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Celestia in Excelsis

by Kolwynia

Chapter 9: IX. The Toys of Chaos

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Nine:
The Toys of Chaos

“Traitor!” cried a pink filly. “If you like hanging around with unicorns so much why don’t you go join their tribe!”

“If they’d have you,” another filly jeered.

Somepony threw an apple at Victory, which struck her hard in the head and set the world spinning around her like a carousel filled with angry faces. She held her heart-shaped box tighter. The other earth ponies hated her so much now. Well no matter what they said and did, no matter how much it hurt, she would never give up what she had found.

“Give it to us!” they screamed.

“No!” she yelled back at them. She tried to make herself very small, to wrap herself around the heart-shaped box with all her might, but they were so strong. All those fillies with earth pony strength… they pried her limbs from the container and ripped its lid off. Victory cried as Page the unicorn came tumbling out. The fillies snatched her away before Victory could grab her, pulling her into the spinning crowd until she was gone, gone, gone forever…

Victory curled up into a ball and wept. The spinning crowd faded and vanished, along with Page, and the heart-shaped box lay on the ground, crumpled and empty.

A warm hoof touched her shoulder. “Don’t cry, Victory,” said a voice. It was familiar, but Victory couldn’t place it. “You’re just having a bad dream.”

She looked up, her eyes meeting a blue filly’s gentle gaze. “Who are you?”

“Luna.” Joy broke across her face as she said her name, as if she thought it were the most wonderful word in pony language.

Victory knew that name, had heard it often enough in Canterlot these days. Princess Celestia’s sister! Though, she wasn’t really her sister… Page and Victory were certain they knew what she really was, though they would never tell anypony.

“I’m dreaming?”

“Yes. You don’t have to be afraid. They can’t take your friend away from you. Look.” She pointed at the heart-shaped box with her hoof. Victory walked over to it and picked it up. She looked inside. There was Page, safe and sound. Victory looked even deeper into the heart-shaped box. There, way down in the deepest part of it, hidden where no angry earth ponies could ever reach, was another pony. She was shining like the dawn, there in Victory’s heart. Like a secret.

“Thank you,” said Victory, carefully putting the lid back on the box.

“I have to go,” said Luna. “There are other ponies having bad dreams tonight.”

The winged unicorn faded, until there was nothing left of her but those watchful eyes. Then they were gone too, and Victory was alone.

Then she woke up.

“Page?”

“Mmmmnnn,” said the young unicorn, who was lying in the bed on the other side of the room. “What is it, Victory?” she asked in a groggy voice.

“Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were still there.”

“Go back to sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

That’s right! The princess’s party was tomorrow. And they were both invited. Princess Celestia had not forgotten that she asked them to attend, as Victory had worried she might. Their golden tickets had arrived a week ago. She had even known that Victory was staying at Page’s house.

Victory smiled in the darkness. Things were okay. It had been hard since her old friends had found out about Page, and her entire village seemed to have turned on her at the moment. Victory had been spending more and more time in Canterlot since then, at Page’s invitation. Page’s aunt did not mind having another pony in the house. She was almost never home anyway since she was a librarian at the Canterlot library, and preferred to spend her time there.

“Page…”

“Mmmnnn…”

“You won’t ever leave me, will you?”

The unicorn murmured something, but it was so faint Victory could not make it out. That was okay too. She didn’t need to hear her. Page wasn’t going anywhere. They were friends. Best friends. And would be forever…

* * *

After leaving Victory Song’s dream, Luna wandered for a while, waiting for the next pony’s terror to cry out to her. Suddenly she felt a wave of emotion ripple across the Dreamscape. Her ears perked up. This one was not a nightmare, like so many of them had been tonight. Someone was having a happy dream. She wouldn’t have gone to see what it was, but there was a name in all that happiness, a single name shining at the center of all that rippling joy.

Princess Celestia.

She had to see.

It had only been a couple of months since she had been born, and Luna was still so full of curiosity. She had discovered her ability to walk in dreams by accident, and when she had told Celestia about it, was surprised to find out that her sister could not do it too.

Her sister. They had decided that was the best way to explain Luna’s existence to Canterlot. They didn’t want everypony knowing that she was born from fairy magic. The unicorns were suspicious enough as it was, especially the magicians at the academy. But Luna was actually very pleased that they were pretending to be sisters. In fact—and she did not tell Celestia this—but she did not feel like she was pretending at all.

