Amphelion

by monokeras

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark
Length: 12757

After a failed magical experiment, the royal castle becomes the theater of an outbreak of violence. But who can be the culprit?

Celestia, using an eldritch magic, tries to contact a long dead friend, but it turns out to be a complete dud. Immediately after, a series of uncanny violent events strike the royal castle. Who is responsible for these outrageous acts? Every lead seems to converge to one mighty pony…

Some doors are best left shut.

This story is paired with Second Sun, by Carabas, that is based on the very same idea, but unfolds in a quite different way, and The Banash-Tarski dragon, written by the world famous and sublime CCC (be sure to check them out, they’re fun)

Proofreading and editing by the selfsame talented Carabas.

The very first part references a character of “The Third Alicorn” story.

Cover art courtesy of Egophiliac.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-16 15:06:13 UTC

The incident

Celestia and Luna couldn’t believe their eyes: the vast kitchen of the castle, where every breakfast, every lunch, every dinner was diligently prepared, ordinarily so clean and so neat, had been transformed into a shambles. Shelves had been opened and roughly emptied of their contents; bags had been torn or slashed open, their contents spilled all over the ground: flower, rice, oat, barley… Squashed fruits and vegetables were spattered all over the place, and various bottles had been toppled, many of which had fallen and were now straggled on the ground as sharp glass splinters. The corpses of an apple cobbler and various other cakes were still visible as bright crumbs of various colors randomly strewn here and there. On the far side of the room, squatting in a corner, a young mare was sobbing; a guard was trying to comfort her.

“Who could have gone that berserk and made such a mess?” wondered Celestia, “And why? I mean, the kitchen is no secret place, nor is it reserved to our private usage; if someone is hungry, it’s easy to ask for a lunch, a sandwich or an oatburger. The staff is so friendly and helpful…” She did not wait for her sister to respond, and zigzagged, as far as she could, between the various motes of food, sloppy puddles and threatening shards of glass, until she reached the vicinity of the victim. Feeling her presence, the guard stood up and bobbed. “She is shocked but alright, I think, your Highness. We are still waiting for the physician to examine her, though. We found her in this very corner, decumbent and unconscious”, he declared in a low tone.

“Thank you so much for having taken care of her, sergent. Do you think she will be able to answer a few questions?” inquired Celestia.

“Maybe, your highness. With your permission, may I now leave?”

“Of course!” answered Celestia. The guard walked cautiously away, leaving Celestia alone with the brown-coated, still sobbing, earth filly. “What is your name, child?” asked Celestia mellowly.

“Amaretta, your Highness,” answered the maid, with a smidgen of foreign accent.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I was… I was…” she began, trying to stifle her tears, “preparing your breakfast, as per Princess Luna’s orders, when I heard the sound of… of hooves behind me. I turned around and… and… saw a big white shape towering over me and… there was a bright flash and I felt like I was clenched in a vise, I couldn’t move, and I think I fainted… That’s all I remember. When I came back to my senses, I was lying here with the guard standing over me. I am so sorry Princess, I should have been more plucky. All that disaster is my fault… Please, o please, forgive me. Don’t fire me, my family is so poor…”

“Are you kidding child?” responded Celestia. “You’re the victim, not the culprit. You were surely bewitched, there’s nothing else you could have done. Go home and rest. I give you a leave of ten days. When you feel better, report to the chief of personnel, he will find you another job here in the–”

“Celestia!” called Luna suddenly. “Can you come over here please?”

“What is it, sis?”

“Please come and see by yourself.”

“Take care,” said Celestia. She nuzzled the filly and trundled towards her sister. “Look,” murmured Luna as she approached, “the thug has left traces on the floor after carelessly trampling in the flour.” She pointed at a raw of big white prints. Big ones.

“The pony who’s left these tracks must have been really bulky. Look at the size of the hooves!” Celestia exclaimed.

“Indeed!” responded Luna. All of a sudden, she noted the bleary eyes of her sister. What’s that? she wondered. Why is she almost crying? This calls for acumen, not emotions. Bizarre. “But there is more. Follow them. Where do they lead to?” she carried on.

Celestia padded slowly forwards along the spoor, until she finally came in front of one of the walls of the nearby scullery. The marks were ending abruptly there. Raising her head, the Sun princess seemed to realize something. Her eyes widened, she shuddered and, cocking her head, gazed behind at her sister, who nodded silently in response.

“Please,” asked Celestia in a shaky voice, “Everybody clear out of the room now. Sorry for the inconvenience. This should last no more than a couple of minutes. Thank you for your co-operation.”

Polydorus came to help the lumbering filly out, and closed the kitchen door as they left. When she was assured to be totally alone, Luna whispered: “Open it.”

Celestia became wan. “Nobody knows, expect me and you. What do you imply?”

“I imply nothing,” retorted Luna. “Open it. We have to find out.”

“It can’t be…” muttered Celestia.

“Open it, or I swear I’ll do it myself!” Luna’s voice was hushed, but harsh.

Celestia’s horn briefly glowed as she whispered a short word, and a concealed door slid open. Beyond it, a flight of stairs were leading up.

A few faint white hoofprints were visible on the first steps.

⁂

“A big white pony, obviously mastering magic, that does know not only about one of the secret entrance of your private stairs, but also the formula to open it. That’s rather baffling, no?” said Luna to her sister as both were climbing up the marble stairs, heading back to their private apartments. The dark-coated alicorn was carrying a big notebook in which she had collated all the details of the incident and the statement of the sole witness.

Celestia squirmed queasily. “This makes no sense. Nopony is aware of this entrance, nopony even suspects the existence of this passage,” she repeated, unsuccessfully trying to brush off a nagging sense of guilt.

“Then who can it be?” asked Luna. “Any clue?”

“None,” answered Celestia, shaking her head. “Yet, someone had to spill the beans. And that telltale is not me.” She cast a sidelong glance at Luna.

“You daren’t imply…” protested Luna, stopping short. Her eyes blazed as she glared at her sister intently.

“I imply nothing, no more than you did before,” Celestia declared, turning around to face her. There was a heavy hush. “Come on,” she finally said, “we are playing with fire here. In an affair like this, given the scant evidences that we have collected yet, the worst thing to do would be jumping directly to conclusions.”

“You’re right,” sighed Luna, stooping her head. “I am sorry sis’. The last thing I want to do is make you feel bad, and I apologize deeply if I did. I think I’ve not yet gotten over the strain of yesterday's disaster.” She grinned, came to Celestia and hugged her warmly. They resumed walking.

“Yet,” continued Celestia, “we have a staggering riddle to solve.”

“That’s an understatement,” tittered Luna.

They carried on silently at a slow pace until they reached Celestia’s quarters. The white alicorn opened a wide door engraved with a Sun symbol, and both trod into the bedroom.

“What is on your agenda today?” asked Luna casually.

“Except the daily crisis meeting with the astronomers and another bunch of officials in the Royal observatory, nothing much,” responded Celestia. “Darn!” she blurted. “What time is it?”

“Quarter to nine,” answered Luna. “Why?”

“It’s scheduled for nine sharp! I must skedaddle at once; no time for a makeshift breakfast.”

She hastily picked up a pale yellow couture from her walk-in wardrobe, slipped into it, and got ready to leave. “I’m not shoving you off, you know,” she apologized, “but I really must go.” The two alicorns trotted out and Celestia closed the door. “If anything else happens, don’t hesitate to warn me,” she told her sister. “See you for lunch!” And with that, she was gone.

⁂

Luna dawdled thoughtfully towards her own premises, trying to sort her conflicting feelings out. The elements she had gathered were nonplussing, yet she was instinctively dismissing any possibility that her sister could have been involved into the misdeed, even in the remotest way. She made up her mind, deciding that, under the shock, the maid had certainly magnified some details of her story, or maybe that part of it was mere figment. Yet, there remained the nasty evidence that whoever was the true culprit, he or she was aware of secrets that should never have been divulged. That alone was unsettling.

