Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WUxsu-Zz21M8DBb6X1GKmAvVKb8VA9voQsf3KtHg2ks/edit?usp=sharing

Watermelons was trapped in the castle dungeon for days now, the curse of madness consuming more and more of her mind and personality. Now, she reached the point where she could no longer make sense out of the things around her anymore.

Her mind had given in. She was unable to think or analyze anymore. She could no longer distinguish between dream, fantasy and reality. But something inside her still seemed to work. Otherwise, she would be either in coma or dead.

The more time passed, the more something seemed to take control of the purple mare. It was barely noticeable, though, since her behavior was already extremely strange and kept changing the whole time. But now, something changed so notably, it caught the attention of the royal guards.

While in the first days, she kept mumbling strange things and spoke out wishes to harm others, she became more and more mute as time passed. Now, her desire to harm suddenly started aiming against herself.

The royal guards noticed that bleeding bite marks appeared on her front legs. They once even caught her repeatedly kicking her hind legs against the iron bars, until they became blood stained and the mare could hardly stand anymore. Now, she threw herself against the stone walls as hard as she could when the guards weren’t watching.

Little did they know that this behavior was no longer caused by herself, but by something that was trying to break free.

---

“What shall we look for, my mistress?” one of the reaper mares asked.

“Anything you can find. I want to know what the de manis are doing. The more you can find out, the better,” Celestia replied.

The reaper then kneeled down before the bright demi-goddess.

“As you command,” she spoke, teleporting herself away.

Princess Celestia had been the new mistress of the reapers for two days now. Yet, she still could not believe what she had gotten herself into. Even though they returned under her rulership, they were still reapers and still acted according to their nature.

These last two days solely consisted of trying to arrange herself with these murderers. Since they were so heavily feared amongst the ponies, Celestia had to be extra careful that none of her subjects would encounter them. So, the princess of the sun ordered the reapers to stay hidden in the dark and only show themselves to ponies if absolutely necessary. Even then, they needed to be disguised.

With a sigh, Celestia thought back to the time just a few weeks ago. Equestria was slowly blooming again and filled with millions of subjects. Everything pointed to a bright future for the entire land... who would have thought that all this could change so dramatically so quickly.

Now, Equestria was no longer a land of peace, hope and reconstruction. It had become dangerous, filled with de manis and curses, as well as fearsome beasts the de manis lured here. Even Celestia had no idea what would become of the land she loved so much... yet.

The princess of the sun could hear wings flapping behind her. As she turned around, the reaper Silverstream landed and bowed down. Although it turned out that the reapers seemed to be very loyal, even if they had their suspicions about Celestia, he was by far the most cooperative. Therefore, the bright demi-goddess kept him inside Everfree City and used him as the link between the reapers and herself.

“So?” was all the princess of the sun said.

“There are no de manis around the city. I also spied on the citizens. They are still deeply under trauma and their mental condition is quite worrying,” he stated.

“How high do you think are the chances for them to fall under Maledictum Insania?” Celestia wanted to know.

“Frankly, very high. The curse of madness makes insanity contagious. Those who witnessed horrors are likely to fall to insanity themselves. Once they have fallen, they too will start spreading insanity on others. I strongly suggest to take measures to increase the mental stability of the subjects,” the reaper suggested.

“Very well. I planned to deliver a speech anyway. For now, I want you to keep searching for de manis and consume as many as you can. Also, keep me updated on the discoveries of the other reapers,” Celestia ordered.

“Yes, my mistress,” Silverstream replied and turned around.

Celestia had already turned back to the window and watched the city in worry when she heard the clattering of the reaper’s hooves stop. As she turned her head back to him, she saw him stare at her.

“Is there anything else?” the bright demi-goddess wondered.

“My mistress... please forgive me for asking, but... are you certain about forbidding us to consume flesh?” Silverstream wondered.

Celestia’s expression shifted to an angry one. Just the moment she thought she somewhat could deal with the idea of ruling over the reapers, they blast out something like this.

“Yes. I will not make any exceptions. You will have to compromise with the kind of food Equestria has to offer without harming any other beings,” she spoke sharply.

“We will gradually lose our strength if we do not feed our inner de manis. If you are willing to take this, then there is little we can say against that. You are our mistress and we will follow all of your rules, no matter what. But we will eventually become too weak to hunt de manis and undead ponies anymore. Should this happen, we helplessly depend on your mercy to end our existence,” the reaper explained.