“Careful, Sister,” Celestia had said. Luna loved how she called her “sister” even when nopony else was around. “Dreams can be dark places.” She had such a strange expression on her face when she said that, and Luna had wondered what kinds of dreams her sister had, but she never had the chance to find out because Celestia almost never slept.

And she had been right. Luna found that out the very first time she had started traveling the Dreamscape and visiting ponies’ dreams. There were a lot of sad and lonely and frightening ones. She would have to be careful. But she also found out that when she visited the ponies that were having nightmares that she could make them feel better. So she did. Every night she went to help them. And they seemed to love her then.

Not like when they were awake.

“They will come around,” Celestia promised, but she hadn’t looked too certain. Luna noticed that most of the unicorns were wary of their winged princess, even though they were starting to get used to her. But after weeks in Canterlot, nopony seemed to be getting used to Luna. It didn’t help that she had discovered something new about herself since she had escaped the fairy world.

She was shy.

Whenever a pony approached her when they were awake, Luna felt her insides go cold and her face warm and she couldn’t look them in the eye. And it didn’t seem to get any easier, even if she knew the pony. She still couldn’t look Brightmane in the face, and she saw him every day. How did Celestia do it?

She drew near to the happy dream. Something felt familiar. Did she know the pony whose dream it was? That’s how it had been for Victory and her nightmare. The dream was always louder when she knew the dreamer. Oh! Yes she did know him. It was Duly Noted, Celestia’s royal advisor. And his dream, his bright and joyful dream was…

* * *

Duly Noted allowed himself a smile as he looked out over the garden, which was filled with colts and fillies at play. They ran and tried to hide, shrieking and giggling as their princess chased them. In moments like these he almost found himself thinking of her as the filly she was, and then she would glance his way and their eyes would meet, and he couldn’t help but shrink under that gaze, which seemed to look right through him, as if he were a ghost.

“Duly Noted?” a quiet voice spoke.

Surprised, the royal advisor turned to see Luna standing behind him. He had not heard her approach. His smile faded. There was something unsettling about the princess’s younger sister.

“Is there something I can help you with?” he asked.

“I… just wanted to see what you were doing. You seemed so happy.”

Happy? Is that what he was? Duly Noted glanced back toward the garden, where the children continued their game with Princess Celestia. “I guess I am.”

“Am I… bothering you?”

Duly Noted shook his head. “No. I was just watching your sister and the orphans playing.”

“Oh.”

A thought occurred to Duly Noted. “I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “I heard you could do that. Visit ponies in their dreams.”

“I did not mean to intrude. I just… yours was the happiest dream I found tonight. And I knew my sister was in it, so I…”

“She frightens me, you know. Even more than you do.”

Luna’s eyes widened. She looked down at her hooves and pawed at the ground. “Really? Her?”

“Indeed. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I expect it has something to do with the fact that I’m dreaming.”

“What is so frightening about Celestia? She is wonderful.”

“She should not exist. Nopony can be as… as good as she is and be real. And the way she talks about friendship and Harmony, as if they were things that had power in the world. If you had told me before that goodness was something to be scared of, I would have laughed. Not now though… your sister is a good princess. And she terrifies me.”

“She is special,” Luna agreed.

“I never thought I could be so proud to serve a royal princess. I thought I was proud to be a unicorn before, when Dewdream marched our tribe against the pegasi and the earth ponies and we pulled the sun from the sky, but that was all in vain. Now I see a city where the orphans are cared for. I have heard singing in the streets. Can you imagine such a thing? A world so full of joy that ponies break out in song?” He shook his head. “Maybe that’s why I didn’t even know I was dreaming just now. My life has become a dream.”

Luna smiled at the old unicorn. “Let’s hope it’s one we never have to wake up from.” And with that, she faded from his sight.

“Yes,” said Duly Noted. “Let’s hope.”

* * *

I will try to act a little braver around Duly Noted from now on, thought Luna as she left his dream and returned to the darkness of the Dreamscape. But it was easy to be bold in dreams. In the waking world it would be harder.

“No!” A cry of terror sounded from the darkness ahead. Another pony was having a bad dream. Luna steeled herself and dove into it.

* * *

Dewdream cringed from the apparition, tried to retreat into the darkness and hide from it, but the light penetrated, cutting through the shadows and leaving her exposed. She scooted backward until there was nowhere left to run, and faced the blazing specter with every drop of courage within her.

