Do I believe Fine’s story? Personally, I think he went a little nutty thanks to Celestia’s trials and came up with that convoluted mess just to keep his head on half-straight. Can’t say I blame him, considering the things he’s done. That stallion’s dangerous. I’ve met a lot of thugs and whacks in my time, and they’d all go paler than a ghost if they were told they’d have to go hoof-to-hoof with Fine and his cronies. I won’t deny it; I’m a little scared of the guy myself.

But here’s the messed up thing: Fine’s not a bad guy. Yeah, he’s done some twisted things, but how can he not when he’s got a sun goddess breathing down his neck? He might be able to scare the piss out of hardened criminals with that glare of his, but deep down the stallion’s got a heart of gold. Thing’s probably got more bandages and stitches than Frankenpony’s monster, but it still beats; Celestia hasn’t broken him yet.

I don’t believe Fine’s story. Not even remotely.

But I believe he believes it, and I’m not going to argue.

We all gotta cope somehow.

—Crueles Caballeron, Translated from Palabras del Sur, Book of Shadows XLVIII

May 15, C.Y. 1007

It took time to realize he wasn’t dreaming. Fine lay on his side, entire body numb as he stared at loose cobblestones and brown weeds. Visions swirled within his mind, mixing before him in the steam of his breath, and he struggled to make sense of them.

He sat up with a jerk and a gasp.

He had no idea why.

Blinking, Fine slowly turned his head to the left, then to the right. This place… this… courtyard? He combed his mind for some recollection of why he was here, but couldn’t grasp hold of even one tangible thought. For a moment, he didn’t even remember his own name. Another came to his lips.

“Celestia.” Legs wobbling, he stood and turned around. He almost collided with the princess’s miserable, stoney face.

No, please!

A sharp pain jolted the area behind his eyes, prompting him to clutch at his head. An image had been burned into his retinas; Celestia, gazing down her muzzle at him with a smirk and eyes filled with venomous joy. Yet the voice… that had belonged to Celestia as well.

The pain receded, and Fine once again gazed at the statue. “W-what the buck did she do to me?” He blinked and turned in a circle. “Where did she even go?”

I can! If only you pathetic things would get out of my way.

Fine snarled and shook his head as a new image flashed before his eyes, this time of a pretty blue alicorn. He blinked upon realizing her mane was made of stars. She had been glaring at him with wide eyes, her pupils narrowed like those of a dragon, and the sight made him shiver. Though he’d never seen her before save in history books, he didn’t even have to think about it to know who it was. “W-why… Princess Luna?

“Celestia!” He wobbled away from the statue, the world shifting wildly to his motions. “What did you do to me?” He lost his balance and fell on his side.

He couldn’t move. His legs remained locked, his head hung low, his body ignored his commands. He couldn’t even breathe. A mind-numbing horror filled him as he stared at the ground, unable to so much as turn his eyes. Fine wanted to beg some more, his tongue shifting within his closed mouth, but not a sound escaped his throat. He sobbed silently as a fresh dread overcame him.

This isn’t happening.

White hooves appeared in his vision. He knew those hooves. They were his.

“Are you comfortable, Princess? Now I just need to locate our sister, tell her the good news.”

No, not Luna! Leave her alone!

“I imagine it will be easy to convince her. We’ll reform this world together, and I’ll plant within her the seeds of doubt. How long before her already broken mind shatters completely?”

Fine struggled against the prison holding him so perfectly in place. A pointless endeavor, but he had to try. His sister…

“I bet I can draw it out for centuries. I’ll make her my toy while Equestria falls farther and farther. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

He could see Luna in his mind’s eye. The thought of what might be coming brought a silent sob to his throat. His tears… he couldn’t even feel his own tears.

“Do not worry, Celestia. I promise to come by every fifty years or so to let you know of my progress. I wouldn’t dream of leaving you out.”

Luna… I’m so sorry.

Fine gasped, the vision fading as fast as it had come. He had tears in his eyes, tears for a mare he’d never met. He climbed to his hooves and rubbed his eyes, fighting down the emotions that had inexplicably taken over. “Th-that wasn’t me. Didn’t even s-sound like… like…”

His heart stopped. Slowly, he turned to face the statue. Closing his eyes, Fine tried to recall the pose he’d been trapped in. Once he had it in his head, he carefully opened his eyes and studied the statue.

It was in the exact same position.

“That’s… really creepy.” Fine eased up to the statue, trying to recall the spell Celestia had used on him. It wasn’t easy; he still had trouble sorting the past from whatever she put in his head. Yet Fine couldn’t help but think that the images flitting through his brain like leaves in a gale were more than just random ideas. They felt more personal, more focused.

They were like memories.

Go away.

Fine crouched low, a sudden and powerful sadness striking him. A sob erupted from his throat as he struggled to make sense of what was happening to him.

Fine lay on a bed of hay deep within a cave. A pool of water stood mere inches from his head, the smooth surface like a mirror. He stared into the darkness, at the other bed just barely visible in the black. Loneliness washed over him. His throat constricted and his vision blurred. He wanted to crawl over to that bed and bury himself in it, to take in the smell of his sister that was fading all too quickly, but he couldn’t conjure the energy to move.

What now? Are you crying because Luna left again?

Fine covered his head and bared his teeth through his weeping. “Go away.”

Oh, how I wish I could.

A flame of anger made itself known through the despair. “I will find a way to be rid of you.”

Rid of me? We are one and the same, Celestia.

With a snarl, Fine forced himself into a sitting position. Though weariness made his movements sluggish, he pulled himself close to the pool and gazed into it.

A white face glared back, outlined by a brilliant, flowing, multi-hued mane.

“I am nothing like you.”

The apparition in the pool studied him… then smirked.

No, I suppose not.

