Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter Twenty-Five

The sun set over Canterlot. Princess Celestia flew alone over the city, diving down to settle on a rooftop—the rooftop where the statue of Discord stood in his twisted pose.

"Hello," she said. "I'm here, as you asked. So, are you going to talk?"

She listened.

"I didn't think so," she said. "You know what's coming, Discord, you can't hide it from me."

She waited.

"Of course," she sneered. "You don't want to hide it from me—you want to let slip just enough to taunt me."

She snagged the back of his head and tugged his frozen, terrified face directly into hers.

"Your days of taunting me are over," she hissed. "Speak, and I may not judge you too harshly."

"Sister."

Celestia turned her head in alarm. Luna stood on the opposite end of the roof, gazing at her blankly.

"Oh… Luna," Celestia said. "I was just…"

Luna waved a hoof dismissively. "I've walked in on you doing stranger things. I thought I'd find you here… 'tis said you are often here in the first minutes of the night. Is't true you speakest with Discord? And is't true, the rumor that he speaketh back in your head?"

Celestia smiled. "Luna… may I remind you that I don't outrank you? I've asked you not to call me 'you' until you've become accustomed to calling everypony 'you'."

Luna blinked, then shrugged. "If that is thy wish, sister."

"Better," Celestia said. "To answer your question, yes. Discord and I have had a number of… let's say stimulating conversations… over the years he's been entombed."

"Truly?" Luna said, stepping up to the statue. She pressed a hoof to Discord's chest. "All I am getting are vague feelings of rage, and terror, and hate."

"That's distressing," Celestia said quietly. "Because I can hear his every thought… his every thought that he wants me to hear, I should say. He projects his thoughts onto me and listens to mine in return… every second of every day… no matter where I am."

Luna gaped. "I… I cannot… but… sister! 'Distressing' doth not begin to cover it! How long hath this been occurring?"

"I dunno, what year is it?" Celestia said flippantly.

Surprised by the question, Luna bowed down. "Why, 'tis the year one thousand and eleven, as the ponies of Equestria reckon time by the years of thine own rule, by way of—"

"Luna."

"Oh, I see. A rhetorical question. Meaning he hath been in thy head for…" She inhaled sharply. "No. No, it cannot be. Since our coronation?"

"Before that," Celestia said.

"Our ascension to true immortality? …The moment of his defeat?"

"Keep going," Celestia said tonelessly.

"The game," Luna breathed. "Since the game."

"Every single second of my life since the game began," Celestia confirmed. "And that includes the day he escaped last year…"

"Wherefore didst thou never tell anypony?" Luna demanded, her eyes wide and full of tears. "Wherefore… wherefore didst thou never tell me?"

"I assumed it was happening to you as well, and that it'd come up when it came up," Celestia said. "It never did until just now."

Luna leapt upon her sister with a crushing hug. "Oh Tia! Why wouldst thou wish to suffer alone so?"

Celestia laughed. "Please—when was the last time you actually called me Tia? Don't start now." She eyed the statue and knocked a hoof against it dismissively. "It's quite all right, Luna. When something's been going on for a thousand years straight, you get used to it. I've dealt with it for the majority of my life, I can continue dealing with it. Honestly, I don't know how I'd cope if it went away, it's such an integral part of my psyche."

Luna glared at the statue. "'Tis true that thou canst see and hear all that goes on around thee, ay? Then hear my words, demon: prison in stone is too good for thee. I should shatter thee where thou dost stand."

"Luna… don't," Celestia said, smiling. "You can't destroy him—entropy is as much a part of the universe as harmony. To maintain universal balance, we need him alive. Anyway, he can do no harm." She glared. "Sure, he won't tell me what he knows of the force moving through Equestria, the storm coming… but I don't need him to figure it out for me. Come, sister, let's read the signs ourselves."

"A storm, sister?" Luna inquired.

"Yes, something approaching that Equestria shall have to deal with," Celestia confirmed. "I feel it in the wind, in the rotation of the earth… and in my very blood. You must know what I'm talking about, sister. Surely you've seen the signs in your beautiful stars?"

Luna looked up into the sky. "Hmm… perhaps thou art correct. I have been observing the odd behavior of the wandering stars. Behold…" She fired up her magical aura and used it to point to four planets. "Venus… Saturn… Pluto… and Goofy, falling out of their common order to configure with one another."

"So what does that mean for—?" Celestia paused, blinked, and turned to stare at her sister with a raised eyebrow. "Goofy?"

Luna chuckled. "I kid. But observe…" She touched the sky with her aura again. "The first three wanderers I mentioned, forming a perfect equilateral triangle. And Mars, at the exact center of the same triangle."

Celestia squinted at the sky. "Are you sure? I don't see it."

"Unsurprising, sister. 'Tis well-known that thou canst not see in the dark worth crap."

"Fair enough," Celestia admitted. "I'll take your word for it." She continued to stare. "No, wait, I really don't want to have to take your word for it—I want to see this, can we get a telescope down here?"

"Oh, no telescope can see what I see," Luna whispered. "Few could gain such a clear picture, and even fewer would know the significance… the signs of conflict and agony painted across the sky with delicate strokes."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Um… actually, no. I'd like to explain what I see with more clarity… but I do not believe I can."

"Neither can I," Celestia muttered. "Ah, well, nothing for it. If it were close enough to be anything to worry about, we would be able to interpret what the signs actually meant. It's… far off. Too far off to be of concern."

"All the same, let us keep a close eye upon the signs," Luna said solemnly.

"Yes, let's," Celestia agreed.