“Do you see?” a sharp voice stabbed at her from the light. “You are nothing anymore. I have taken your crown and your throne… all that remains is your life.”

Celestia stepped from the light and advanced on Dewdream, who shivered and waited for the inevitable.

“You thought you could defeat me? That your little plan had a hope of success? Wretch, I am invincible! And you… you are not.” White lips parted, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. Celestia’s eyes burned with hungry flames.

“Don’t be afraid, Dewdream,” said a voice. And somepony stepped between Celestia and the trembling ex-princess.

“Th-thank you,” Dewdream stammered, but then the dark shape she supposed to be her savior turned and she saw that it was the demon’s sister! A strangled scream tried to escape her, but died in her throat.

“What is the matter?” the dark pony asked. The voice sounded concerned, but her face split in a horrible grin, revealing the same sharp teeth that her sister had. And her gaze, red and hateful, seemed to rip into Dewdream. “It’s just a bad dream. You don’t need to be afraid of her. She’s not the real Celestia.”

Lies. All lies. At last Dewdream found her voice, just as the sisters descended on her like wolves and tore her apart.

She woke screaming, scrambling in her sheets, coat drenched in cold sweat. It was not real. Only a dream.

Heart still racing, she climbed out of bed and walked over to her desk, where the golden ticket Celestia had sent to her—an offering of “friendship” if Dewdream were to believe her, which she didn’t—lay on top of her letters from the Crystal Empire. She levitated the ticket and turned it over in the air, considering it. It was a generous gift, and it would certainly not go to waste….

* * *

Luna tumbled through the darkness of the Dreamscape, not caring where she went. Dewdream had been too terrified of her to accept her help. The unicorn’s white face, mouth stretched open in a wordless scream, haunted Luna. Her dream may have been a lie, but it was one she believed in the deepest part of her heart: that Celestia and Luna were both monsters.

She wondered how many other ponies in Canterlot had dreams like that hidden in their hearts. How she wished she could be more like her sister. They will come around. But would they really? Was there anything either of them could do to erase such fear and suspicion from the minds of the unicorns? Celestia would say yes, that it was just a matter of time. And Luna loved her for that.

From the shadows came dark laughter. Luna spread her wings, finding her balance, and faced the direction it came from, peering into inky space. Then there was light. White light arced around her like brush strokes against the dark canvas, painting a large chamber full of ponies. All of them were white and Luna couldn’t see their faces. Looking closer, she realized that they were all made of paper. In fact, the whole chamber was paper.

Whose dream was she in now?

At the end of the chamber, on a paper dais, stood a paper princess with wings and a horn and a paper crown. Celestia! Luna started toward her. Then there was a flash, and the paper ponies went up in flames, turning to ash in a moment, except for the paper princess.

Paper Celestia cried white tears silently as Luna slowly approached her. As Luna looked on, a pair of dragon hands, their scales as black as tar, reached for the paper princess. A silver object gleamed in their claws. It was a pair of scissors. Before Luna could shout a warning to her sister, the scissors came down, opening and closing in two quick, awful snips.

A pair of white paper wings fell to the ground.

And the paper bled.

Luna woke with a start.

* * *

“It was just a dream,” said Celestia, when Luna told her about it.

They were in her dressing room, getting ready for the party, which was in just a few hours. Celestia was struggling to get into one of the gowns that had been provided for her to try on.

Riiiiiiip! The princess’s lavender eyes went wide. She looked down. Something had torn, she just didn’t know what.

Luna watched her with amusement. “Shall I send for the royal… hmm… what do you call the pony that helps princesses into their dresses? The royal dresser? Fitter? Stuffer?

“Shush, you. I did need somepony to help me last time, for my coronation. I never had to wear dresses when I lived with S—before, I mean.”

“Hold on. I’ll help you…”

“Thanks.”

“I don’t think my dreams are ordinary.” Luna’s voice was soft.

“I never said they were. But they’re nothing to be scared of.”

“I… think they might be.”

“Why?” Celestia held her breath while Luna magicked the laces of her dress into perfect bows.

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I have.”

Celestia looked at herself in the mirror. It’s beautiful, she thought. The gown shimmered as the light was caught in its folds. It looked as though she were wearing a dress of liquid gold.

