The Reunion

The Princesses of the Sun and Moon walked the halls, the only sound being the clopping of gilded hooves against the stone floor. Celestia led her sister to a less used part of Canterlot Castle: the dungeons. Neither princess really liked the idea of having a dungeon beneath their home, even if it wasn’t being used in its full capacity. Celestia had once considered simply sealing it off completely however she had found a use for it before she put the plan into motion. There were no guards posted there because there was nothing to guard. In fact, there hadn’t been a true crime reported in Equestria that required imprisonment, a fact that Celestia was proud of.

They reached a dimly lit staircase that seemed to delve into the core of the earth itself. Luna was beginning to feel a little apprehensive. She wasn’t one to be unnerved by the dark, it’d be a little bit daft for a Princess of the Moon to be scared of the dark, instead she was nervous of what Celestia had planned for the two of them in this abandoned part of their home. Celestia however, proceeded with the same quick pace. After what felt like an eternity, the stairs ended and it levelled out into a dark chamber which no light seemed capable of filling. The Sun Princess’s horn began to glow with a warm light and several torches against the wall ignited into life. Luna’s eyes widened at the sight of the sheer size of this chamber.

“Come along, dear sister. This isn’t even the surprise yet.” Celestia resumed her pace after taking in Luna’s flabbergasted expression. Still reeling, Luna followed her sister though this time, unconsciously, a little closer to her. They only had a short walk before Celestia stopped again and charged another spell. This one illuminated the rest of the chamber. They stood at the edge of a great chasm and on the far wall…

“What in Equestria is that!?”

“That, my dear sister, is one of the Firstborn.” Celestia said it with no inflection of humour or anything.

A lone figure was dangling from the far wall, chained to it and hanging over a seemingly bottomless pit. Distinctly unponylike, this creature looked more similar to a dragon or an ape. It had long fore limbs with what appeared to be clawed appendages on the ends which were held in a pair of shackles binding it to the rock face. It had a pair of thin legs that hung uselessly beneath it, also shackled to the wall. It was almost entirely without fur. A long mane, its colour impossible to discern in the lack of light, hung from the top of its head which was hung low, obscured by the aforementioned curtain of hair.

“You mean to say, Celly, you’ve got one of the immortal creators of the universe imprisoned under our home? For how long sister?” Luna appeared visibly shaken by her sister’s revelation.

“Since your banishment. After you were taken from me I swore that it would never see the light of my sun ever again.” The two looked to the figure which throughout had remained unmoving, uncaring and by the looks of things, unconscious.

“I assume it’s alive then. This is a surprise; I feared you may have put a more permanent solution to it.” Celestia didn’t react to this. It had crossed her mind. For the crime this creature committed, it should have been destroyed. She couldn’t bring herself to do it though; instead she merely trapped it in a prison it could not escape from. Whether this was worse was often a subject of debate in her mind.

“’It’ is actually a ‘she’. For the past thousand years I’ve been coming here to see it every year. If it possesses the same basic anatomy as a pony, it is female. She doesn’t age and going by what she has said, she is still an adolescent. She doesn’t reveal much about herself when I ask questions about whom or what she is meaning we haven’t been able to learn any more than we already do.” The princesses watched the figure not even react to their presence. “There is no need for concern, as far as I can tell; it doesn’t need food or drink to survive. And you know as well as I do just how resilient they were.” The two of them recalled their meetings with the two gods and how no matter how much strength they used; the two simply shook themselves off. The alicorn princesses were powerful. They had magical potency stronger than any unicorn, they had powerful wings that could fly faster than any pegasus and their bodies were tougher and stronger than the mightiest of earth ponies. These creatures however seemed to be indestructible in every sense of the word. That is, until…

“Princess Celestia.”

Startled, Luna stared at the now clearly aware immortal hanging before them.

“How nice of you to drop by. And with a guest too? My my, you do spoil me.” She spoke with a voice that didn’t exactly scream ‘I am an all-powerful creator god, fear me’ but sounded like any ordinary filly. A sarcastic filly, but a filly nonetheless.

“Hello again, old friend. I’m sure you remember my sister, Princess Luna?” Celestia was being friendly but Luna knew her well enough to know that this was merely a façade. The way she emphasised friend made it clear that even after a one thousand year correspondence, they had not exactly become the closest of friends.

“It’s wonderful to see you again, Lulu.” Luna cringed. “How did you enjoy our Moon? You know, He spent a great deal of time carving it into the magnificent jewel in the night sky you see now. Umm, could you do something about my hair?” Celestia’s horn flared up again, moving the hair from the creature’s face. Luna could now properly see it for the first time in over a thousand years. It had a very strange facial structure. Where ponies had an extended muzzle, it seemed to have a rather flat face. The nose jutted out from the middle of the head and it had its ears on the side instead of on top.

