Celestia awoke with her torso covered in bandages. Her arm and leg were in casts, and her wing was bandaged as well. She was in a very different room than her cell. The walls were white, clean and shining. Her back was pressed against something soft, a hospital bed that was inclined into a sort of chair. Overwhelming happiness fell over Celestia; It was all a dream. She was injured, and the torture was all a dream. Luna and Twilight still loved her.
Except…, thought Celestia hopelessly. She tried to move her arms, but they were restrained by thick leather straps. She tried to untie her bonds with her horn, which was a futile effort. Her horn was still gone, and she was still a prisoner. Her joy instantaneously morphed into despair.
"Hello?" called Celestia hoarsely. Her throat was raw and sticking. "Is anypony here?"
"She is awake." whispered someone from a place Celestia couldn't quite see. A tall, orange, one-eyed alicorn guard stepped into the room. His horn began to glow lavender, much like Twilight's aura.
"What happened?" asked Celestia. "Why am I here?"
"Queen Luna broke your leg very severely." answered the guard. "Mother feared that you would not survive without medical attention."
"Why does she need me alive?" asked Celestia. "Why does she need my blood?"
"She is taking your blood?" said the guard in surprise. He removed the casts from Celestia's body.
"You knew that. You requested my blood on behalf of Luna." said Celestia. Her hands were put into chains, slightly lighter than the other sets she'd grown accustomed to wearing.
"That wasn't me. Must've been one of my brothers. My name is Flash, by the way." he said. "Flash Sparkle."
"Twilight has two children? Missing an eye on the same side?" asked Celestia. Flash chained Celestia's legs together, and added an extra chain to her wrists to act as a leash.
"Mother told me not to speak with you. She wants you discover the answer on your own." said Flash. Celestia remained silent and let Flash lead her from the comfort of her bed. They walked through the same grey, stone corridors that Celestia had entered the West Tower through. When they got to the trapdoor, Celestia's eyes widened in surprise. There was another alicorn stallion, that looked like an exact copy of Flash Sparkle, missing eye and all. The second Flash brought the side of his hand to his heart upon seeing his brother. The original Flash mirrored him and held the salute for a moment.
"Transport Code: Wand, Heart, Shield, Sun." said the first Flash. "Confirmation: T,C,S,S."
"Do you need a mask?" asked the second Flash.
"Yeah. My magic keeps flitting in and out, and Mother would butcher me if I let the prisoner die."
The second Flash nodded, and his horn began to glow with a purple light. He placed his hand against his brother's mouth, then Celestia's, each time producing a thin wall of purple magic that melted into the air.
"Thanks, Sunrise." said the first Flash.
"No worries." said the second Flash, Sunrise. "Hail Luna, Love Mother."
"Hail Luna, Love Mother." returned Flash. With an anxious sigh, he pressed his palm to the trapdoor on the ceiling. The entire corridor shook slightly, and the trapdoor, shrouded in purple energy, melted into a ladder. It fell to the ground with a thud, and as soon as it did, Flash instructed Celestia to scale it. She did, with Flash close behind her. They reached the surface of the ruined city of Canterlot, and Flash led Celestia back to the West Tower.
They crossed the city, to the other side where a trapdoor was waiting for them on the floor. Flash opened it and slid down, dragging Celestia with him. They walked for a moment down the cold, gray corridor, until they reached Celestia's cell. When they were in the confines of the tiny little room (Celestia swore that it had gotten even smaller), Flash chained his prisoner to the wall, hands above her head.
"Please, Flash. I'm begging you." said Celestia. "Please help me."
"Why would I let you go?" asked Flash. "What would I have to gain by betraying Mother for somepony who nearly wiped out their entire species?"
"You don't have to free me. Just give me some answers." begged Celestia. "What did I do? What got me to this position? Why can I not remember the last thousand or so years?"
Flash stopped Celestia's flood of questions with a kick to the face, his hoof shattering her mask into shards of magic. He turned and left the room without another word. Just then, Celestia had a plan. She knew that it was a terrible plan, but a bad plan had a better chance of succeeding than no plan at all.
Celestia sat in her cell, trying her best to work out any variables in her plan. She knew that it would likely take a few days, perhaps a week or two, to put her idea into motion. She also knew that it would be dangerous and with very little gain, which is why she decided to only implement it when she had no other choice.
Do not show your hand until all cards have been dealt, thought Celestia. Discord used to tell me that, when I had thought I had beaten him. Celestia kept this advice in mind as she closed her eyes to prepare her meditation technique. She began counting her breaths, and she forced her mind to the back of her head, letting unconsciousness take most of her body. She remembered these techniques well, for this was the only skill Luna possesed that Celestia did not; the ability to induce a lucid dream. Celestia could remember her sister bragging about how easy it was. She remembered Luna's quick, sharp words of advice.
