Shift with the Tides

Celestia groaned softly and her eyes cracked open. Through thin slits, she could tell by her familiar ceiling that she was in her room, back at Canterlot Castle. That’s all she could take in before her sight was blacked out by something that felt extremely refreshing on her face. She didn't mind it covering her eyes, but it was hard to breathe with it draped over her entire face. Her ear twitched when she heard Twilight Sparkle yelling at someone.

“Rainbow!” the unicorn scolded. From under her eyelids Celestia could see a faint purple glow, and the thing on her face lifted for a moment, then was placed gently back down, this time avoiding her snout. “You don’t put the washcloth on somepony's entire face! How to you expect Princess Celestia to breathe?”

Mustering the strength to move, Celestia started to shuffle around underneath her bed sheets. Twilight and Rainbow both turned, startled at the alicorn’s sudden movement, but then Twilight’s face lit up in joy. “Luna!” Twilight called out to Celestia’s bathroom, “Luna, Celestia’s awake!”

The cool, damp washcloth fell off Celestia’s forehead and into her lap as she brought herself to a sit in her bed. Luna came out of the bathroom with another wet cloth in her hooves. Celestia turned and looked at her sister; she saw Luna flinch for some reason, but she quickly relaxed. Luna sighed and sat down next to the bed. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright, Tia,” she sighed. “Here, you should keep a cold cloth on your forehead.” Luna pushed her foreleg against Celestia to ease her sister back into a lying position. “When we found you, you had a fever of a hundred and four.”

Celestia’s face skewed and she gave Luna a look. Luna, pretending not to notice, covered her sister's questioning face with the new wet cloth. “When you ‘found me’?” Celestia repeated, sitting back up; the new cloth fell with a damp splat into her lap, but she didn't pay it any mind. “Where was I? For that matter, what’s been going on?” She placed her hoof on her forehead, trying to massage the answers out of her brain. Luna was right about the fever—Celestia could feel her forehead burning up. “Has this fever made me forget…?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t remember ANY of—eugh!”

Rainbow glared at Twilight, who had shoved her elbow into Rainbow’s side to cut her off.

Luna bit her lip. As much as she wanted to ask, was it worth the risk of making her sister’s memories come back? If she really doesn't remember, perhaps it’s best we keep it that way. She shook her head at the thought. Now is not the time to keep secrets…but was the truth worth the pain? “Sister, let me ask you something…were you headed anywhere in particular?”

Celestia’s eyes twinkled and she smiled when a memory came back to her—apparently, it was too much at once, and she winced from a sudden pain in her temporal lobe. Eyes closed and teeth grit, Celestia waited for it to subside, then continued. “I do remember now, that I was going to head for one of the temples—in the Smoky Mountains, yes.” Seeing the concern on Luna’s face from the spontaneous headache, Celestia gave as best a reassuring a smile as she could. Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister, pushed her flat onto her back again, and placed the washcloth over her forehead.

“You don’t need to be sitting up to speak,” Luna scolded. Celestia grumbled, but didn't resist.

Rainbow wanted the story to continue. “So, you were on your way to some temple. Then what?”

Celestia eyes were covered, but Twilight could still see the princess’s face scrunch trying to remember. “Well…it was almost sundown—so I guess I was multitasking, flying over Whitetail Wood and lowering the sun…and that’s it. I—I think I blacked out after that.”

Luna, Rainbow, and Twilight all shared a look with each other and then faced the bed-ridden Celestia again. “Blacked out?” Twilight repeated. “What do you mean, Princess?”

Celestia moved to get back up, but Luna moved her hoof over her sister’s chest. Celestia stopped moving and let out a heavy breath through her nostrils. “I’m not sure. I was just flying towards the temple and then I simply blacked out. Is the fever because I was lying out in the woods? That’s where you found me, I take it?”

Thankfully for Luna, Celestia couldn't see her sister’s obvious apprehension. Before discussing Celestia’s actions, however, Luna changed the subject. “Tia, you could have simply told me what you were going to do. Leaving a note without a word was foolish, and I’m sure you realize that.” Her hoof still on Celestia’s chest, Luna moved it to her sister’s shoulder. “Don’t forget that I’m on your side, too.”

Celestia frowned and turned away from Luna’s voice. “I’m sorry, Luna. I just wanted to figure this out, by myself. We have no idea how it happened, but I can’t help but feel like I’m somehow to blame.”

“I’m pregnant, Tia,” Luna bluntly reminded; Celestia’s head turned again, this time directly towards her sister’s stern voice. “For better or for worse. What’s done is done, and all we can do now is figure out why this has happened. To do that though, we need to work as a team.”

