she puts chocolate on a gram cracker and puts the marshmallow inside. She takes a small bite into it and the chocolate and marshmallow melts and sticks to her face. I can't help to giggle, but Luna has a little drool coming off the side of her face.
The other ponies watch in delight. I start blushing a little when I say, "Twilight.. can you make me one, please?" It feels awkward to ask her for a favor like that..
"Sure, of course!" She seems excited to make one. Wait.. Where did Pinkie Pie go? Discord is gone too! I immediately stand up.
"Princess, why are y'all so alarmed?" Asks Apple Jack surprised.
"Where is Pinkie Pie and Discord?!"
"Well Pinkie went to go get her radio and speakers."
"Your Majesty, Discord left to go to the 'washroom'." Shining Armor spits out, but he laughs a bit afterwards. I let out a small sigh of relief. Pinkie walks back in with a huge set of speakers and a radio. I signal the guards to help her set them up. Not long after, Discord walks back in with a fluffy pink towel that I use then I wash up...down...there.... This is awkward... Then he snaps his fingers and the towel teleports off of him to on my head. I growl as I take it off.
"Princess, a-are y-you okay?" Asks Fluttershy in a very kind voice. Why would she actually think something is wrong? Did I growl too loud? I don't think I have.. My face feels hot though.. I teleport a mirror in front of me. Now I see why Fluttershy asked.. My face is very red.. I don't know if it is anger, embarrassment, or both.. "I am fine girls, don't worry" I look at Discord who is back in the throne. I hear a voice.. sounds exactly like mine.. I turn around, and I see its the stereo, Pinkie has all of the songs that we have sang on it.. weird... but I enjoy many of those songs.
"I record ALL of our songs that we sing, and make them into dvds!" Pinkie Exclaims over the music. Discord rolls his eyes whenever the ponies start singing along to their own songs. I really want to kick Discord.. but I can't..sadly. Thunder strikes hard outside. The lightning lights up the gloomy sky. Fluttershy lets out a scream and hides behind me. "It's okay my little pony, it's only thunder, it can't hurt you. I won't let anything harm any of you ponies." Fluttershy is still a bit frightened, but she gets up and walks back over to Twilight.
"I think we should get to bed, being up this late takes away time for my 'beauty sleep'" Rarity can get to be a diva at times, but that is just who she is, being the holder of the Element of Generosity.
"Rarity is right, we should get to bed." Twilight says while she yawns. I feel a bit tired as well...
"Alright, time to set out the sleeping bags, girls!" Uh.. sleeping bags? Looks like they all have them.. I don't... I guess I can just use a blanket.. but what about Discord?..... He is asleep on the throne.. great. I levitate a blanket into the room.
"Guard, I will have to ask you to leave, I think we will be fine, thank you for helping out with Discord today." The guards bow as they leave the room.
"Princess, may I stay in here with Cadence?" Shining Armor pleads.
"Sure.. that is alright with me." Shining Armor lays next to Cadence. They make a great couple. I lay down under my blanket next to fluttershy, to make sure she won't get too frightened. The next thing I know... I am fast...asleep.
The Curse of the Princesses
I wake up, it is very dark in the room. I could hear the huffs of the ponies filling the room. I get up and I start making my way past the sleeping ponies. But.. there is a problem.. where is Shining Armor? Where is Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie pie, Apple Jack, and Rainbow Dash?! The only ones left are Twilight, Cadence, Luna, and me... I hear breathing behind me and I turn around. I feel a needle go inside my neck all I see left is the silhouette of Discord then I black out.
I wake up again. It is still pouring outside, but it is less dark.. I think it is morning.. How did the sun raise if I didn't do it? Wait.. where am I? I am in a tree... wait.. A TREE?! I try to scream, but the gag in my mouth forces me not to. My hooves are tied together... and I have.. blood running down the side of my neck.. What happened? I struggle to get the rope off... WAIT... THIS IS FIBERGLASS! I immediately stop struggling and fall off the tree. I feel like my bones are shattering.. it hurts so bad.. I can't move. I sit there, wanting to die, while the rain falls on my face.
I turn my head and see fillies... lying there.. with the same problem..they have fiberglass holding their hooves together, they have gags stuffed in their mouths, and they have blood running down their necks.. but they're still asleep..
