Princess Celestia was worried.

Her sister had left to go and talk with this human last night, but still wasn’t back by noon the next day, and that wasn’t even taking the newly appointed spirit of chaos that was a danger to her subjects into account.

Presently, she was taking her chariot to Ponyville to talk to princess Twilight about this. If anyone would know anything, she surely would. If all else failed, she would just have to confront this human personally.

She hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that though; she didn’t like the idea of having to face him without the elements of harmony with her.

She sighed. Luna hadn’t been so cautious, of course but, with any luck, she wouldn’t need them. She wasn’t holding her breath about it.

As princess Twilight’s castle approached, Celestia mulled the idea of talking to the human over and over again. If she had to talk to him, she would have to be very careful with what she said; there was a horrible feeling that if she said the wrong thing, she would regret it.

The chariot landed in front of princess Twilight’s castle and she snapped herself back into reality with a quick shake of her head. She stepped off the chariot and trotted towards the entrance. The doors opened before she could touch them and princess Twilight stepped out to hug her warmly.

“I’m so glad you came, princess Celestia,” said Twilight, pulling out of the hug slowly. “You got my message, I take it?”

“Yes, I did, Twilight,” Celestia replied, nodding sombrely. “But I’m afraid that’s not the reason I came.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “But… why else would you be here?” she asked.

“Luna was here last night,” Celestia answered. “Is she still here?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen her since we all met up last. What would make her come here anyway?”

“I see…” Celestia closed her eyes for a moment. “She came here to speak to that human you mentioned. Do you know where I might find him? He might know something about where to find her.”

“Are you sure you want to talk to him right now?” Twilight asked, ears flattening against her head. “Fluttershy said he was very upset last night. He might still be in that state.”

“I must, Twilight,” Celestia said, bowing her head sadly. “Luna has never been away for this long without her letting me know. I’m worried about what’s happened to her.”

“Well… Fluttershy told me that she welcomed him to stay at her house, but I didn’t see him when we left her last night.”

“I’ll check with her then; he might have gone back to her when you weren’t around.”

“Do you want me to help? He can be… a bit of a problem to deal with.”

“If you think that would be a good idea, then you’re welcome to.” Celestia nodded at the guards that were harnessed to the chariot. “At ease, gentlemen. I’ll be gone for a while.”

They saluted to her quickly and unstrapped themselves from the chariot.

“I’m sure he’ll know where she is anyway,” Twilight remarked, leading the way to Fluttershy’s cottage. “I’ve come to the conclusion that if there’s a problem, he’ll be the one behind it.”

The statement hung in the air as they headed onward. As they did so, there was a grim feeling in Celestia’s gut that they were being watched.

Twilight didn’t seem to have the same feeling, however, so she just put it down to slight paranoia.

-=-=-=-=-

When they arrived, Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. Twilight knocked on the door to check if Fluttershy was inside, but when no answer came after a few minutes, she reasoned that Fluttershy must have already left.

Celestia sighed, looking down at the ground. “Well this is… problematic…” she muttered gravely. “Do you have any idea where she could be, Twilight?”

“At this time, anywhere in town,” Twilight answered sadly. “I would say we could ask Rainbow Dash to see if she can find her for us, but she’s in hospital right now.”

“Oh?” said Celestia inquisitively. “What put her in hospital?”

“I did,” said a disembodied voice from right beside Celestia’s ear, making her jump away in surprise.

The feeling of being watched came back into Celestia’s mind.

“Who’s there?” she called, turning her head to search for the voice’s owner.

“I am,” the voice whispered, directly in front of Celestia.

“This is not funny, James!” Twilight yelled angrily, spinning around to try to locate him. “Where are you?”

“Here,” said ‘James’ from behind the two of them. They spun around quickly to see him stood there, wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday. His eyes looked bloodshot and his hair was much more untidy than the day before.

Celestia put on her warmest smile to greet the human kindly. “Hello there!” she said jovially. “I am princess Celestia! Welcome to Equestria!”

“I know who you are,” the human stated darkly. He waved a hand at Twilight. “She’s just said who I am, so I won’t introduce myself.”

“Very well,” Celestia agreed with a small nod. “If you know who I am, you must also know my sister.”

“That I do,” the human spat with grim distaste.

Celestia raised an eyebrow accusingly. “I’m sensing you don’t like her,” she said seriously.

