Chapter 12: Reckoning

"Magic is, in the end, just a problem of understanding. If you understand a thing, then you can control it. Even Chaos itself is a system that follows rules, and thus can be controlled. But there are some things for which such thinking does not apply, and for these things magic alone is not enough."

-"A Beginner's Guide to Magic", retrieved from the Canterlot Archives

A Forest Path
Present Day

It had been some time ascending once more through all the levels of Everfree and exiting once again into the forest. Terraria had insisted that this final trial must be completed free from any interference, which was why Aquos was now leading Celeste deep into the wood. Presumably, the Master of Air was going through a similar process with Claire somewhere else.

Celeste still felt that electric thrill of coming up to a challenge, but her mind had slipped into a more analytical mode, trying to feel out the ends of the magic in the air. With her head clear, she could just about make out that constant disharmony that was Discord's magic permeating the landscape and infecting every living system. Peering up, she noticed that the sun was currently about halfway up. As if to taunt her, it immediately plunged toward the horizon, to be replaced by the silver fullness of its nocturnal counterpart. In that instant, her heightened senses detected the magic at work, a system manipulating the ways of the earth. In order to release the sun and moon from the King's control, all she had to do was understand that system.

The forest was quiet and still, as though all of the animals understood the momentous importance of what was about to transpire, and did not wish to ruin the moment. As the two ponies penetrated further along the path, their sound of their hooves impacting the earth was swallowed by the new blackness of the forest.

A break appeared in the trees ahead, and Celeste detected a splash of water as Aquos began to ford Everfree River, which divided the forest in half as it cut from east to west. Here, it was shallow and slow-moving, although farther off, at the far western frontier of Equestria, it was a raging torrent. Although no pony had ever seen it, legend in the area said that it continued south for many miles, before meeting a great ocean at Everfree Delta.

As Celeste crossed the stream, she realized that it was likely one of the few methods of communication that existed from Equestria to the outside world. Each one of her steps created a small eddy as the water swirled around her legs. Would some enterprising foreigner, observing the river's flow weeks from now, be able to detect the slight alteration and know that a pony had crossed the river on this night? Normally, such a thought would wash past her mind, but since she was thinking in mathematical terms tonight, it struck her as an interesting question.

Finally, Aquos stopped in a small clearing, really just a patch of longer grass amidst a break in the trees. Looking about, Celeste could see that they had come a fair distance, although of course the colossus that was the Citadel of Everfree clearly jutted out of the forest's ceiling off to their southwest. The trees in this area were so straight and ordered, so accommodating, that Celeste knew there was no way she could get lost among them. Nevertheless, she knew that this particular spot was to be her sole resting place for the immediate future.

The Master of Water stood straight at attention, directing her cold gaze back at her student. The diamond circlet on her head gathered in the light of the moon, shimmering in prismatic hues like a pinpoint of fire. "You understand the task that is now set before you, my student." Her voice was calm and even, and though the speech had clearly been rehearsed, the words did not sound overly dry. Celeste sensed that this was not by any means the first time that her teacher had gone through this protocol. She did certainly intend that it would be the last, though.

Celeste nodded, maintaining an expression of steely determination. Turning to leave then, Aquos gave one final piece of advice, "This space is yours to use as you wish, Celeste. Take as much time as you need. And remember, we are proud of everything that you have accomplished. May Harmony stand with you." The mare bowed once more, and then disappeared in a gentle pulse of light blue magic.

Knowing that now there was only one thing left for her to do, Celeste took to the task. Seating herself amidst the lush grass of the clearing, she cleared out her mind, and focussed again, waiting for the chaos magic to lift its voice above the silence of the forest, just that she could grab hold of its tendrils and follow them back to its source. It did not take long. Sensing that same upheaval sweep through her mind as before, Celeste forgot everything about this physical world, and took herself inwards, to a mental realm where there was only her consciousness floating amidst a sea of magic.

She had first achieved this only several weeks ago, while locked into a deep trance of reflective concentration. Already able to control the exterior world in miniscule detail, Celeste had sought even finer power than that: she wanted to understand the inside of her own mind as well.

She had shut out all forms of stimulation, forgetting the outside world and seeing, feeling, only that which was internal. Deeper, deeper into the depths of consciousness she had probed, searching out the overriding mechanisms and principles that governed magic on even this level. Sifting through the layers of emotion and memory, of all the subconscious triggers that link to the magical processes of the unicorn's mind, she had finally found the root of it all.