Twilight was growing tired of sitting on the sidelines and spoke up. “But Luna, it will take a few days at least for Celestia to get better. If you’d allow, I would like to assist you in anyway I can.”

The ends of the washcloth slapped against Celestia’s temples when she shook her head at the suggestion. “I couldn't ask such a thing from you, Twilight. The trip to the temple is a day’s flight; need I remind you that you’re a unicorn?”

Twilight pouted at the blatantly-bad excuse. Like a child asking her dad after her mom already said ‘no,’ Twilight turned to Luna with puppy-dog eyes. Luna’s sight shifted to the aloof pegasus on Twilight’s left, who was staring out Celestia’s window and no longer paying attention to the conversation. Luna smiled and bit the tip of her tongue.

“Rainbow Dash could take you,” she offered happily.

Already knowing what her sister’s reaction would be, Luna pushed down on Celestia’s shoulder hard enough to stop her from getting back up. In her own defense, Luna said to the frowning Celestia, “It’s not the worst idea in the world to have others help us out, Sister. Perhaps you’ll refuse Twilight’s offer, but I won’t.”

“…Wait,” Rainbow started, only now realizing someone said her name, “what is this about?”

Twilight practically pounced on her confused friend. “Come on, Rainbow Dash!” she said excitedly. “Don’t you want to go to an old temple and read their ancient scrolls and tomes?” Her cheery smile waned when she saw that there was as much enthusiasm in Rainbow's face as there was pink in the pegasus's mane.

“Oh, come on,” Twilight said, her tone on the verge of a whine, “you like reading, remember?”

“I like reading Daring Do,” Rainbow corrected as she pushed the purple unicorn off her. Rainbow scolded at the thought of having to fly all the way to some crummy old cold temple on the top of a mountain. “You don’t need me specifically to get there; can’t Fluttershy take you or something?” Twilight’s half-lidded eyes answered her question, and she sighed. “Yeah yeah I know. I don’t really know why I even bothered suggesting that.”

“You are the self-proclaimed ‘best pegasus’,” Twilight reminded.

“Best at what?” Luna asked, chiming into the conversation.

Twilight snorted and rolled her eyes. “Nothing in particular. Just ‘best pegasus.’ I’m taking you up on that claim, Rainbow.” Twilight's eyes narrowed and her smile was sly with competition. “You’re the only pegasus I know who’s powerful enough and durable enough to handle such a feat by yourself!”

Even though Rainbow knew Twilight was purposefully buttering her up, she couldn't help but get a swelled head from the complement. “…Yeah, okay, fine, I’ll do it.” As Twilight clopped her hooves together and bounced in a circle around her, Rainbow turned to Luna and Celestia. “So where exactly is this temple, anyway?”

Luna smiled and clapped her hooves together. “I’ll show the two of you a map, if you’ll just come along with me.” She stood up and turned to her sister. “Tia, how are you holding up?”

“Physically and mentally drained, but otherwise good,” Celestia admitted, fishing her arm out from under her covers to press the cloth harder against her forehead. She sank deeper into her bed to get in a comfortable position for some shuteye. “Go on, Little Sister; I’ll be fine.”

Rainbow Dash was sprawled out on the cold grey floor of the stone cave. The heat from the fire felt good on her body, and her muscles started to relax—but she was still freezing her butt off. She took a deep breath and pushed it out through pursed lips, making a thin white jet of warm air that dissipated into the cold cave.

“It’s freezing in here, Twilight,” Rainbow said bluntly, watching as the breath from her sentence rose and evaporated.

Twilight poked the blazing pile of timber with a stick and glanced up at Rainbow apathetically. “Maybe if you’d listened to me and brought something warm to wear,” she motioned with her head at the snug-looking brown coat she was wearing, “you wouldn't be having that problem. And for goodness' sake, Rainbow, we can see the temple from here!” Rainbow followed the direction of Twilight’s pointing hoof, out the cave’s mouth and to the faint orange dot of light in the distance on another mountain. “What’s stopping you from taking us there now?”

Rainbow paused and looked at the light. “Too cold, too far. Let’s just sleep here for tonight.”

“It’s only ten past four,” Twilight rebutted. “And we've been sitting here for the past hour and a half, taking a ‘break’ at your request.”

“The cart’s uncomfortable,” Rainbow added to her list of complaints. Both she and Twilight glanced at the Canterlot-issued, single-pegasus-drawn wooden cart in the corner of the cave. There were a few more pieces of timber for fire in it, as well as provisions if they were to get hungry. Rainbow single-handedly ate half the food already in the eight-hour span since they started this morning. Looking past the length of their breaks, though, Rainbow and Twilight were making excellent time.

