New Wingsby Der LampmanChaptersVisitPossible SolutionsFirst ViewingVisitNote: this contains minor amounts of gore. The story was made as practice for gore writing for another story. Twilight walked the streets of Canterlot late that night. Her steps were sure, steady, slow, her journey driven with purpose. Her wings were fully unfurled, and yet she kept her hooves planted on the ground. She was still unable to use her wings properly. Anything beyond very slow flapping was still beyond her abilities, considering she only got them recently. The ponies of Canterlot were ones who thrived on gossip and such other pointless activities, and this night was no different. Each of the ponies she passed by whispered something in hushed tones, eyes on her. They were passing on rumors, no doubt about her new wings. They were magnificent, were they not? Lined with only the finest feathers and the fittest muscles, and with her horn they were indeed regal. Something was different in their eyes though. What was that she saw in them? Fear? Yes, fear, as it should be. A princess still had to command some degree of fear no matter how kind she was, or she would lose power over her subjects. She’d learned that about her mentor a long time ago. Celestia always was the kindest, the most altruistic pony around, and she’d been around for millennia. It was hard to be the single most perfect pony in the world, and she’d pulled it off for so long. Luna was also kind and worked for the good of all, or at least she was once harmony cleansed her. However, she was far from perfect, with her social ineptitude and tendency to go about things the wrong way. Luna was far from her mentor, the mentor that she looked up to and loved ever since she was young. Love. Yes, love was what she had in her heart for the princess up in her castle, and she had harbored it ever since she was merely a little filly. Every day the kindness of the majestic alicorn made her heart grow that much fonder. She didn’t take well to having to leave Canterlot and by extension the princess – no, it was the other way around – but she did it anyway because the princess told her to. She could never say no to her, no matter the request. So why was it that the princess could do it to her? “Twilight. I am your mentor, and I know I have looked after you as a second mother, and I love you, but not in that way you do me.” Princess Celestia turned her back on her most faithful student. It wasn’t as though she disliked her – quite the opposite actually. She simply could never love her since they were so different; Celestia would live on centuries after Twilight died, and she couldn’t simply have her death weighing that much more on her heart for that much longer. “Please try to understand. I can’t give half of my heart to anypony when it is all already given to everypony in Equestria.” That was also true, but she could break that. No, it was the inevitable pain of separation that made her so unwilling. “Of course, princess. You can’t focus on just me when the whole world needs you. And you just can’t have any pony being too important to you when you live on forever and the other dies.” Twilight smiled, and there was nothing on her face – literally no expression, as if she felt nothing. No pain, no sadness, but no happiness either – a perfect poker face, a mannequin of sorts. Celestia was a little surprised at Twilight’s second reason. She always really was a sharp one. She liked that about her. “Thank you for understanding, Twilight. I will always love you. Always, but just not the way you love me. Maybe someday you’ll find some other that you can truly give your heart to.” “That won’t happen, princess,” said Twilight, still expressionless, emotionless, and unsettling. She bowed low and said, “Sorry to have wasted your time,” walking backwards with her head down low. “Nothing you say is a waste of my time, Twilight.” Twilight walked out of the castle, heart not heavy in the slightest. No, it wasn’t weighed down. It was as if it disappeared entirely. She just couldn’t feel much anymore. She felt numb, number than that time she was accidentally sent hurtling into a frozen lake. Empty. Like something was gone in her life. Was it hope that disappeared? Or something else? The night was dark, and the alley even more so. Luna had decided on an eclipse and worked with her sister to make it happen. The only light came from the dim stars behind clouds and the lamps littered on the streets, all of which were not present in this alleyway. “Wh – what do you want?” “I just want a word...” “There are plenty of other ponies you can talk wi – AAAAAH!” The act was sloppy. As expected, as this was the first time. The cuts were crude and imprecise, letting out too much of the insides than they were supposed to. The entire floor was drenched in crimson. That wasn't good, and neither was the pony being able to scream. That would attract attention, and leave little time to extract the prize. It took a few more crude chops to get what was desired, and the pony hid the knife in a bag, along with the prize in a bigger bag, and left the alley, blood trailing behind. Twilight was now at the space in front of the palace staircase. The princess was further up ahead, no doubt lounging, night as it was. She never was one that took to sleep – perhaps a thousand years of continuous vigilance had exercised the need out of her. She would be up in her room, at the topmost of the castle, observing the beauty her sister created. She took in the evening breeze. It was a chill one, and she wished she could be a little warmer. She couldn’t close her wings, after all. Seconds of deliberation made her decide to use magic. She cast a spell on herself, her horn glowing magenta, slowly enveloping her entire form. The glow gave her warmth, and the need to fold her wings abated, leaving her free to walk slowly onward with her full figure standing tall. The guards were nervous as she walked past them, even if they made no motion to stop her. They did know who she was, and seeing her with wings was probably a bit more of a shock than they would have admitted. Unchallenged, she slowly trotted up the stairs, adjusting her wings when they started to fall. It wasn’t usually in her nature to walk so boastfully like tonight; that usually was Rarity’s thing when she had a new dress. But she wanted to show that she wasn’t the same Twilight anymore. If the guards saw it, then it might reach the ears of the princess she wanted to speak with. It might help her reconsider her decision years ago. She was also an alicorn now, and thus the issue of outliving wasn’t much of an issue anymore. It was a different dimly lit alley this time, in a different city. The night was cloudless and bright, and only the overhanging roof of the nearby manor had kept the alley dark and dim, along with the lack of foresight that the owners had that made them not put lighting of any sort in the back. “Couldn’t outrun me... You won’t do...” Blood dripped from a knife and a pony lay on the dark street, eyes wide open in shock and terror. Another pony left the scene, face disappointed. The pony on the street was bleeding profusely, his hind legs cut at the knee, incapable of moving or even feeling anything. The forehooves were a few inches away from the forelegs, and his sides bore two long scars, making him look as though there was a slit cut through him. She was at the courtyard by now, and the ground was level beneath her hooves. There was no longer any need to adjust her wings – they would keep in the upright position properly here. She thought back to how she worked so hard to get them. If only she could modify the spell she’d used on Rarity and turn it permanent, maybe she wouldn’t have had so much trouble. But that simply wouldn’t do; all it would do was give her flight, not access to the innate magic of pegasi. An alicorn had access to not merely unicorn magic and Pegasus flight, but also Pegasus magic – the sort that allows them to so efficiently use the skies and its elements – and earth pony magic as well. The earth pony magic was simple enough – it was the Pegasus part of an alicorn that gave her trouble. Flight was beyond her so she trudged on, careful, taking time to not mess up her wings. They were after all the most obvious indicator of her transcending the limitations of a unicorn. Satisfied with her wings not being that messed up, her journey continued up a smaller set of stairs to a pair of big doors. It would have been much easier had she simply teleported, but she figured that teleporting directly to the princess would be rude and cause complications with her wings. “Hmm... Too small.... Too big... Color is off... Which one?” The pony paced around a clothes rack. The pony had walked around it so much that the feathers on it were getting ruffled. No worries. That could be remedied in time. The main problem was that none of the items fit. “Looks like I need to get more...” A knife was pulled out from a case, followed by an opening and closing of a door. The pony had to leave now. It was getting dark, and thus the perfect time to hunt again. Twilight thought of her friends when she entered the castle. They had demolished the place years ago – and never had she hated them more than that. Princess Celestia said that it was fine and that she actually liked it, but those words stung her as well. Her words meant that she expected them to fail. She had low expectations of her, and her friends. And her friends accepted that. She harbored hatred for all of them since then, waxing and waning, until her rejection, and her subsequent leave of Ponyville for a nomadic quest to transform herself. She hadn’t seen her friends for a while. Maybe when she was finished speaking with her love she would pay them all a visit. Surely they would gawk in shock when they saw her wings. Closer and closer she had come to the room where Celestia was, likely still unaware of her being in the castle. She hadn’t seen any of the guard ponies leave their posts, and there were no messages passed around that she saw. Celestia’s room had a view of the entire castle grounds, but Twilight took care to stay to the path that wasn’t visible from up there. She wanted the wings to be a surprise. “Look... They’re my color!” “Th – they are! It – it’s a nice c – c – color, but I ha – have to go now –“ “Don’t worry, it’ll just be a second...” “N – no, this is importa –“ The sentence was never finished. It was suddenly cut off, like a good chunk of his purple neck. The corpse was just there, lying, unknowing in the town square. The night was bright and the square well lit, and had there been residential houses near it they would likely have seen the pony cut down, and they would have seen the other pony leaving with a prize. In the morning the panic spread, as they had in the other towns. A pony lay dead on the town square, his head kept on his body only by a half - inch of flesh and skin. Blood painted the town square in abstract blotches - a gruesome painting on a publicly displayed canvas. There Twilight was. She had gotten to the doors to Celestia’s room uncontested. After all, who would argue with an alicorn aside from another alicorn? The guards certainly wouldn’t, and neither would the townsponies. She would meet no resistance. The doors never seemed so imposing in all her life. She’d been through them many times, but only now did the ornate gold seem to be so terrifying. The marble pillars beside it felt like they were sentinels judging her and watching her. The carpet was red. Blood red, like most of what haunted her thoughts regularly. No matter – it would all end today. Determined she brought up a hoof. She knocked on the doors. A few seconds of silence were immediately followed by a certain beautiful alicorn’s beautiful voice asking, almost singsong, “Who is it?” Celestia was more laid – back in the off hours, and much more approachable. “It’s me, Twilight, Princess!” “Twilight?” Even through the door she sounded shocked. “I haven’t heard from you in so long! What happened? Wait, let me get the doors –“ If Celestia was shocked at hearing Twilight’s voice, it was nothing compared to what she felt when she saw her student. Her number one student had wings. She was no longer a mere unicorn. Twilight looked expectantly into her mentor’s eyes, seeing how she would react. There was shock. What was it changing into now? Was it