She was about to enter her apartment when she suddenly realized that she had forgotten her notebook in her sister’s bedroom. “What a featherbrained nitwit I am!” she cursed herself, and returned on the spot to fetch the forlorn object. After a brief walk in the deserted corridors, she was back whence she had come a few minutes ago. Absentmindedly opening the door, she stepped inside and froze.

Celestia, naked, was sitting on the bed, greedily guzzling a large piece of cake.

“What are you doing here?” gasped Luna, flummoxed. “Aren’t you supposed to attend that crisis meeting at the observatory? Where does this cake come from? And what about your couture?”

“I felcht peckisssh,” answered Celestia, her mouth half-full. “I deshided to turchn back.” She finished swallowing her slice down. “It’s–well it was–a piece I saved from yesterday’s breakfast. Besides, I’d really appreciate you knocking at the door before you walk in. May I remind your Highness of the night that these are my private apartments, and not an entrance to the royal gardens.”

“Oops…” stammered Luna. “I’m deeply sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude, I had surmised you were gone, and I merely intended to get hold of the notebook I had left behind on your table.” She pointed a hoof at it. “How could I guess you had decided to turn back?”

“Gone or not, that does not matter,” Celestia growled. “If you were polite, you’d knock. But you’ve always considered the castle as your personal possession anyway, starting from your infancy, when you were nothing but an ill-mannered and snotty brat, indulging in uncouth behaviors that—”

“Pardon me?” Luna cut in. “What’s the matter with you now?”

“What do you mean by ‘what’s the matter with me’? Not only do you impinge on my private property without even asking permission, but you also blithely dare inquire on matters that do in no way regard you. And I suppose you expect me to just put up with that and shut up? Well, if I did heretofore, that was the final straw. Now, to slake your relentless curiosity, I wasn’t that prodded by attending a briefing in which I would not learn anything valuable, surrounded at that by a gang of such prissy ass-lickers. They’ll have to wait. As for any further inquiry you would have, I respectfully request you henceforth refrain from prying on my privacy. Period.”

“ME? Prying on your privacy? How the hay could you possibly rebuke me for that?” roared Luna, gritting her teeth to curb a sudden fit of anger. “You’ve gone crazy!”

“As far as I know, I and only I am the executive ruler of Equestria, and, as such, I am NOT accountable for my acts or decisions, whatever they be, to anypony, including YOU. Therefore stop harrying me, and mind your own business, Moon, stars and all, would you? I’m seriously beginning to get bored and to regret your millenium of banishment. I was alone and resented it, granted, but, at least, I was relieved of your unceasing badgering. And—”

“Stop this at once!” interrupted Luna in a commanding tone. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I warn you I have no intention to embark on a pointless bickering, especially when the future of Equestria is at stake. Now, I’m giving you satisfaction: I’ll take my book and clear off. Have a nice meeting, so long!” She levitated the book and retreated through the door.

“I have really no intention to go through that chore,” shouted the muffled voice of Celestia from within the room. “They can burn in Tartarus, all of them! They’ll mail me their conclusions. Now scram, you pesky little bat! Give me some fresh air!”

Luna slammed the door shut.

⁂

It was around one PM when Luna shuffled into the little dining room where she and her sister were used to have lunch. She had spent every second of her morning mulling over the assault and the subsequent inexplicably hostile behavior of Celestia, without figuring out even the faintest inkling. To her great surprise, Celestia was here, savoring a big daffodil and salad oatburger accompanied by rye fries. “Ah, Luna!” she said when she saw her sister, “I was going to look for you once I’d finished my meal. Nothing dreary happened while I was away?”

“Nothing at all,” answered Luna. “You’ll mayhap be interested in knowing that the kitchen maid had been found unscathed by the royal doctor. This good news excepted, the morning was calm.” She paused. “That is, if I deliberately ignore the torrents of insults that poured down on me from your mouth,” she added wryly.

Celestia hiccuped and almost choked, throwing up her last mouthful. “What are you talking about?” she asked, once she had cleared her throat and recovered her breath.

“Oh please, don’t top it off with feigned oblivion,” begged Luna. “You know very well what I am talking about.”

“Luna, I swear by the mid-Summer Sun that I don't have the slightest idea. I don’t remember having ever abused you this morning. How could I have anyway? After we parted, I hurried to the observatory. That wasn’t a snap, by the bye: there was so much traffic on the road that I got delayed by almost half an hour, and when I arrived, all those bespectacled eggheads looked daggers at me. This was boring as always, but the good news is that the computations were slightly wrong. We have two or three days more to act.”

“Half an hour, eh? Why do you fudge the reality?” grouched Luna, pacing restlessly around the table. “Why don’t you just simply confess you went back, gulped a cake, remorselessly flayed your little sister, and then finally decided to attend your darn meeting?”

Unexpectedly, Celestia broke down into heavy tears. “Luna… Luna…” she faltered amidst her sobbing. “…please. I confess everything you want… but quit yelling at me so… so roughly. I love you, my little sis! I truly love you…”

Now what’s that again? She wails like a foal. I’m totally lost. Luna was flabbergasted. One moment she’s in a wild fury, and the next she’s as meek as a lamb. There’s definitely something wrong with her. What should I do?

“Forgive me,” said Luna softly. “I didn’t want to hurt you that bad. Please, forget it. I know you love me, and I love you, big sister. I mean it.” She came close and hugged her; she could feel the warm body of Celestia, abandoned in her forelegs, shaken by irrepressible twitches. “Hush, hush. It’s over now,” she whispered softly. This is too much nervous strain. I must give me a break or I will collapse, too. She eased her embrace. “Go back to your bedroom and have some rest. I’ll join you in a few minutes. Alright?”

“Alright,” acknowledged Celestia, trying to recover a semblance of balance. She stumbled awkwardly to the door.

“Oh, Celestia!” called Luna as her sister was already in the corridor. “Does it really bother you if I sometimes don’t knock at your door?”

“Don’t be silly,” answered Celestia, “you’re at home everywhere here, even in my bedroom.”

⁂

Celestia found the door of her bedroom open. She creeped in, and could not stifle a squeak of dismay. No more was her bedroom a bedroom: rather, it was a bedlam, as if it had been burglarized. Her wardrobe had been opened; several coutures and gowns had been tossed carelessly on the ground. The bedclothes had been crumpled and trampled on, the bolster and the pillows had been ripped; they were gushing their feathers, and, apparently, someone had had fun playing with them. Various items, such as combs and lipsticks, had been drawn out of the vanity case, and were now strewn everywhere. With another repressed yelp, Celestia reckoned that one of these red lipsticks had been used as a pencil to draw an obscene picture on the wallpaper. Worse still, four bottles of calvados had been emptied: three were knocked over, lying on the precious rug that had been spoiled by their contents; the last one, still partly filled, was standing with its companion glass on the pedestal table. The whole place was reeking of a vague mixture of brandy and perfume and… her nostrils flared as she caught a subtle whiff of… no… not that, not here… she thought, on the verge of vomiting her meager lunch. What am I going to do now? Who could have ravaged my bedroom like that? Who will believe it’s not me? Quick… fix up this mess before it’s too late, before Luna arrives…

Fighting to overcome her nausea, she shook herself into action. Using her magic, she hurriedly put back her clothes in place, then hid the three empty bottles into her wardrobe. Too bad for the rug, she would care about it later. Turning now her attention to the bottle and the glass on the table, she levitated them up. Where can I put them away so they won’t fall and defile something else? she puzzled, hesitating.

Too late she noticed her sister standing on the threshold of the room, her jaw dropped, her eyes wide with bewilderment, gawking. The bottle and the glass landed on the priceless carpet, marring a new part of it, as Celestia inadvertently broke the spell that was holding them aloft. “I c… I c… I can explain everything,” she stuttered, all her body quivering.

“That won’t be necessary,” hammered Luna curtly. “I understand all too well.” She vanished. Celestia’s head started to reel as the clopping of her sister’s hooves receded and faded in the distance. She swooned.