Another gasp, and Fine was staring into the forlorn eyes of the statue. He felt anger, frustration… loneliness. It all seemed so real. He sat back and studied the statue some more, picking out the pieces of what he’d seen and pulling them together like a puzzle. It didn’t take long to form the seemingly impossible conclusion.

“There were two Celestias.” He reached up to rub the cold, hard cheek of the statue before him. “And… and you were one of them.”

Fine shook his head frantically. “No, that makes no sense. How? How could there possibly have been two?” He rubbed his aching skull, trying to think through the maze of images still running wildly through his brain. “Is she trying to confuse me? Give me a false history? What possible motive could she have for—”

You see, Celestia? We are at war with ourselves.

With a groan, Fine backed away from the statue. Celestia had made sure he was touching the thing when she cast the spell, so maybe if he kept his distance the visions and thoughts would slow down. Yet, as he trudged all the way to the corner of the courtyard, he felt no relief; the information kept coming.

You have one week, Fine. Don’t disappoint me.

Celestia… she’d told him that right before he’d been knocked out. That was right, wasn’t it? Yes… he could make out his own memories from those shoved in his head. They were memories, weren’t they?

One week to do what?

He sat against the rocks and massaged his temples, trying to think straight. Analysis was one of his talents, he should be able to figure out what the witch wanted. One week… what could he do in one week? He was in the Everfree Forest, amidst a ruin, no clues save that disturbingly realistic statue. What could he do with this in just one week? The specific amount of time had to have a purpose.

Canterlot. It would take him about a week to get back there.

Fine grimaced and shook his head; too easy. It had to be related to these visions she had hit him with. Some correlation to the statue? He approached it again, gritting his teeth as more pain shot through his skull.

“She’s showing me a world where there were two Celestias,” he grumbled, walking a wide circle around the object. “That alone doesn’t make sense. Celestia doesn’t have some long lost twin. So maybe… maybe she…”

He sat before the statue and tugged at his mane. “Damn it all to Tartarus, I just don’t know!”

His own shout sent an extra stab of pain through his head.

“Sister, who is that?”

Fine was already floating in the air, and intense magic like he’d never imagined coursing through his body. Colorful jewels encircled him, and when he glanced aside he saw his sister, Luna, whose eyes were glowing pure white from the same powerful energies. Luna was pointing at something, and he looked.

There, standing only a few hooves away, was a violet pony. Amidst his efforts to control the Elements, he still managed to be shocked at the sight of another alicorn here of all places. Though small, the pony wore a crown of gold, studded with a gem that looked not unlike…

Something akin to a lightning strike shot amongst the Elements, jarring Fine from his momentary distraction. He could feel the magic within him stirring, shifting, becoming unstable. “W-what’s going on?”

The newcomer shrieked, her crown glowing white hot atop her head. The brilliant colors forming all around Fine and his sister began to churn and stretch out, as if reaching for the gemstone in the crown. At once Fine understood, although he couldn’t comprehend the how: that alicorn was wearing an Element of Harmony.

“Celestia, the spell, I can’t control it!”

Fine put all his efforts into pulling the magic back. Their purpose was confused! The Elements didn’t know what they were meant to do with this extra member among their ranks. The colors began to blend, creating a mismatched stream that was anything but harmonious.

“What’s this?”

Fine’s head jerked towards their foe: Discord. He stood from his throne, eyes wide at the sight of the chaos unleashed before him. A toothy grin formed on his face. “Well, it seems the Elements have a sense of fun after all.”

Fine’s heart leapt into his throat; with the way the Elements were now, there was no way to know what they would do to him. “No, stop! Luna, the Elements!”

“I know, I know!”

Yet even with the two of them struggling, the greatest magic known to ponydom refused to be tamed. Fine grappled with the magic with all his strength, yet the energy proved beyond his capacity. He turned his eyes to the violet alicorn. “You, help us, please!”

He received no answer, for the newcomer appeared to be straining just as hard as they were. She hunched over, eyes squeezed tight and teeth clenched as she battled to restrain the magic coursing from her.

“Celestia!”

Too late: the magic coalesced and released in an explosive, mismatched rainbow of colors. Fine could feel the unwholesome new form, a new purpose that felt altogether wrong. He screamed at their failure to rein in the magic.

Discord spread his arms wide in invitation as the enigmatic force plunged towards him. “Oh-hoho, I’m so excited! Let’s see what this does.”

Luna screamed. “D-Discord, no, don’t let it—”

The wave of magic engulfed him. Fine’s heart raced as a torrent of terrible possibilities ran through his mind. Would Discord be stronger? Weaker? Undergo a horrid personality shift? Good Goddess, what if he multiplied? He glanced towards the violet alicorn… who was gone. Fine stared, but only for a moment, for his attention went back to Discord the moment the magic faded from him.

Discord hadn’t moved. He remained in the exact same pose, arms spread wide and inviting. His face, however, had gone slack. He stared at the sky, eyes wide and pupils shrunk. It took a few seconds for him to work his lips, and all he was able to get out was, “Oh.”

Then he fell flat on his face.

Uncertainty was shifting into full blown terror, but it faded quickly as Fine rubbed his head. For once he wasn’t confused; he knew exactly what he’d just seen. Everypony in Equestria knew how Discord was defeated.

Except that purple pony... she had to be the Unknown Princess of lore, the one that helped the Royal Sisters defeat Discord twelve hundred years ago. Yet the history books all stated that the Unknown Princess was a warrior pony, a mighty leader with a much larger role in the battle. According to what Fine had just seen, she seemed more like an incidental participant.

“But still,” he whispered, eyes on the statue’s hooves, “that was much closer to what history says. Yet the Elements of Harmony… a seventh one? How is that possible? Why is Celestia showing me—”

He blinked, for a drop of water had fallen in the grass between him and the statue. He raise his head to view the night sky; a few clouds, but certainly nothing that would produce rain. He looked down again and saw a few more drops fall. “What?” He looked up again. His jaw dropped as he found the source of the ‘rain.’