They look familiar.. I can't see much color, from the blood loss, the shadows, and the rain hitting my pupils.. But I see one.. with darker hair.. it is wet, but it has curl to it.. I can kind of see their cutie mark.. it looks like a star with sparkles around it.... wait.. that's Twilight! But....she's a filly...oh no...
The Curse of the Princesses
My stomach growls, and I think the fillies can hear it too, over the loud rain.
"We're hungry too..." Murmurs Twilight as she tears up. I don't know why she's crying, I am the one with the major cuts and wounds. I limp towards the out-of-power fridge and I find an apple in there.. that's weird... it looks fresh... I reach for it and I nearly take a bite out of it.
"STOP!" Luna yells. She knocks it out of my hand and it hits the ground. A strange liquid drips out of it. I go down to look.
"Wait that's..... Poison!" I yell as I scramble back up to my hooves. I hear the storm slowing down, and soon comes to end.
"We should get going, now that we took a break." I stutter, still shocked by the poison. We step outside the house, and we are in a forest.
"This forest looks familiar" Twilight says, "But I have never seen this cabin in here."
"Wait.. a forest.... there are only 3 forests in Equestria. If we are in the correct one..Twilight, do you remember where the Elements of Harmony were first kept when you came to Pony Ville?"
"Yeah.. I think so"
"There was a secret passage there that held a stone that reverses any curse/spell on a pony. We can use that to turn back to normal and defeat Discord!"
"I remember reading about that one time, but that was when I lost interest and started reading about the Elements of Harmony." Twilight blushes.
"Twilight Sparkle losing interest in a book? That is news to me."
Cadence and Luna nod in agreement. We start following a trail that leads straight to a pond. "I was getting thirsty" I say as I run up to the pond and start drinking out of it. "The pond water is really refreshing, I felt like I haven't tasted this good of water for years! The last time I remember drinking water like this is when... Luna and I were playing tag.. In the Everfree forest, and we got thirsty so we found this pond. We knew the area really well, but we haven't seen that pond before. Luna and I were small fillies, like what we are right now, and we loved to play in the forest. So if I'm not mistaken.. this is the Everfree forest."
Twilight sighs in relief that we're close to Ponyville. At least I made all of them feel a little better.
The Curse of the Princesses
Luna and I try to remember what path leads to Ponyville. I hear noises all around me... but I ignore it and continue on. All of the sudden, a panther jumps out in front of us and has red eyes and blood covering it. As its mouth foams, we start stepping back. I know I have to do something about this... I take a sharp stick in my mouth and race towards it. The only thing I can hear while I am making this horrible decision, are the shouts of the ponies behind me, telling me to not do it. I kick the panther in its mouth and it snaps at my leg, being successful. I let out a cry of pain but then I force the stick into his head. It is hard to do things with my mouth, being use to carrying things with magic... It whines and runs back into the trees. My leg is bleeding but I shake it off and we keep going.
We start seeing light and we run towards it, well, I limp. We see Ponyville.. but it doesn't look the same. It's dark and sad. All the ponies are gray and getting angry at each other. We see ponies rob the carts, start fights, and hurting/tormenting each other.. We head to Twilight's House. Once we get inside, books are everywhere, and ripped up, there is paint and permanent marker on the walls, and...blood... I smell blood... I turn to see Twilight's mouth drop open and she starts crying. Spike comes down stairs, he is gray as well.
"What do you want, what are you crying about, you baby" I come up to spike and I knock him against the wall. He bites my hoof and kicks me to the ground.
"I haven't eating anything in three weeks, I might as well eat one of you" We've been gone for three weeks?! Spike pounces on my and holds my arms to the ground. He inhales like he is going to use his fire breath to heat me up. I turn my head away and I suddenly feel less pressure. Twilight kicked him aside and stuck a tranquilizer in his neck.
"That was fortunate that you had a tranquilizer here." I stay, still frightened and shocked.
"Discord casted a spell on everypony!" Cadence yells out. Luna wraps her arms around Cadence to calm her down.
Twilight follows the trail of blood to a dead body of only bones.
"T-These bones look like--" Twilight bursts into tears.
"Who?"
"Exactly!" I think she is talking about Owlicious.. her pet owl...
I run up behind her and I hold her to the floor.
"Twilight, snap out of it, we can fix this whole thing!" She sniffles and gets up. When we get outside, we get egged by masked ponies. I wipe the egg off of twilight and my face. We head towards one of the stands to buy something.