"Focus. Sleep, but remain awake." Luna had said. "Always ask yourself if you are awake. With practice, you may be able to control your dreams so well that even I cannot tell the difference."
Sleep took Celestia nearly at once. She dreamed of pain, of razor blades licking her throat, of ropes constricting her neck. She dreamt of sharp knives and cold chains. She dreamed of agony and torment and fear and hate. She awoke a short few hours later, and could hardly tell the difference.
"Am I awake?" Celestia said out loud. "Is this a dream?"
Does it matter? she asked herself. It doesn't. You could be awake, asleep, or dead in hell, and it would not make a difference. They are all the same.
An icy wall of water cascaded over Celestia, waking her from her sleep. A wooden bucket dropped onto her leg as she coughed and gagged. She didn't even need to open her eyes to know that it was Twilight who had woken her.
"My faithful student." coughed Celestia.
"Drink up." said Twilight. "You won't be getting any more for a couple of days. Maybe a week."
"Then why dump it on my face? Wouldn't it be wiser to, say, let me drink the water?" asked Celestia. There was an air of annoyance to her voice. "You were always sharp, my dear, but you had your moments when I thought that your IQ was lower than I hoped."
"I want you to survive, not to live." replied Twilight. "There is a difference."
"Ah, so you do remember my lessons. Well, some of them, anyway. You seem to have forgotten the one when I taught you not to torture others for no reason."
"There's a reason, Celestia." Twilight said. She brought her hoof down onto Celestia's leg. It didn't hurt very much, but Celestia let out a grunt of pain all the same.
"We are getting nowhere with this! I have a proposition." said Celestia. "You have something I want, and I, in turn, have something you want. If you help me, I will help you."
"Do you understand how being a prisoner works?" asked Twilight. "If you have it, and I want it, I take it. You are powerless to stop me. And besides, you have nothing that could be of any use. Nothing that you'd be willing to give up."
"Have you discovered my secret library yet?" asked Celestia. "The entrance is beneath my old castle. There is a magical lock on the door, and I can give you the combination."
"I know of your library, Celestia. What assurance do I have that you are giving me the correct combination?" asked Twilight.
"You've been torturing me for a thousand years, maybe more, and I haven't told you yet. If it took me this long to tell you, it is obviously worth something." said Celestia. "I am not sure what sort of struggles you and your 'kingdom' are going through, but the solution is likely in that library."
The air in the room seemed to solidify. Twilight gazed at her former teacher with hate in her eyes. Celestia's face was a blank canvas, with a small smirk threatening to break through her facade. Celestia knew that Twilight had no choice but to accept her deal, although it still would not make much difference.
"What manner of books are in this library?" asked Twilight.
"Books of spells, obviously. The books of Starswirl the Bearded, of Queen Faustia, of Tirek, Scorpan, Discord, and Sombra." said Celestia. "My personal spellbooks. I never let you read them, because I knew you'd attempt the spells they contained. My magic was still too much for you at the time, but I have faith that you will be able to handle them after a thousand years or longer."
Twilight was fighting herself. She did not want to accept the deal with Celestia, the one who had caused her so much suffering and pain. But she needed any and all magic she could gather, for the sake of her children. Finally, Twilight let out a sigh.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I want answers. For every question you answer, I will give you a number in the combination." said Celestia, her smile showing itself. "Let's begin. How long has it been since you defeated Tirek? Be as exact as you can, please."
"It has been one thousand three hundred forty-five years, ten months, and fifteen days." answered Twilight, sparing no more than a second of thought.
"But who's counting?" said Celestia sarcastically.
"Combination." ordered Twilight.
"Six." said Celestia cheerfully. "Why can I not remember any of the last thousand-odd years?"
"That's a good question. Queen Luna was looking into it, and she's still not positive." answered Twilight. "She has it down to two possibilities; either Eclipse finally affected you, or there was a magical flare that only you felt. Number."
"Four. Now, what exactly is Eclipse?" asked Celestia. Any trace of cheer vanished from her on the spot.
"Your pet project. Number."
"You didn't answer my question." said Celestia.
"I answered it. Just not very well. You never said that I had to give you a straight answer." said Twilight.
"Nine. What exactly do you mean by 'pet project'?" asked Celestia.
"You worked on Eclipse during your off-time. When you weren't building Crucibles and Camps." said Twilight. "And the last number to the combination is... ?"
"Three." said Celestia angrily. Two of her questions remained unanswered, and one of them opened up to more questions.
"Six-four-nine-three." said Twilight. "What significance does it hold?"