The statue of Celestia was crying.

No, nonono! Don’t do this!

The implication of what Fine was seeing crashed atop his skull like a ton of bricks. His legs crumbled and he fell to his barrel. “W-why… Who… How…” He pressed his hooves to both side of his throbbing cranium and gaped at the statue’s face. “There really were two. Th-there really were two.”

He crawled forward and studied the stoney face of Celestia closely, looking for some trick. He could see none. Moving slowly, he leaned in and stuck his tongue out to catch one of the drops as it fell from that pale chin. A sharp, salty taste met his taste buds and he pulled back with a whimper. “B-but why? Why would there be two of them. You? Them?” He cocked his head at the statue’s face, but it made no attempt to respond. “Why did she trap you in stone?”

He turned aside and tapped his chin, noting how the images running through his head had calmed. Still a bit chaotic, and nothing save for the hallucinations held any sense of clarity, but at least he didn’t feel like information was being injected into his skull by a syringe.

“She wants me to figure this out,” he muttered, glancing back to the statue. “I don’t know who you are, but by now I’m sure that Celestia’s not deceiving me.” He leaned in close, looking into the statue’s downcast eyes. “Celestia does nothing ‘good,’ so I can only believe that you don’t deserve to be here. If that is true, then I promise you’ll see me again.”

He turned away from the statue, looking towards the entrance of the courtyard. The tree was still split open, inviting him to leave. Fine had to believe that whatever Celestia wanted him to learn, the clues were in the ruins. He would search. Perhaps solving this riddle was what she wanted of him.

As soon as Fine was on the other side of the tree, however, it shook and creaked and groaned closed. He grimaced at it, wondering exactly how he’d get back inside when the time came. “One more riddle for me to solve, eh, Celestia?”

He turned about and took in his surroundings. He could follow the wall left or right, or move forward to a crumbled building opposite the tree entrance. Not seeing any advantages in choice, he started forward—

“She won’t stop talking to me, Luna.”

Fine stared at the smoldering fireplace. Though worn to exhaustion, he could attain no sleep. He rested his head on the small pillow before him and sighed. His sister’s hooves appeared in the corner of his vision.

“I know,” Luna whispered. “My own mental tenant bothers me incessantly.”

Sounds like somepony I’d like to meet.

Fine didn’t even have the energy to grimace at the voice. Silence reigned in the Royal Suite. Luna shifted her weight from one hoof to the other; she wanted to say something. He made no attempt to drag it out of her. Deep down, he knew what she wanted to say.

“Sister, we cannot rule like this.”

There it was. He sighed and closed his eyes. Then, abruptly, his head jerked up and he glared at his sister. His voice was forced from his lips. “I can! If only you pathetic things would get out of my way.”

Fine slapped his hooves over his muzzle, cringing as laughter echoed through his head.

Luna hardly reacted to the abrupt outburst. She merely lay on the cushion at his side and rested her head along his withers. “We’ll go away, where the ponies won’t have to fear the outbursts.”

He wished he could argue against it. Fine had fought for so long to keep control of his mind, to teach his inner voice who was in command of this body. Yet now, with his energy drained and that incessant whispering in his ear… he knew. He hated it, was ashamed by it, but he knew. He cast his gaze around the room, at the great paintings and the furniture and the fireplace. It all left him with a horrible melancholy. What would the ponies do without them?

As if the peasants could do a thing without our hooves to guide them. They have no idea how to take care of themselves!

With head bowed, he forced the words from his lips. “You are right, sister. Yes, I fear it’s our only choice.”

Exhaustion overtook Fine and he fell on his side. He lay there, breath coming heavy and slow, but the weariness he’d felt in the vision faded quickly. He chose to wait and process what he’d just seen.

If he understood the hallucination correctly… Celestia had a voice in her head? And Luna did too. A case of multiple personalities? Fine wasn’t about to discount the idea; Celestia’s decisions and actions were enough to make it obvious she was mad. Perhaps she always had been. Yet what did that have to do with the statue and the other visions about there being two Celestias?

One thing was clear: these things weren’t coming in any discernible order.

Shaking off his uncertainty, he stood and trotted through the ruins. He had to try and think constructive and not let the stuff filling his head distract. Celestia was trying to tell him something. Alternatively, she could be trying to drive him mad. Either way, he would play her little game and solve this riddle.

Surveying the ruins was by no means easy. He spent a good hour examining walls and corners and stones, looking for any hint as to what he was supposed to learn. Every now and again a vision would come to him, always giving him a small piece of a history not in agreement with modern teachings. He saw the first time Celestia’s more ominous personality took control of her body. It happened to Princess Luna as well. Eventually, he witnessed Luna’s decision to leave Celestia, fearing that their dark sides would attempt to harm one another.

Always from Celestia’s perspective. He felt every horrible emotion: the pain, the depression, the loss. The princess spent decades alone in the wilderness, away from all civilization as a voice of menace whispered poison in her ears. There were times when she went entirely insane, and sometimes the corrupt half would take over for weeks at a time. Fine gained one of those visions in the second hour, and it took a while to come to his senses; for a brief time, her madness had become his own.

Snow began to fall. Fine realized his thirst and hunger and recognized that he might be in trouble. Though he doubted that Celestia would be so kind as to leave him food and water, he decided to make for the entrance of the ruins. With any luck, there might be something left behind for him. He shivered in the chill air, wishing he’d not left his jacket with Roxy and Fire Fox. What a foalish decision…

If Celestia thought Fine would get lost in the ruins, she had grossly underestimated him. Getting back to the entrance proved a simple matter, and before long he was approaching the original opening of the former castle’s vast exterior wall. Not getting his hopes up, he turned the corner.

The chariot was gone. No surprise.