“Which is precisely what I am aiming for. Even though I am your mistress, I do not share any sympathy or trust for you creatures. I will make sure you do not even dare to think about turning against me again. I will grant you no rights and your entire existence depends on me. What I will do to you when the moment comes you become too weak to fight anymore is what I will decide on once it happened,” the princess of the sun stated.

“You have every reason to doubt us. Many of us as well are very uncertain what to think of you as well, I have to admit. But keep in mind, my mistress. If we can not fight and serve you no use anymore, you will have to consider to end us and gain new reapers,” the reaper stated.

Now, Celestia became furious. She pawed the ground shortly and puffed once.

“Are you suggesting that I should pass the reaper curse on to some of my subjects?!” she asked loudly, nearly shouting.

“What other options are available, my mistress?” the reaper spoke calmly, bowing down before Celestia.

“I will come up with a different solution eventually. Yet, one thing is absolutely certain: I will prevent this from happening wherever possible. You better stop provoking me now, Silverstream! Be gone!” the bright demi-goddess ordered.

“Yes, my mistress,” the silvery gray reaper replied and started flying away.

Celestia needed a moment to gather herself again. After all that had happened, the thought of losing even more subjects now became unbearable to her. So, of course, the emotionless, purely logical and cold-hearted way of thinking of the reapers only evoked even more fury and despise in her.

It were reasons like these that made it so hard for the princess of the sun to handle her new role. It were reasons like these which made her hate reapers even more. But unfortunately, Silverstream of course was right about several things.

Celestia could not stay unorganized with them as they currently were. She needed to think of a way to use them effectively, since there were so few of them in total. With reapers being the only way to effectively protect her subjects from de manis and the post-mortem effects of Maledictum Insania, she also needed to think of ways to make them complete these tasks. She somehow needed to be able to find out when a pony was supposed to die and how.

She would soon have to get started on organizing all this. But first, she needed to pay one of her subjects a visit.

Lindy Pie had been living in the castle for several days now. Yet, Celestia had just no time to check on her. Lindy herself did not seek her company either, but that might be due to her being rather shy and not wanting to disturb her in important tasks.

Now that Silverstream mentioned how contagious insanity can be, the bright demi-goddess became a bit worried about the teenage earth pony. She certainly did not appear to be the kind of pony who would turn violent, though. What she had seen just traumatized her too much and she obviously seemed to know what had happened was wrong. But she still would need to at least talk about her problems.

As Celestia wandered along the corridors of Castle Everfree, she thought back with a sigh of how lively this place used to be. Although Equestria was still reconstructing just weeks ago, that time now rather seemed like a golden era compared to the new situation. So many servants were constantly wandering from one room to another and there was no need for guards. Now, a hoofful of guards spread over the entire castle was all that could be seen.

Despite all, the princess of the sun could not allow herself to even think of how much she was involved in all this. Now, everything depended on her. Should she have a break down, the entire land would fall into chaos and with such a low population left, it might be the bit that would ultimately extinct pony-kind in Equestria.

On another point, if she allowed the thoughts to overcome her, she might fall to Maledictum Insania herself. Although she was a demi-goddess, very mighty and embodied the entire opposite to darkness, she still would not take the risk to assume she was immune to the curse of madness. So, very soon, she would push the memories of how she caused Luna to fall to insanity so far in the back of her mind, she would nearly forget it.

Finally, Celestia arrived at the guest room where Lindy Pie was living in. She knocked at the door, but no response was given.

“Lindy, my subject. Are you in there?” the bright demi-goddess asked.

Again, she got no response. Celestia decided to open the door. As she stepped inside, she realized the room was empty. All cupboards and closets were open and emptied out. It seemed like Lindy had moved out of the castle again.

---

“Why yes, your highness. She was here,” one of the cooks of Castle Everfree confirmed.

“When have you seen her the last time?” Celestia wondered.

“Three days ago. She came down here to ask if she could use castle resources to bake. We allowed it and she made a strawberry tart. After she was done, she gifted it to us and just left again. Strange if you ask me. She really did a great job! We could use more talented bakers here!” the cook replied.

“Do you have any idea where she could have gone to?” the bright demi-goddess wanted to know.

“Well... no... But seeing how skilled she is, I think she just left to find some work or something,” the mare stated.

“Very well... thank you for your help,” Celestia spoke and left the castle kitchen again.