"GET OUT OF HERE YOU MUTTS, YOU'RE NOT STEALING ANY OF MY FOOD ANYMORE!" The Stallion owning the stand yells when we walk up.
"We are not here to steal, kind gentlecolt." Cadence sucks up the bravery to say. Wait.. what does Luna have? She has.. 4 apples?! Where did she get them?!
"H-HEY WHO STOLE MY APPLES!" I hear someone yell from behind. I push Luna onto the ground.
"YOU STOLE THEIR APPLES?! WE ARE SUPPOSE TO BE ENCOURAGING KINDNESS AND HONESTY!"
"It's not working, Tia, why even try." Luna says as a coat of grey fills her body.
"Oh no.. you're turning into one of them! We must stop this fooling around and get to the temple!"
I help Luna up and we follow the path back to the forest. We pass Fluttershy's cottage.
"We should check if fluttershy is here.. or what happened to her animals.." We knock on the door, it slowly creaks open, and the whole place is wrecked by the animals, there are animals abusing other animals! The next thing I know, I have a monkey hanging on to my head, forcing it in motions where I think it's trying to snap my neck! Cadence kicks the monkey off onto the floor and we race out, quickly slamming the door behind us.
"This...is...chaotic!" We run as fast as we can into the forest, and following the trail.
The Curse of the Princesses
We get to the broken bridge.. this is going to be hard because none of us have wings anymore...I end up trying something.. very VERY risky.. but it's to save the ones I love..
"You guys have to trust me on this.. this could cost me my life.. but I have to do it!" I beg.
"No! we can't lose you, Tia!" The three say with tears forming up in their eyes. While they turn around to discuss if they will let me do it, I climb down, holding onto the dangling bridge as much as I can. My hooves are a little hard to use, but I got no choice. "CELESTIA!" I hear Twilight yell. I climb lower down, as low as I can go, to the last wood plank, and I grab on a try to find the cliff side with my back hooves. I start pushing off the cliff, and I continuously do it. My legs could snap any second, but I am praying that, that won't happen.
My hooves keep slipping.. any moment my hooves can just... let go.. and that will be it..I have to think of succeeding.. but I don't think I will.. I think I will fail everypony..And I see myself getting coated with gray as I think about failing... and dying.. and failing the ones I love.. the ones I care for. With that my hooves slip and I start falling... I could only feel the sorrow and pain of the ponies still on the cliff are feeling. I slightly hear them yelling and screaming. While I fall.. I have flashbacks of all that we've been through.. ever since I was born...I close my eyes and let nature take its course.
All of the sudden.. I don't feel myself falling anymore.. I feel pressure against my back.. I don't open my eyes, but I hang on. I am dropped onto the land, on the other side of the bridge. I run my hooves through the dirt and grass and get up. I still see the others on the other side, their mouths dropped open and I see them jumping in joy while tears run down their face... I don't know what happened... I could barely hear, my ears are popping from the wind running so fast.. But I hear a faint sentence from Luna. "Go ahead and find the crystal" I am still suffering from very close to death syndrome.. I know it isn't a syndrome.. but that is how I feel right now.. But I turn around and race towards the temple. I limp up the stairs and I find the main room, where the secret entrance is, but.. somepony is there waiting for me..
The Curse of the Princesses
Discord is standing there.. wearing.. my crown with guards next to him. One of them was shining armor.. he looks brain-washed. Under his helmet, instead of his eyes being blue, they're red, pure red. "I thought for sure you wouldn't make it" Discord says. I stutter my words "leave me alone" it only sounds like I am hyperventilation. Discord grabs me by my neck with his claw and lifts me off the ground. He throws me against the wall.
"I am the full and true king. You can't stop me. I was destined for this, and you weren't, in fact, none of those 'princesses' should be here." I can barely breath.. And my pink hair is turning blood red... My vision goes completely blurry and my hearing is foggy.. I feel Discord pick me up and he carries me on his back. He teleports to the other side of the bridge a little past the ponies.. from which I can see. I hear the shouts of only one pony... Luna.