pride? Happiness? “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Celestia had used the royal Canterlot voice, which meant only one thing: anger. “B – but you said we couldn’t be together because I was just a unicorn! Now I’m an alicorn, and you don’t have to worry about me dying before you do, and you being sad for so long!” “YOU ARE NOT AN ALICORN, YOU ARE A MONSTER!” Celestia had never been like that before. Her top student doing this had pushed her way beyond her limits. “IT WAS YOU THAT KILLED THOSE PEGASI AND TOOK THEIR WINGS? I NEVER TAUGHT YOU TO BE LIKE THIS!” The shouting was so powerful that Twilight’s wings fell off from their stitches, leaving two horizontal slits on her sides. How could it have been like this? Wasn’t Celestia proud of her for transcending the limits of a unicorn? Wasn’t she happy that she could now have an alicorn to share half of herself with? Celestia was furious. Seething beyond imagination. And above all else, she was curious. Horribly curious as to what turned Twilight like this – from a sensible pony to a murderer, an abomination. Feeling that something else was in play, she cast a spell on herself to scan her memories with efficiency. Attempting to remember manually a specific incident among millions in her thousand years would take forever. “- did you hear about the fire?” “Bloody shame, that was. Entire family turned to ash except for that lucky young girl, only getting out with a couple of burns...” Celestia was walking around town, and she overheard a conversation that sounded bad. Very bad indeed, and it didn’t help that only yesterday she had to reject her personal protégée. This was one of the problems of not being omniscient – she usually had delayed reactions. And now the blood of this family was on her hooves. “Excuse me.” “Your Highness?” The two ponies bowed low. “Is there anything you need?” The two were nervous, but they appeared capable enough to hide it. “Tell me about the fire.” “Of course, your Highness. It was a family of unicorns at the west of the house. They were apparently sleeping soundly, and something caught on fire. Minutes later, the place was burning, and they were all out cold from the smoke. Only the daughter survived. The parents were dead long before the fire got them.” “If I was there... Can you tell me who the survivor was?” “I’m afraid we don’t know the name, your Highness. You see, we just moved here... She was a purple unicorn.” A purple unicorn. Living west of the palace. Celestia snapped back to reality, her spell having given her what she needed to know. She put together the facts. Twilight was depressed beyond belief, and somehow her house burned, killing her family and saving her. That would have driven any single pony insane, but it appeared that Twilight snapped worse than most. Now that she thought back, the Pegasus murders started a month after the fire. She had done her best to attempt consoling Twilight of course, as did her friends and her brother, but that was simply too much for her. That was when she left Canterlot and wandered around Equestria, and around the same time that pegasi started dying in various towns, their wings gone. “Twilight,” Celestia had lowered her voice now. “I’m very sorry for your loss, and I’m very sorry that I wasn’t able to do anything to help you. But no matter who you are, you have killed many ponies, and I can never let that slide.” Twilight’s head was lowered now, even more. She had reattached the purple wings she procured from that unfortunate Pegasus that had the exact color she had. Magic put the stiff appendages back in place and they were stitched again as she listened to her mentor. Celestia did nothing to stop her from suturing the wings – the act was done and nothing would change it. “I’m very sorry to do this, but I simply must, for the good of all of us. Especially those who are now dead by your hooves. You are hereby banished from Equestria.” Celestia was sad that she was forced to resort to such an ultimatum, but Twilight was too far gone. Only a lifetime of intensive therapy had any hope of snapping her out of her madness, and after that Twilight would collapse into a deep guilt trip which would probably kill her. And keeping her in Equestria while she recovered could cause a few more murders. Twilight, meanwhile was smiling. She was smiling as she accepted Celestia’s punishment, and she was smiling as she stood back up to full height. “I guess I’m not going to see you again then, princess.” “Probably not. It hurts me to do this, but I have no choice...” “Don’t worry about it, princess. I’m fine,” she said, smiling and giving a short goodbye, taking in the features of the pony that had captured her heart and twisted it. Although the twisting part was mostly her own fault. She closed her eyes and let magic build in her horn. She was an alicorn. She could do this. Suddenly there was no castle. There was no ceiling, no blood – red carpet, no beautiful princess. There was just sky. Sky, and the infinite freedom it brought to those with the gift of flight, and her wings refused to move as she hurtled downward to the streets of Canterlot, to the place where she once left a wingless Pegasus dead - her first victim, the first poor sod who crossed her misguided and twisted path to ascension. And then she was dead, the streets painted with a mush of purple and red. Possible SolutionsThe wake was solemn and intimate, with only close friends attending. There was almost no family left aside from the brother, and he was too far away to be able to make it, away in another empire and under constant threat from external elements. Thus, the only ponies present were the deceased’s five closest friends, and the two alicorns presiding over the ceremony. There were plenty of tears, plenty of self – hate at not noticing their friend’s plight among the five, and plenty of melancholy to go around. Each step they took upon approaching the coffin was weighed down with the weight of the world itself, and each look they took upon the visage of the pony who had brought them all together in the first place stirred within them mixed feelings. There was the all – consuming sadness, and the ever – present guilt as always was in times of great tragedy, and there was a hint of something different. Disgust? Contempt? No, it was something less, for such good friends could never hate each other for their mistakes, even if her mistake was to kill and attempt to take her victims’ wings for her own. It wasn’t hate, it was a mix of curiosity, guilt and anger, torn between despising her for her acts, despising themselves for not doing anything about it, and wondering what drove her to such acts in the first place. Silence reigned in the small hall. There were far too few ponies to make a ruckus in the first place, and they cared for and loved the pony in the coffin far too much to disrespect her last moments above the earth. Other ponies avoided the place, knowing only her crimes and not her, hating her for her madness. There was also certainty amongst the grievers that they would be branded as friends of a murderer once the ceremony ended, yet they cared not, knowing that their friend would have stuck up for them if they were the ones in such a position. She was their friend, one of the greatest unicorns that the world ever saw, but most of all she was their friend. Princess Celestia stepped forward, regal and graceful even in her sorrow. She wept little during the wake, but her sister beside her knew that she was far more hurt than she let on. It was who she was, as always, being forced to be strong when all she wanted to do was be the weak, vulnerable and normal pony that she was at times. Sadness was never an option for her, for goddesses and supreme rulers had to be above such trifles. In a way, she envied Princess Luna, who had the freedom to be herself, to be sad, to be angry, and to be joyful in public. She had no such options. From the very beginning her personality and her actions were decided – she was the benevolent ruler who above all else always stayed kind, fair and calm. She was the ruler her land and ponies needed, and deserved, but not the one she wished to be. Beside Celestia stood Luna, her slightly smaller form stern, trying to be strong for her sister, which was a little easier on her for the only ties she had with the dead was one of gratitude for returning her to her good self and helping her become accepted by the public. She had vowed to herself that she would repay her by letting her memory live on as the element of magic and as the savior of Equestria thrice over, not as the pony that killed. A small dragon hatchling was standing beside the two sisters, weeping loudly at the loss of his surrogate parent. He had been left behind when she left Canterlot to pursue her insanity, and thus he was exempt from the judgment of society, not subjected to the stigma that would now follow the pony who raised him forever. However, he would have not minded being hated by the world if it meant that she weren’t in the coffin, and she wouldn’t leave him alone. Racked by sadness he bawled on the floor beside the coffin, beating on it until one of the ponies picked him up and hugged him, taking him to her friends. Few words were said as the coffin shut, marking the permanent departure of Twilight Sparkle from the world, from her studies, from her love, and from her friends. Celestia had retired to her private chambers, closing the curtains and hiding from public scrutiny. Once the doors shut and the curtains slid closed, she began to weep openly, letting her tears fall onto the ground, not caring for anything. She lost her best student, and the closest pony she ever had to a daughter. She wept, her ethereal mane dropping down to the floor and her regal form collapsed on her bed in a heap. “We – I suspected that thou felt such,” came her sister’s voice from the doorway. She walked up to Celestia, saying, “I would suggest that thou - you - hide not.” Celestia quickly composed herself so that her speech wasn’t affected by her tears. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand... Over a thousand years Equestria has created this mass delusion that I am perfect, and I can’t go breaking that illusion.” She sobbed a little more and added, “That illusion which also led to her being this way...” “Sister, care not for what they think. They know nothing, and it is your own life after all. And regardless of what they say, or what you say to yourself, it is not your fault.” “It is... Can I confide in you some things?” “You can tell me anything, sister.” “Sit next to me,” said Celestia. Her tears had stopped by now. She gestured to the side of the bed that was unoccupied, motioning for Luna to sit down. Once she had, she began to recount her tale. “You were in Fillydelphia then, so you would not know of the circumstances of her going insane. There are two major things that happened, and they were my fault one way or the other.” “A few days before she left Canterlot and Ponyville to wander around, Twilight approached me with some personal matters on her mind that she needed my help with. They were no mere academic questions as usual, but something more emotional in nature. She professed love for me, no doubt because of her seeing me as perfect. I did what I had to do, of course, and rejected her. I was surprised by how sharp she was, instantly discerning the real reason I refused to reciprocate.” “She knew that you rejected her because you couldn’t live with grief for the rest of your life. I fail to see how it makes her death your fault.” “She was always more taken with me than any other pony, even when she was young. I can only imagine that it was more painful for her.” “She inflicted the pain on herself when she saw her rejection wrongly. It was not your fault she turned into that – that madmare.” “There was another thing that happened, the night that I spurned her advances. It was my fault – indirectly, I thought, at first, until some evidence came to light only recently. I will speak of it later. That night she spent in her family home. I understand that her family came home to her sleeping in her room, a candle on her desk as usual whenever she studied late. They paid no attention to it and left her in peace, retiring to their own room. And in the middle of the night, that candle burned down the house. It left her mostly untouched, with only a few burns, but her parents died, the fire from her room trapping them