It did not require a particularly receptive sense of magic to understand that the powers wielded by the High King were inherently different from her own, or those of any other unicorn she had ever met. When the sun spun round into a new position, or thick oily rain fell over Everfree, she had always been able to feel the foreign nature of Discord's magic. But it was only in finding and experiencing the core of her own power that Celeste became able to understand the distinction.

She had examined the root of her own magic, in total isolation of thought, and let her mind be stimulated by it. It was a primal energy, and it brought with it a very strange, but very familiar feeling. It was only later, as night once more flashed to day outside her window that she had realized precisely why. The two energies felt exactly the same. Chaos magic and her own were both based on the exact same principles, the exact same overriding laws and rules. They were simply used in different ways and with different intentions.

Celeste knew that this form of vision was an ability that her teacher did not share. Now, when she entered deepest concentration, she was able to go beyond merely thinking about magic, and see it in a tactile sense. Magic became more than just something she could feel in her head; it became something she could interact with on a physical level. When she looked out at Equestria in this new sort of vision, the country became more than just ruins; the true horror its devastation was revealed to her mind.

Celeste looked again now at what she had first seen on that day: the vast web of Discord's control as it swept out from Eridian and covered the land. In this view, Equestria had vanished, to be replaced only by a black emptiness. The chaos magic was like a massively complicated knot of many threads, thin as the fibres in a spider's web in places, but in others thick as a corded rope. Each individual thread was the embodiment of a spell: a set of rules for turning one thing into another. Multitudes of spells built themselves into magical constructs, just as threads twisted into cords and braids. It was confusing and strange beyond words, but it was, in the end, just magic, and it was from this fact that Celeste derived her hope.

However, this collection of magical fibres was unlike anything that Celeste had ever seen in her studies. The heart of the knot, which was the city of Eridian, seemed to beat with an unnatural pulse, wrapping and unwrapping new strands in indeterminable patterns. The whole system shifted depending on how one looked at it, and morphed into something entirely different even after a few seconds. Decrypting it would indeed be a massive challenge.

Celeste grabbed onto one of the nearby threads with her consciousness. The rhythm of the magic came through it and beat into her mind. It was a chaotic pattern, but she knew that it was a pattern on some level, and therein laid the first step in deciphering the maze. Pulling her mind forward, she listened to it carefully, searching for any sign of repetition. Segregating that section of her mind, she then examined the local scope of the fibres, looking for connections upward, to the sun. Just ahead, she saw a massive column, composed of thousands of individual spells, wrapped around each other and forming a bridge upwards, from the center of Equestria to the center of the sky. The construct pulsated in time with the rhythm in her ears, and she knew that it had to be the one. All she had to do was untie the knot, and the Sun and Moon would be free.

Aquos, Altas, and Terraria waited patiently on a high balcony which jutted from the central terrace of the Citadel of Everfree. The outlook offered an impressive view out over the whole of the forest. In their own separate worlds, Celeste and Claire had each taken to their tasks with sombre determination. Overhead, the Sun spun through its cycle like an irregular pendulum, bouncing back and forth between high noon and twilight.

---

"So we wait again, my students," Terraria intoned in her usual reserved tones. "Tomorrow, Equestria may be saved, and our tasks will finally have come to their end."

Aquos and Altas joined their hooves together on the railing. "Yes," the yellow Pegasus replied with a wistful edge to his tone. "This is probably the closest we have come yet."

Aquos turned to him with her wide eyes open. "Which of them do you think it will be?"

Altas considered the question honestly. Both Celeste and Claire were prodigies in their respective fields. He had never taught a finer student than young Claire, and she had even come to the point of surpassing his own abilities. Celeste, though, had been more of a challenge. From what his partner had told him, her experiences had been nearly precisely the opposite.

"It's a shame," he said finally, "that we could not take both of them. Together, they are very likely the greatest power we have yet seen."

"Perhaps that's true," Terraria answered him. "But the Prophecy is specific on this issue. However much they both could be useful, we can only take one, and then only if they are proven worthy today."