What was a surprise was the two blackened lumps where the chariot had once been. Fine stared at them, eyes wide as the scent of charred flesh filled his nostrils. The smell brought back images of Jewel Hoof shrieking amidst flames. Slowly, chest heaving, he approached the two shapes.

There was no question that they were ponies. Though his stomach churned at the proximity, Fine leaned over them to get a better look. There could be no doubt that they were Celestia’s drivers. They even still had their armor, which had warped and curled as if affected by an incredible heat. The ponies’ bodies had been welded to the interior of their metal plates. Their skinless, black faces grinned at him in a macabre mockery of amusement.

Fine shivered and turned away. Why would Celestia do this? What had these two royal guards done to warrant such a death?

Then again, if Celestia had sealed her better half in stone, she certainly wouldn’t want that kind of information coming out. Had she killed these guards just to preserve the secret? The thought made him—

“I’ve done it. With this spell, I can finally be rid of you!”

Fine stared into the pool, a victorious grin on both his lips and those of the Celestia looking back at him. She appeared ragged and thin, her mane no longer flowing but hanging loose over her face in tangles. Her eyes were bloodshot and dark bags formed accessories for them. Her coat was dirty and smeared like she hadn’t washed in weeks, and Fine felt appropriately grungy.

It didn’t matter.

His lips curled back against his will, the Celestia in the pool snarling at him. “What are you on about, this time? I was having a nice time napping.”

He raised up a worn out scroll with his golden magic.”I figured it out. I know what we’ve been doing wrong!”

“Right.” His voice didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “I wish you’d give it up, Celestia. You’ve been ‘figuring out’ that spell for decades now.”

“Just look.”

The scroll unfurled before Fine, and his eyes poured over its contents. Magical formulas, proofs and complex theoretical patterns were laid out in a mess of ink. At first, he merely skimmed over the material, only reading the familiar parts… but then his eyes moved on their own, slowly taking in the data. He felt his jaw gradually dropping.

“Celestia, this is a big departure from our previous thinking.”

He nodded eagerly. “We were thinking in all the wrong ways. We believed Discord just created you and crammed you into my head, but that’s wrong. He didn’t make you from nothing, he made you from me; my head, my memories, my thoughts. You’re not a separate being I can just pull out and stuff in another body, you are me. It’s like you said: we are one and the same.”

A long pause passed, Fine waiting with bated breath as his abominable mental partner considered the information before them. At last, his lips moved again. “It’s… an interesting theory. Yes, this could work, assuming you’re right. It would be like…”

“Like creating a twin,” Fine finished with a grin. “There would simply be two of us, and then we could go our separate ways.”

“Two bodies? I had hoped to take over this one, but it will do.” The scroll lowered so that Fine’s wicked smile could taunt him through the mirror of the pool. “Then perhaps we can settle things.”

The smile faded to a grim frown. Fine felt anger boiling within him, as it had so many times before in conversations like these. “I hope this hurts. I want the pleasure of knowing I caused you pain.”

A laugh forced its way from his throat.

“How un-princess-y of you.”

Fine glared at his surroundings. It took him a moment to realize that the vision had passed… but his anger refused to go away. At last, he knew why there were two Celestias. Worse, even the good Celestia, who he’d come to recognize as being strictly anti-violent, wanted to hurt the bad. He didn’t blame her in the slightest; he wished he could kill the witch, and he’d only known her for a few months. He couldn’t imagine having her stuck in his head for two centuries.

He sat in the steadily building snow and simmered. The smell of the smoldering bodies behind him enhanced his frustration. Kill Celestia. As if it was that—

Fine leaned back to stare at the ceiling of the cave. He listened to the pristine silence of his mind and felt tears forming rivers down his cheeks.

The quiet was beautiful.

“At last! Two centuries, and my mind is finally clear!”

“How peculiar.”

He looked to the voice at his side and saw, to his alarm, Princess Celestia. She stared right back, eyes peering as she felt at her own body as if unsure of what it was. Fine felt himself doing the same, comparing his white form, great wings and flowing mane to hers. They matched in every conceivable way, to such a degree that they might as well have been identical twins. “This is… fascinating. Are you feeling okay?”

“I feel fine.” Celestia trotted in place to test her legs. She crossed her eyes and ignited her horn, filling the cave with dim light. “Everything seems to be working.”

Fine nodded, but then the reality hit him. “I… I did it.” A smile stretch across his face. “I finally did it! We are free!”

“Free?” Celestia’s eyes shifted about, as if she too were just beginning to comprehend. She worked her lips for a moment, and then a dark glint came to her eye. “Free. Good. Now let’s settle things.” She lowered her head and spread her legs into an aggressive pose, eyes locked upon Fine. “Time to fight.”

He blinked and stepped back from her. “Fight? Why? We are free from one another, just leave.”

Celestia stomped, growling her frustration. “For two hundred years I have been stuck in your head, listening to your pathetic whining and putting up with your spineless nature. I’ve been waiting to kick your flank for far too long!”

Fine recovered his confidence and stood tall, leveling a judging frown at his old adversary. “There is no need to resort to violence. We might offend one another, but the better solution is for us to go our separate ways.”

“And then what?” Celestia reared her head back with a haughty pose of her own. “You’ll go create a kingdom of harmony, and I go to wreak havoc? We will cross paths eventually, Celestia, like The Voice and The Blight before us. If we don’t fight now, we’ll do it anyway in time. Fifty years, a hundred, a thousand?”

Fine hesitated once again. As much as he hated to admit it, there could be no denying the reality of the claim. “I… guess that’s true. But I don’t think either of us could survive if the other… died. After all, we are linked.”

Celestia’s face fell, as if Fine’s words were little more than a slap in the face. “I didn’t think of that.” She sat back, all aggression lost as she rubbed her chin in thought. “Looking at the workings of the spell… Yes, I can see that there is a chance. If I die, you may die as well.”