in theirs directly upstairs.” “I thought it was simply great misfortune coupled with rejection that drove her mad. But I soon found out that there was more to it than that. I visited her old home a few days back, and found something in the ashes – a note she meant obviously for herself. It turns out she intended to leave the candle unattended and see whether I truly cared for her enough to save her. Sadly, I chose the wrong night to sleep, and she paid the price. I can only think how that would have affected her – to be spurned, to lose your family, and to feel abandoned by the one you look up to – all on the same day.” Luna took Celestia’s silence as a cue for her to voice her thoughts. “As sad as that is, I sincerely doubt that somepony as sensible as your student would descend to insanity for something like that. Many other ponies go through worse in one day and yet they trudge on. Surely one who qualified to be your protégé can do the same.” Celestia opened her mouth to speak but stayed her words. Luna’s thoughts were sensible, and the more Celestia thought of them, the more sense they made. No matter how enamored Twilight was, it simply made no sense for her to become a murderer from a mere spurned advance. She was stronger and smarter than that. “Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye, sister? Enough, possibly, to warrant a deeper look?” “Perhaps. But I wish to rest now. There is nothing I can do anymore... She is gone. She was the closest to me aside from you... And she had such a bright future ahead of her. It’s a shame her time had to be cut short.” Celestia’s eyes were dripping tears, yet her voice wavered not. It wasn’t in the way of a princess – of a ruler – to show weakness. Sometimes Celestia regretted being the princess, for it meant that she could very rarely be herself. Luna’s thoughts were elsewhere though. She shared in the grief, but her thoughts were currently wandering. She was absentmindedly chewing on her mane, and said, “Her time was cut short, tragically so, but I think you can help her still. You just need time on your hooves, sister.” Her emphasis as she spoke was unnatural, as though her words meant another thing entirely. “Are you implying what I think you are?” “I implied nothing, sister. I merely said that you needed time. Maybe we can talk about it some more tomorrow, in the quiet library, where the troubles of the world are polite enough to keep silent?” Luna turned her back towards her sister, stepping away and leaving her to contemplate. Tomorrow would be when she decided. “I still cannot believe you would actually suggest this,” said Celestia to her younger sister. “I appreciate, but I would never have expected you to want me to go through with it. “I see how sad Twilight Sparkle’s circumstances have made you, and I cannot have that,” she answered, smiling. “If this is the way to help you be happy once more, and get that bright future you spoke fondly of, then I shall stand behind it all the way.” The Canterlot archives were majestic, even for those with little appreciation of knowledge. There were thousands of shelves filled with tomes, some not found anywhere else in the world. Tomes stretched out in every direction, a massive labyrinth of text and wisdom. The wing in which the royal sisters were in was less conspicuous, with smaller shelves and less decoration aside from the single large hourglass set in the center, in front of which they stood, Celestia clasping a book in her magic. It was a nondescript book, bound in black, without any text to identify it. The only feature that stood out aside from its blankness was the iron chain bound around it, with a lock to keep it secure. Celestia’s horn glowed as she put it in the hole of the lock, magic coursing through the grooves in her horn to the small gaps within the mechanism. The lock fell open, and Celestia opened the book. It was a good thing that they had the foresight to dismiss the guards beforehand, for the moment the pages turned, a voice emanated from the paper. It was the voice of a pony who was an old friend of Celestia. A very old friend. “Celestia! I had given up on you ever waking me up. A thousand years as a book... I started to regret it only last year when the library stopped expanding.” “Starswirl. It has been a long time, old friend.” Celestia smiled. Even if the situation was somber, it was reassuring to talk to one of her oldest friends. “I still fail to see why you preserved yourself in a book when you could have had the past thousand years as rest.” “My quest for knowledge will not let me do that. I chose to keep bits of myself here so that I may continue to learn until my pages rot. A solitary existence, no doubt, but I have my books and my spells to comfort me. I need nothing else. Now, you have indulged my pent – up craving for speech. What do you need of me?” The book’s pages flapped a bit downward, as though bowing. “I need a certain spell that will bring me back to the past, for there is something I must change. I need to be able to stay indefinitely, and yet be able to leave when I need to. And I need to be able to safely change the past without destroying the future.” “Time travel. One of the magics that always eluded me, for I was but a humble unicorn in life, and but an ancient tome past that. However, you’ll find that I have just the trick.” The book turned its pages, coming to a halt at a point with several runes drawn on them, and a few words. “This is the best time spell I have ever created, and will ever create. However, only a creature of immense power could possibly hope to use it. And even then there are plenty of risks. Once you get to the past – provided that you do – you will be unable to use your magic. Your magic will return only when you come back to the time when the spell was cast. You will have to live out the days as a normal pony then.” “That will suffice, for the most part. Luna, I believe you can take care of the kingdom while I take care of our youngest princess?” “Of course, sister. Worry about yourself.” “Those are not all the extra details involved. There is a little extra information you need to know. Only those present and witness to the casting of the spell will know that you exist while you are gone. You will be erased from history while you change it, and if you never return none shall ever know that you once were. Is this a risk that you are willing to take?” “Twilight put her life on the line many times for my sake. She has saved the world as we know it thrice over. Now it is my turn to risk it all to get her back that she may continue being the heroine that Equestria knows, not a murderer forgotten and left to rot in shame.” The book chuckled. “Hahaha! Well said. I’m not going to try and change your mind; I know how pointless that is. If you are ready, then read the page I have opened aloud. And be careful.” “I will.” Celestia took a deep breath, and incanted the incantation in the pages, willing them to show their power. As she spoke the pages around her flew, as though caught in a typhoon, and the floor began to glow a vivid blue. Everything floated upwards as she cast the spell. The light grew more and more until it enveloped the library, and in a flash Celestia was gone. First Viewing"Starswirl, tell me. What do we do now while my sister is away?" "We wait." Luna stood there with a book beside her, spread open on the table. She simply stared out into the space in the library, not sure how long Starswirl's wait idea was supposed to take. The room was perfectly still that one would be forgiven for thinking it simply a hyper - realistic life - sized sculpture made by the best workers in the world. Even the skies outside were clear, and unmoving. No birds passed, no clouds drifted, and no ponies stepped across the grounds. Apparently Starswirl did not thrive in silence, having been sealed in a book alone for countless years. "So, how have the past few centuries for you, Luna?" "I sincerely hope for your sake that that question was out of ignorance and not an attempt to insult me." "Why would I want to insult you?" The book's pages folded slightly inward, as though shrugging. "Why? What happened while I was gone?" Luna turned her head away. "I was put on the moon for a thousand years by my sister when I let my inner darkness consume me... I think that about sums it up." "Sorry... I didn't know. That must have been hard." Starswirl's pages bent inward in a motion reminiscent of a standard facehoof. Luna answered dryly, "No, it was fun." Starswirl laughed a bit. "Oh, Luna, your humor's still as bad as ever. It's a shame I'm just a book now. I miss laughing with my whole body." "Really? It's kind of nice to know that someone appreciates my type of silliness." It was very minor, but Luna's face was tinged with a slight pink hue barely visible on her dark blue coat. "It is one of the things I've missed the most since I put myself to sleep here. Somewhere higher up on that list, of course, was you yourself." "Still quite the charmer, aren't you, Starswirl, even as a book?" "Well, I couldn't exactly change myself, could I? These pages are written in indelible ink after all." The two chuckled and kept on waiting for whatever it was that Starswirl said to wait for. The massive hourglass at the center of the library room drained a little bit, and the doors swung open, revealing a slender pegasus with a white coat and a pink mane. She was regal and graceful even in royal presence, and moments later she became royalty herself, her pink turning into a flowing aurora, her form becoming more pronounced and graceful. "Tia! How has the past been? Is it over? Is Twilight Sparkle no longer dead?" "No. Far from it." "What happened?" Celestia drew up cushions for her and Luna to sit on, and a stand to prop Starswirl up on. Her horn glowed a golden glow and the book rose into the air, landing neatly on the stand. She sat down on the cushion in front of the book, and Luna took her seat on the other one, beside Starswirl. Once they were all seated, Celestia simply stayed put, not speaking. Luna asked, "Sister, why are you silent?" Celestia grinned a bit. She needed a bit of a break from the stress she'd encountered and she wanted to relax, even if it was just for a minute. "I know you still have some things to discuss with Starswirl... You always did like speaking with him, right, Luna?" She nudged him, poking fun at her embarrassment. "Those things can wait, Sister." "For when I'm not around?" "Tia!" Luna threw her cushion at Celestia, who simply dodged it and laughed. "Oh, how I needed that. Ahem. Excuse me. I'll be serious now." She then adopted a serious tone as she fixed her seat and began to recount her story. "I haven't fixed anything yet. This visit into the past, I simply observed, trying to figure out what exactly drove my most faithful student to murder... It was a horrible experience, watching her like that and not doing anything, but it was effective. I have found out something very unsettling." "What is it?" "Later, sister. I must tell the story first." Celestia emerged from a shaded alleyway near the palace grounds. The sun was very near its azimuth and it drifted slowly through the sky, casting its golden glow on her pink mane and graceful form. She examined herself first - the sun told her that her jump was accurate, putting her back in Canterlot ten minutes before Twilight emerged from the palace, leaving her some time to adjust to any changes the jump might have brought. Inspecting her body to see if anything had gone wrong, Celestia noticed her lack of a horn. She guessed that that was what Starswirl spoke of when he said that she would be weakened while in the past. It wasn't much of a hindrance, after all, getting spotted in her normal appearance while she was supposed to be in the castle would prove more negative than positive. She walked to the fountain, inspecting her reflection. She saw that her mane was no longer flowing in an imaginary breeze, instead, it was behaving according to the laws of normal physics, flowing down her back. It wasn't multicolored anymore either; it was now just a plain pink. Her mark had also toned down to a more simplified version of the sun, and her eyes were less vibrant. She found her appearance suitable, and she stretched her wings for a bit, finding them fully functional. Looking at the skies once more, and at the sun, she judged that it was about time for Twilight to come