Altas thought a bit about that particular statement. This was not the first time that his own opinion had gone against what the Prophecy had foretold. So many years ago; his heart ached to think of what might have been. In the end, it had been his choice to make: his love, or his country. He had made the only choice that he could have back then; now he couldn't help but think of what might happen if that decision came around again.

He could still hear his old friend's impassioned words, reverberating back through his memory as they so often did when he took time for introspection.

"Who are we to deny our country its first true chance at redemption? All because our 'destiny' was scratched into a wall by a deluded dragon thirty thousand years ago? Equestria deserves so much more from us, its so-called defenders. It deserves the right to freedom, not according to some divine plan, but however we can arrange it! I challenge all of you to look into your own futures, and tell me that you are willing to wait for 'the perfect moment' when an opportunity for victory is staring us in the face today! Won't you join me, my friends? Won't you fight now, for the end of our struggle?"

It had been the night of the sundering of their fellowship, so many long years ago. He had had Seraph at his right and Aquos at his left, an impossible choice. Either way, he knew that he would be second-guessing himself for all the years afterwards, a prediction which had proven depressingly accurate.

Aquos caught the faraway look on her love's face, and squeezed his hoof a little in her own, causing his face to turn back around into hers. Their eyes locked again, and she willed him back to the present day.

"None of this was your fault," she said slowly, and in a voice filled with compassion. "You did the only thing that you could of."

His gaze wavered for second, and then came down. "We've both sacrificed so much, my love. Our friends, our lives, our futures perhaps. Sometimes I just want the whole thing to be over. We've spent so long biding our time, waiting for the perfect moment, as we've been told. Some days I look out at how little we've really accomplished and wonder if maybe Seraph was right after all."

Aquos shook her head. "My brother was lost and confused. He would have led us to ruin. Our only path forward was here."

"Of course," he replied, coming back to meet her gaze once more. "I never could have left you, besides."

"Nor would I have been able to see you go."

The two Masters grabbed each other by the shoulder. Altas let his head rest against his partner's well-groomed mane, and both settled back to watch the horizon. Overhead, the Sun ground slowly to an agonizing halt.

---

Celeste knew that she had cracked it. Working quickly with nimble hooves, she had scaled the tower of magic, tracing out its pathways and identifying its key structures. Carefully, she had unwound its primary bindings, slicing load-bearing points and tossing away loose magic. Now, there was only a single strand left. When it was released, the primary challenge would be finished, and the only task remaining would be to restore the celestial bodies back to their proper positions. The hard part was finished. With one final swipe, the connection was broken, and both the Sun and the moon were free again.

She immediately felt an overbearing, undeniable power sweep through her mind. Like a fiery sear, the representations of the Sun and moon impressed themselves upon her, insisting on their freedom. It was only with a supreme effort and concentration that she was able to master their force.

It was an altogether different feeling than was moving a rock about in the garden. Normally, magic was a strong force that radiated out from her, obeying her every thought and directive. Normally, Celeste found that she could exercise complete control over her subject's every attribute. But now, Celeste was forced to struggle against a will of its own. The sun seemed to actively resist her every attempt at control. The harder she pressed at it with her will, the harder it fought back, seeming to seek out whatever footholds and purchases within her mind it could, and holding on to them with all of its might.. She had imagined that once they had been freed from the domination of the chaos, guiding the celestial bodies back into their proper places would have been a matter beyond triviality, but now it seemed that this would not be the case.

With a grunt of exertion, Celeste creased her brow, concentrating with all of her might on this task. Even with the full fury of her awakened magic, she got maybe an inch farther along, before her and the sun's power were back at a stalemate. Celeste began to feel something she had never felt before: the flow of magic from the depth of her consciousness running thin. She had given this nearly everything that she had, and still could not control the objects of her desire. Having come so far, how could this possibly be the way it would end?

No! This will not be how it ends! she thought to herself, and braced her thoughts against this new determination. With full concentration, she felt a little relief, as the burning resistance let up just slightly. Grabbing hold, she pushed farther, and could feel the two heavenly bodies finally moving into their proper position. On the edge of triumph, she finally released her control just a bit, knowing that the battle had finally been won.