Twenty-four hours

Twilight Sparkle shuddered from uneasiness. She still did not understand why the Princess of the night had set up a private meeting here, in one of the seediest dives of all Equestria, established right in the middle of the disreputable slum of Manehattan. She glanced around. The gloomy room was full of sleazes, some hunching over frayed and wobbly tables, engrossed in talks or in card games, some seated by the counter, knocking back glasses of multicolored booze, eagerly churned out by the dark-coated bartender. In a remote shadowy corner, a green-coated mare–a procuress?–was, in exchange of a few bits, dispatching shabby stallions, pointing alternately at two different stairs that led to the upper stories. The air was clammy, saturated with the strong, pungent odors of sweat, alcohol and smoke, barely breathable; but, strangely, except for a low humming, the place was quite calm: everypony was whispering.

She turned back her attention to the Princess. Both were sitting at an isolated table, next to a window through which they could watch the rain lashing down on the grassy cobbles of the street. Luna had come swaddled in a dark blue cowl that covered all of her body, cutie mark included; she had visibly left her collar home, and she was taking great care to keep her wings as close to her body as she could, in an attempt to remain incognita. Nopony seemed to have noticed the unusual length of her horn, only partially covered by the long hood she was wearing.

“You’re not feeling fine, are you?” asked Luna with a slight smirk, taking a sip out of her glass of cider brandy.

“Really not,” confirmed Twilight. “It’s not the kind of place I’m used to frequenting on a regular basis. I’m still wondering why it was so urgent to meet you here.”

“Unwind,” replied Luna. “The first of these hoodlums to brush a single hair of your mane, I put right away in Tartarus for the rest of his life. I’m sorry if it renders you unwell, but I had to find a place where nopony could expect to find me, to say the least.”

“I think you’ve succeeded in this,” tittered Twilight. She swigged from her glass of shandy.

“To the brass tacks now,” Luna carried on. “Bluntly put, I think Celestia has become schizophrenic.”

“What!?!” blurted Twilight aloud. She immediately rallied, but too late: the ponies at the neighboring tables interrupted their conversation to take a inquisitive gander at her; however, they quickly whirled their heads back and resumed their own business.

“Shhh!” said Luna. “Don’t make too much noise. May I recall you this matter calls for the utmost discretion.”

“Sorry,” apologized Twilight, blushing. “I couldn’t help. But how?”

“It began a while ago,” explained Luna, “when I felt something was wrong with the Moon, but could not put my hoof on it. It went on for a while, until we received an urgent communication from the Royal observatory. They had observed a slight variation in the motion of the satellite, as if it was slowly closing on Equestria. I thought, at that time, that it was just a temporary glitch in the orbital motion. Such things had already happened in the past, and they had settled down spontaneously within a fortnight. So I just acknowledged the letter, cast it aside, and minded other important businesses.

“But, three weeks later, the head of the observatory came in person to meet us: ‘Bad news, your Majesties,’ he said, alarmed. ‘The Moon has not resumed its old orbit. On the contrary, it is falling towards Equestria at an accelerated rate. If it carries on at this pace, in less than six hundreds days, that is to say two years circa, it will collide with us. Worse, we have calculated that if nothing is done within a hundred-and-fifty day period, there will be no means to shift the Moon back to its rightful course. And well before that ultimate doom, Equestria will be shaken by major catastrophes as the Moon approaches: tidal waves, earthquakes, and who knows what other major disturbances.’

“Hopefully, this was not something completely unknown to us: the same phenomenon had already shown up a long time ago. We had then charged Starswirl The Bearded with the mission to find a way to fix things. And he had figured out a powerful spell, for Celestia’s eyes only, that would channel the intrinsic energy of the Sun and convert it into kinetic energy that, once used to boost the Moon, would put it back into its erstwhile course. Celestia had cast it, and everything had worked… like a charm, so to speak. The Moon had been pushed back to where it should never have left, and life had resumed as if nothing had ever happened.

“So we endeavored to ferret out this particular formula out of the oodles of scrolls left behind by the great unicorn and stored in the eponymous wing of Canterlot’s royal library. But we failed to locate it. Worse, we found instead, in Starswirl’s private diary, a short handwritten note stating definitely that we wouldn’t be able to find it: ‘I have taught Celestia the necessary spell,’ the Bearded had jotted, ‘but I won’t squander time to write it down, since it is obviously a phenomenon that will never reproduce itself. Besides, the selfsame spell, carelessly cast, could kick the Moon out of orbit. It is therefore best left unwritten, to be known only by Celestia and myself.’ And that was it. Celestia, needless to say after all this time, had forgotten the exact wording of the enchantment: we were dashing headlong towards a major disaster.

“After we mulled over this predicament for a while, it appeared there was a single way out: ask Starswirl himself for the wording. But, as you know, Starswirl has been dead for a long time. However, Celestia was positive his soul had not left the circles of the world; in that case–”

“How come?” put Twilight in.

“I’m afraid,” responded Luna, “that neither me nor Celestia can answer this question. If we would, you would suffer dreadful consequences, my dear Twilight. So, for this time, better leave your curiosity unquenched. I’m deeply sorry, but please take my word for it.

“Anyway, let’s carry on. In that case we could use a mysterious device to connect with him: the psyphotic lamp. The psyphotic lamp is an appliance reserved for alicorn exclusive use. It emits a ray of psyphota, strange physical particles which cleave the body-spirit association. As a result, the spirit is lifted up to the unknown part of this world, where souls that have not yet departed linger, while the body remains grounded; better still, if you concentrate on the person you want to meet at the moment the beam hits you, then the psyphotic beam will somehow directly link your spirit with the one of the person you were focusing on, so you can talk with him or her.

“But, as you can figure, it is a very perilous device, and its use is dangerous in many ways. First of all, it is restricted to a single usage per soul per alicorn; in other words, the same alicorn cannot employ it twice to talk to the same deceased; a single talk, and for a very limited time, is allowed. Next, it is a flaky device, and may fail. Most of the time, the connection does not establish itself, there is no contact at all. This is the mildest of all failures, as you can just try again anytime later. It can also happen that the dead you want to meet has passed for too long a time, and what remains of his or her soul is too weak to react psychically, so you can talk to him or her but will never get any answer. If that happen, then you can give up any hope, but end up unscathed.”

She paused, and sipped some more brandy out of her glass. Sighing, she resumed. “Now, there is a third, dreary possible failure. The psyphotic beam somehow disturbs the intricate and delicate balance between our world and the loftier planes where the souls dwell; that’s precisely why the contact must be kept as short as possible. And even then, the pressure can be too strong when certain conditions arise that we have no control over. In that case, Nature tries to restore the balance by unleashing what is called ‘an ethereal vortex’, a massive eddy that suddenly breaks out, gathers strength in a few seconds and reaches down to the body of the alicorn. If nothing is done on the spot, the body is sucked in by the vortex–physically this time–abducted and trapped in the upper planes. And while an alicorn is immune to such an experience, a rescue can take centuries.

“So, aware of all these risks, we nevertheless decided to take the plunge, given the seriousness of the situation. Celestia would not give in on her trying first, despite my repeated pleas, so we set all the necessary stuff up, and proceeded. And, alas, my worst fears came true: an ethereal vortex broke out and almost engulfed her; hopefully, I managed to catch her by one of her hind legs just before she disappeared, but we landed so roughly on the pavement below that I fainted for an unknown period of time. When I recovered, I felt that Celestia’s spirit had not returned to her body, so I immediately cast a safeguard spell to recall it from the ethereal planes above. It worked, and though Celestia came back shaken and worn out, she was apparently whole.

“However, since that failed experiment, some uncanny events took place. First, a maid has been assaulted in the kitchens, something unheard of in the royal castle; stranger still, the trail left over by the culprit leaded to… well, a secret place that is known only to my sister and me, not to mention that the victim has described the committer as ‘a huge white pony’. Next, I had an unexpected and somewhat harsh–to put it politely–skirmish with Celestia, which out of the blue became not only curt but openly hostile, for no reason whatsoever. When we met again at noon, she was the complete opposite: she swore she had never had any argument with me in the morning, but when I suggested she could be lying, she burst into tears and nearly melted in my legs. I send her back in her bedroom, telling her I would come right after. Which I did, to find that place in a jumble I cannot describe; an explicit graffito had been drawn on the wall, the bed was a total wreck, as if it had been carelessly used to… hum… satisfy a natural need, you see? And she was obviously in the midst of a brandy binge, judging by the bottle she was drinking and the various splotches on the rugs. I left her, and have spent the afternoon thinking over this odd affair.