back out broken - hearted. Walking slowly, so as to not draw any unwanted attention - she was failing in this regard as she was still very beautiful and graceful even as a normal pegasus - she proceeded to the castle grounds. Sure enough, Twilight came walking out very sluggishly, weighed down by her heavy heart. It took Celestia all she had to resist the urge to run forward and comfort her most faithful student and admirer, and to tell her why she couldn't accept her feelings or return them. Biting her lip, she stepped back and simply looked. She eyed her features, but she had to hide behind a statue to do it in case someone were to think her a pony with malicious intent of any nature. Looking intently, Celestia noticed how Twilight's steps were very light, and how her mane was ever so slightly made shinier with what possibly was Rarity's hoofwork. Her coat was also slightly more well - kept and glossy, most likely another example of what her white, dainty unicorn friend would do if left unchecked and with free rein. And those eyes of hers! The sadness was evident in them, with those small tears and the little sparks playing across the surface. Celestia followed her a bit, wanting to see if she would do anything more before going home. Watching her pupil's very slow progress across the streets, she soon came to the conclusion that Twilight had nothing else to do, as her path went straight towards her home. It took a little more time until Twilight finally arrived at the doorstep of her family's home, at which point Celestia had arrived at another conclusion: her lack of alicorn power meant that she needed to eat. Glancing over her shoulder as she left to look for food she could get with what little money she had on her, she saw Twilight enter the door, and for a fraction of a second, the sparks grew more intense. "Sister, what do you mean by... sparks? Surely Twilight Sparkle's eyes were not dripping lightning?" Luna asked, skeptical, as any sane mind would be when told that someone was crying electricity, and that someone was not an electric eel. "Sparks, indeed. I saw them with my own eyes." Starswirl said nothing, his pages held up to his spine, as though in contemplation. He had no face, but had he one, it would be scrunched deep in thought. Celestia noticed his concentration and guessed that the had come to the same conclusion as she had. "Pray continue, sister." Night had fallen over Canterlot already as Celestia stood on vigil outside Twilight's room window, hidden in the one cloud that was still in existence. She made it herself earlier and hollowed out a space from where she could watch and stay unseen. Twilight was still somber, as far as Celestia could see in the dim candlelight of her room. She was no longer crying, instead looking full of thoughts. She obviously was contemplating her next actions. Celestia noticed something strange as she watched on. Twilight seemed to be very hesitant about the idea of setting her house on fire, and was indeed going about resolving her thoughts in a weird way. Instead of the usual quill and parchment pro - and - con list, she was talking it over with her parchment. Or at least whatever it was on her table that she was talking to. Definitely not Spike - he was elsewhere for some royal business. It could simply have been the candle fading, or the night getting dimmer, but Celestia could have sworn that for an instant Twilight's eyes turned black. She nodded, and the candle's flame grew stronger, urged on and fed by her magical power. Strange... Her horn's glow was a little murkier. Once the flame was three times as intense, she went to bed and slept, doubt still visible upon her face. Once more, Celestia resisted the urge to go in and stop everything from happening, but she held herself in place. If she acted without knowing everything - even if her guesses were most probably right - she would end up causing more harm than good. So she watched, as the flames licked the ceiling and the walls, and as Twilight slept soundly Celestia had to bite and hit herself to stop her wings from taking flight and saving the two adults unconscious and dying upstairs. She kept her eyes pried open and fought the tears from flowing. The flames crept towards Twilight's sleeping form, and Celestia's wings reared themselves even as she tried to restrain her. Staying in place only by slamming her wings into the cloud and getting them temporarily stuck, she watched as the fire grew bigger and bigger. She was however surprised greatly by the orange glow suddenly darkening into a monochromatic grey, and the fire crept away from Twilight as it took up its hue once more. "This whole thing... It sounds familiar, Sister... Unpleasantly so." Luna frowned, trying to remember what it was that the situation bore a resemblance to; failing to do so, she simply looked at Starswirl, trying to see if he'd figured out anything, which was proving hard as he had no facial cues to read. Starswirl still sat there - he had no choice, after all, not having any legs - thinking. He came upon a conclusion, which he knew was the same as the one Celestia had come to. Celestia noticed his thinking somehow, and asked him, "Starswirl, what do you think?" "I think we have the same ideas," he said, and Celestia nodded. "I'm not going to say anything yet though, as I'd really rather not live with that being true. Go on with the story, Princess." Celestia gulped a bit. "I think... I made a mistake... Do you think minor details will change the present?" "We can't say unless we know the details, Tia. Please continue." Celestia stalked Twilight as she stalked the pegasus through the empty street. She had seen the previous murders, and they were gruesome even for her eyes that already saw more than a thousand years. Her white form shivered as she remembered how her student carved up the pegasi with all the precision of a surgeon and all the rage of a mad mare. She never even saw that a pony held so much blood inside in person before Twilight unknowingly showed her all the parts of the equine's anatomy. Silently, she flew above the scene, once again hiding herself in a cloud. She could see clearly Twilight's advance, and her spell rooting her victim to the ground. She could hear her maniacal laughter amid broken pleas for mercy, and the swinging of her blade, and the muffled screams of pain as wings fell off the pony, and the sound of muscle being split apart as he was slowly carved into an unmoving heap of dead flesh. She could see Twilight laughing madly and hacking away, and she could see the blood painting the scene. She trembled, for none of the previous murders were as violent. She saw how her smile stretched across her entire bloodied face, and how her ears twitched in anticipation, and how her eyes sparked in her mad delight. She also heard clearly the other unseen companion speak from nowhere, unaware of her vigil above. Upon hearing the voice, Celestia shook slightly, and the cloud she was on released some water. Knowing that it would lead to her detection, Celestia flew as fast as she could to another nearby cloud. The drops of water fell upon the floor, and the moment she noticed it, Twilight turned to the cloud, her glee transformed into mad rage, as she shot it with a bolt of discolored lightning. Celestia quickly fled, but Twilight didn't notice her, and she went on with her happy carving work. "I see now why this situation is so familiar... Tia, can it be?" Luna's eyes were wide as she asked, out of a mix of apprehension, concern and fear. "It can, and it is. The events are familiar to us as we had witnessed it long ago... The very events preceding your fall to darkness." Celestia nodded gravely. "It appears my guess was right then. Sombra is returning soon." The book flipped its pages and folded itself, trying to give a grim expression, once again foiled by its lack of a face. "Yes, indeed... But there is hope... If we do not let him take root in any powerful heart, the Crystal Empire which returns with him can cast him out once more." "He is what is behind Twilight Sparkle's descent into darkness then, Sister? How can we prevent his return then, if he has already taken hold of her in the past?" "I have a few plans... Starswirl, can I return to the past more than once?" "Of course, but each time you do, you will have to avoid not only the public, and you from the time, but also any instances of you that have gone to the past... Unless..." "Unless what?" "There is a trickier version of the spell, which allows you to visit the past as it was in its time, unchanged by any other time - traveling versions of yourself. This means that you can return to the same point as much as you'd like. But the price to pay for this is that the more frequently you go back, the closer you get to being stuck in your weakened form." "Can that be reversed?" "Possibly, but it will require immense amounts of magical power. If Luna were to use her reserves for reverting you, you would be returned to your normal state but neither of you would be able to do anything much for some time." "If a magical battery is all that I need for that, I think I have a solution... What else do we need for this advanced version of the spell?" "I'll need a physical form, for one. This book's comfy and all, but it's hard to do magic using pages. And if you're going to be staying in the past for a long time, I'd rather I had a real body so I can spend time with Luna without needing her to carry me around." "Let's see what can be done about that." Celestia stood with Luna and Starswirl in the palace's grand hall. She had arranged for a banquet to introduce Starswirl, whose preserved essence they temporarily put in a very realistic mannequin, as Luna's coltfriend, in order for his activity around the palace to go unquestioned. He would be needing to take care of her work with Luna while she was gone, and he would also need to make sure that the spell was always ready. Naturally, the media hounds lapped up the story, but Luna's more intimidating presence kept them away and kept Celestia's secret hidden. The story also drew attention away from Celestia's constant diplomatic missions with the giraffes. Currently, the guests had all left and the only ponies in the hall were Celestia, Luna, Starswirl, and Cadence. Cadence was still somewhat disgruntled, having been called without prior notification. She didn't mind the travel or the feasting, or the news that Luna had male company, but she still held that some earlier warning would have been nice. "Cadence. I think you are aware that there is more to my call than a mere invitation for festivities," began Celestia. "There is some other purpose I had in mind when I called for both you and Shining Armor, and I am sorry to impose, as I know you two have earned a well - deserved break and yet you have continued in your duties, but I must call upon the two of you once more for another matter." "Your Highness? What are you talking about?" "I believe you know what happened to Twilight, my most faithful student, yes?" "Yes..." Cadence's voice was extremely bitter, and it was obvious that she in part blamed herself. "I have investigated her circumstances, and consequently discovered something unsettling that you and your husband stand the best chance against. I have discovered what drove her to insanity, and that is what you must fight. I'm sending the two of you north to rule the Crystal Empire and protect it, for Sombra is returning, and your presence is sorely needed there." Cadence only stood dumbfounded. Not only was she told that a being practically hatred incarnate was about to come back and make another scene, she also was told that the same being was the reason for her favorite filly going insane. Unsure how to handle things, she simply nodded and left. "Now that that's taken care of... I'll be off again. Starswirl?" "Spell's ready, Princess." "Take care of Luna for me, will you?" "Always." Starswirl's horn glowed, resonating with Celestia's, and the room grew brighter and brighter until with an audible pop and a blinding flash of light, Celestia was gone. Staring at the blank space, Starswirl and Luna simply stood in place, not doing anything. Finally, Starswirl put a hoof around Luna and slowly led her out into the yard for the Night Court. "Come on, Luna, we have to keep up appearances." He smiled and the two walked into the yard and faced the crowd, wishing Celestia luck silently. She would most likely need it.