“This is the one,” she breathed. She turned to face Luna squarely. “I had them made in pairs. I can help you into yours.”

Luna sighed and submitted to the ordeal. She did not get the fuss over dresses. If she wanted, she could wrap herself in dream-stuff. A cloak of shadows would be an appropriate garb for the guardian of the night. She was good at illusion magic. But Celestia seemed to love this stuff about dresses, probably because when she still lived on the streets she could never have imagined owning one.

“It’s… very nice,” said Luna when they were finished. Her dress was flowing silver. Nice? It was splendid! But she didn’t want to get distracted by frivolities. “Don’t you believe me? About my dreams?”

Celestia made a face. “I wish I didn’t. But even if you’re right, what do you suppose it means? I mean, it’s not like I can really lose my wings.”

“I just think you should be careful.”

“I will, but you need to cheer up. Tonight is going to be wonderful. It’s our chance to celebrate how Canterlot is finally starting to get it. We should be happy.”

Luna shrugged. “I am happy.” Because I’m with you, sister. If anything were to happen to take you from me, I would…

But there were some things that didn’t warrant thinking about.

* * *

The first Grand Galloping Gala opened beneath a shower of colored fireworks. Hundreds of ponies looked on, eyes drinking in the sparkling lights as music from the famed Siren Sisters washed over them in warm waves. The castle courtyard had been transformed into a lavish wonderland for the event, and ponies mingled happily, sampling exotic foods and gossiping about trivial things. The air was thick with their careless innocence. Few of them had truly begun to understand what Celestia was trying to inspire in them, but a beginning had been made. That is what they were celebrating: the first gentle breath of Harmony.

Ruby Drop did not belong there.

Everything about him was false, from his smile to the fake unicorn horn that jutted from his mane, all the way to the golden ticket that got him past the guards. That ticket had been given to him by the ex-princess Dewdream, who had her own reasons for wanting him to accomplish his mission.

Ruby Drop was not really a unicorn. He wasn’t an earth pony or a pegasus, either. He was a crystal pony, the child of an empire that existed long before these southern ponies had claimed this ancient land. And his king had entrusted to him a solemn task that only he could fulfill.

He was here to kill a princess.

Even now, in the moments before Princess Celestia made her appearance at the Gala, Ruby was haunted by doubt. The princess was said to be very young. He had never slain a filly before. And there were the prophecies… even a pony as loyal to his king as Ruby could not forget the stories he grew up with. The voice of his grandmother spoke to him from out of the past: “One day a true princess of Harmony will sit the crystal throne… a beautiful winged unicorn to reign over the Empire in peace… and this is how you will know her when she comes: her power will be love.

“This Celestia is not the princess of promise,” King Sombra had assured Ruby Drop before sending him on his mission. “She is deceiver… a monster…”

Do I trust my king? Ruby asked himself once again. There were awful rumors floating about the crystal castle these days. Some said that the king heard voices, or talked to the air when he thought he was alone. But rumors were not enough of a reason for disloyalty. King Sombra had ruled the Empire in wisdom for years, and if he said that Celestia was a monster, then as far as Ruby Drop was concerned, that is what she was.

He felt the cold magic of his weapon, a shard of black crystal hidden in his false horn. He had never needed such powerful dark magic to kill a pony before, but Celestia was no mere pony.

“Where’s the princess?” asked an earth pony filly. Ruby raised an eyebrow. How did an earth pony get a golden ticket?

“She’s coming, don’t worry,” her unicorn friend said.

“This place is so crowded. Are we going to get a chance to talk to her?”

“I… I’m not sure.”

“But you need to tell her about the—”

“Shhhh! Not here!”

Ruby Drop walked past the two fillies. He wondered idly what these common children thought they had to say to a royal princess. Another pang of doubt pulsed in his heart. He was about to assassinate a princess whose subjects thought they could just walk up and talk to her. He shook his head. Princesses like that only existed in fairy tales… or the stories his grandmother told him. But the king said…

“Oof!” Ruby accidentally bumped into one of the nobles milling around the party. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s quite all right,” said a deep, rich voice. The pony wore a dark cloak that covered his face so that Ruby could not see it.

“It’s the princess!” somepony said. There was a collective gasp as the white-winged filly descended from the evening sky and alighted on the stage next to the Siren Sisters. She said something to them and the trio of unicorn singers blushed. Then she stepped forward and faced the crowd. Her gown sparkled in the light of the rainbow lanterns. More and more unicorns gathered in front of the stage to hear her.