“I tried to make sense of all this, and here is what I concluded: I am pretty positive Celestia committed the misdeed in the kitchens; at the same time, it’s obvious she didn’t put up an act when she told me she’d never abused me and then broke down. The only way to reconcile those opposite behaviors into a single person is to posit that she suffers from a fit of split personality. Then I decided I needed you, and sent a letter summoning you here.”

Twilight was starring at the Princess in bewilderment. “I can hardly believe it,” she finally commented, once the flow of information had begun to sink in. “But in what way can I be helpful?”

“The psyphotic beam is somewhat mysterious, even for us. I want you to check in the royal library and collect all the data you find about this device. Everything, up to the most minute detail: who invented it; the reports on its former uses, if any; side or collateral effects known, and so on. Obviously, I have no time to do this, and I know of your knack for libraries, so I’m sure you’ll find something relevant in a jiffy.” She drank her glass up, and grinned. “Did you notice? I’ve made of lot of progress in mastering the modern language lately, haven’t I?”

“Indeed,” confirmed Twilight. “I suppose I’m to begin my research tomorrow morning as soon as the library opens.”

“The sooner we can pinpoint the cause of this weird conduct, the better, yes. I really count on you,” insisted Luna. “Meanwhile, I have ordered the royal physician to carry out a complete run of physical examinations. I’ll get the first results tomorrow morning.”

“I won’t disappoint you.”

“I’m positive you will not,” said Luna with another smile. “Let’s go now. I must return to Canterlot to tend to various boring tasks and other scutwork, and you must have some rest to feel as brisk as possible tomorrow morning! Unless this place has aroused some unspeakable lust in you…”

Twilight did not answer, but her cheeks flushed. Luna tittered, rummaged in one pocket, drew out some bits that she threw on table. Beckoning the tender, she and Twilight rose, and headed for the exit. They paused on the threshold, enjoying the crisp nocturnal freshness, a relief after those long minutes in the polluted atmosphere within; the shower had died away, and the air was full of the scent of wet earth. Then they set out, pacing quietly towards the center of the city.

Suddenly, Luna shoved Twilight into an obscure patch of shadow and stepped aside close to her. “Look who’s coming,” she whispered so softly that it was almost inaudible. Twilight beheld, passing by without even noticing their presence, a shabby, grimy white unicorn, that trotted down the street before entering in the squalid bar they had left a moment ago.

“Who was that?” inquired Twilight, once the pony had disappeared into the building.

“You didn’t recognize her?” answered Luna. She mused a brief instant. “Well it was Celestia, of course!”

“What?! But she didn’t resemble her! She didn’t have wings, to begin with, and she was way smaller… and dirty!” protested Twilight.

“She must have cast a spell to alter her guise,” explained Luna. “But we have eyes that can pierce through this kind of deception. To me, masqueraded as she was, she still radiated a faint radiance, something only the body of my sister does.”

“How come she did not recognize you, then?” asked Twilight.

“Fortunately, I wear this cowl,” sighed Luna. “Besides, I don’t radiate light, as I am not connected to the Sun. My own glimmering is dark blue, almost invisible, even by night.”

“What the hay is she planning to do in such a dump?”

“I don’t want to know. By Equestria, I really don’t. Let’s go back home now,” ordered Luna.

⁂

Although she could have teleported directly into her private bedroom, Luna elected to fly back, enjoying the peace of night, and taking advantage of the half-an-hour trip to ponder further. She was deeply concerned, and the unexpected appearance of her sister in that lowlifes’ den was nowhere near to comfort her. What was going on in Celestia’s brain? Did she really suffer a sudden fit of schizophrenia? She was at a loss to find out a rational explanation for her erratic behavior, a common thread that would link all the events together.

She alighted nimbly on her private platform, trotted right away into her office, and could not withhold a deep sigh when she saw the pile of dossiers that was waiting for her examination. With the recent events, she had to give up almost any kind of administrative routine, and the number of pending affairs had, naturally, rocketed. Catching up would require at least one or two restless nights, a really bleak perspective, given the weariness that already weighed down the Princess. She would need more than one glass of cordial in the next hours.

Mustering her courage, she sat, grasped the first file, and opened it. It was a drab diplomatic exchange with the foreign minister of Saddle Arabia about some obscure border rectification in a remote mountainous area. “Great stars above,” she thought, “do I really have to be put through this? Sometimes I envy the blithe life of the other ponies.” She mechanically leafed through the letters and the appended charts, magically seized an official sheet of paper out of a ream on which she hastily scrawled a meaningless response, signed and stamped with the royal seal, then slid her mail into the file that she closed. “One less,” she whispered victoriously.

She could not focus. The image of her sister was niggling at the back of her mind. She stood up, cast a spell to dampen the clop of her hooves, slinked out of her apartments and padded silently along the corridors towards Celestia’s bedroom. She halted before the door, wavering for an instant. Then she made up her mind: with a pale glow of her horn, she nudged the door slightly open, and peeked though the narrow slit. Sprawling on her bed, Celestia was peacefully asleep; Luna could see her chest ebb and flow, in perfect unison with her calm and deep respiration. Unexpectedly, she felt enraptured by this vision, mundane as it was. She smiled and could not help her eyes become moist; she had felt it all the day long, but the concern, the various incidents, the stress and the need for haste had repelled it in the background; now, with the stillness of the night, it was coming back at full blast: never, since the defeat of Nightmare Moon, had she been so keenly conscious of the profound love she bore for her sister.

After staying put for a long moment, she gingerly closed the door and made her way back to her office, deliberately casting aside all the questions raised by the quasi simultaneous presence of Celestia in two places so distant.

⁂

The next morning at dawn, after lowering the Moon, she dashed to the lab to inquire about the results of the tests. She was welcomed by the chief biologist, who gently told her to come back an hour later: a nurse had just collected a new sample of Celestia’s blood, and he was personally analyzing it in the hope of detecting significant trends in various physiological constants. Disappointed, Luna walked off, spent as much time as she could putting away her breakfast–though she did not feel hungry at all–tried to squander some extra minutes talking to the gardener about the upcoming changes in the royal greenhouse, and, in last resort, meandered through the royal library looking for Twilight Sparkle, whom she found busy perusing an old book on spiritism. It was about fifty minutes since she had left the lab, but, unable to contain her impatience anymore, she decided to go back.

She was once more tended by the biologist in chief, who let her into his office. Hippiatros, the royal physician, was already there. He stood up and bobbed a curtsy as Luna entered into the small, neat room. “Your Highness, I made it my business to invite Hippiatros,” explained the biologist, “because what we have to broach is not especially pleasant. I have analyzed the two samples, one dating back yesternight, and one collected this morning, by Princess Celestia’s wake-up. The blood composition, red, white cells and platelets seems alright. I don’t see any sign of illness or infection, and—”

“Please,” entreated Luna, “go straight to the point. What bothers me is not what is right, but rather what is wrong.”

The biologist stooped, and Hippiatros carried on. “There is an unexplainable unbalance in the hormonal levels. Princess, you must understand that a living body is a delicate and intricate combination of self-regulatory systems, some of which operate through the release in the blood stream of special molecules, that we call hormones. The concentration of hormones is normally tightly controlled by feedback mechanisms implying various organs, especially the brain. In the case of Princess Celestia, at least one of these mechanisms seems to have shut down, leading to an unrestrained gush of one particular hormone called ampiphilin, that somehow affects mood, resulting in unexpected and irrepressible fits of anger or, on the contrary, depression. The blood sample taken yesterday night already revealed a dangerously high level of ampiphilin, but this level has almost doubled during the night. Princess Celestia is literally sitting on a volcano.”

“Is there anything that can be done to counteract this phenomenon?” asked Luna.