VisitNote: this contains minor amounts of gore. The story was made as practice for gore writing for another story. Twilight walked the streets of Canterlot late that night. Her steps were sure, steady, slow, her journey driven with purpose. Her wings were fully unfurled, and yet she kept her hooves planted on the ground. She was still unable to use her wings properly. Anything beyond very slow flapping was still beyond her abilities, considering she only got them recently. The ponies of Canterlot were ones who thrived on gossip and such other pointless activities, and this night was no different. Each of the ponies she passed by whispered something in hushed tones, eyes on her. They were passing on rumors, no doubt about her new wings. They were magnificent, were they not? Lined with only the finest feathers and the fittest muscles, and with her horn they were indeed regal. Something was different in their eyes though. What was that she saw in them? Fear? Yes, fear, as it should be. A princess still had to command some degree of fear no matter how kind she was, or she would lose power over her subjects. She’d learned that about her mentor a long time ago. Celestia always was the kindest, the most altruistic pony around, and she’d been around for millennia. It was hard to be the single most perfect pony in the world, and she’d pulled it off for so long. Luna was also kind and worked for the good of all, or at least she was once harmony cleansed her. However, she was far from perfect, with her social ineptitude and tendency to go about things the wrong way. Luna was far from her mentor, the mentor that she looked up to and loved ever since she was young. Love. Yes, love was what she had in her heart for the princess up in her castle, and she had harbored it ever since she was merely a little filly. Every day the kindness of the majestic alicorn made her heart grow that much fonder. She didn’t take well to having to leave Canterlot and by extension the princess – no, it was the other way around – but she did it anyway because the princess told her to. She could never say no to her, no matter the request. So why was it that the princess could do it to her? “Twilight. I am your mentor, and I know I have looked after you as a second mother, and I love you, but not in that way you do me.” Princess Celestia turned her back on her most faithful student. It wasn’t as though she disliked her – quite the opposite actually. She simply could never love her since they were so different; Celestia would live on centuries after Twilight died, and she couldn’t simply have her death weighing that much more on her heart for that much longer. “Please try to understand. I can’t give half of my heart to anypony when it is all already given to everypony in Equestria.” That was also true, but she could break that. No, it was the inevitable pain of separation that made her so unwilling. “Of course, princess. You can’t focus on just me when the whole world needs you. And you just can’t have any pony being too important to you when you live on forever and the other dies.” Twilight smiled, and there was nothing on her face – literally no expression, as if she felt nothing. No pain, no sadness, but no happiness either – a perfect poker face, a mannequin of sorts. Celestia was a little surprised at Twilight’s second reason. She always really was a sharp one. She liked that about her. “Thank you for understanding, Twilight. I will always love you. Always, but just not the way you love me. Maybe someday you’ll find some other that you can truly give your heart to.” “That won’t happen, princess,” said Twilight, still expressionless, emotionless, and unsettling. She bowed low and said, “Sorry to have wasted your time,” walking backwards with her head down low. “Nothing you say is a waste of my time, Twilight.” Twilight walked out of the castle, heart not heavy in the slightest. No, it wasn’t weighed down. It was as if it disappeared entirely. She just couldn’t feel much anymore. She felt numb, number than that time she was accidentally sent hurtling into a frozen lake. Empty. Like something was gone in her life. Was it hope that disappeared? Or something else? The night was dark, and the alley even more so. Luna had decided on an eclipse and worked with her sister to make it happen. The only light came from the dim stars behind clouds and the lamps littered on the streets, all of which were not present in this alleyway. “Wh – what do you want?” “I just want a word...” “There are plenty of other ponies you can talk wi – AAAAAH!” The act was sloppy. As expected, as this was the first time. The cuts were crude and imprecise, letting out too much of the insides than they were supposed to. The entire floor was drenched in crimson. That wasn't good, and neither was the pony being able to scream. That would attract attention, and leave little time to extract the prize. It took a few more crude chops to get what was desired, and the pony hid the knife in a bag, along with the prize in a bigger bag, and left the alley, blood trailing behind. Twilight was now at the space in front of the palace staircase. The princess was further up ahead, no doubt lounging, night as it was. She never was one that took to sleep – perhaps a thousand years of continuous vigilance had exercised the need out of her. She would be up in her room, at the topmost of the castle, observing the beauty her sister created. She took in the evening breeze. It was a chill one, and she wished she could be a little warmer. She couldn’t close her wings, after all. Seconds of deliberation made her decide to use magic. She cast a spell on herself, her horn glowing magenta, slowly enveloping her entire form. The glow gave her warmth, and the need to fold her wings abated, leaving her free to walk slowly onward with her full figure standing tall. The guards were nervous as she walked past them, even if they made no motion to stop her. They did know who she was, and seeing her with wings was probably a bit more of a shock than they would have admitted. Unchallenged, she slowly trotted up the stairs, adjusting her wings when they started to fall. It wasn’t usually in her nature to walk so boastfully like tonight; that usually was Rarity’s thing when she had a new dress. But she wanted to show that she wasn’t the same Twilight anymore. If the guards saw it, then it might reach the ears of the princess she wanted to speak with. It might help her reconsider her decision years ago. She was also an alicorn now, and thus the issue of outliving wasn’t much of an issue anymore. It was a different dimly lit alley this time, in a different city. The night was cloudless and bright, and only the overhanging roof of the nearby manor had kept the alley dark and dim, along with the lack of foresight that the owners had that made them not put lighting of any sort in the back. “Couldn’t outrun me... You won’t do...” Blood dripped from a knife and a pony lay on the dark street, eyes wide open in shock and terror. Another pony left the scene, face disappointed. The pony on the street was bleeding profusely, his hind legs cut at the knee, incapable of moving or even feeling anything. The forehooves were a few inches away from the forelegs, and his sides bore two long scars, making him look as though there was a slit cut through him. She was at the courtyard by now, and the ground was level beneath her hooves. There was no longer any need to adjust her wings – they would keep in the upright position properly here. She thought back to how she worked so hard to get them. If only she could modify the spell she’d used on Rarity and turn it permanent, maybe she wouldn’t have had so much trouble. But that simply wouldn’t do; all it would do was give her flight, not access to the innate magic of pegasi. An alicorn had access to not merely unicorn magic and Pegasus flight, but also Pegasus magic – the sort that allows them to so efficiently use the skies and its elements – and earth pony magic as well. The earth pony magic was simple enough – it was the Pegasus part of an alicorn that gave her trouble. Flight was beyond her so she trudged on, careful, taking time to not mess up her wings. They were after all the most obvious indicator of her transcending the limitations of a unicorn. Satisfied with her wings not being that messed up, her journey continued up a smaller set of stairs to a pair of big doors. It would have been much easier had she simply teleported, but she figured that teleporting directly to the princess would be rude and cause complications with her wings. “Hmm... Too small.... Too big... Color is off... Which one?” The pony paced around a clothes rack. The pony had walked around it so much that the feathers on it were getting ruffled. No worries. That could be remedied in time. The main problem was that none of the items fit. “Looks like I need to get more...” A knife was pulled out from a case, followed by an opening and closing of a door. The pony had to leave now. It was getting dark, and thus the perfect time to hunt again. Twilight thought of her friends when she entered the castle. They had demolished the place years ago – and never had she hated them more than that. Princess Celestia said that it was fine and that she actually liked it, but those words stung her as well. Her words meant that she expected them to fail. She had low expectations of her, and her friends. And her friends accepted that. She harbored hatred for all of them since then, waxing and waning, until her rejection, and her subsequent leave of Ponyville for a nomadic quest to transform herself. She hadn’t seen her friends for a while. Maybe when she was finished speaking with her love she would pay them all a visit. Surely they would gawk in shock when they saw her wings. Closer and closer she had come to the room where Celestia was, likely still unaware of her being in the castle. She hadn’t seen any of the guard ponies leave their posts, and there were no messages passed around that she saw. Celestia’s room had a view of the entire castle grounds, but Twilight took care to stay to the path that wasn’t visible from up there. She wanted the wings to be a surprise. “Look... They’re my color!” “Th – they are! It – it’s a nice c – c – color, but I ha – have to go now –“ “Don’t worry, it’ll just be a second...” “N – no, this is importa –“ The sentence was never finished. It was suddenly cut off, like a good chunk of his purple neck. The corpse was just there, lying, unknowing in the town square. The night was bright and the square well lit, and had there been residential houses near it they would likely have seen the pony cut down, and they would have seen the other pony leaving with a prize. In the morning the panic spread, as they had in the other towns. A pony lay dead on the town square, his head kept on his body only by a half - inch of flesh and skin. Blood painted the town square in abstract blotches - a gruesome painting on a publicly displayed canvas. There Twilight was. She had gotten to the doors to Celestia’s room uncontested. After all, who would argue with an alicorn aside from another alicorn? The guards certainly wouldn’t, and neither would the townsponies. She would meet no resistance. The doors never seemed so imposing in all her life. She’d been through them many times, but only now did the ornate gold seem to be so terrifying. The marble pillars beside it felt like they were sentinels judging her and watching her. The carpet was red. Blood red, like most of what haunted her thoughts regularly. No matter – it would all end today. Determined she brought up a hoof. She knocked on the doors. A few seconds of silence were immediately followed by a certain beautiful alicorn’s beautiful voice asking, almost singsong, “Who is it?” Celestia was more laid – back in the off hours, and much more approachable. “It’s me, Twilight, Princess!” “Twilight?” Even through the door she sounded shocked. “I haven’t heard from you in so long! What happened? Wait, let me get the doors –“ If Celestia was shocked at hearing Twilight’s voice, it was nothing compared to what she felt when she saw her student. Her number one student had wings. She was no longer a mere unicorn. Twilight looked expectantly into her mentor’s eyes, seeing how she would react. There was shock. What was it changing into now? Was it pride? Happiness? “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Celestia