“And vice versa.” Fine sighed and waved a dismissive hoof. “Don’t you see? We can’t stop one another, but we cannot live with one another either. It’s quite the impasse. I really think we need to just… stay out of one another’s way.”

Celestia glared at him. “Could you? I don’t think so. I am you, after all, and thus I know you won’t tolerate my plans.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do?”

“Improvise.” Celestia regained her unpleasant grin. “Nopony said we absolutely must fight to the death.

“I think I know exactly what to do with you.”

Fine stomped, sending snow flying. He shook his head forcefully to clear the last of the vision before glaring at the crumbling wall before him. His anger amplified as the repercussions of his latest hallucination rapidly fell into place. The picture was clear, the story apparent.

It made his blood boil.

“The good Celestia was the first victim,” he grumbled, pacing a circle in the ever-falling snow. Hunger forgotten, quest sidetracked, he aligned all his newfound knowledge. “Couldn’t risk dying, could you, Celestia? The changelings, extinct. The caribou, wiped out. Standing armies in every part of the world. I bet the stories about your bucking sister are all lies too. Did you send her up there just to make sure she wouldn’t raise a hoof to stop you?”

Now I just need to locate our sister, tell her the good news.

“You… you scheming… murderous…” Fine reared back and screamed. “Amethyst, Pinkie, Cadance and Shining Armor! Even me. All you had to do was bucking take the offer and go away.”

And the entire world might have been better off. Fine turned his gaze back to the ruins, thinking on what the world could have been like had the other Celestia won, or even if there’d not been a fight at all. Equestria the cesspool.

Celestia’s great, intentional legacy.

Fine didn’t care what Celestia wanted of him in this place; he would not be another pawn in her game. He turned and galloped into the chill of the Everfree, following the path east. He would confront the monster on her throne, and be damned with the consequences!

Hunger gnawed at his insides. Thirst had his tongue hanging from his open mouth. The cold winter air stabbed into Fine’s very bones.

How long had he been walking? At least two days. Though his legs shook with each step, he kept going. Ever East, ever onwards. For the millionth time, he wished he knew the layout of the forest. Was he lost? It felt like it. His drivers had brought him to the Mirror Pool from Ponyville within only a few hours.

He had to be lost.

No more visions plagued him; he had all the events down in his head by now. It seemed to matter little. He would starve if he didn’t eat soon. He’d run across a couple pools and a river in his walking, so his thirst wasn’t so bad, but the last time he’d tried to eat anything had left him so sick he’d lost everything he’d eaten… violently.

So he just trudged on, leaving a long track in the snow. He had to get out, had to get to Celestia, had to stand up to her. It would be the death of him, but at least he would die on his terms. Somepony had to speak for the pony trapped in stone at the ruins, for all the ponies who had suffered, for the thousand years of…

He groaned and fell to his knees, his heavy breathing creating great clouds of steam. “C-come on, Fine. Don’t stop n-now.” He strained, but all he achieved was to flop forward on his barrel, knocking snow high into the air.

A wall of snow blocked his vision. He stared at it, eyelids heavy and heart thumping in his ears. Even the thought of trying to stand once more took too much energy. He fought it with all his might, but his eyes gradually closed. “I’m s-sorry. Celestia… Cadance… Amethyst… P-Pinkie…”

As his senses faded, he couldn’t help but think that he should have done so much more.

“Fine, help me.”

He shifted, coming out of his reverie. Muscles aching, he stretchd and found no relief. He looked up to find himself in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, the lush rug soft beneath his hooves. The place appeared empty. “Who’s there?”

“Why didn’t you let us go?”

He turned around and felt his heart slam into his throat, for ponies were before him, each suffering their own special brand of torment.

To the left, Cadance lay on the floor, her legs and neck in shackles, her wings broken. Shining lay atop her, their flesh fused in a hideous display. Both stared at him with dull, expressionless eyes.

“Where’s mommy and daddy?”

To their right was the filly Amethyst, hanging by her neck from a small noose and gazing with that same lifeless expression. Behind her was Jewel Hoof and his wife, bound together about a pole and lit by a raging inferno. Though their mouths were opened in screams, not a sound escaped them.

“I’m a monster.”

Right again, and there was Pinkie. She lay upside down, throat held in the grasp of her doppelganger, Surprise. The tiny pegasus was giggling madly and smashing the helpless filly’s head against the stone floor again and again and again.

Yet Pinkie’s lifeless eyes never left Fine.

He covered his lips with a fetlock and sobbed. “P-please, don’t look at me like that.”

Not one eye turned away.

Fine backed from the horrors before him. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. Please, you must believe me!”

Of course you didn’t have a choice.

Fine spun around and gasped, for there sat Celestia before him. Except what he saw wasn’t right; Celestia was as still as stone. She stared into his soul with the familiar eyes of the doomed, not a muscle twitching. Not even her multihued mane moved. A single chain connected to a metal collar at her throat and attached to the floor, but it seemed redundant. She didn't even seem to be breathing.

She always wins. What are you but a bug for her to squash, or a playing piece to be sacrificed?

“I…” Fine bowed his head and trembled. “I d-don’t know…”

We are slaves. Celestia’s voice crushed his mind. It pushed into his head with such force that he found himself flat on his stomach. We are all slaves, now and always. Celestia knows no equal.

“That c-can’t be t-true.”

The frozen being before her said no more. She didn’t need to, for Fine’s despair was complete. He lay on the floor and sobbed, wallowing in his uselessness. All his anger, all his despair amounted to nothing before the sheer might of his opponent. What could he do to earn forgiveness?

Nothing. He could only weep as his soul shattered.

Now this is an interesting sight.

“Interesting? It seems rather horrid in my mind.”

Those voices were new. Fine didn’t look up. He didn’t want to see any more horrors.

“He knows, Nightmare.”

It would appear so.

“I would speak to him.”

Fine hadn’t realized he’d curled himself into a ball. Despite his misgivings, he rubbed his eyes with a fetlock and forced himself to look up. “W-who… who’s there?”