Seeing her for the first time, Ruby Drop felt his conviction waver. She was as beautiful as they said. A monster, a monster, he told himself. Trust your king. But she didn’t look like a monster. And the words that came out of her mouth…

“My friends,” said Celestia, beaming at the partygoers. “Thank you for coming here tonight…”

Even the ponies that were uncomfortable with her, or outright critical of her rule, listened in silence as their princess went on.

“…I know I’ve not been your princess for very long, but even in this short amount of time I’ve come to love all of you so much…”

Love. Ruby staggered at that word. This couldn’t be allowed to go on. If she really was a monster, then he had to expose her once and for all. And if she wasn’t… if King Sombra was wrong and everything Ruby Drop had come here believing was a lie, then she would somehow survive, wouldn’t she? If the crystal prophecy was right, then something would have to stop him from doing what he was going to do, and right now, because he could not stand there listening to her any longer or he wouldn’t have the nerve to do it at all.

He walked forward, through the crowd. He reached out with his mind and grabbed hold of the hidden shard of black crystal. Its cold power filled him and for a moment he really was like a unicorn: one with the power to cast a single deadly spell.

“…and that love is the power at the heart of magic,” the filly princess said. “I am talking about something much greater than a unicorn’s magic. Beyond spells and enchantments is a kind of magic that any pony can wield if she wants to… if she has somepony to share it with… and I’ve been so happy to share it with all of you.”

Ruby Drop lowered his horn, prepared to fire the dark magic…

…and couldn’t. His eyes widened. He hadn’t had a change of heart. He really couldn’t cast the spell. The shard wasn’t working! And his body couldn’t move! Sweat dripped from his coat as his limbs hardened. To his horror, things were growing out of him. Branches! And his hooves melted into roots, which dug into the soft ground of the courtyard, fastening him in place.

Princess Celestia’s eyes fell on him and she fell quiet. The ponies surrounding him pulled back and watched with mingled fascination, disgust, and terror, as his body turned to wood, his branches grew leaves, and then sprouted red flowers all over. A few of them fainted. Ruby Drop’s fright gave way to a peaceful feeling, almost like being drugged. And then he thought no more.

Dark laughter rolled over the gathered ponies. They trembled and clung to each other, and some cried out. Their eyes went from the blossoming tree that had only a moment ago been a red pony, to the princess, who was no longer smiling. Her eyes narrowed to blazing lavender slits.

“Who’s there?” she demanded.

The cloaked pony staggered forward, nearly doubling up from laughter. The crowd of ponies parted right down the middle and he stood in the empty aisle between them, cackling. “Oh, Princess… I am sorry, but this is hilarious…”

Celestia glared at the cloaked pony. He dared, on this night of all nights, to harm one of her ponies? She felt her magic, power enough to move the sun in the sky, flare up within her, and fought the urge to unleash it on the pony before her. “What is so funny?”

“You! I mean, I heard that you believed in this Harmony and the magic of friendship stuff…” he said the words in a high, mocking tone, “but you just sounded so serious when you said that. I couldn’t help it.”

“Who are you? Did Starswirl send you?”

“I am no wizard’s pet, Princess. I’m just here to pay the world’s newest alicorn a visit.”

Celestia felt her blood run cold. Alicorn. Even though she had never heard the word before, she knew instantly what it meant. He knows the name for what I am.

“You really are pure of heart, aren’t you? But you are wrong about magic. Magic works just fine without friendship. Allow me to demonstrate…”

The sleeve of his cloak slid up, revealing not a hoof, but a paw. He snapped his clawed fingers and there was a flash of light, followed by a shrieking wail as the Siren Sisters were transformed.

Celestia stared openmouthed at the ponies floundering on the stage before her. They were no longer unicorns. Their hooves had been turned to fins, their legs to serpentine tails. They flopped on the stage uncontrollably, like fish out of—

Water! The princess shook off her shock and summoned her magic, picking the Siren Sisters up off the stage and carefully depositing them in the water fountain. They stopped struggling as soon as they touched the clear liquid. Whatever they had been transformed into belonged in the water. They clung to the edge of the fountain and cried to Celestia to help them.

She faced the cloaked figure. “What are you?”