had used the royal Canterlot voice, which meant only one thing: anger. “B – but you said we couldn’t be together because I was just a unicorn! Now I’m an alicorn, and you don’t have to worry about me dying before you do, and you being sad for so long!” “YOU ARE NOT AN ALICORN, YOU ARE A MONSTER!” Celestia had never been like that before. Her top student doing this had pushed her way beyond her limits. “IT WAS YOU THAT KILLED THOSE PEGASI AND TOOK THEIR WINGS? I NEVER TAUGHT YOU TO BE LIKE THIS!” The shouting was so powerful that Twilight’s wings fell off from their stitches, leaving two horizontal slits on her sides. How could it have been like this? Wasn’t Celestia proud of her for transcending the limits of a unicorn? Wasn’t she happy that she could now have an alicorn to share half of herself with? Celestia was furious. Seething beyond imagination. And above all else, she was curious. Horribly curious as to what turned Twilight like this – from a sensible pony to a murderer, an abomination. Feeling that something else was in play, she cast a spell on herself to scan her memories with efficiency. Attempting to remember manually a specific incident among millions in her thousand years would take forever. “- did you hear about the fire?” “Bloody shame, that was. Entire family turned to ash except for that lucky young girl, only getting out with a couple of burns...” Celestia was walking around town, and she overheard a conversation that sounded bad. Very bad indeed, and it didn’t help that only yesterday she had to reject her personal protégée. This was one of the problems of not being omniscient – she usually had delayed reactions. And now the blood of this family was on her hooves. “Excuse me.” “Your Highness?” The two ponies bowed low. “Is there anything you need?” The two were nervous, but they appeared capable enough to hide it. “Tell me about the fire.” “Of course, your Highness. It was a family of unicorns at the west of the house. They were apparently sleeping soundly, and something caught on fire. Minutes later, the place was burning, and they were all out cold from the smoke. Only the daughter survived. The parents were dead long before the fire got them.” “If I was there... Can you tell me who the survivor was?” “I’m afraid we don’t know the name, your Highness. You see, we just moved here... She was a purple unicorn.” A purple unicorn. Living west of the palace. Celestia snapped back to reality, her spell having given her what she needed to know. She put together the facts. Twilight was depressed beyond belief, and somehow her house burned, killing her family and saving her. That would have driven any single pony insane, but it appeared that Twilight snapped worse than most. Now that she thought back, the Pegasus murders started a month after the fire. She had done her best to attempt consoling Twilight of course, as did her friends and her brother, but that was simply too much for her. That was when she left Canterlot and wandered around Equestria, and around the same time that pegasi started dying in various towns, their wings gone. “Twilight,” Celestia had lowered her voice now. “I’m very sorry for your loss, and I’m very sorry that I wasn’t able to do anything to help you. But no matter who you are, you have killed many ponies, and I can never let that slide.” Twilight’s head was lowered now, even more. She had reattached the purple wings she procured from that unfortunate Pegasus that had the exact color she had. Magic put the stiff appendages back in place and they were stitched again as she listened to her mentor. Celestia did nothing to stop her from suturing the wings – the act was done and nothing would change it. “I’m very sorry to do this, but I simply must, for the good of all of us. Especially those who are now dead by your hooves. You are hereby banished from Equestria.” Celestia was sad that she was forced to resort to such an ultimatum, but Twilight was too far gone. Only a lifetime of intensive therapy had any hope of snapping her out of her madness, and after that Twilight would collapse into a deep guilt trip which would probably kill her. And keeping her in Equestria while she recovered could cause a few more murders. Twilight, meanwhile was smiling. She was smiling as she accepted Celestia’s punishment, and she was smiling as she stood back up to full height. “I guess I’m not going to see you again then, princess.” “Probably not. It hurts me to do this, but I have no choice...” “Don’t worry about it, princess. I’m fine,” she said, smiling and giving a short goodbye, taking in the features of the pony that had captured her heart and twisted it. Although the twisting part was mostly her own fault. She closed her eyes and let magic build in her horn. She was an alicorn. She could do this. Suddenly there was no castle. There was no ceiling, no blood – red carpet, no beautiful princess. There was just sky. Sky, and the infinite freedom it brought to those with the gift of flight, and her wings refused to move as she hurtled downward to the streets of Canterlot, to the place where she once left a wingless Pegasus dead - her first victim, the first poor sod who crossed her misguided and twisted path to ascension. And then she was dead, the streets painted with a mush of purple and red.
Possible SolutionsThe wake was solemn and intimate, with only close friends attending. There was almost no family left aside from the brother, and he was too far away to be able to make it, away in another empire and under constant threat from external elements. Thus, the only ponies present were the deceased’s five closest friends, and the two alicorns presiding over the ceremony. There were plenty of tears, plenty of self – hate at not noticing their friend’s plight among the five, and plenty of melancholy to go around. Each step they took upon approaching the coffin was weighed down with the weight of the world itself, and each look they took upon the visage of the pony who had brought them all together in the first place stirred within them mixed feelings. There was the all – consuming sadness, and the ever – present guilt as always was in times of great tragedy, and there was a hint of something different. Disgust? Contempt? No, it was something less, for such good friends could never hate each other for their mistakes, even if her mistake was to kill and attempt to take her victims’ wings for her own. It wasn’t hate, it was a mix of curiosity, guilt and anger, torn between despising her for her acts, despising themselves for not doing anything about it, and wondering what drove her to such acts in the first place. Silence reigned in the small hall. There were far too few ponies to make a ruckus in the first place, and they cared for and loved the pony in the coffin far too much to disrespect her last moments above the earth. Other ponies avoided the place, knowing only her crimes and not her, hating her for her madness. There was also certainty amongst the grievers that they would be branded as friends of a murderer once the ceremony ended, yet they cared not, knowing that their friend would have stuck up for them if they were the ones in such a position. She was their friend, one of the greatest unicorns that the world ever saw, but most of all she was their friend. Princess Celestia stepped forward, regal and graceful even in her sorrow. She wept little during the wake, but her sister beside her knew that she was far more hurt than she let on. It was who she was, as always, being forced to be strong when all she wanted to do was be the weak, vulnerable and normal pony that she was at times. Sadness was never an option for her, for goddesses and supreme rulers had to be above such trifles. In a way, she envied Princess Luna, who had the freedom to be herself, to be sad, to be angry, and to be joyful in public. She had no such options. From the very beginning her personality and her actions were decided – she was the benevolent ruler who above all else always stayed kind, fair and calm. She was the ruler her land and ponies needed, and deserved, but not the one she wished to be. Beside Celestia stood Luna, her slightly smaller form stern, trying to be strong for her sister, which was a little easier on her for the only ties she had with the dead was one of gratitude for returning her to her good self and helping her become accepted by the public. She had vowed to herself that she would repay her by letting her memory live on as the element of magic and as the savior of Equestria thrice over, not as the pony that killed. A small dragon hatchling was standing beside the two sisters, weeping loudly at the loss of his surrogate parent. He had been left behind when she left Canterlot to pursue her insanity, and thus he was exempt from the judgment of society, not subjected to the stigma that would now follow the pony who raised him forever. However, he would have not minded being hated by the world if it meant that she weren’t in the coffin, and she wouldn’t leave him alone. Racked by sadness he bawled on the floor beside the coffin, beating on it until one of the ponies picked him up and hugged him, taking him to her friends. Few words were said as the coffin shut, marking the permanent departure of Twilight Sparkle from the world, from her studies, from her love, and from her friends. Celestia had retired to her private chambers, closing the curtains and hiding from public scrutiny. Once the doors shut and the curtains slid closed, she began to weep openly, letting her tears fall onto the ground, not caring for anything. She lost her best student, and the closest pony she ever had to a daughter. She wept, her ethereal mane dropping down to the floor and her regal form collapsed on her bed in a heap. “We – I suspected that thou felt such,” came her sister’s voice from the doorway. She walked up to Celestia, saying, “I would suggest that thou - you - hide not.” Celestia quickly composed herself so that her speech wasn’t affected by her tears. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand... Over a thousand years Equestria has created this mass delusion that I am perfect, and I can’t go breaking that illusion.” She sobbed a little more and added, “That illusion which also led to her being this way...” “Sister, care not for what they think. They know nothing, and it is your own life after all. And regardless of what they say, or what you say to yourself, it is not your fault.” “It is... Can I confide in you some things?” “You can tell me anything, sister.” “Sit next to me,” said Celestia. Her tears had stopped by now. She gestured to the side of the bed that was unoccupied, motioning for Luna to sit down. Once she had, she began to recount her tale. “You were in Fillydelphia then, so you would not know of the circumstances of her going insane. There are two major things that happened, and they were my fault one way or the other.” “A few days before she left Canterlot and Ponyville to wander around, Twilight approached me with some personal matters on her mind that she needed my help with. They were no mere academic questions as usual, but something more emotional in nature. She professed love for me, no doubt because of her seeing me as perfect. I did what I had to do, of course, and rejected her. I was surprised by how sharp she was, instantly discerning the real reason I refused to reciprocate.” “She knew that you rejected her because you couldn’t live with grief for the rest of your life. I fail to see how it makes her death your fault.” “She was always more taken with me than any other pony, even when she was young. I can only imagine that it was more painful for her.” “She inflicted the pain on herself when she saw her rejection wrongly. It was not your fault she turned into that – that madmare.” “There was another thing that happened, the night that I spurned her advances. It was my fault – indirectly, I thought, at first, until some evidence came to light only recently. I will speak of it later. That night she spent in her family home. I understand that her family came home to her sleeping in her room, a candle on her desk as usual whenever she studied late. They paid no attention to it and left her in peace, retiring to their own room. And in the middle of the night, that candle burned down the house. It left her mostly untouched, with only a few burns, but her parents died, the fire from her room trapping them in theirs directly upstairs.” “I