Twilight gave her lazy friend a look, sizing up the pegasus. “Fair enough,” Twilight said in a tone that Rainbow could tell meant she hadn't given up yet, “I can understand that you don’t like having to carry me in the cart. But you know what would really suck?”

Twilight’s unusual choice of words caught Rainbow’s attention. Looking at Twilight, Rainbow saw a wide, evil grin on the unicorn’s face. Horn glowing, Twilight lifted the wooden cart and held it firmly over the fire. “It’d suck if you’d have to carry me without the luxury of a cart.”

Rainbow's mouth was agape for several seconds before words finally came out of it. “You’re nuts,” Rainbow said flatly, but her nervous expression told what her tone did not. The sweat glistening on her face wasn't because of the fire’s heat—rather, it was because the fire’s dancing fingertips were within inches of grabbing hold of the cart. “You wouldn't make me carry you on my back.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Rainbow could hear the bottom of the cart crackle and pop from the heat of the fire. Twilight’s evil grin wasn't going away. “Not as long as we have a cart, I wouldn't.”

Rainbow was still panting when they reached the two-story-high front doors of the castle-like temple. When Twilight jumped out of the chariot, the charred half she leapt from caved under her weight and she stumbled onto the ground. Rainbow smiled; it wasn't much, but she’ll take it as revenge for Twilight having set the dang thing on fire. By the time Rainbow had stamped, soaked, and blown out the fire, half the cart was charcoal. Using it beat having to carry a crazed unicorn on her back, though. She squeezed out of the cart’s reigns as Twilight knocked a large metal ring against the wooden door.

They waited for nearly a minute in the whistling, chilly evening air before scurried hoofsteps were heard echoing inside the temple, stopping on the other side of the door. Opening up to greet the two mares was an old, bearded stallion draped in an old, brown robe. Twilight couldn't tell if the old stallion was shivering from the cold or shaking from old age, but either way it was making her feel uncomfortable. Rainbow, on the other hand, barely took notice of the monk as she shoved her way into the flame-lit lobby of the castle-like building.

The monk’s eyes were squinting hard; as he took note of these two ponies, one of his long white eyebrows rose in suspicion.

“…And who do we have here…?” he said, his voice muffled from behind a long white beard. His voice sounded strained, like how one sounds when inhaling instead of exhaling to speak. “I don’t believe we've ever had ponies like you two come here.”

Twilight was having trouble keeping her attention focused on the monk, her eyes darting around to take in the view of the temple’s interior. Directly ahead of her were large double-doors closed shut, though a flickering orange glow still leaked through the crack beneath. Twilight’s attention was drawn to the curved staircase on the right side of the circular room, leading up to a closed wooden door a story above, adjacent with the large, icy chandelier hanging from a lone chain on the ceiling. Suddenly snapping her attention back to the monk still waiting for her answer, Twilight stuttered. “Uh—oh—me and my friend Rainbow Dash here—uh, I’m Twilight Sparkle—have come by request of Princess Luna.”

The wrinkled face softened up and curled a smile. “Ah,” the monk sighed. “Of course. I thought Princess Celestia was supposed to come, but she was running a few days late now, and Luna sent me a letter earlier today saying you two were expected. I suppose the book we mentioned is what you’re after, yes?” Without waiting for a reply, he headed to the base of the right-side staircase.

Rainbow was sitting in the middle of the tiled mural that was making up the circular floor. Her head kept turning left and right, trying to make sense of the art without putting in the effort to fly up a few feet to get a full view. Twilight was halfway up the staircase before she noticed her friend wasn't coming along.  “Rainbow!”

“Eh!?” She was confused where the voice came from until she looked up and saw an angry unicorn glaring at her. “Oh. Coming, coming…”

“This is the section for the more important books,” the monk informed as he led Rainbow and Twilight down the small hallway.

Not as enthralled with the sight of withered covers and the smell of musty paper as her friend, Rainbow decided to humor herself by asking questions. “I thought all these books were supposed to be ‘important.’ Isn't that why they’re stashed away on the top of a freezing mountain? What makes them more or less important?”

At first, Rainbow figured the old coot didn't hear her, based on the time it was taking him to respond. “Our purpose is to hold onto the, old information. The knowledge not needed by those of today.” He stopped and frowned at the sign on one of the shelves; it had two foreign-looking symbols—most likely location markers. “We need to head left,” he announced, moving between the lanes formed by the long, thin bookshelves.