The throne room had gone. Now Fine found himself in a world of fog, still to the point of unnaturalness. He shivered at the sight, sensing a great unwholesomeness hiding within.

Why would you want to talk to him? Our sister has clearly already broken him.

The voice came from everywhere at once. Fine shifted into a sitting position and looked around, noticing with mild surprise that his fear had faded. Yet how could that have happened so quickly?

“You forget our duty, Nightmare.” Fine turned to see a figure walking forward through the fog, tall and regal and soundless. “We can help him overcome.”

The ethereal voice scoffed. Go on, then. Waste your time.

“Who are you?” Though weariness made the act difficult, Fine managed to force himself to his hooves. He put on the most aggressive expression he could under the circumstances, knowing it would amount to little. “What do you intend to do?”

“Nothing,” the pony said as she stepped through the fog at last. “Only speak.”

Fine’s jaw dropped at the sight of a dark blue coat, a horn and wings, and a mane decorated with stars. “Y-you… You’re Princess Luna.”

The princess, her pose regal and composed, gave a small nod. “Yes, that is my name and title.”

A blink. Another, just to be sure. She still stood before Fine. “B-but… Aren’t you still on the moon?”

Her face betrayed no expression. “Being in exile does not prevent me from walking the dreamscape. Now—” She pointed at him, “—how is it you know of my sister’s tragic fate?”

“I’m dreaming?” Fine flinched at the princess’s raised eyebrow. “She… showed me. Stuffed all the memories right into my head.”

A chuckle resounded through the fog. She has chosen another.

“So it seems.” Luna’s lips curled into a contemplative frown. “What is your name?”

“Fine…” He paused to consider his answer. “It’s Verity. Verity Fine, but I am known as Fine Crime.”

“Fine Crime, once Verity Fine.” Luna gave a curt nod. “Tell us, are you loyal to my sister?”

Before Fine could even register the question, he felt his anger rise within him. “No.”

Oh, he looks like a feisty one.

“Silence.” Luna’s head shifted in a tiny jerk to the side, her eyes never leaving Fine. “Then why do you work for her? I presume you joined the Archons of your own free will.”

He grimaced and looked away. “Because nopony else would take a monster like me. I don’t like what I am or what I do, but it is the only job I know.”

That bodiless voice chuckled yet again. I like this one. Celestia chose well. Perhaps he’ll still be around when she deigns to bring us back for our regular visit.

“ ‘This one?’ ” Fine looked around at the fog, but could find no other pony to address. “What are you talking about?”

“You will see in time.” Luna waited for him to look to her once more before speaking again. “That assumes you pass her final test. Tell me, Fine Crime, once Verity Fine, where are you in the waking world?”

“Where?” He paused to think, rubbing his head as he sought out his memories. Indeed, where was he? The last thing he recalled was galloping away from the ruins, so…

A sinking sensation made him bow his head. “I… I was trying to get back to Canterlot. Celestia abandoned me in the Everfree Forest. I got lost.”

Ah, the old Forest Illusion trick. Celestia is quite fond of that one.

“Forest Illusion trick?” Fine glanced around once more, wishing he could put a face to that voice.

“One more part of Celestia’s test for you.” Luna stepped closer and peered at Fine, who leaned back with ears folded. Her gaze didn’t appear at all friendly. “What is it you intend to do once you get back to Canterlot?”

He grimaced at the query. “There’s not much I can do, to be frank. She has me cursed to obey.” Yet he puffed out his chest and looked the princess in the eye. “But I won’t be her puppet anymore. She can kill me if she wants. I’ve done enough harm under her hoof.”

Hah! The voice made him flinch with its sudden volume. Is that all? Just walk up to her, say ‘I’m done’ and let her blast you? How noble.

“Well, what would you propose?” Fine turned a circle, glaring at the fog. “I can’t try to hurt her, that’s part of the curse. I can’t disobey her orders either.”

You are to be the Mane Archon. You work in shadows, do you not? Even Celestia can’t be aware of everything your ponies do.

“I am the Mane Archon,” he snarled. “And yes, everything I do is veiled in secrecy. It’s my Sun-be-damned special talent to keep things hidden!”

“Then take advantage of that,” Luna said, her tone commanding. “You cannot harm her, but you can still scheme, can’t you? You’d not be in the position you are in otherwise. There are more ways to stand up for yourself than a direct confrontation.”

Fine stared as he processed her words. He looked down and rubbed his chin, eyes shifting. “Hmm… I suppose the order to do her no harm does only include me. Assassins won’t be able to touch her, but if there are other ways to bring down a demigoddess…”

Luna scoffed. “Celestia is no goddess, full nor half. She is but a pony. An immensely powerful pony, but a pony nonetheless.”

“What you suggest… is no simple matter.”

The voice shared Luna’s unpleasant tone. So you would give up because the job is hard?

“No.” He shook his head, but had to admit that some of his conviction had been lost. “I just don’t know where to start.”

“There have been many Mane Archons, Fine Crime, once Verity Fine. All have failed to do precisely what you wish. In all likelihood, you will too.” Luna looked down her muzzle at him. “Does this frighten you?”

Fine didn’t have to think about it. “No.”

She studied him for some time. Fine couldn’t help but feel like a second pair of eyes were also watching him from somewhere in the fog. He kept his gaze locked with Luna’s, determined to show his conviction.

Abruptly, Luna lowered her head and tapped Fine’s with her horn. A jolt ran through him, not unlike a static shock. “This will help you escape the forest. It will also make you forget much of this dream, our presence included.”

“What?” Fine cocked his head. “Why?”

“It is best to not let Celestia know I am interfering.”

Another of those ominous, disembodied chuckles. She’ll find out, you know.

Luna cringed. “Perhaps, but I have to try.” She turned away and launched, wings quickly carrying her into the surrounding mists. Fine raised his hoof to stop her, but it was far too late.