"None. The combination, however, is extremely important to me." said Celestia. Twilight's face fell, much to Celestia's pleasure. "What? You didn't think I was actually going to give you the combination, did you?"
Twilight's hoof connected with Celestia's throat forcefully. The former Sun Princess coughed out a throaty laugh before it was interrupted by another hoof to the neck.
"Relax." coughed Celestia. "The numbers are all correct. It's up to you to discover the order."
"You said you would give me the combination!" shrieked Twilight, kicking Celestia in the stomach.
"I said I would give you the numbers to the combination. Just as you never promised to answer my questions properly, I never promised to give you your information in the right order."
"If Luna didn't need your blood." grumbled Twilight.
"If Luna did not need my blood, we would not be having this conversation." said Celestia. "It would likely be you in these chains, rather than me. You couldn't kill me, even if you wanted to."
"Oh, I want to. I so very much want to." whispered Twilight.
"No, you don't. You still care about me, just as I care about you."
"I don't care about you. In fact, I hate you."
"Hate is far too strong a word to waste on somepony you don't like." said Celestia. "I think it's too strong for you, period. Power does not suit you, Twilight. It never did."
"Then why the hell did you give me a kingdom?" asked Twilight.
"What can I say? Watching you struggle is amusing." laughed Celestia. "You always got so worked up over your failures. You took yourself far too seriously, my dear."
"I do not tolerate cheek, Celestia. If you don't shut up, I'll cut out your goddamn tongue." said Twilight. It would be wisest for Celestia to stay silent, to let Twilight storm out of the room, but Celestia had one more in her.
"Another thing. You're not very good with threats. You see, threats only work if you follow through with them." said Celestia, a strange tone of condescendence in her voice. "You threatened to cut my tongue out a few days ago, yet here I am, free to speak unhindered. When I ruled Equestria with Luna, before you, before Luna was banished, I had a threat similar. I told my citizens that any criminals would have their throats filled with molten silver if caught. I thought it would stop crime, but it did just the reverse. People thought I was a joke, especially after they realized that I would never do it."
"If you'd like, I can get my knife now." said Twilight.
"After my story, if you still feel like it." said Celestia. Then, she resumed her tale. "Nopony took me seriously. Until, one day, a criminal was brought before me to plead his case. He raped, murdered, and cannibalized at least thirteen children. He admitted it, he bragged about it even, the cocky bastard. But what angered me the most wasn't his heinous crimes. No, what truly made my blood boil was the fact that he calmly admitted it and still requested my help. He knew that I would never go through with my silver threat. Do you know what I did after that, Twilight?"
"I'm sure that you're going to tell me anyway." muttered Twilight.
"I went through with it. I tied him to a stake, gathered all the citizens I could, and I personally tipped the cauldron." growled Celestia. "And in the long, long history of Equestria, there has never been a murderer of that degree since! Do you get it, Twilight Sparkle? Words are cheap! Action, however, is priceless! So, by all means, 'cut out my goddamn tongue', as you said. Do it! Until such time as you do, I will not take anything you say seriously. I can't. You are a joke, Twilight Sparkle, and not a very funny one."
"Are you serious? You have the nerve to call me, Princess Twilight Sparkle, a joke?!" bellowed Twilight, landing her hoof in Celestia's gut. "I, who defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, and Lord Tirek?"
"Elements, Elements, Cadance & Shining, Crystal Heart, Elements, and Rainbow Power." listed Celestia. "You are weak, Twilight Sparkle. All of your 'accomplishments' are the works of magical items or people far more powerful than yourself. While you do have talent of your own to be proud of, it does not equal strength, nor does it equal respect."
"I am Twilight Sparkle! I saved Equestria time and time again!" shouted Twilight.
"You didn't save it from this plague." muttered Celestia.
"I revived our race! I birthed an entire generation of alicorns! My children are the future of our kind, and they came from my own genius! Do not mock me, Princess Celestia, princess of the setting sun! Princess of prison cells and steel shackles. Princess of nothing!"
"And I believe that makes up for your lack of answers." said Celestia. "Thank you, Twilight. You've been quite helpful."
"Come again?" said Twilight.
"You were always easy to manipulate, which is partly why I have forgiven you." said Celestia with a smile. "The combination is three-nine-six-four. See you another time."
"Enjoy your water." muttered Twilight. She spun on her heel and exited the cell. Celestia closed her eyes and began counting her breaths. She forced her consciousness to the rear of her mind and fell into the warm embrace of sleep. She dreamed of glittering silver, of knives and blood. When she awoke, she found that her tongue was bleeding slightly. She spat the blood from her bitten tongue onto the floor and resumed her sleep.