“Unless we pinpoint the cause, and find out what exactly is building up in the Princess’ body, I am afraid not. And there is worse…” He broke off, somber. The biologist lugged his chair back, stood up and apologized. “I beg forgiveness your Highness, but I can’t stand this anymore. I just can’t. Pardon me.” He shuffled to the door and left.

“What is it?” said Luna, with a tinge of panic in her voice.

Hippiatros resumed. “Alicorns are certainly way more robust than all other ponies. Yet, as with every living thing, there is a limit to their resistance. At very high concentrations, ampiphilin is known to interfere with heart function, inhibiting the ionic cell exchanges that keep the cardiac sinus beating on…”

“So what?” rasped Luna, as if she had already guessed the unescapable conclusion.

“Your Highness, at the current rate of increase, if nothing is done within twenty-four hours, your sister will most certainly die.” Hippiatros lowered his eyes.

“But how? And why? A sickness? Something else?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “Barring this staggering oddity, everything is normal. No sickness, no infection, no injury. Nothing. It’s unique and has never been recorded before. No known treatment. By Celestia, I’d give up my own life to get even the tiniest clue!” He banged a hoof on the table and a hush fell. “Twenty-four hours,” he finally repeated. “That’s all I can give us to solve this riddle. I am sorry…”

⁂

“How can I possibly announce this to her?” wondered Luna. “I must needs to figure out a way.”

She was about to knock at Celestia’s bedroom door when a guard warned her that her sister was having her breakfast at the private lunchroom. Luna therefore changed course and trod glumly along the passages until she reached the entrance of the small refectory. She walked in. Celestia had slumped on the table, in the middle of the earthenware; the big tea pot had spilled her contents all over the tablecloth. She seemed unconscious; her multicolored fluffy mane was shifting, as always, but slowly, almost reluctantly. Luna rushed to her sister and shook her gently. “’Tia, ’Tia!” she called softly. “Can you hear me?” The while alicorn opened an eye, and a slight smile appeared on her face. “Lu’,” she whispered, “I’m so glad to see you. Rising the Sun worn me out…” Her eye shut again. There was a long pause. “No more magic. No pain, just… fatigue. Need… rest…”

“’TIA!” shouted Luna madly. But the white alicorn did not react. Quick, quick, I must take her to the sickbay. She levitated the inert body of her sister and hurried out of the room.

⁂

She was about halfway when her attention was attracted by a dull ruckus coming from behind a closed door, which appeared to be a guard’s office. Moans, and a voice… I know that voice, she thought. But… Talking dirty behind a door? What devilry is that? Carefully, she put down the body of her sister on the large moquette that was spread all over the passage, tiptoed silently. “…Hmmm…” was whimpering the voice beyond, “now that’s what I like, you horny hunk…” Luna flung the door open.

In front of her, on the floor, a sturdy guard was lying, his body stiff, paralyzed. Straddling over him in an obscene position, Celestia was shamelessly enjoying his erected penis. The crash of the door made her wheel, and she saw Luna standing on the threshold. She froze.

“Who… Who are you?” asked Luna, petrified.

“Shhhhhhhit!” replied Celestia, suddenly catching a glimpse of the unmoving body of the other Celestia, recumbent on the carpet. She stood on all fours, freeing the guard whose body rolled over: he was dead. Her horn glowed faintly, then fizzled, as if her magic ability was suddenly failing. She retreated one step back. “Don’t touch me!” she growled. “Shove off, you little snot, you boring runt killjoy!” She concentrated once more, and her body gradually disappeared, dissolving slowly into nothingness. She was gone.

Five minutes later, the emergency alarm started to blare in all the castle. “Attention all personnel, this is Princess Luna!” roared the voice of Luna. “An intruder has entered the castle. She has taken the guise of Princess Celestia. She must be captured. She is dangerous. Shoot if you are assaulted. Report any visual contact immediately to me. Dispatch!”

Together we are one

“How is she?” inquired Luna, leaning over the special bed in which Celestia had been installed. She was still unconscious, breathing regularly, as if deeply asleep.

“Stable,” responded Hippiatros.

“Will she regain consciousness?”

“Once more, I’m afraid I can’t give you a definite answer. She might, but it seems that her brain has somehow partially shut down in order to protect her. Ampiphilin secretion is majored under stress, so maybe it is best for her that she remains in this state, cocooned from reality… However, if you need her awake, I can risk a shot of epinephrin, which would counteract the effects of ampiphilin for a short while. She’d probably wake and be able to do some basic things like speaking, standing up and walking, for an hour or two at maximum. But this is no cure, just a makeshift.”

“We’ll call on this only as a last resort,” said Luna. “Meanwhile, try to keep her as comfortable as possible.”

“We’ll do our best, your Highness,” responded Hippiatros, bowing.

Luna mused for a moment, then: “Do you think her condition can somehow be linked to the irruption of the intruder?”

“I hardly see how,” answered Hippiatros. “Can you be more specific?”

“I mean… An intruder that takes the shape of my sister, and even the guise of some other pony, sounds very much like a changeling.”

“It seems a reasonable hypothesis.”

“And what do changelings feed on? Energy. Could it be that this particular changeling has channeled and consumed all Celestia’s mental or magic energy, giving rise to that odd hormonal unbalance?”

“There is no way to answer that question, your Highness,” explained Hippiatros. “Changeling anatomy is totally foreign to us. And while I suppose changelings do have physicians, too, there never were any scientific contacts between us. How changeling feed, and how they impact the metabolism of their victims remains a mystery, up to that point. I am deeply sorry.”

It might be a changeling, yes. But it does not explain why she was glistening like the true Celestia yesterday night… I am lost. “Does she need something special?” asked Luna, cocking her head toward the bed.

“No, just quietness and–”

“Princess! Princess!” shouted Twilight Sparkle unexpectedly rushing in. “I found it! I found it!”

“Mum!” ordered Luna. “Don’t disturb my sister, she needs calm,” she added more softly. Hippiatros scowled at the rumbustious mauve pony. “Please, behave yourself!” he commented harshly. “This is a medical section, not a school quad during a recess.”

“Ooops! I beg your pardon,” apologized Twilight awkwardly. “I didn’t see Princess Celestia, I thought the room was empty.” She blushed in embarrassment.

“No harm,” said Luna, “but let’s huddle somewhere else.” She trotted off the room, asked the nearby nurses for a private nook, and finally decided to settle in Hippiatros’ private office. They walked in, and Twilight closed the door behind her. “So, what have you found?” asked Luna.

“Princess, you must immediately cancel the licence you gave to the guards to shoot!” squeaked Twilight. “The intruder you discovered is not a changeling. It is Princess Celestia. I mean, sort of. Well… a part of her. If anybody kills this… other half, then our beloved Celestia is hopelessly doomed.”

“WHAT?” exclaimed Luna. “What do you mean it is my sister? My sister is sleeping in a bed ten meters from here, she is not traipsing through the castle in search of a stallion to satisfy her sexual pulsions with…”

“The psyphotic beam has replicated her,” explained Twilight. “She has been psychologically split in two.”

“Please elaborate!” ordered Luna.

“I found the relevant information in a book called ‘Experiences with psyphota’ by an old scientist called Phrenologus, that was lost in the middle of the underground shelves, and not even mentioned on the catalogue. No wonder you didn’t find it. Basically, here it is: as soon as the psyphotic beam is shut down, the soul ought to return to the body. If it does not, then it must be forced in as soon as possible; with every second lost, there is an increasing chance of triggering what the author calls a psychodiplopoiesis, that is, a soul-splitting. If that happen, then after the first half-soul is finally reunited with the body, a supplemental body materializes later, at a random time, to sustain the second half-soul.

“Now, both bodies are identical, but the half-souls are not. Each one inherits from opposite tendencies that coexist and conflict in everypony’s mind. For example, one will be rational and the other crazy; one shy, the other shameless; one benevolent, the other ruthless; and so on. There is no way to predict along what trait or traits of personality the fracture will take place. Needless to say, neither the replicated individual nor the replica are viable. The unbalanced personality exerts a psychological stress on the brain that causes major physiological failures. If nothing is done to reunite the bodies–and the half-souls–the life expectancy is about six hours at most. I think Princess Celestia has already greatly exceeded this figure.”