The second surge of resistance came at her so hard that even her physical form (in the forest) was knocked back half a step. Mentally, she felt herself thrown far from the peak of the Equestrian skies, her mane smoking slightly from the sudden rush of backwashed power. She lay there, breathing heavily for a moment, absorbing the magnitude of what had happened. Slowly, Celeste turned her gaze back up to the sky. The chaos had already reformed itself, and clawed its way upwards in an inevitable progression. After only a few more seconds, it had once more claimed its dominion over the skies.

Celeste breathed a final shuddering breath. The strength had left her limbs, and slowly she slipped back into the real world. Once more, the Sun spun below the horizon and she found herself looking out at the darkened forest. Finally, she forced herself to consider the unthinkable.

I lost.

---

After what had seemed like an eternity of stillness, Altas saw the Sun spin away from its stationary point, releasing pent up energy like a spring. It circulated rapidly through the day/night cycle more than a dozen times before eventually coming to rest in the middle of the night. All three of them looked away for a moment.

"Such a shame," Terraria summed it up. "Perhaps her sister will hold the true answer."

The burst of released magical energy that had come as the break occurred had been palpable to all three of them. Aquos had even drawn in a sharp breath. Clearly, this was the closest that any one of her students had ever come. Still, it had not been enough.

The two old teachers shared a look. They had been through this proceeding before, many times over. Altas nodded with a sombre expression. It would be his job to go down and meet the failed applicant.

Altas took the stairs slowly, giving himself time to think, although in reality it was just time to go over his own doubts again. Another year was gone, and another candidate had been stricken from the list. If he had ever met a pony who could potentially have fit the bill, he would have thought for sure that it would have been one of these two. Both of them were by far the best at their chosen fields. If this year was not to be his last… Altas wondered if his toil would ever end.

Back then… things had been so much simpler back then. He had been in the prime of his youth, brimming with skill, energy, and optimism. He had had both the love of his life and his closest friend by his side, and all three of them had come through the worst that Equestria had to offer. They had even been responsible for finally retrieving the last copy of the Constitution from the depths of Eridian, emboldening the Order into believing that the fulfillment of their Prophecy was nigh at hand.

But, just as everything had begun for the three of them, down in the caves underneath the Citadel, so too had it ended. Sadly, it had been on the anniversary of their first fateful expedition, a journey among friends revisiting those old memories. This time, rather than the blow of Seraph's chisel, it had been his own touch that had set off a discovery, a discovery that would go on to transform all of their lives for decades, and as yet he could not say whether the changes had been positive or negative.

Altas shelved his recollections as he arrived at the bottom of the tower, and saw Celeste gathered up in a dim corner. She looked positively drained, her normally bright face pale and dull, and much of the natural sheen gone from her mane. But what struck him more than anything else was the look in her eyes. Celeste's eyes were completely vacant, missing the spark of understanding that he was so used to seeing within. A light stream of tears trickled forth from them.

The pegasus knelt down beside her, resting a comforting hoof upon her shoulder. For a moment, he simply let a little bit of reassurance pass between them, and then sat down next to her. "You shouldn't look at this as a failure, Celeste," he said softly. "Remember that Aquos and I are both very proud of everything that you have accomplished. This is not the end of your journey. It is, instead, merely a beginning."

"I was so close," Celeste replied, in a tender, heartbroken voice. "I could taste it, success grasped between my hoofs. It was just the sun and me, battling for control. And I was not strong enough."

"That was your mistake then," Altas returned. "You fought it. I warned you about the dangers of pitting your own will against that of the natural world."

"What do you mean?" she curtly replied, the tone of her voice hardening in an instant. "What else was I supposed to do?"

Altas breathed out a long sigh. "Nature knows its place; it seeks it always. The sun fights Discord's control, just as surely as it battled your own. The key is to be strong enough mentally to set it free, and possess enough faith to let it be free. Your sister understood that far better."

Celeste seemed to remember all of a sudden that Claire too was taking the test. A very small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Claire is much stronger than I could ever be. I hope that she succeeds. For all of our sakes."

Altas looked out the window, at the expanse of the forest stretching on as far as his eye could see. "So do I, my student. So do I."

The two of them sat in a wordless silence for a time then, each thinking on their own about all the turns their lives had taken, and hoping with all their might that now might be the end of it. Eventually, Aquos and Terraria both came down the stairs. Expectant, Altas looked his love straight in the eye, but received only a sullen shake of the head. A year of effort, hoping and waiting, and in the end they were no closer to victory than before.