I see the guard carrying Cadence and Twilight. I feel something appear on my head.. I think it's my horn.. I am too weak and powerless to use it though..and my wings as well.. We stop at Ponyville first.. Luna is lost in the forest..I think. I could tell we were at Ponyville because I heard all of the yelling of thieves and the screaming.. or maybe that is every place.. I feel weak, yet.. I feel alive... I wrap my arms around Discord.. for some reason I feel I have to. The next thing I hear muffled is "Lord Discord" and "All Praise Lord Discord".
I just sit there.. listening to the pain of people calling him Lord Discord.. I never would have thought that would happen... And nobody recognizes me.. they just treat me as another pony... or do they recognize me..? I hear the sound of doors opening and I feel magic lifting my body into the air and onto the ground. I smelt something sweet.. I think we were in sugarcube corner.. I make no movement at all.. My body looks like a dead corpse.. I only move when something makes me move, like something living me into the air. But I look up a little and I see a pony that is blue, and a pony that is yellow... they are both bright.. considering that the other ponies are gray. I don't see the guards anymore.. I think they took the fillies to Canterlot. I feel more magic lift me up and it puts me on a table. I see a cupcake, I think Discord is trying to get me to eat. I'd rather die.. but I can't resist a cupcake... I take a small bite, not trying to show any signs of caring about living anymore.
I feel discord put me back on his back and we head out and we are in a place.. it is very.. bright and white.. it smells fresh, but I also smell a lot of blood. I think we are in a hospital. Oh no.. magic puts me on a table, and I feel a needle once again go into my skin. I black out-
The Curse of the Princesses
I wake up again.. I am in my castle..I look up and Discord is stroking my now clean, light pink mane. I look back down at myself and I am completely white and I have stitches in my coat. I wonder where everypony else is. For some reason, I don't care anymore. I feel very comfortable...And then I remember all the trouble Discord caused to not only me, but to everypony I love and care about. I start struggling.
"Oh my dear, Why struggle? We can live happily in the kingdom, with nothing to worry about!" I jump to the ground, then I realize that I am clothed with jewels and gold.. this doesn't look like some ordinary dress... this looks like one of Rarity's! Rarity is here! I think all the other ponies are here too! I got to get out of here without Discord...harming me or anypony else.
"I just uh.. have to go to the wash room....... my lord." I nearly choked when I said my lord... actually.. there-it-is
"Something wrong?" he says in a deep voice. I shake my head and a guard follows me to the bathroom, the guard is Shining Armor.. He is still brain-washed but I know how to fix that. Once I step in the bathroom, I grab the towel rack and when I step out, when his back is turned to me, I smack him really hard in the back of his head. He falls to the ground and rubs his head. He re-opens his eyes.. their normal... I am so happy I nearly screamed.. but I can't do that or else that MONSTER would come in here.. All I do is hug Shining Armor really tightly and cover his mouth, "Follow me" I whisper.
We walk down the hall. I hear a lot of noise coming from a room... I've been to Rarity's enough to know that it is the sewing machine. I slowly open the door, Rarity jumps and falls off her chair. She runs up and tries to hug me, but her back hooves are chained to the table, so she trips before she gets to me. Shining Armor used his strength to get the chain off and we go running down to the dungeon room. I spot all the ponies in there! I run up and they are all gray. Then I hear humming.. deep humming.. and footsteps.. "Discord is coming!" I shout quietly.
"Let me take care of this" Shining Armor says as he chains my and Rarity's legs together and takes us up the stairs using his magic. When Discord spots me there, I could actually feel that he was hurt.. I don't know why or how..
"My Lord, I found these two down here."
"Were they trying to help the ponies escape?"
"No, I don't believe so. They were just watching them suffer..."
Discord starts smiling. "Good, now let's get them back up. Rarity, you get back to work, and Celestia.. we'll see."
Shining Armor walks behind discord, and puts rarity in the room and pretends to chain her up. And he sets me down on the palace floor. Sadly, I still can't use my magic or wings.. I think he gave me restricted access.. or I am still too weak and powerless..
"My dear Celestia, where has the time gone? When it was just us, and we ruled together, then your sister came along and ruined our relationship. You spent time with only her, and I got ... Jealous, to be honest. That is why and how I turned evil. And then you and your sister turned me into stone and rage boiled up inside of me. All I ever wanted to do was rule with you, nopony else to steal you away, like Luna did that day..." My eyes start tearing up. Is that really why? Is this all my fault? or Luna's fault? "And now.. we can do that. If you will only promise that nothing can take you away"
Either live my life with him, ruling Equestria and making everypony's lives miserable.. or not do anything.. still make pony's lives miserable.. but making myself miserable too... I turn around, facing Discord. I take a step towards him. "I'll do it." He picks me back up with magic and turns me back to normal.. I feel the full power again..Now I can end all of this madness.. but.. I promised.. I can't be a princess.. if I would only break a promise.