She just couldn’t shake off the feeling that something had happened. This was just too strange. But the princess of the sun certainly had no time to start searching for Lindy on her own. She only had a moment to check on the teenage filly, but not to spend a whole lot of time with her.

The paperwork slowly began to cluster up again and Celestia knew precisely that the extremely busy times of the early stages of reconstruction were just about to begin once again. It would only take one or two weeks more before the bright demi-goddess would start drowning in work again, so she needed to use the spare time she had left to set and arrange as much as possible.

Celestia went back to her throne room and sat down on. Then she picked up a quill, ink and a scroll by magic, writing a letter. It was an order for Silverstream to meet her at once.

A day had passed and the princess of the sun had calmed down enough to face him again. She just hoped he would be more careful about what he said to her this time.

Just ten minutes after the letter was sent, the silvery gray reaper stallion entered the throne room through a secret passage in the ceiling. He stood on a wooden beam, his eyes swiftly wandering across the hall to make sure no ponies were present before he landed in front of Celestia and bowed down.

“How may I serve you, my mistress?” he wondered.

“One of my subjects has gone missing. Lindanella Christine Pie. I care a great deal for her well-being and I wish for you to find her and report to me what had happened to her,” Celestia ordered.

“As you com-” Silverstream started, but stopped and turned around as he heard a pony approach.

Instantly, he lifted up to the ceiling again and hid himself in the shadows. A moment later, one of the royal guards came rushing in.

“Your highness! We require your presence in the dungeon!” he spoke.

“What is the matter?” Celestia wondered.

“The murderer has started to injure herself heavily! We can not get her to stop! She is about to kill herself!" the guard explained.

Immediately, the princess of the sun got up and started following the guard. While he wasn’t watching, Celestia made a small gesture to tell Silverstream to follow them secretly.

---

As she entered the castle dungeon, Celestia instantly found confirmation that the guard did the right thing to alarm her. There was blood and torn off pieces of fur all over Watermelons’ prison cell, as well as small splatters of dried blood stuck on the iron bars. The insane mare herself was at the very back, hitting her head repeatedly against the stone wall, which as well had become blood stained by now.

Watermelons looked horrible. She was bleeding all over, heavily bruised and it seemed like she had several broken bones. Large bleeding fissures were seen across her coat, which looked like she tore them open even more on purpose.

Celestia stepped in front of the prison cell, about to speak up. But Watermelons seemed to already know she was present and stopped hitting her head against the wall. She slowly turned around, grinning at her with an expression that no longer could be identified as mere insanity. The wicked grin and wide open, bloodshot eyes seemed to be stuck on her, as if her facial muscles had cramped up so much that she became unable to make any other expression.

Watermelons was shaking all over very violently and began to hyperventilate at the sight of the bright demi-goddess. Slowly, she got up and brought herself in position to charge her.

Celestia, though, remained calm. There was no way she could get her and all that would happen if she started running towards her would be that she hit the iron bars with full force. What she did not know is that this was exactly what Watermelons wanted.

The guards as well just stood there idly, unsure what to think or do as they watched the purple mare run towards the iron bars with full speed. What happened then, though, was something none of them expected.

The insane mare jumped in the air just moments before she reached the iron bars. As she hit them, her body literally exploded into a bloody mess and a black creature came flying out of it, launching against the princess of the sun.

Due to the sheer amount of surprise and the force of the jump, Celestia become knocked over. Disbelieving, she stared at the blood covered, six legged de manis atop of her as it raised three large scorpion tail-like extensions into the air, their long nails aiming at her head.

The guards tried to react in time to stop the monster, but before even one of them could process what had happened fast enough, Silverstream suddenly gave up his cover and tackled the de manis, knocking it off from his mistress again. While he and the de manis were fighting against each other, the guards finally reacted.

“Reaper!” they shouted, about to engage in the battle against both of them at the same time.

“Stop! Let him fight!” Celestia ordered quickly.

The guards hit the breaks and looked at the bright demi-goddess in confusion. Their focus then switched back to the reaper and the de manis.

The beast had rammed one of the nails through his right shoulder while he used his front and hind legs to hold off the other two extensions while also doing his best to stop the de manis from biting him. Still, it managed to sink its fangs into the reaper’s left front leg and bit hard.

Silverstream, though, could use this to his advantage. He suddenly rolled over, pinning the de manis below him by pressing his bitten leg down hard. As the other two extensions became loose and rammed into his back, he too decided to try to engulf the de manis now.