He continued answering Rainbow’s question from where he left off. “Of course, all knowledge is important, and sacred. Much of what we hold is irrelevant, not effecting the present or the future. But sometimes it holds relevance, and we just haven’t realized it yet.”

The group stopped. Facing them was a wooden door, as simple-looking as all the others in the outdated temple. This one, however, had two steel locks just underneath the handle. The monk reached inside his robe, but stopped, his confused scowl from earlier returning to his face.

The door was unlocked, and was left a crack open. Spending less than a second in thought, the monk smiled again in realization. “Ah,” he chuckled. “Silly me. Anyway, welcome to the secured section of our library, where old knowledge is stored for the sake of security.” He pushed the door open and stepped aside for Rainbow and Twilight to walk in first. He continued talking as they entered. “Sensitive information like the kind regarding Princess Luna’s questions are kept here.”

This was the fourth time the temple had proven to Rainbow that it can get even mustier than it already was. The perturbing smell was making her nose dance across her face. “Ugh, it smells funky in here.” Even Twilight was having trouble staying in her endorphic trance; she started breathing out of her mouth, though it didn't help very much.

The room was small and compact; books lined the entire wall, except for the stone fireplace directly opposite the entrance door. The room itself was square, but two long shelves extending to the middle of the room sectioned it into two equal halves. Unfazed by the smell of the stagnant air, the monk turned the corner to the other half of the room. “This area is deep within the mountain itself, in order to keep the information here from being discovered by those who may use it for harm. Few even know of the existence of this place, and fewer still where these kinds of books are kept, so our knowledge’s safety is guaranteed—”

“What in the?” interrupted a voice from the other side of the doorway, right behind Twilight. The voice was distinct—familiar to the two mares:

Feminine, deep, intimidating, and echoing from itself with an insect-like buzz.

Twilight and Rainbow heads would have hit each other had they swung around in unison, both needed to see with their own eyes what their ears made them dread.

And sure enough, there was Chrysalis; staring, dumbfounded, at the sudden appearance of these two mares.

“YOU!” Rainbow’s voice cracked when she screamed. Anger and surprise were fighting for control of her face. “How’re you—what’re you—”

Twilight said nothing. Shock quickly resided and her horn roared with purple aura, ready to attack should the changeling queen make any sudden movements.

Not a fan of having horns pointed inches away from her neck, Chrysalis backed her head as far as she could without moving her legs. Her mouth opened to speak, but her expression changed as she realized the answer to her question. Mouth still open, she decided to ask a different question. “Where are the rest of your friends?”

“They’ll be here in a minute,” Twilight lied. “I suggest you use that minute to try and explain what you’re doing here.”

“Oh!” the monk said cheerfully from the other side of the shelf, “you all have met before?”

Twilight turned her head to the monk, who was then rounding the corner to rejoin with them. The sparks stopped flying from her horn. “Wait…what?”

“I couldn't find the book…” the monk stated. He turned his attention to Chrysalis, who's neck was still craned backwards. “It wouldn't happen to be that one that you came here for, would it?”

Before speaking, Chrysalis nudged Twilight back with her hole-dotted hoof. Her crooked horn glowed green and she hovered a thick, stumpy, red-covered book into view. “This one? I…I was just returning it. I was reading it at the end of the hallway here, in at one of the tables—I can’t stand the thick odor of these lower floors, much less this condensed room.”

“What the heck is going on here?” Rainbow asked Twilight angrily. Twilight looked to the book, then the monk, then Chrysalis, whose expression has since changed to bemusement.

The changeling queen was staring down at the little unicorn, her face stoic, waiting. Just like Rainbow Dash, she was waiting to hear the answer too. Or was she? For an instant, Twilight thought she saw a suppressed grin leak out from that black face. What was smile that for? Happiness? Pity?

After a whole minute of silence—and staring—Chrysalis decided to clear the suspension in Twilight’s stead. “Allow me to take a shot in the dark here,” she said in a cocky tone that rubbed Twilight the wrong way. “You and your friends are here at the request of your Princess Luna, looking for answers to why she’s suddenly pregnant, yes?”

The changeling finally let the smile seep through when she saw Twilight’s face twitch, though she immediately became stoic again as she turned her attention to the confused monk. “They may be sent here by the current princess but they are not the princess herself; my authority still resides over theirs, and I demand that they not be allowed anywhere near my guest room during my stay.” After waiting for the monk to nod his head, she walked away. “I want nothing to do with them.”