“What shall we do?” inquired Luna.

“You must rebind the half-souls,” Twilight insisted. “Gather both bodies so that they can be lit by the same psyphotic beam at the same instant. Re-send both half-souls in the ethereal plane, cast a binding spell, and then, and only then, shut down the psyphotic lamp. You need both bodies, both alive.”

“Understood,” acknowledged Luna. “I’ll give new orders at once.” She stood up and ran off.

“ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL, THIS IS PRINCESS LUNA ONCE MORE!” shouted her voice a minute later through the alarm system. “The intruder MUST BE CAPTURED ALIVE. I SAY ALIVE. AT ALL COSTS. IMPLEMENT!”

⁂

Luna was pacing up and down restlessly in the main hall of the medical section. She had sent Twilight to ready all the necessary stuff in the ruined royal laboratory, in preparation for the future operation. On the other hand, she had decided to remain here, in case something unexpected would happen to her sister. However, everything seemed still; Celestia was sleeping quietly. The latest blood sample was dismal, though: it had shown a steady increase in the ampiphilin levels of the princess. How much time would she withstand this internal chemical pressure, Luna durstn’t bet.

She was in the middle of her thoughts when the eagerly awaited message finally came. “We’ve found her!” declared the captain of the guards through the intercom. “She has retreated and locked herself in a small closet nigh Princess Celestia’s bedroom.”

“Great job captain!” answered Luna. “Stay put. Take all measures you deem necessary to avoid her escape. She is probably weak, but even a weak alicorn wields an awesome power. Be very wary, never stay alone. I’ll join you as soon as possible. Luna out.”

The blue alicorn hurried to the bedside where Hippiatros was busy charting some figures. “Hippiatros!” she called.

“Yes, your majesty?” responded the doctor, slightly disconcerted by the sudden interjection of his name.

“The shot you told me about two hours ago… Epi… Epi…”

“Epinephrin,” finished Hippiatros.

“Yes, whatever. I want it now. I need Celestia to be able to walk as soon as possible.”

“Acknowledged. But remember, you have one hour, two at most.”

“Point well taken. Go! NOW!” commanded Luna.

The medic took a syringe, capped it with a long needle; he filled it with a clear liquid drawn from an ampoule, which he injected at once in one of the hind legs of Celestia. “Done,” he said. “It should take effect in less than a minute.”

Luna gazed intently at her sister. At first, nothing happened. Then her hind leg twitched, as if her brain had eventually registered the pain caused by the pinprick. She winced and opened an eye. “What did you do to me?” she asked in a weak but suspicious voice.

“Trying to mend you back together,” said Luna, “both in the figurative and the literal sense. I shall explain to you later. How do you feel?”

“Like I had been plunged in a deep, cold and gloomy lake for an eternity,” she answered, and her voice gathered strength. “All my body aches, and I still don’t feel any magical capacity within me. But I suppose it’ll return soon?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’re not out of trouble yet; it’s just a brief remission. But we shall heal you once and for all in a few moments, if all goes well. Can you walk?”

Celestia rolled over and got up carefully. She stretched her legs with a slight grimace. “I think I can, yes. It’s a bit painful, but I can easily manage.”

“Great! We will head for your bedroom. I will fill you in while we walk. Ready?”

“Let’s go!” said Celestia cheerfully.

⁂

They were welcomed by the captain of the guards, Archoplites. “She is still in the closet,” he declared to the princesses. “We didn’t register any suspect activity. Some noises, as if she was moving round, nothing more. The last of which we heard a few seconds before you arrived, so I’m positive she’s still inside and alive. We didn’t dare open the door, though.”

“Well done general, compliments!” congratulated Luna. “Now, let me get this over with. I’ll stave in and–”

“Don’t!” Celestia cut in. “I shall handle this myself.”

“You’re not strong enough to withstand a possible attack. I can’t let you in,” objected Luna.

“I have no intention to go in,” replied Celestia. “I want her to get out. Let me do this. Luna, please. She is me, after all. That’s a personal business.”

“Okay,” grunted Luna. “But no foolish move!” she warned.

“Promised,” said Celestia. She creeped forward, and pattered at the door. “Celestia!” she called gently, “that’s me. Well, you.” She snickered. “Answer, please.”

There was a prolonged silence, and then a barely audible, but unmistakable voice–the selfsame that had uttered the words before, but with a harsh tinge–rasped: “Go away. Leave me alone.”

“Celestia! Don’t be stupid. If you remain here, you are doomed: in a couple of hours you will be dead. Look how weak you are. Come to me, and I shall save you. I shall save us”

“No, you won’t. You want me dead, I know it!”

“Nobody wants you dead. Who told you that?”

“Luna. She clearly ordered to shoot me if necessary. I heard it clearly. I know she has always hated me… us.”

“Luna does not hate you. Luna needs you and me to live. She needs you as her big loving sister. Full-time.”

“But you… you don’t need me. You never let me free. You fettered me, for eternity. For you, I am the dark side, the evil child, the one you are ashamed of, the one you smother. You always wanted to get rid of me, so that you would be wholly her and she would be wholly you. Don’t pretend you care now. Let me croak here.”

“I know and I am so sorry,” sighed the Celestia in the bedroom. “It’s true, I’m the toast. But it’s so hard for her sometimes, that I should always win. Always smiling. Always benevolent. Always forgiving. The epitome everypony should follow. The graceful, caring, adulated, omniscient, omnipotent sovereign of a prosperous and blissful country. Everypony watches everyone of her steps, everyone of her grins, everyone of her hoofshakes, everyone of her words. And you, you’re here, at the back of her mind, telling her to care first about herself, to break free, to taste all those pleasures that I deny her… to let go, have fun, frolic, gambol… and she never does. She seems so callous with you. But she needs you, nevertheless, I can assure you. As much as she needs me. Badly. Without you, she would  just be weak, sheepish, irresolute, squeamish; she needs you to muster her strength of will, her capacity to decide and command, her leadership. She needs you to rule. She can’t be just a lamb, she must also have the fangs of the wolf, to fight and defend herself, to fight for and defend her kingdom. Come on, please, believe me, she needs you. Desperately. And I promise I shall let you more leeway from now on.”

She paused and tottered, as if the stress had exhausted her. Then she resumed, in a supplicant voice: “I am not your enemy. How could I? We are twins. All I want is to clinch you. I am waiting for you, right here. Nopony will do you any harm, I swear. Join me, I beseech you. I need you to live, as much as she needs you to live. Please!”

A hush fell, broken by a shuffling noise. A faint click, and the lock rattled. A big thud followed immediately. “Hurry!” cried Celestia. She opened the door, and discovered the body of her double, sprawled on the floor. “Luna!” she called. “Carry her to the lab’. Every second counts now.” Her sister magically lifted the limp body in the air, and they dashed into the corridor, galloping, as fast as Celestia’s condition would allow, towards the laboratory where Twilight Sparkle was expecting them.

⁂

They rushed into the devastated room. Celestia trod into the magic circle, and Luna very carefully put the body of the other Celestia on the floor, next to her. She then whirled to face Twilight. “Is anything ready?” she asked.

“At your command, Princess,” replied Twilight.

“Then go! Don’t wait.”

Twilight switched the psyphotic lamp on. Immediately, the bright ray sprung from the big bulging lens, and the crude light permeated the bodies of both Celestias. The upright Princess shivered and then stiffened, and their eyes went blank. “Now the spell Princess. It’s over here!” squealed Twilight. Luna snagged the scroll, read the formula aloud. When it was done, Twilight flipped the switch off, and the ray vanished.

Celestia sagged heavily on the ground, falling partly over the body of her twin.

“What is going on?” panicked Luna.

“Wait,” replied Twilight. “Don’t fret. Up to this point, this is perfectly normal.”

Luna fidgeted in silence during a few seconds that seemed to stretch forever. Then, at last, the first of the two bodies stirred, and its eyes winked.