Another laugh. The ponies that surrounded him cowered. “What am I?” The dark cloak he wore was shed and something slithered out of it, something so long it shouldn’t even have been able to fit inside the cloak in the first place. Celestia had never laid eyes on such a creature before. He was a mixture of all kinds of living things: dragons and ponies and more.

“I am Discord, your highness, the spirit of chaos,” he introduced himself with a mocking bow, lips curling in a mischievous smile.

Chaos. Celestia remembered what the phoenix had told her during her rebirth, when she saw that dark stain on the light. Chaos, the shadow of the Enemy.

“I don’t remember sending you a golden ticket,” the princess said. How strong is he? Are my new powers enough to defeat him? She was dealing with a complete mystery.

“Not to worry,” said Discord, “I made my own.” A fan of golden tickets appeared in his talons, which he tossed aside. “Believe me, you’ll be glad I crashed your little celebration: I’m the life of the party.” There was a flash of light and a party hat appeared on his head, right between his horn and antler, followed by a rain of confetti.

“All the ponies here are under my protection. I won’t let you hurt them. And the ones you transformed… change them back.”

The creature rolled his fiery red eyes. “Are you always such a bore, Princess? Come on, you’re an alicorn! A creature of life and fire and enough power to shake this entire city to its foundations. Don’t you ever feel like cutting loose a little bit?”

“If you don’t turn my ponies back… I will.”

Discord made a pouting face and pointed his fingers at the water fountain where the Siren Sisters were. There was a flash of light.

And the fountain’s water turned to chocolate milk.

The sisters cried out in disgust.

Celestia bowed her head and pointed her horn at Discord. A beam of glittering light shot toward the creature, spearing him through his abdomen. He looked down, face twisting in an expression of horror as he was cut in half. Both halves of his severed body collapsed to the ground where they twitched and squirmed.

Celestia’s eyes widened with shock. Her spell wasn’t supposed to do that! Her stomach seemed to fall down to her hooves as she stared at the dying creature, mouth hanging open. I didn’t mean to kill him!

Discord burst out laughing. “Just kidding!” His two halves reconnected and he stood up. “That was a pretty weak attack, though. I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough. What do you say we raise the stakes a bit?”

Even as relief flooded Celestia that she had not actually killed the creature, she found herself wishing she had. What am I going to do? She looked around for Luna, but her shy sister had not made her appearance at the party yet. The partygoers were all cringing and trying to make themselves very small and unnoticeable, so the creature would not do to them what he had done to the singers and that poor red unicorn.

All in vain. Discord rose to his full height and cackled, lightning flashing out of the clear evening sky. Sudden fear gripped Celestia. Whatever he’s about to do, I’ve got to stop him! She felt her entire body light up with power.

Then the world came unraveled around her.

Gravity seemed to stop working as the castle was turned upside down. Unicorns were suspended in mid-air, hooves grasping helplessly. The rainbow lanterns came unstrung and floated, still burning with colored light, through the courtyard, which wasn’t a courtyard anymore…

A giant chessboard unfolded beneath them and Celestia alighted on a red square. Discord rose from the inky depths of a black one, then stood upon it as if it were solid. The castle was breaking apart around them, its upside-down pieces hanging in the air like Hearth’s Warming ornaments. The fancy food that had been served for the party was moving, come to horrible life, trying to swim through the air and chase the ponies that had, only minutes ago, been intending to eat it. A cake chewed harmlessly on the leg of a mare, which screamed and tried to shake it off.

“Let’s play a game, Princess,” said Discord. “You believe in the power of Harmony, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Celestia said weakly. How am I going to fix all this?

“Good. Now, you have three chances to prove to me that your White Light is greater than my Chaos. Every time you fail, I will take a turn to try and convince you otherwise. If you can’t defeat me in three turns… I win.”

Celestia faced her adversary. “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s my nature,” said Discord, a shadow passing over his features. “You have your precious phoenix court to thank for that. Go on… it’s your move.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a breath. Prove that Harmony was greater than Chaos? How was she supposed to do that? Isn’t it, though? The power of friendship banished the windigos and saved ponykind from the eternal Winter. It has found homes for the orphans of Canterlot and started to soften the hearts of the unicorn tribe. It made me able to use magic when no amount of studying could. It raised me from the dead. It gave me wings.