thought it was simply great misfortune coupled with rejection that drove her mad. But I soon found out that there was more to it than that. I visited her old home a few days back, and found something in the ashes – a note she meant obviously for herself. It turns out she intended to leave the candle unattended and see whether I truly cared for her enough to save her. Sadly, I chose the wrong night to sleep, and she paid the price. I can only think how that would have affected her – to be spurned, to lose your family, and to feel abandoned by the one you look up to – all on the same day.” Luna took Celestia’s silence as a cue for her to voice her thoughts. “As sad as that is, I sincerely doubt that somepony as sensible as your student would descend to insanity for something like that. Many other ponies go through worse in one day and yet they trudge on. Surely one who qualified to be your protégé can do the same.” Celestia opened her mouth to speak but stayed her words. Luna’s thoughts were sensible, and the more Celestia thought of them, the more sense they made. No matter how enamored Twilight was, it simply made no sense for her to become a murderer from a mere spurned advance. She was stronger and smarter than that. “Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye, sister? Enough, possibly, to warrant a deeper look?” “Perhaps. But I wish to rest now. There is nothing I can do anymore... She is gone. She was the closest to me aside from you... And she had such a bright future ahead of her. It’s a shame her time had to be cut short.” Celestia’s eyes were dripping tears, yet her voice wavered not. It wasn’t in the way of a princess – of a ruler – to show weakness. Sometimes Celestia regretted being the princess, for it meant that she could very rarely be herself. Luna’s thoughts were elsewhere though. She shared in the grief, but her thoughts were currently wandering. She was absentmindedly chewing on her mane, and said, “Her time was cut short, tragically so, but I think you can help her still. You just need time on your hooves, sister.” Her emphasis as she spoke was unnatural, as though her words meant another thing entirely. “Are you implying what I think you are?” “I implied nothing, sister. I merely said that you needed time. Maybe we can talk about it some more tomorrow, in the quiet library, where the troubles of the world are polite enough to keep silent?” Luna turned her back towards her sister, stepping away and leaving her to contemplate. Tomorrow would be when she decided. “I still cannot believe you would actually suggest this,” said Celestia to her younger sister. “I appreciate, but I would never have expected you to want me to go through with it. “I see how sad Twilight Sparkle’s circumstances have made you, and I cannot have that,” she answered, smiling. “If this is the way to help you be happy once more, and get that bright future you spoke fondly of, then I shall stand behind it all the way.” The Canterlot archives were majestic, even for those with little appreciation of knowledge. There were thousands of shelves filled with tomes, some not found anywhere else in the world. Tomes stretched out in every direction, a massive labyrinth of text and wisdom. The wing in which the royal sisters were in was less conspicuous, with smaller shelves and less decoration aside from the single large hourglass set in the center, in front of which they stood, Celestia clasping a book in her magic. It was a nondescript book, bound in black, without any text to identify it. The only feature that stood out aside from its blankness was the iron chain bound around it, with a lock to keep it secure. Celestia’s horn glowed as she put it in the hole of the lock, magic coursing through the grooves in her horn to the small gaps within the mechanism. The lock fell open, and Celestia opened the book. It was a good thing that they had the foresight to dismiss the guards beforehand, for the moment the pages turned, a voice emanated from the paper. It was the voice of a pony who was an old friend of Celestia. A very old friend. “Celestia! I had given up on you ever waking me up. A thousand years as a book... I started to regret it only last year when the library stopped expanding.” “Starswirl. It has been a long time, old friend.” Celestia smiled. Even if the situation was somber, it was reassuring to talk to one of her oldest friends. “I still fail to see why you preserved yourself in a book when you could have had the past thousand years as rest.” “My quest for knowledge will not let me do that. I chose to keep bits of myself here so that I may continue to learn until my pages rot. A solitary existence, no doubt, but I have my books and my spells to comfort me. I need nothing else. Now, you have indulged my pent – up craving for speech. What do you need of me?” The book’s pages flapped a bit downward, as though bowing. “I need a certain spell that will bring me back to the past, for there is something I must change. I need to be able to stay indefinitely, and yet be able to leave when I need to. And I need to be able to safely change the past without destroying the future.” “Time travel. One of the magics that always eluded me, for I was but a humble unicorn in life, and but an ancient tome past that. However, you’ll find that I have just the trick.” The book turned its pages, coming to a halt at a point with several runes drawn on them, and a few words. “This is the best time spell I have ever created, and will ever create. However, only a creature of immense power could possibly hope to use it. And even then there are plenty of risks. Once you get to the past – provided that you do – you will be unable to use your magic. Your magic will return only when you come back to the time when the spell was cast. You will have to live out the days as a normal pony then.” “That will suffice, for the most part. Luna, I believe you can take care of the kingdom while I take care of our youngest princess?” “Of course, sister. Worry about yourself.” “Those are not all the extra details involved. There is a little extra information you need to know. Only those present and witness to the casting of the spell will know that you exist while you are gone. You will be erased from history while you change it, and if you never return none shall ever know that you once were. Is this a risk that you are willing to take?” “Twilight put her life on the line many times for my sake. She has saved the world as we know it thrice over. Now it is my turn to risk it all to get her back that she may continue being the heroine that Equestria knows, not a murderer forgotten and left to rot in shame.” The book chuckled. “Hahaha! Well said. I’m not going to try and change your mind; I know how pointless that is. If you are ready, then read the page I have opened aloud. And be careful.” “I will.” Celestia took a deep breath, and incanted the incantation in the pages, willing them to show their power. As she spoke the pages around her flew, as though caught in a typhoon, and the floor began to glow a vivid blue. Everything floated upwards as she cast the spell. The light grew more and more until it enveloped the library, and in a flash Celestia was gone.
First Viewing"Starswirl, tell me. What do we do now while my sister is away?" "We wait." Luna stood there with a book beside her, spread open on the table. She simply stared out into the space in the library, not sure how long Starswirl's wait idea was supposed to take. The room was perfectly still that one would be forgiven for thinking it simply a hyper - realistic life - sized sculpture made by the best workers in the world. Even the skies outside were clear, and unmoving. No birds passed, no clouds drifted, and no ponies stepped across the grounds. Apparently Starswirl did not thrive in silence, having been sealed in a book alone for countless years. "So, how have the past few centuries for you, Luna?" "I sincerely hope for your sake that that question was out of ignorance and not an attempt to insult me." "Why would I want to insult you?" The book's pages folded slightly inward, as though shrugging. "Why? What happened while I was gone?" Luna turned her head away. "I was put on the moon for a thousand years by my sister when I let my inner darkness consume me... I think that about sums it up." "Sorry... I didn't know. That must have been hard." Starswirl's pages bent inward in a motion reminiscent of a standard facehoof. Luna answered dryly, "No, it was fun." Starswirl laughed a bit. "Oh, Luna, your humor's still as bad as ever. It's a shame I'm just a book now. I miss laughing with my whole body." "Really? It's kind of nice to know that someone appreciates my type of silliness." It was very minor, but Luna's face was tinged with a slight pink hue barely visible on her dark blue coat. "It is one of the things I've missed the most since I put myself to sleep here. Somewhere higher up on that list, of course, was you yourself." "Still quite the charmer, aren't you, Starswirl, even as a book?" "Well, I couldn't exactly change myself, could I? These pages are written in indelible ink after all." The two chuckled and kept on waiting for whatever it was that Starswirl said to wait for. The massive hourglass at the center of the library room drained a little bit, and the doors swung open, revealing a slender pegasus with a white coat and a pink mane. She was regal and graceful even in royal presence, and moments later she became royalty herself, her pink turning into a flowing aurora, her form becoming more pronounced and graceful. "Tia! How has the past been? Is it over? Is Twilight Sparkle no longer dead?" "No. Far from it." "What happened?" Celestia drew up cushions for her and Luna to sit on, and a stand to prop Starswirl up on. Her horn glowed a golden glow and the book rose into the air, landing neatly on the stand. She sat down on the cushion in front of the book, and Luna took her seat on the other one, beside Starswirl. Once they were all seated, Celestia simply stayed put, not speaking. Luna asked, "Sister, why are you silent?" Celestia grinned a bit. She needed a bit of a break from the stress she'd encountered and she wanted to relax, even if it was just for a minute. "I know you still have some things to discuss with Starswirl... You always did like speaking with him, right, Luna?" She nudged him, poking fun at her embarrassment. "Those things can wait, Sister." "For when I'm not around?" "Tia!" Luna threw her cushion at Celestia, who simply dodged it and laughed. "Oh, how I needed that. Ahem. Excuse me. I'll be serious now." She then adopted a serious tone as she fixed her seat and began to recount her story. "I haven't fixed anything yet. This visit into the past, I simply observed, trying to figure out what exactly drove my most faithful student to murder... It was a horrible experience, watching her like that and not doing anything, but it was effective. I have found out something very unsettling." "What is it?" "Later, sister. I must tell the story first." Celestia emerged from a shaded alleyway near the palace grounds. The sun was very near its azimuth and it drifted slowly through the sky, casting its golden glow on her pink mane and graceful form. She examined herself first - the sun told her that her jump was accurate, putting her back in Canterlot ten minutes before Twilight emerged from the palace, leaving her some time to adjust to any changes the jump might have brought. Inspecting her body to see if anything had gone wrong, Celestia noticed her lack of a horn. She guessed that that was what Starswirl spoke of when he said that she would be weakened while in the past. It wasn't much of a hindrance, after all, getting spotted in her normal appearance while she was supposed to be in the castle would prove more negative than positive. She walked to the fountain, inspecting her reflection. She saw that her mane was no longer flowing in an imaginary breeze, instead, it was behaving according to the laws of normal physics, flowing down her back. It wasn't multicolored anymore either; it was now just a plain pink. Her mark had also toned down to a more simplified version of the sun, and her eyes were less vibrant. She found her appearance suitable, and she stretched her wings for a bit, finding them fully functional. Looking at the skies once more, and at the sun, she judged that it was about time for Twilight to come back out broken - hearted. Walking