“Celestia? Is that you? How do you feel?” croaked Luna.

“How do I feel?” responded Celestia, and her voice, tense and flimsy as it was, was exactly that of their beloved Princess. “How do I feel?” she repeated. “I feel… whole again,” she said with a smile. “How will I ever be able to thank you, both?” She rose clumsily, and stumbled out of the circle. Turning around, she glanced at the other body, still lying on the floor. “What about… her?” she asked.

“I’m sorry,” responded Twilight, “I had no time to warn you. The whole shebang reunites souls, but the bodies remain. When the mended soul comes down from the empyrean, it selects one of the two bodies, randomly, as its future host. The other…” she broke off and pointed at the decumbent and inert white shape. At this very moment, it hiccuped, gave out a sigh. Then the ever-shifting mane darkened, ceased to wave, and the delicate chest went down one last time. It was over.

“She’s dead?” whispered Celestia. She lowered her head.

“Yes, Princess,” confirmed Twilight sadly. “Body and soul are one. They can’t be severed one from the other. The body needs the soul to sustain it. Absent, it cannot live for long…”

“Don’t mourn,” said Luna softly. “She looks dead, but that’s mere appearance. It was just an empty husk, anyhow. In sooth, she’s living within you my sister. And we won’t forget her.”

“You’re right,” approved Celestia, her eyes bleary. “I can feel her inside my head right now. Telling me that…” Her horn glimmered with flurries of light, and the corpse of the white alicorn was hauled and moved outside the circle. “Telling me that it’s no time to be namby-pamby. Your turn now, Luna!” she carried on, and every trace of weakness had vanished from her voice. “I recall you telling me the Moon is still threatening our world! Are you ready to dive in?”

“Of course, sister!” Luna replied. And she grinned broadly as she padded inside the circle. Celestia beckoned Twilight, who switched the lamp once more.

⁂

“One hundred…”

“Fifty…”

“Now!” commanded Celestia. Twilight cut the power. This time, all had gone well. No vortex, no incident. No duplication. Both sighed in relief, watching the dark alicorn gradually coming back to her senses.

“So?” asked Celestia as Luna was grumpily trying to recover from her spooky experience. “Did you see him? Did he gave you the spell?”

“Yes,” replied Luna. ”I saw him, as you saw him, almost as transparent as a ghost. He seemed to be fine, though. As witty and crisp as ever! But what spell are you talking about?” she asked in bewilderment.

Celestia, befuddled, stared blankly at her sister. “But… But…” she muttered. “Don’t tell me that–”

“GOTCHA!” shouted Luna merrily. “Of course I asked him, and he gladly gave me the words. Twilight, ready to write down?”

“Pffff…” groaned Celestia. “Please sister! I have already been put through the wringer. Don’t top it up with tasteless humor!”

“Humpf!” protested Luna. “Despite what your uncouth former half claimed, you too can be such a killjoy sometimes!” She grinned brightly. “Never mind,” she said, facing Twilight. “Here it is…”

⁂

The moon was shining brightly in the clear and starry night, bathing the Everfree forest in a fairy and unreal glimmer. Everything was quiet, the eerie silence hardly disturbed by a soft rustle of leaves when small gusts of wind were shaking the branches and boughs of the serried trees, or by the occasional loud cries of owls. It was as if Nature had decided to enter into a long and peaceful hibernation.

Yet, in the midst of this hush, a lonely, palely glistening large hooded figure was steadily trotting down the secret path that led to the cave where the Tree of Harmony was hidden; it was followed by a large and black crate, that glided in the air. Neither this strange visitor nor his odd load were making any sound as they were progressing, though, as if the soil had suddenly been changed into a mushy layer of cotton.

Soon the silent pilgrim reached the entrance of the cave. He removed his hood, revealing a long horn and two bright eyes whose keenness pierced the surrounding darkness. It was none other than Princess Celestia. She put the wooden box down, pattered on into the grotto until she was no more than a few feet apart from the towering tree. Her horn started to glow as she begun to excavate a deep hole from the friable soil. Once she seemed satisfied, she magically seized the pall she had left by the entrance, moved it carefully into the hole and shoveled back the earth. When the ground was leveled again, she kneeled and stooped. “Farewell my unfortunate twin,” she whispered. “May you rest here in eternal peace, and may those who dwell outside the circles of this world welcome you in their infinite kindness and grant you bliss and oblivion.” She remained unmoving for a long while, as if engrossed in a profound reverie, her silhouette softly shining in the gloom. Eventually she rose, put her hood back, headed for the exit and cantered away.

⁂

The next morning at dawn, Luna knocked at Celestia’s bedroom door. “Come in!” shouted Celestia from somewhere inside. The blue alicorn opened the door and walked in. “Since when do you politely knock at my door before entering?” asked Celestia amused.

“Oh!” responded Luna. “I think I too learned one or two lessons from this adventure.”

Celestia smirked as she faced her sister. She fetched a notebook, and they left the room.

“I feel really sorry for the guard,” said Celestia. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him. What a grisly way to die. When do his funeral take place?”

“Tonight at 6 pm,” responded Luna. “I know, it’s no going to be easy to get over his death. Hopefully, nobody but me saw what happened, so I told Archoplites that he had sacrificed his life to defend his Princess against the ruthless and violent intruder. I propose we decorate him with the Honor cross, even if it is posthumous.”

“Sounds right,” approved Celestia. “I’m going to write a short speech that I will personally read at the ceremony. His name should be added to the honor roll. And then, maybe it’d be nice if his family was entitled to receive an allowance.”

“Very well. I’ll do what’s necessary,” acknowledged Luna.

“It’s not going to ease my qualms, though.” She paced on silently. “That’s what happens when we let the worst of us take over, I guess.”

“Oh yes,” said Luna. “And believe me, I know exactly how you are feeling right now. All too well, alas! And you will have to put up with it all your life…”

Celestia nodded gravely and smiled at her sister, as they trod into the royal hall.

The experiment

“Are you sure you really want to do this?” Luna asked Celestia. The princesses had carefully locked the entrance of the royal laboratory before setting up all the necessary accessories for what could be one of the most perilous attempt ever made to invoke the lost memories of the past. “And what if it fails?”

“It won’t fail,” claimed Celestia boldly. “And even if it does, I risk nothing if you shut the beam down right on time.”

“Wrong!” Luna replied. “You risk your essence being trapped in some remote corner of the ethereal plane. It would take years for me to find it, and many more years to figure out the right formula to reunite it with your body. Who would lead in the meanwhile?”

“Oh, please, dear sister! Don’t be so glum. You know very well who would…” Celestia winked maliciously at Luna. “Besides, with the help of Three, you’d probably locate me quickly.”

“Besides, are you sure you will be able to make contact with his soul? He’s been dead for such a long time…”

“Three has assured me he never burnt his thread. His spirit still tarries within the bounds of this world, but nopony knows where. We desperately need his help. He alone had discovered the right way to deal with this predicament, though he never wrote it down, and I've forgotten the words. It would take way too long to search for him in the heavenly regions. Time is running short. Shall we begin?”

“Why didn’t you ask Three to summon him in his lair? It would be much safer, we wouldn’t need all this stuff…”

“You know very well that he has not the power to. All he can do is keep the shorn thread stored away, but he does not know where the spirit lingers, nor can he call it up at will. We must cope by ourselves.”

“I perceive that nothing can deter you,” admitted Luna, vanquished. “So I suppose we would better get this over with, yes.”

“Remember: four minutes, no more! Switch the beam off immediately after, and read the final incantation. Mark my words!”

“Aye aye, sis!” Luna replied, in a vain attempt to mask her concern behind a quip.

With that acknowledgment, Celestia trod inside the magic circle. Luna headed to the nearby workbench, and flipped the switch of an odd contraption, partly wooden, partly metallic, with a large bulging lens directly aimed at the Sun princess; immediately, a ray of pallid, yellowish light sprung forth, permeating through the body of the alicorn. Nothing happened for a brief instant, but all of a sudden Celestia stiffened, and her eyes began in turn to glow with a white glare. She’s gone, said Luna to herself as she began to count the seconds down, I can no longer perceive her mind inside her body.