I’ll let this play out. Sometimes it’s more fun to watch Luna’s scheming fail spectacularly.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Fine grumbled. “Who the hay are you, anyway?”

Time to wake, little colt.

Fine came to with a start, his world nothing but white. Snow cascaded from his face as he raised his head to look around. He was still in the Everfree, still cold and hungry. Yet somehow he felt more… energetic. He picked himself up and shook off the remaining snow. “W-what the heck was that all about?”

He blinked. “What was what all about?” He shivered as a chill wind hit him, yet somehow it didn’t seem so bad as it had before. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the dream that he’d just had, but all he could think of was endless fog and some voice he couldn’t place. Dreams were such weird things, but he seemed to remember that one being weirder than normal.

He gave a good shake of his head, trying to focus his thinking. He had to remember his goal: face Celestia and get to work. For the sake of all those she wronged over the centuries, he would fight in the best way he could. Though it would take nothing short of a miracle, he would stop Celestia. It was the only way to ensure the future of Equestria. He would have to continue doing terrible things, and it may end up exploding in his face, but if he didn’t try nopony else would.

The wind bit at Fine’s face as he took in his surroundings once again. He was still in the Everfree, that much was clear, but where did he need to go to get out? Something within him made him turn to the right, off the path he’d been following. He stared into the bare trees, trying to determine what made him think to go in that direction. No answers came to him, yet the longer he gazed the more confident he was in the decision.

Steeling himself, Fine started into the woods.

Ponies stared, but Fine ignored the lot of them. Though he’d barely eaten, he hardly noticed the pangs of his stomach. His coat was grimy, his mane had lost most of its dye and his body ached with all the walking he’d done, even with the train ride from Ponyville. His eyes were locked on his goal: the throne room doors. The guards tried to impede him at first; some recognized him and backed off, and those who didn’t saw the look on his face and wisely thought better of it.

Fine had been thinking a lot during his journey. The more he thought, the angrier he’d become. The knowledge Celestia had given him went beyond just a brief moment in history, for some of the tyrant’s memories had bled in along with her good counterpart’s. Fine realized so much about the causes behind Equestria’s bitter state that he could completely rewrite the books himself and outrage every historian who ever lived over the past thousand years.

It was all Celestia. Every law passed, painted so innocently as helping the public, had been painfully designed to spread hatred amongst the races and social classes. Every war supposedly waged for good intentions had been carefully orchestrated and arranged to be as bloody and painful as possible. He didn’t have all the details, only smidgens of information spanning the centuries, but it was more than enough for a pony like him to connect the dots and see the big picture.

And what he saw was a carefully woven tapestry of pre-engineered pain, suffering and death. Oh yes, Celestia was a brilliant chessmaster, but now he had her lessons in his head.

And Fine was a very good student.

He was overdue for a vision. It was the one thought that made him smile. It was that smile that kept the gawkers at bay, from Ponyville to Canterlot.

Though his legs protested, Fine shoved the great doors open. He stood tall as all the delegates and nobles turned their eyes on the pony who dared to interrupt the afternoon court. Gasps rang out at his disheveled appearance and grim glare, which he turned directly on the visibly startled princess on her gilded throne. Fine waited not for instructions, but marched straight towards Celestia.

The princess’s surprised expression quickly shifted into a grin. She clapped her hooves, the sound cracking throughout the chamber. “Clear the throne room. I would have a private word with Mr. Crime.”

The nobles made no attempt to argue, hurrying out and casting disgusted looks Fine’s way. He ignored every last one of them, focusing all his venom and hate upon the smiling princess.

“Not you, Scrolls,” Celestia said, stretched a hoof towards the scribe at her side. “I want you here.”

The doors closed just as Fine stopped at the stairs, staring up at Celestia with a teeth-baring snarl. “Hello again, queen bitch.”

Celestia tsked and shook her head. “Such vulgarity is unbecoming of any pony, Fine. You will not use such words again.”

He snarled and scuffed the carpet. “You sit on your throne and you laugh, don’t you? Laugh at the hell you’ve created, at the pathetic sheep of a citizenry that hail you as the great bringer of good.”

Her smirk never fading, Celestia leaned forward. “Just say it, Fine.”

“I hate you.” He poured all his menace into the words. “You’re an abomination and I hate you.”

She leaned back, her smile only making his rage more pronounced. They gazed at one another for several seconds, her calm and pleasant, him seething.

“You’re a day early.”

Fine eyed her. “For what?”

Her smile broadened a touch. “I said you had a week. It’s been six days. You got here early. I’m impressed.”

“You mean you wanted me to—”

It hit before Fine even understood, and when he did he made no attempt to stop it. He lunged for Celestia with an intense and fervent desire to spill her blood. It was such an incredibly good image and he had to make it real! To hear her scream would give him more joy than he could imagine.

Yet he found himself coming to a halt halfway up the steps. He struggled against his own body, snarling and cursing, but his legs would not move. “Come on,” he hissed between strained breaths. “M-move! I want to open you up!” He gazed upon the still-calm Celestia, imagining every cut, every broken bone, every shriek. A giggle escaped him even as he fought to overcome whatever it was that held him back. Tears began to stream down his cheeks and he wriggled in place. “Why? What is wrong with me?!”

Celestia’s horn shined, and suddenly something else was in his face. It was a mare, a wide-eyed, silver unicorn who appeared as surprised to be there as he was to see her.

Fine’s grin came back, and so did the movement in his legs. He caught the mare in his hooves and bit into her shoulder so hard he tasted blood. She shrieked and tried to escape, firing weak lasers that seared his coat; Fine responded by grabbing her by the head and slamming it into the stairs. It only took three hits to crack the horn.