The reaper turned into a black cloud and surrounded the de manis. Moments later, the cloud compressed more and more, until both the de manis and the cloud compressed back into Silverstream.

He stared at Celestia with an expressionless face while the guards stared back in a mix of fear, confusion and anger. The bright demi-goddess, although covered in blood, remained collected and gave the reaper a serious look.

“Guards. Leave the reaper to me. Go back inside the castle and guard it,” she ordered.

The royal guards nodded in confirmation and slowly backed away, their eyes constantly stuck on Silverstream. They were unaware of Celestia’s arrangement with the reapers, so they just figured she was about to fight him by herself. This made sense to them, since they knew they would hardly stand a chance against a reaper, but a reaper would hardly stand a chance against Celestia in return.

After they left, Celestia finally could take off her faked expression and shivered lightly, disgusted by the sensation of blood all over her body and in her mane and tail. This was a close call. If Silverstream would not have reacted as fast as he did, the de manis would have killed her.

“Although I hate to admit it, I owe you my gratefulness,” she spoke while casting a spell on herself to get rid of the blood. Silverstream bowed down before her.

“I will serve my mistress and protect her, no matter what,” the reaper replied.

Celestia’s focus returned to the prison cell. Blood, guts and bones were spread everywhere. By now, she started to get used to such sights.

“A de manis... how could there have been a de manis inside her?” the bright demi-goddess wondered.

“This must be the link Nightmare Moon was mentioning. Watermelons was heavily affected by Maledictum Insania and her condition worsened very rapidly. It appears that, if an affected pony is not eliminated in time, it will create a de manis,” Silverstream figured.

“The queen of the de manis surely outdid herself. This is dreadful...” Celestia commented.

“This knowledge is both very useful and very alarming. As I mentioned before, the subjects of Equestria are all highly unstable. Should we not take drastic steps immediately, we risk to lose them all,” the reaper resumed.

“You are right about that... Silverstream. Go back to the city. Keep a close eye on the subjects. I think I know what needs to be done,” the princess of the sun ordered.

“Yes, my mistress,” he replied and started sneaking away in the shadows.

---

The sun went down and night began. Celestia was in the castle archive, scanning through the collection of magical books. She was looking for a very specific spell, which she was certain would bring her many advantages. Half an hour passed until she finally found the right book.

After turning several pages by magic, she finally had it. The Amnesia spell. One so mighty that only the greatest of unicorns could cast it.

The spell would erase major parts of a pony’s memory. Due to the fact that this could easily get abused, it was considered black magic. Like all black magic spells, this one, too, was off limits for most unicorns. But now, there was no other option anymore but to cast it.

Celestia carefully studied it in order to control it perfectly. She had mixed feelings about her plan to use it. On one hoof, she knew it was the right thing to do, since it would help her subjects. On the other hoof, she felt bad for manipulating them against their will.

The advantages, though, clearly predominated. She would do her subjects a great favor to allow them to forget the horrors they had seen. They would mentally recover and even forget that Equestria was no longer a safe and peaceful land.

The demi-goddess of light and day was done. She put the book back at its place and slowly got on her way to the balcony. Despite all the advantages the spell would bring, she still felt bad. If she erased the memories of Nightmare Moon and the de manis, she would also erase all memories of Luna. Even though nopony of the current generation even knew Celestia had a sister, they still would believe it if they read a lore of both of them. But once this spell was cast, the ponies would strictly assume these tales to be false, convinced that Celestia never ever had a sister.

But there was no other way. Without this, all she had done so far would be wasted. Without this, Nightmare Moon would win after all. It had to be done.

Celestia stepped on the balcony, the moon shining brightly on her face. She stared at it for a moment with a sad expression, while the moon seemed to stare back in hate.

“Luna... the world may forget you ever existed... but I will not. No matter what happens, I will never forget you, my dear sister,” she spoke.

Now, the bright demi-goddess closed her eyes and spread her wings. Her horn began to glow and a bright light filled the night.

That night, many of the remaining subjects of Equestria had gruesome nightmares about the de manis and Nightmare Moon. But as soon as Celestia cast the amnesia spell, she appeared in their dreams, enlightening them. While the light filled them more and more, the visions of de manis and Nightmare Moon became increasingly blurrier and achromatic. Ultimately, the entirety of Equestria fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

This would be the last major action in Equestria for ten years.