slowly, so as to not draw any unwanted attention - she was failing in this regard as she was still very beautiful and graceful even as a normal pegasus - she proceeded to the castle grounds. Sure enough, Twilight came walking out very sluggishly, weighed down by her heavy heart. It took Celestia all she had to resist the urge to run forward and comfort her most faithful student and admirer, and to tell her why she couldn't accept her feelings or return them. Biting her lip, she stepped back and simply looked. She eyed her features, but she had to hide behind a statue to do it in case someone were to think her a pony with malicious intent of any nature. Looking intently, Celestia noticed how Twilight's steps were very light, and how her mane was ever so slightly made shinier with what possibly was Rarity's hoofwork. Her coat was also slightly more well - kept and glossy, most likely another example of what her white, dainty unicorn friend would do if left unchecked and with free rein. And those eyes of hers! The sadness was evident in them, with those small tears and the little sparks playing across the surface. Celestia followed her a bit, wanting to see if she would do anything more before going home. Watching her pupil's very slow progress across the streets, she soon came to the conclusion that Twilight had nothing else to do, as her path went straight towards her home. It took a little more time until Twilight finally arrived at the doorstep of her family's home, at which point Celestia had arrived at another conclusion: her lack of alicorn power meant that she needed to eat. Glancing over her shoulder as she left to look for food she could get with what little money she had on her, she saw Twilight enter the door, and for a fraction of a second, the sparks grew more intense. "Sister, what do you mean by... sparks? Surely Twilight Sparkle's eyes were not dripping lightning?" Luna asked, skeptical, as any sane mind would be when told that someone was crying electricity, and that someone was not an electric eel. "Sparks, indeed. I saw them with my own eyes." Starswirl said nothing, his pages held up to his spine, as though in contemplation. He had no face, but had he one, it would be scrunched deep in thought. Celestia noticed his concentration and guessed that the had come to the same conclusion as she had. "Pray continue, sister." Night had fallen over Canterlot already as Celestia stood on vigil outside Twilight's room window, hidden in the one cloud that was still in existence. She made it herself earlier and hollowed out a space from where she could watch and stay unseen. Twilight was still somber, as far as Celestia could see in the dim candlelight of her room. She was no longer crying, instead looking full of thoughts. She obviously was contemplating her next actions. Celestia noticed something strange as she watched on. Twilight seemed to be very hesitant about the idea of setting her house on fire, and was indeed going about resolving her thoughts in a weird way. Instead of the usual quill and parchment pro - and - con list, she was talking it over with her parchment. Or at least whatever it was on her table that she was talking to. Definitely not Spike - he was elsewhere for some royal business. It could simply have been the candle fading, or the night getting dimmer, but Celestia could have sworn that for an instant Twilight's eyes turned black. She nodded, and the candle's flame grew stronger, urged on and fed by her magical power. Strange... Her horn's glow was a little murkier. Once the flame was three times as intense, she went to bed and slept, doubt still visible upon her face. Once more, Celestia resisted the urge to go in and stop everything from happening, but she held herself in place. If she acted without knowing everything - even if her guesses were most probably right - she would end up causing more harm than good. So she watched, as the flames licked the ceiling and the walls, and as Twilight slept soundly Celestia had to bite and hit herself to stop her wings from taking flight and saving the two adults unconscious and dying upstairs. She kept her eyes pried open and fought the tears from flowing. The flames crept towards Twilight's sleeping form, and Celestia's wings reared themselves even as she tried to restrain her. Staying in place only by slamming her wings into the cloud and getting them temporarily stuck, she watched as the fire grew bigger and bigger. She was however surprised greatly by the orange glow suddenly darkening into a monochromatic grey, and the fire crept away from Twilight as it took up its hue once more. "This whole thing... It sounds familiar, Sister... Unpleasantly so." Luna frowned, trying to remember what it was that the situation bore a resemblance to; failing to do so, she simply looked at Starswirl, trying to see if he'd figured out anything, which was proving hard as he had no facial cues to read. Starswirl still sat there - he had no choice, after all, not having any legs - thinking. He came upon a conclusion, which he knew was the same as the one Celestia had come to. Celestia noticed his thinking somehow, and asked him, "Starswirl, what do you think?" "I think we have the same ideas," he said, and Celestia nodded. "I'm not going to say anything yet though, as I'd really rather not live with that being true. Go on with the story, Princess." Celestia gulped a bit. "I think... I made a mistake... Do you think minor details will change the present?" "We can't say unless we know the details, Tia. Please continue." Celestia stalked Twilight as she stalked the pegasus through the empty street. She had seen the previous murders, and they were gruesome even for her eyes that already saw more than a thousand years. Her white form shivered as she remembered how her student carved up the pegasi with all the precision of a surgeon and all the rage of a mad mare. She never even saw that a pony held so much blood inside in person before Twilight unknowingly showed her all the parts of the equine's anatomy. Silently, she flew above the scene, once again hiding herself in a cloud. She could see clearly Twilight's advance, and her spell rooting her victim to the ground. She could hear her maniacal laughter amid broken pleas for mercy, and the swinging of her blade, and the muffled screams of pain as wings fell off the pony, and the sound of muscle being split apart as he was slowly carved into an unmoving heap of dead flesh. She could see Twilight laughing madly and hacking away, and she could see the blood painting the scene. She trembled, for none of the previous murders were as violent. She saw how her smile stretched across her entire bloodied face, and how her ears twitched in anticipation, and how her eyes sparked in her mad delight. She also heard clearly the other unseen companion speak from nowhere, unaware of her vigil above. Upon hearing the voice, Celestia shook slightly, and the cloud she was on released some water. Knowing that it would lead to her detection, Celestia flew as fast as she could to another nearby cloud. The drops of water fell upon the floor, and the moment she noticed it, Twilight turned to the cloud, her glee transformed into mad rage, as she shot it with a bolt of discolored lightning. Celestia quickly fled, but Twilight didn't notice her, and she went on with her happy carving work. "I see now why this situation is so familiar... Tia, can it be?" Luna's eyes were wide as she asked, out of a mix of apprehension, concern and fear. "It can, and it is. The events are familiar to us as we had witnessed it long ago... The very events preceding your fall to darkness." Celestia nodded gravely. "It appears my guess was right then. Sombra is returning soon." The book flipped its pages and folded itself, trying to give a grim expression, once again foiled by its lack of a face. "Yes, indeed... But there is hope... If we do not let him take root in any powerful heart, the Crystal Empire which returns with him can cast him out once more." "He is what is behind Twilight Sparkle's descent into darkness then, Sister? How can we prevent his return then, if he has already taken hold of her in the past?" "I have a few plans... Starswirl, can I return to the past more than once?" "Of course, but each time you do, you will have to avoid not only the public, and you from the time, but also any instances of you that have gone to the past... Unless..." "Unless what?" "There is a trickier version of the spell, which allows you to visit the past as it was in its time, unchanged by any other time - traveling versions of yourself. This means that you can return to the same point as much as you'd like. But the price to pay for this is that the more frequently you go back, the closer you get to being stuck in your weakened form." "Can that be reversed?" "Possibly, but it will require immense amounts of magical power. If Luna were to use her reserves for reverting you, you would be returned to your normal state but neither of you would be able to do anything much for some time." "If a magical battery is all that I need for that, I think I have a solution... What else do we need for this advanced version of the spell?" "I'll need a physical form, for one. This book's comfy and all, but it's hard to do magic using pages. And if you're going to be staying in the past for a long time, I'd rather I had a real body so I can spend time with Luna without needing her to carry me around." "Let's see what can be done about that." Celestia stood with Luna and Starswirl in the palace's grand hall. She had arranged for a banquet to introduce Starswirl, whose preserved essence they temporarily put in a very realistic mannequin, as Luna's coltfriend, in order for his activity around the palace to go unquestioned. He would be needing to take care of her work with Luna while she was gone, and he would also need to make sure that the spell was always ready. Naturally, the media hounds lapped up the story, but Luna's more intimidating presence kept them away and kept Celestia's secret hidden. The story also drew attention away from Celestia's constant diplomatic missions with the giraffes. Currently, the guests had all left and the only ponies in the hall were Celestia, Luna, Starswirl, and Cadence. Cadence was still somewhat disgruntled, having been called without prior notification. She didn't mind the travel or the feasting, or the news that Luna had male company, but she still held that some earlier warning would have been nice. "Cadence. I think you are aware that there is more to my call than a mere invitation for festivities," began Celestia. "There is some other purpose I had in mind when I called for both you and Shining Armor, and I am sorry to impose, as I know you two have earned a well - deserved break and yet you have continued in your duties, but I must call upon the two of you once more for another matter." "Your Highness? What are you talking about?" "I believe you know what happened to Twilight, my most faithful student, yes?" "Yes..." Cadence's voice was extremely bitter, and it was obvious that she in part blamed herself. "I have investigated her circumstances, and consequently discovered something unsettling that you and your husband stand the best chance against. I have discovered what drove her to insanity, and that is what you must fight. I'm sending the two of you north to rule the Crystal Empire and protect it, for Sombra is returning, and your presence is sorely needed there." Cadence only stood dumbfounded. Not only was she told that a being practically hatred incarnate was about to come back and make another scene, she also was told that the same being was the reason for her favorite filly going insane. Unsure how to handle things, she simply nodded and left. "Now that that's taken care of... I'll be off again. Starswirl?" "Spell's ready, Princess." "Take care of Luna for me, will you?" "Always." Starswirl's horn glowed, resonating with Celestia's, and the room grew brighter and brighter until with an audible pop and a blinding flash of light, Celestia was gone. Staring at the blank space, Starswirl and Luna simply stood in place, not doing anything. Finally, Starswirl put a hoof around Luna and slowly led her out into the yard for the Night Court. "Come on, Luna, we have to keep up appearances." He smiled and the two walked into the yard and faced the crowd, wishing Celestia luck silently. She would most likely need it.