Two hundreds…

One hundred and fifty…

One hundred…

Unexpectedly, what she had feared since the beginning of the experiment happened. There was a thunderous explosion and a downpour of debris as the ceiling sundered; a blinding shaft of prismatic light descended from the sky, and fell directly over the rigid body of Celestia. It easily neutralized the comparatively faint beam coming from the apparatus, and the alicorn began to rise slowly, almost reluctantly, as if she was trying to clutch the ground despite the efforts of an unknown force to lift her forcefully.

“Nooooo!” shouted Luna hysterically. She fumbled the switch back in place; the yellowish light faded, but the rainbow did not; on the contrary, the intensity of the bright, multicolored shaft seemed to increase further. Celestia’s shape reared up and was suddenly sucked in. Stretching her wings, Luna took a tremendous and desperate leap; she barely managed to catch one of the hind legs of her sister just before she disappeared entirely through the vast opening above, and both crashed below with a loud thud. They tumbled on the floor, and ended up smashing into a wall. The dazzling shaft retracted and vanished; shadow and stillness returned to the room: it was over.

⁂

When a bruised Luna came back to her senses, she was partly lying over her sister. The first thing she felt was an excruciating pain inside her brain. Ooooh my head… She ducked her face into her front legs in a hopeless attempt to ease the pervading pang. How many minutes have I fainted?, she asked herself. There was a blank. Then: by the great crescent, she shuddered, the time is way past. She’s going to be trapped! Quick… Folding back her wings, all her limbs aching from the heavy fall, she laboriously stood up on all fours, shambled to the workbench, rummaged frantically in the midst of strewn grit, rubble and splinters of glass; eventually she got hold of a parchment, that she unrolled. She hastily read a formula, as her horn glowed with fluttering patches of light. When she finished, she cast a anxious look at Celestia and waited for a sign.

The white-furred princess stirred and opened an eye: her iris had recovered its usual amethyst hue. Luna sighed in relief. “What happened?” asked Celestia feebly. “I feel so weak and broken, as if I had been drubbed to death.”

“You were almost sucked in by an ethereal vortex,” explained Luna. “I brought you back by the skin of my teeth: one tenth of a second later, you would have been forever lost. But let not speak further of it: you’re here and whole, that’s all that matters. Could you meet him? Do you remember?”

Celestia closed her eyes, and seemed to ponder. “Yes,” she said at last, “I recall clearly meeting him. He was so surprised to see me. After all these centuries, he looked like a wraith: I could see the stars shining through his body. I explained our quandary and then… then…” She hesitated, obviously straining her memory. “I can’t seem to remember anything more. As if I had drifted into a pit of pitch blackness. I am so beat…”

“The vortex…” murmured Luna. “I had to switch the psyphotic lamp out. It cut the link. I’m sorry, I really—”

“Hush! Don’t talk balderdash!” Celestia interrupted. “You had little choice. Besides, you saved me from a really painful experience…” She tried to reach one hoof and winced. “Or not!…” she added, smiling faintly.

“All of that to no avail,” sighed Luna once more. “Come on! We both badly need rest. I’ll accompany you to your room, and beg the guards to leave you alone until you feel better. I think I’ll do the same, at least until morn.”

Unlocking the door, Luna levitated her sister behind her; both princesses left the room, and disappeared from sight as they turned around the nearest corner.

Through the narrow chink left by the ajar door, a bright light poured in the gloomy corridor.

⁂

Celestia had been bantering with Starswirl the Bearded somewhere in the heavenly regions for a short while. “What do you think of my Equestria?” asked the princess.

“Not much,” responded the hoary unicorn. “I’ve lost almost any contact with the livings, but I’m sure you do your best to rule the land in peace and bliss. Did you, by the way, find out why my last spell was ineffective? As I remember it, it was beginning by… Hmmm… ‘A mark of one’s destiny, singled out, fulfilled.’”

“The spell was completed by a pupil of mine,” Celestia said. “Twilight Sparkle is her name.”

“Great job!” exclaimed Starswirl. “I hope I’ll be able to meet her some…”

He broke off as a faint but regular clop resounded in the void, as of hooves hurriedly approaching.

“Guess what!” giggled Celestia. “Speak about an alicorn…”

They both turned their head in the direction whence the pounding seemed to originate, but nothing was to be seen. Instead, the clop increased steadily in intensity, until it became a harsh  and almost deafening pounding, echoing in all the space around then. “What in Equestria…” shouted Celestia, alarmed. She stepped forward and unexpectedly fell with a yelp; she outspreaded her wings and flapped madly to recover her balance, but found her appendages unable to function, as if there was no air around her for their feathers to push against. She was plunging down, twirling, hurtling through the void and nothing seemed to be able to stop her. She yelled…

…And found herself lying on the cold floor of her bedroom, half-covered by her blanket, her coat clammy with sweat: she had dropped from her mattress. What a nightmare! she thought, as the dizziness was slowly receding. At the same time, she heard muffled clops dying away, as if somepony was quickly climbing up a nearby stairs. Who’s been using my private access? she automatically wondered. You fool! It must be Luna, she’s the only one to know about its existence. But what for? She slowly rose, her muscles still sour from yesternight’s experience, splayed and limbered her legs, then preened her wings hastily. Heading for the nearest mirror, she brushed her mane, and was about to tend her coat when she heard a ruckus in the corridor, as of many ponies rushing, followed almost immediately by the unmistakable voice of her sister, apparently discussing some urgent matter with somepony else. “When did that happen?” Celestia heard distinctly through the door, at the very moment that Luna was walking by the entrance of the bedroom. “Ten minutes ago,” responded a deep male voice, that Celestia identified as Polydorus, one of the deputy captain of the guard.

She rushed to the door and flung it open, barely in time to catch a glimpse of Luna and Polydorus as they were about to descend the first marble steps of the castle official stair, at the far end of her vision field. “Hey! Luna! Wait!” she shouted. The indigo alicorn froze and turned around, immediately followed by the officer. They both walked back towards Celestia, who trotted to meet them. “Hi sis’! How do you feel?” inquired Luna when she was sufficiently near.

“Mostly okay. Barring a general feeling of weariness, I’m alright. What’s up? Where were you going to? What where you talking about?”

Luna came closer to her sister and lowered her voice. “There has been a brawl in the kitchens. A maid has been assaulted. I was going to inspect the scene.”

“What?!?” exclaimed Celestia, baffled. “You mean… sexually?”

“No, as far as I know,” replied Luna. “She was merely somehow paralyzed and blinded, but apparently she’s otherwise unscathed. Magic, I suppose. Besides, it was reported that the attacker has made a mess in all the stores.”

“Let’s see that by ourselves,” proposed Celestia.

All three scurried off.

Alternative ending

The next morning at dawn, Luna knocked at Celestia’s bedroom door. “Come in!” shouted Celestia from somewhere inside. The blue alicorn opened the door and walked in. “Since when do you politely knock at my door before entering?” asked Celestia amused.

“Oh!” responded Luna. “I think I too learned one or two lessons from this adventure.”

Celestia smirked as she faced her sister. She fetched a notebook, and they left the room.

“I feel really sorry for the guard,” said Celestia. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him. What a grisly way to die. When do his funeral take place?”

“Tonight at 6 pm,” responded Luna. “You might be interested to know that Hippiatros conducted a forensic examination on his body. He died of a heart attack. In fact, he was suffering from an unsuspected congenital heart malformation; stress and exhaustion caused a fatal seizure.”

“Well,” said Celestia. “It does not really solace me. And, besides, he was quite handsome…”

“It’s fortunate we cornered your double just in time, before she could somehow wreak more havoc,” added Luna. “One casualty is already too much.”

“I know,” sighed Celestia. “And how I wish nothing of this happened.”

“Let bygones be bygones,” concluded Luna. She stifled a snigger. “So,” she said, “You like big burly hunks, eh? Coming from you, I was expecting a tad more whimsicality.”

Celestia smiled sheepishly at her sister as both princesses pushed the portal leading to the royal hall.