The Curse of the Princesses
I sees flashes of white.. is this what it feels like to die..? Or die in this matter.. I broke a promise.. no princess dares to break a promise, even if it is with someone evil. Only seeing flashes of the battle.. I say Luna is winning.. at least she can take over for me.. or maybe Twilight.
I hear a screeching sound in my ears.. it is continuous. And my vision is fully white, yet I feel something around my neck..it feels powerful.. it gives me power.. but I can't access it. The power fills me.. but I am still the same. Unconsciously, I start moving my hoof, then I open my eyes. My sister is smiling, I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. She comes down to hug me, but she watches for the wounds. I feel her pick me up thought.. I am still a filly. I also feel her tears running down my back.
"I-I'm so happy your alive, Tia!" Then she sets me down and the necklace's power runs through me and clears my veins from the venom. I am taller than Luna now.. that means I am back.. I spot discord on the ground, slowly breathing, but is passed out. Twilight runs up with the Elements of Harmony and they turn discord back into stone.
----------------------THE NEXT DAY-----------------------------------------
The next day felt great, everything was back to how it was before. Harmony is going around, and no more Discord for another thousand years.
The Curse of the Princesses
I try as hard as I can to yell, but none of the fillies can hear me. The only one I can recognize is Twilight. I start crawling towards her. The fiberglass cuts deeper into my skin. It burns, but it is the only way. I use all the might I have and punch her on her side. She reacts and starts freaking out. I put my hooves towards her, signaling for her to untie me. She tries her best and finally gets me out. I rip the gag off and untie my other hooves. I pull the gag out of her mouth and untie her. She hugs me very tight. Other than the rain falling down my back, I feel something warm, I feel her tears. I start tearing up as well.. but it is probably not a great idea.. my blood is dying her coat.
Twilight and I start untying the other fillies. I still can't see that well, the rain is coming down very hard. We wake the others and go to find shelter. We end up finding a little abandoned cabin. It looks pretty wrecked, but it'll have to do. I flick the light. It works, surprisingly! But the light is still pretty dim. I still feel the water leak through the roof. Once I see better, I notice that there is Cadence and Luna there as well... but.. something seems different...about everypony.. wait.. where are their wings and horns?! Where is mine?! Oh no.. They took our magic and ability to fly.. Smart.. but still.. But they are all fillies. Luna's hair is the light blue it was when she was small.
"Tia.. y-you're hair" Says Luna in a child-like voice. Her voice cracks a little when she said that.. I find pieces of glass on the ground. I look through it and I can see... I look like a filly as well... My hair is the bright pink it used to be.. but very wet.
As I look closer, I see that nopony has their cutie mark. I could tell that they are all scared, I wish I could help, but I am too...
"Don't worry girls.. we will be alright.." But barely I can believe that myself.
The Curse of the Princesses
Discord floats a crown back on my head.. but it really doesn't matter anymore. Without being seen, I teleport into the jail and I use the spell Twilight used to make the ponies remember when the second time Discord took over. The ponies looked scared and shocked.. but I think we all do right now.
I sneak them up stairs into the room Rarity is being held up in. We quietly think of a plan, then we race into the room and they try to over-power Discord, but his magic is too strong. He uses his magic to pin the other ponies to the walls except for me. He pulls me towards him, I feel my magic once again fading away. "You lied to me. You broke a promise. Now all of your little ponies will suffer." He started to choke all of the ponies, I run up and use the rest of my magic while it lasts and choke him.. it doesn't last for long.
The other ponies passed out. I am once again a little filly with no magic. He forces me to the wall and grabs a knife... that is a shadow blade.. it will kill me in an instant if he puts it through my chest, because I am made up of sun. He starts cutting my arms and legs. I let out moans of pain, but then he starts cutting up my stomach.. up to my chest. He makes an X through my coat. As much as I want to scream, nothing comes out. I close my eyes and I end up falling to the ground. The poison from the shadow blade starts filling my blood stream. I think this is the end...
