Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter Seventy-Nine

"Sister, awaken! You must!"

Celestia's head was instantly lifted off her pillow, her eyes open and alert. "Luna," she said. "What's wrong?"

She started crawling out of her bed. She was bare of accessories; her crown, collar, and shoes were sitting on her bedside table. Luna took the time to note that without her personal effects, her enormous and angelic sister was even more unnaturally beautiful.

She dismissed these thoughts and lifted up the scroll she was levitating. "I have received news from our agents in the Whispering Desert," she said solemnly. "Terrible news. Many cities and settlements in the desert have been attacked… by Sørmur dï Mitgaeard. She's on a rampage."

"A rampage?" Celestia demanded. "Mitgaeard, rampaging? That's impossible!"

"See for yourself," said Luna, unfurling the scroll.

Celestia looked over the written report… as well as the photographs which were enclosed within.

"No…" Celestia breathed. "No… this can't be! She doesn't rampage or destroy, she sits in one place and slowly turns the surrounding terrain into her Matrix! This goes against everything we know about her!"

"Well, such a thing got her twice thrown into Tartaros," Luna pointed out. "Surely a being of pure logic wouldn't continue a failed tactic a third time?"

Celestia nodded slowly, her expression becoming slightly more neutral as she detached the photos from the parchment and rolled it up. "Of course not. And… she only attempted it a second time because she was too pissed off to think straight."

Luna tilted her head. "Since when do you say 'pissed off'?" she said with mild amusement.

"Sorry," said Celestia, tapping her own head. "That was Discord's assessment. A bit of his personal input on the subject…" She looked over the photos. "What is the extent of the damage?"

"Cities are in ruins and the death toll is high," Luna reported, "but her primary target seemed to be the temples and shrines dedicated to Lady Kolassa. None of the residing worshippers or clergy were left alive."

Celestia bit her lip as she carefully took in the details in the pictures. "Oh no… oh, Kolassa, my friend, you must be devastated…" She turned to her sister in desperation. "How can we stop her if she's changed her approach? If she won't sit still? What force would be great enough to…" She gasped. "Oh. Wait… of course."

She grinned. "Luna…" she said slyly, "the sensation in our blood, the one that has nothing to do with the 'storm'. Like our veins are dirty and have to be cleaned, but our blood isn't up to the task. Is that what it's like for you?"

Luna nodded, frowning deeply.

"Have you figured out what it means?"

"No," Luna whispered.

"Not surprising," Celestia said, amused. "Part of its magic is that we never seem to remember having felt it before until it's right around the corner."

"But you remember now?" Luna said frantically. "You remember what it means?"

"I do, and I'm suddenly rather optimistic."

Luna stared in disbelief. "Well… don't leave me hanging, sister."

Celestia smiled as her horn lit up. First, she used magic to make her bed; then she summoned her gold and purple royal effects, placing them on her hooves, neck, and head. She breathed calmly through her nose, and looked down at Luna with glee.

"The sixth Gathering of the Goddesses approaches," she proclaimed.

Luna's jaw dropped at the realization, her astonished expression quickly becoming one of wonder and fascination. "Of course! The Gathering! I remember this feeling now… once, long ago… the sixth, you say? Which was the one I attended?"

"The second," Celestia replied. "It's not a regularly scheduled thing. It happens when it needs to happen. Twenty years or less may pass between Gatherings… or more than half a millennium. And each Gathering has contained, and will contain, both a large purpose and a smaller one. Clearly, we're meant to coordinate with our fellow goddesses on how Mitgaeard is to be dealt with… and the lesser goal, I believe, would be the task of reintroducing you to the group. Up to now, I've been handling international affairs without you."

"Oh, how marvelous," said Luna, grinning eagerly. "Who else can we expect? Kolassa, I suppose? And… what was the seapony queen's name? Soledad?"

"Yes to Kolassa, but… Soledad committed suicide," Celestia said regretfully.

"Oh dear," Luna said in alarm. "When?"

"A few short years after your banishment," Celestia muttered. "The third Gathering was a rather lonely affair, lots of mourning of the both of you."

"That is a shame," Luna said solemnly.

"It is," Celestia agreed. She sighed. "After Soledad died, the undersea kingdom fractured into dozens upon dozens of pieces. It fell into ruin. The seaponies were never a particularly prosperous race, and the loss of their queen, the last of her line, sank them even further… I don't think they're ever going to recover from the chaos that followed." She scoffed. "I can only hope that if you and I were to disappear, Equestria would be strong and wise enough not to follow the seapony nation's example. One of my darkest fears is that the whole country would be lost without us… but I have enough respect for our subjects to know that it's an irrational fear."

She shrugged. "Enough of that, then," she said. "We lost Soledad—and you, so it seemed—but there are two new goddesses. The first came seven hundred years ago, when all of the tribes and species throughout the jungles and savannahs of the south were united under a single banner by a remarkable young deity styling herself the Four-Winged Queen: Okapiopteryx."

"Okapi… opteryx?" Luna repeated. "Quite the mouthful. I sense disapproval, sister. Is she an unfit queen?"

"She's a magnificent queen," Celestia said hastily. "She created a country out of a score of divided tribes through sheer force of personality and leadership, with not a drop of blood spilt. I admire her very much. Perhaps you know Zecora, from Ponyville? She is a very devout priestess of the Four-Winged Queen, in good standing. I'd say we all owe Okapiopteryx and her culture a debt for producing such an upstanding citizen of Equestria."

Luna nodded, approaching her sister, sensing that a delicate subject was approaching. "Then why the tone of distaste?" she said tenderly.