“I can tell you it was a fabulous place… For the first few hours. The other 999 years and 364 days were torture.” Luna’s voice dripped with venom. The resentment she held for this smart mouthed wretch a thousand years ago was resurfacing.

“Hmm, maybe I’ll give you another trip there myself instead of getting your sister to do it for me.” She chuckled darkly. Luna forced herself to remember that these were no empty threats and before her was one of the few eldritch beings with the power to do such terrible feats that merely sending her to the Moon would be child’s play.

“So now that we’ve got your full attention, you could answer a few questions of mine.” Luna was trying to get away from the topic of conversation that may end up with her banished to the moon for another thousand years.

“Shoot”

“Who are you?” It was getting irritating referring to it as she or it. Luna wanted to know if this god had a name she could use.

“My name is Alexia.” Celestia’s mouth fell open somewhat. After one thousand years of trying, she had not once been able to get an answer to that question.

“Thank you, Alexia. Now what are you?” She knew this was a powerful creature but there was no species like it in all of Equestria.

“Let’s put it like this: if you are considered the gods of Equestria, we-I’d be considered the god of the universe. I created you, your ponies and your other different species. My companion created the physical world, the planets, the galaxies and the universe in general. I guess you could call me Mum if you wanted to get all sentimental.” She giggled a little at her own little joke.

“So you’re this unfathomably powerful god yet you’re bound by mere chains? I must admit being somewhat confused by this.” Luna was genuinely intrigued. These two creatures once demonstrated their awesome power by demolishing a mountain with a single punch.

“That’s actually my doing.” Celestia finally piped up after letting Luna satiate some of her curiosities regarding the creature.

“Please stop calling me “the creature” it’s really rather rude don’t you know. For future reference, it’s human” Celestia was aware of its ability to read minds. She was capable of blocking it though it had slipped her mind in the excitement of finally showing Luna her big secret.

“Very well, human.” Celestia had not managed to extract the species name before this point either; already she was making a great deal of progress with Luna at her side. Every time she had asked who and what the human was, she replied with some smart-alecky comment that got Celestia more and more irritated. “As I was saying, the chains are magically enchanted, they absorb all the magic from the human and release it harmlessly into the earth. At this point she has no augmented strength or magical ability.”

As though she took this as a challenge, Alexia released a monstrous torrent of pure kinetic energy. It knocked Luna onto her flank and Celestia struggled to maintain her balance.

“I think you may be exaggerating your own power, my little pony.” Alexia was clearly still in possession of her power but it was diminished enough that she could not break free from her imprisonment.

“Sister, I would like to take a closer look if I may?” Luna had something on her mind. She was always the scientist of the two. Celestia had an academic mind too but it was always Luna who wanted to test new and exciting things first hoof.

“Go ahead.” And with that, Celestia’s horn glowed once more and a stone platform rose up from the deep black void between the human and the princesses. Luna flew onto it and began to manipulate it herself, levitating it over to Alexia’s bound form. Once the platform was close enough, she simply kept it where it was with a spell derived from the stasis spell. That way she wouldn’t be distracted by having to keep a constant levitation on the platform. Luna observed the physical body of the human; it was dangling with the arms above its head, which is where Luna began. Indeed it had claws but they were not sharp like a dragon’s. They had blunt tips and an opposable thumb likely for grasping objects without magic. She moved lower, now looking into Alexia’s face. Now she was a little closer, Luna could see that the mane that hung from the human’s head was a bright red. She wasn’t saying anything but a look can speak a thousand words. Alexia’s piercing red eyes were staring deep into the blue eyes of Princess Luna. Luna felt her courage waver a little but continued nonetheless.

“Open your mouth please.” The human obliged, revealing her teeth. Luna observed and deduced that the human was likely an omnivore, a creature that can eat both plants and meat. “Thank you, close.”

“I’m not a dog you know.” Luna merely sighed and continued her observation. She continued like this for a while, observing every inch of the bound goddess. Some particular inches earned a self-conscious blush from Alexia but Luna paid no heed.

“Fascinating. You humans are very similar to us indeed!”

“Glad to see my ritual humiliation is giving you some insight into my kind.”

“Luna, I apologise but I really must get back to work. I trust you know the way back out?” Celestia began to make her way to the stairs they had descended.

“Indeed sister, thank you for this opportunity. I do so enjoy experimenting!” Luna clopped her hooves together excitedly, anxious to get into the thick of whatever plans she had concocted this time. Celestia meanwhile walked back the way they came, content that she had learned so much on her most recent visit. This “Alexia” had been an enigma until now, with Luna around, she starts to divulge more information than ever. Celestia was very curious now, she wanted to know more. However, her duties as princess came first.

Luna meanwhile was preparing to inspect the human more in depth. She wanted to see the inner workings of it. Dissection was out of the question. Even though the creature is extremely powerful, in its currently weakened state it may not survive.

“I thought we agreed, no more “the creature”, I have a name you know!”

“Get out of my head!”