Her horn began to glow. Harmony can fix this. All I have to do is draw upon friendship’s power… the love I feel for all of these ponies… for Luna… (Where are you, Sister?) …for those two. I didn’t see them in the crowd, but I’m sure they came…

A bubble of magic surrounded her and started to expand. Everywhere it touched, the power of Chaos was unmade: the chessboard vanished and became the castle ceiling it was supposed to be, which turned rightside-up, the ravenous desserts turned back into inanimate food and fell to the ground with a splat, even the castle started to come back together, to be repaired…

Discord was surprised the little princess had been able to manage this much. Her connection to Harmony was so pure… could it be? Might she become an Element? He stared at her. She was concentrating so hard, eyes shut, but beneath those lids were two slits of shining white light. The draconequus felt a shiver travel the entire length of his serpentine body. This could not go on. He stretched a single talon toward the bubble of magic, flooding it with his power, the power that could twist and warp magic itself.

The bubble burst. All the repairs it made were undone. The world around the princess reverted back to its chaotic state.

No! thought Celestia. The grimy touch of Chaos had proven stronger than her spell. But how? She had powered it with her affection for her subjects and her sister, so how could Discord’s power have overcome it? Sweat trickled down her coat and she stood panting.

“Not good enough, Princess,” said Discord. “My turn. What do you say we let your precious ponies in on our little game?”

A series of white flashes lit the upside-down castle. A group of huddling ponies sprouted long, floppy ears. Two young mares were squished together with magic until they became a single mare with two heads. Coats changed colors. A purple stallion in a fancy suit was transformed into something long and scaly. Ponies lost their minds and began acting like animals. Some were turned into actual animals. It started raining very confused frogs.

“Stop it!” Celestia cried.

“Don’t worry. No harm will come to them. I take good care of my toys.”

A very un-princesslike growl came from Celestia. “They are not your playthings!”

“Oh yes they are. And if your next move isn’t better than your first, they are going to be my playthings for a long time.” Out of the black square he stood on rose a dark throne. He sat on it and flashed a savage grin.

That’s it, thought Celestia, heart aflame with fury. I tried using my magic defensively, and that didn’t work. But nopony touches my… Subjects, not friends. That little truth dampened her power somewhat. Who cares how they feel about me? My love for them will be enough!

Horn shining with power, she turned all her magic against the creature. A cage of blazing light surrounded him. It will hold. It has to. He cannot be allowed to have his way.

But Discord opened the cage of light as if it was nothing, stepped out of it, and with a flick of his tail its light dimmed and it faded into the shadows.

“Ponies like you,” said Discord, shaking his head, “Heroes. You always believe the light is so powerful. That was a nice try, though. I could feel the magical power behind it. I must have touched a nerve, playing with your ponies. But you should be more worried about yourself than them, Princess.”

How did he get free? That should have worked! “What can you do to harm me?” said Celestia. “I was already killed once.” She stood before him, defiant.

He only smiled his fanged smile at her. There was a flash of light and a noise like a thunderclap.

Something was different. Celestia felt it immediately, though she did not know what it was. Has he turned me into something terrible? No, she still felt like a pony, still had her familiar white body, from her hooves to her…

Her horn was gone! So were her wings!

She could not sense magic at all, nor could she sense the lives of her ponies as she could since she became a… what had he called her? An alicorn. It was all gone. She tried to reach out and feel the presence of the sun, but could not.

“What did you do to me?”

“Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it? Having a new alicorn in the world? But now we’re running out of time. Well, not really, but I am getting bored. You have one more chance, Princess. Look at where Harmony has left you. I have taken your throne. Your ponies are mine to toy with. I have even taken your magic and your wings. What do you have left?”

Celestia fought the urge to cry. She was helpless. Without magic, how was she going to defend her subjects? They were counting on her. Thousands of innocent ponies were expecting their princess to save the day. She could not leave them to this creature. But I’ve been here before, she thought, a powerless filly at the mercy of some bully. But I’m not the same as I was then. I defied Starswirl. I returned from death. I…

Made a friend.

She smiled. “I pity you, Discord. All that power… and you still don’t get it.”

The creature frowned. “Get what? You have failed. What has your goodness gotten you? Defeated, that’s what. I tried to tell your wizard friend… good and evil are not the only game in town. They are not even that interesting. One side wants to destroy everything, the other wants to control it. But here… I will build a kingdom that cannot be controlled or destroyed, a world of endless chaos. What do you have that can oppose that?