Fine jerked the knife from around his neck and raised it high. “Bleed!” The weapon came down, stabbing deep into the mare’s good shoulder before she could crawl away. He could feel it tear into muscle and twisted the weapon around, savoring her shrieks. Howling with laughter, Fine stabbed again and again, always aiming for the places he knew would do the least damage.

The mare begged for mercy, pleaded to Celestia for help, cried for her father. Fine could feel an erection coming on from the noise and began to laugh hysterically. With little effort, he turned her onto her back. He stabbed the knife into her chest at a shallow angle, set a knee to her shoulder and pulled. She shrieked and squirmed, legs hanging limp from his carefully aimed attacks. It took him several seconds, but at last Fine heard the crack of a rib; it took very little effort to make it stick out of her chest like a beautiful, grotesque blade.

His energy was slipping. Time to wrap this up. He leaned over the mare, pressing his foreleg against her throat and gazing into her eyes. She choked down a sob, blood dribbling from the corner of her lip and tears streaming down the sides of her face.

Her words came out in a gurgling whisper. “C-Celestia… w-w-why?”

A shudder coursed through Fine. “Oh, but that’s beautiful.”

Then his knife pierced the side of her head. The mare spasmed and coughed, eyes going wide as death began to take hold. Fine took in every second of it: the tiny twitches of the lips, the rapidly-blinking eyes, the sharp breaths laced with a soft hiss. He moaned at the sheer pleasure she gave him.

The motions stopped. Fine stared at her for a while, the pleasure gradually fading until the disgust kicked in. He surveyed his work from up close, breath coming in slow gasps, but he felt no self-loathing for this one. He jerked the knife from the poor mare’s face and stood, glaring up at the ever-calm Celestia.

“You’re… a…” He struggled, his eyes locked on her expressionless face. His lips shook, his heart pounded, his jaw began to ache. And then, though it took all the willpower he could muster…

“Bitch.”

Celestia offered a toothy, gleeful grin. “You’re perfect.”

Fine peered at her, slowly returning the knife to its place around his neck. Though his anger continued to bubble under the surface, his latest kill had calmed him significantly. “I know. You want a Mane Archon who will challenge you, who wants to see you dead.”

“And who will resist me with everything he has.” Celestia’s hooves were shaking. “I’ve never had a Mane Archon with such determination. I am going to have so much fun watching you squirm. To know your anger and desperation as you struggle in vain to take me down… It’s going to be exquisite.” She leaned forward once more. “But I must know; how did you escape the Everfree Forest?”

He cocked his head, unsure of the purpose behind such a query. Seeking to get past this pointless tangent, he chose to answer quickly. “I don’t know. Somehow I just knew where to go.”

“Hmm…” Her smile became a smirk and she gestured. “Come here.”

Though just being in the same room with her filled Fine with disgust, he obeyed, stepping over poor Scrolls and stopping just before the throne. Celestia leaned forward and tapped his horn with her own, and he felt a the familiar tingling of magic flow through him.

Her smile broadened. “Why, you spoke to Luna!”

He blinked. “I did?”

“She came to you in your dream and gave you what you needed.” Celestia rubbed her chin, but didn’t lose her satisfied expression. “Dear Luna. Even as a filly, she couldn’t resist playing with my toys. Having her nod of approval only makes you that much more qualified. Perhaps the two of you will work together when I bring her back in the next decade.”

“Whatever.” Fine made a cutting motion with his hoof, effectively catching her attention. “Obviously I’ve got the job. I’m going now, before I throw up for looking at you.”

Fine didn’t get a chance to turn away. Instead, he found himself floating upside down in a golden glow. “Oh, come on. What now?”

“Not so fast, Mr. Crime.” He floated up so he was face-to face with Celestia, who tapped his muzzle with a grin. “Before you can go about following my every command while trying to murder me, there’s one more issue that needs to be addressed.”

“Like what?” Fine struggled against her magical grasp, knowing it was pointless but still wanting to show his dissatisfaction. “You can’t tell me you’ve got another bucking test!”

“Hardly.” She angled him so that he gazed upon the corpse lying on the stairs. His stomach churned at the sight of his handiwork. “You’re still a Bloodmane, Fine, and that’s a problem.”

He shot her a scowl. “I thought you liked that I was a Bloodmane.”

“I did, but it adds a bit of unpredictability and makes you something of a liability.” Celestia shook her head. “I want you in control of your faculties at all times. Makes the game between us more interesting.”

“Great. So what do you intend to do, drop me into the Mirror Pool like Pinkie?”

“No.” Celestia pouted at the mention of her recent deed. “As much as I wanted to do that with you, I still don’t trust the spell to achieve its purpose without some adverse side effects. No, we’re going to have to use the traditional cure.”

Fine paused to stare at her. For a moment he wondered if he’d not just heard incorrectly. “What do you mean, ‘traditional’ cure? Are you saying there’s actually a way to cure me?”

“Of course there is.” Celestia regained her smug smile. “It’s very slow and intensely painful, but it works.”

It took a few seconds for Fine to accept that she wasn’t lying. Part of him was so excited he almost forgot his anger, but that faded quickly as he recalled exactly who he was speaking to. “Let me guess,” he grumbled, “you kept the cure a secret from the public to enhance our suffering?”

Celestia’s smile broadened. “Permit a mare her pleasures.”

Author's Notes:

If you're among those who haven't read Trixie vs. Equestria or Twilight's Inferno and managed to make it all the way here, congratulations: you finally know that there is indeed a reason behind Celestia's villainy. I'm sorry it took so long to show up.

One more Fine chapter left.

Also: Palabras del Sur = "Southern Words"

In Reddux the Tyrant (which takes place in the No Heroes timeline of this AU), a lot of names in the deep south of Equestria took on Spanish forms. I never bothered with giving any explanation there, which may have been a mistake. As of this chapter, I'm introducing Palabras del Sur as the language of that region. It's really just Spanish, but I figured Equestria would use a different name for it.