"She… doesn't like me," she replied bitterly. "Okapiopteryx, I mean. I… I know it's silly to expect everypony to like me… and if I had no enemies at all I'd be seriously reexamining my life, but… I just don't understand why a great goddess like her disapproves of me so." She stared off into space sorrowfully and sighed. "I like her," she mumbled.

Luna leaned her head against her sister. "You seek her friendship and she wants it not? My dear sister. I feel your pain."

"Indeed," Celestia muttered. She shook her head and cleared her throat. "Anyway, the other new goddess is an empress called Song Li. She rules over a country in the far east, taking the post two hundred years ago. A strange individual, to be sure. She claims to be from a place called the Sea of Stars, far beyond the confines of this world. She wears a mask and full-body armor, so there's no telling what she actually looks like. However, she's… very, very cute." A grin crept up onto Celestia's face, and she gazed out the window dreamily. "Shy and awkward, rather like a young schoolfilly. I look forward to seeing her again."

"I eagerly await seeing our counterparts as well," Luna said, giggling. She smiled at Celestia, then smirked slyly. "What about Lara?"

"Um…" Celestia said distractedly. She seemed to take a moment to comprehend what she had just been asked. Her eyes widened. "Lara? Annihilara? Oh…" She turned toward Luna, looking suddenly anguished. "I… I'm not sure, Lulu. She, um… she might not exist anymore."

"'Lulu'?" Luna said in amusement. "You know that only Lara can call me that. Whatever do you mean, she 'might not exist'?"

"Well, um… you know," Celestia said, averting her eyes and biting her lip. "Annihilara… she really never had much in the way of a will to live. I… believe… that perhaps she found a way to die, as Soledad did, and took her own life."

"Suicide?" Luna scoffed. "Lara would never. Not again."

"Wouldn't she?" Celestia said desperately. "I think it would be more than in-character for her. And besides… you've been back in the world for three years. If she was alive, wouldn't she have noticed by now that the Mare in the Moon is gone, and come looking for you? Don't… don't you think?"

"You are grasping at straws, sister," said Luna. "Why, it's almost as if you don't want her to be alive."

"Erm…" Celestia said nervously.

"She has been a goddess far longer than you or I," Luna said wistfully, stepping up to the window and staring at the moon. "What is three years to her? She could very well be waiting for the opportune moment. And now it is here. We shall reunite at the Gathering. Oh, what a joyous moment it will be!"

Celestia closed her eyes sadly. "If only I could protect you from the pain and sorrow of finding out the truth, little sister," she whispered to herself. "It will be difficult to accept… when Annihilara disappoints you as she has disappointed me."

Luna slowly frowned. "Hrm… I've just had a troubling thought," she said. "What if Mitgaeard comes to the Gathering?"

"Excuse me?" Celestia said, alarmed.

"She is a goddess, is she not?" Luna said seriously, turning to her sister. "For all we know, every Gathering has stirred the same urges in her as it does for the rest of us. Perhaps Tartaros held her interest but the Gathering did not… but now that she is free and her methods have been altered, she may well show up at the Gathering to destroy us all."

Celestia furrowed her brow. "An intriguing and terrifying possibility," she said delicately. She shrugged. "Well, one way or the other, the Gathering is going to be about stopping her. If that means on the spur of the moment, then so be it. We deal with Mitgaeard when the Gathering comes, not before. For the time being, precautions must be taken."

"What sort of precautions?"

"Worship is a powerful thing," Celestia explained. "The death of Kolassa's followers, the destruction of her places of worship, this has doubtless caused physical and mental anguish to the goddess herself—weakened her powers." She looked to the floor angrily. "All we can do for our friend is give our sympathies. For ourselves, we must prevent something similar happening to us."

"We have no worshippers," said Luna.

"In theory," Celestia agreed. "But we've both heard ponies' prayers in the back of our minds, and answered those we can. At least, I hope ponies pray to you. They must, right? They had better pray to you, or I might have to march through the country making them appreciate you. Do they?"

Luna nodded.

"They do? Good… and there's more. Since the sun's twenty-four-hour disappearance and subsequent return, the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony have become known worldwide as my—our—high priestesses. And since they do wield what was once our source of power, I think their deaths would indeed damage us in more ways than just emotionally. Then there's the matter of the Elements themselves…"

Luna nodded again, her eyes narrowing intensely. "If Mitgaeard got her useless little flippers on them, her own powers of orderliness could use their magic to devastating effect."

"Yes," Celestia said grimly. "Therefore, we must take steps to defend the Elements and, more importantly, Twilight and the others. And I have exactly the plan we need to do the job. Are you ready?"

"As the saying goes, sister, I was born ready," Luna growled.

"Excellent," said Celestia. "I will fetch the Elements and prepare the necessary magics. Then I'll send for Shining Armor."

"And me?"

"I'll need you to fetch a certain gargoyle from a certain store roof."

Luna's eyes widened. "You mean—?"

"Yes," Celestia said softly. "Give the store owners a refund if you must, but I don't see them having a problem with it. He's destroyed their business and local property values. Try to keep it simple and quick, but do what needs to be done to bring Discord to me."

"Yes, my sister," said Luna. She flew out the window without a second's hesitation.

Celestia looked at nothing in particular as if addressing someone who was there in the empty room. "Excited, are you?" she said. "You should be. Laugh while you can. I don't think you've quite grasped the complexities of my plan, my dear Discord. Let me spell it out for you. Do you see the details in my thoughts?"

She started out of her bedroom, walking along in Canterlot Castle's gilded halls. After a few seconds, she started chuckling.

"That's right," she said. "Thaaaaat's right, beg for mercy. I'm sorry, Discord, but this is what you get for keeping secrets from me."

At the end of the hall, she inserted her horn into a keyhole. The huge golden doors opened, and she pulled out the case containing the Elements of Harmony.

"Chew on these, old friend," Celestia hissed.