“You are terribly lonely, aren’t you? I was too, not so long ago. Then I found magic, real magic in—”

“Not interested,” spat Discord. “I’m going to count that as attempt number three. You lose, Princess.” And he reached out and touched her white forehead, where her horn used to be.

His twisted power passed through her, like soiled electricity.

Before he even had a chance to gloat, something dark and blue crashed into Celestia, knocking her out of the way. It stood between Discord and his prey, wrapped in a cloak of feathers.

“What’s this?”

The feathers scattered, turning into glowing blue butterflies. A horn glowed with sapphire magic. A pair of wings spread out against the dark.

An alicorn! A second alicorn filly. Impossible! He knew how they were made. There was no way two could be born in a single generation.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“I might ask you the same,” said the blue alicorn. “And what do you think you were doing with my sister?”

“Your… sister?” The wizard neglected to mention that. Discord composed himself. “We were just playing a game. She was losing.”

“I won’t let you touch her.”

Discord’s lips curled. “I already have. Now… I wasn’t exactly expecting another princess at this party, but I think I can let you in on our game…

A snap of clawed fingers, a flash of light, and Luna stood without wings or a horn: just a blue filly facing the spirit of chaos.

She gave him a fanged smile of her own. “I am no princess.” And new wings sprouted from her shoulders, along with a new horn on her head.

Discord’s red eyes widened. “How…”

Luna sniffed. “Magic.”

Another flash of light, and a blue rabbit stood where Luna had been, staring at Discord with unamused aquamarine eyes.

Then, impossibly, the rabbit glowed blue and stretched back into an alicorn. “No,” she said.

Discord managed to remain calm in his fury. There was no way his spells could be broken, not even by an alicorn. Not even by two alicorns. He was seeing something that could not happen, which meant…

“This is not real. You are using illusions.”

“That’s right. You’re dreaming.”

“I do not dream!” he hissed. “Ugh. Tricked by cheap fairy magic. I’m almost impressed. Who are you really? Some unicorn adept who has caught a glimpse of the fairy world?”

“I am Luna,” she said.

“The name of the moon? That is too arrogant, even for a unicorn.”

“I did not choose it. And I am not a unicorn.”

“Well, whatever you are, you are standing between me and my little friend.” He said that last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Actually, I’m not.”

“What?”

“My sister isn’t here anymore.” Luna grinned at him, then began to disappear, from her tail up to her head, vanishing slowly, until only her grin remained. “And neither am I.”

Then she was gone.

Discord stood alone in his twisted castle. He might have tried to catch up to them, but what would be the point. He was furious, but he also admired the little trickster. She knew how to play. Besides, there were a thousand more fun things he could be doing than chasing down a couple of do-gooders. The white city lay pale and vulnerable before him. All that order just begging to be undone. And after Canterlot, the whole country of Equestria just lay there, ripe for a touch of chaos…

* * *

Far outside the city, Luna landed, setting her sister down carefully. Celestia hadn’t spoken to her during the whole flight.

“Did you do it? Did you save her?” Victory Song asked. Her voice was practically a whimper.

“I did. Thanks to you two. Thanks for coming to get me.”

“And… that thing, whatever it was?” asked Page.

“…is too powerful for either myself or my sister to defeat.”

Page nodded. She glanced at Victory, who was saying something to Celestia. “I might have learned something that will help. That is why I wanted to talk to the princess at the Gala.”

“What is that?”

“I think I know where to find the Elements of Harmony.”

Luna’s ears perked up. “The Elements…”

“Hear that, Princess?” said Victory. Then she turned to Page and Luna. “Guys, I think something’s wrong with her.

“That creature took her wings and horn away.”

“Um… I think there’s something else wrong with her.”

“What?!”

Alarmed, Luna raced to her sister and looked at her. Celestia gazed back, but Victory was right; something was very wrong.

“She’s…”

“Her colors are all gone,” said Victory.

It was true. She had no wings and no horn and no colors. Her once brilliant mane now flowed in shades of ash. The others exchanged a worried glance, then stared at Celestia.

The gray princess looked back at them. “What is the matter? I feel fine.” The pupils of her eyes dilated, drinking in the light and swallowing it. She licked her lips and smiled wickedly. “In fact, I feel better than ever.”

Next Chapter: X. Heartless Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
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