“No, I don’t,” he replied.

“And why is that?”

“She likes kicking a man while he’s down.”

“I don’t quite understand. Could you perhaps give me a little more detail?”

The human sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Last night, we had words, she and I,” he said, staring Celestia right in the eye. “I wasn’t in a good frame of mind and she didn’t seem to care.”

“Then you know where she is,” Celestia said quickly, changing the subject back to what she wanted it to be.

“Oh yes,” the human said with a cruel smirk.

“Then where is she?” Twilight interjected, stepping closer to him.

He snapped his fingers and a gift-wrapped box appeared out of thin air. He caught it before it dropped and handed it to Celestia, who took it grudgingly.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Open it,” the human ordered, not breaking eye contact with her for even a second.

With a growing sense of dread, she untied the ribbon and slowly unwrapped the box. Once all the wrapping paper was removed, she cautiously lifted the lid of the box and braced herself for the worst.

“W-what is this?” she breathed as the contents of the box came into view. She looked up at the human sharply. “Is this some kind of joke?! Why is there a horn and a pair of wings in here?!”

“Don’t they look familiar?” he replied with a dark sense of amusement.

“Yes, they do, which is why I’m asking!” Celestia yelled angrily, scowling at him.

“You remember when Discord took yours and your friends’ horns and wings, don’t you, princess?” the human asked Twilight, chuckling menacingly.

“What did you do?!” Twilight yelled, shaking her head disbelievingly. “You can’t have done that to her! She’s a princess!”

“I thought that too,” he replied. “Isn’t chaos a strange thing?”

“Where is she?!” Celestia roared, stomping towards him.

“Try the forest, sunshine,” the human whispered cruelly. “Have fun.”

With that, he vanished.

Before Twilight could say anything or offer any comfort, Celestia was gone in the blink of an eye, dropping the box containing Luna’s horn and wings suddenly. It took Twilight a moment of searching to see that she had taken off towards the Everfree forest. She followed as quickly as she could.

Once Celestia was over the Everfree, she shouted as loudly as possible, “LUNA?! LUNA, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“Princess, it could take you hours to search the whole forest on your own!” Twilight called after her. “We should organise a team of guards to help search for her!”

“Oh yeah, look how well that turned out last time,” the human said, appearing beside her in a very nonchalant pose.

“YOU!!” Celestia rounded on him fiercely, a snarl that would scare a dragon on her face.

“Yes, me,” the human chuckled sadistically.

“TELL ME WHERE MY SISTER IS!!” Celestia screamed, flying towards him swiftly.

He didn’t even flinch as she came right up to him to glare at him in the face. “Tell me first, what can you offer me for this information?” he asked with a cruel smile.

Celestia faltered for a moment. “I-I can offer you anything! Just tell me where she is!”

“Oh, can you? Anything I can think of?”

“Yes! Now tell me where she is!”

“I’ll go and inform the guard, princess! We’ll find her in no time!” Twilight yelled, leaving the two on their own to discuss negotiations.

“I would, but I think we should strike a deal first,” said the human, watching Twilight leave. “Tell me, what exactly do you think I would want in this situation?”

“I… I…” Celestia stammered, eyes darting to anything that would help her. “I don’t know! Just name it and I’ll see it done for you!”

“Really?” said the human with a sly grin. “Anything I can think of if it means me telling you where your sister is?”

“Yes! Name it! I just want to get her home safe!”

“I want…” He cackled lightly before revealing it to her. “Your horn.”

Celestia blinked and flapped backwards in shock. “M-my… horn?”

“Yes, your horn. The source of your magic. What, added to your wings, makes you a princess.”

Celestia thought about it for a moment. On one hoof, she would be giving up her powers as princess and, thus, leaving Equestria in the care of princesses Twilight, Cadence, and, hopefully, her sister again. On the other hoof, her sister was in danger right this minute and there was no telling if the guards would find her in time.

“I… I’m… I…”

“Take your time. I’m sure your sister’s fine. For now, at least.”

“No,” Celestia said at last. The human froze up in the air for a moment.

“No?” he asked with a frown.

“You heard correct. I’m not going to give you my horn. As much as I love my sister, Equestria needs me as a princess. Without me, there’s no one to raise the sun and the moon, and I don’t want to leave such a large task in the care of the other princesses.”

His eyes narrowed for a moment and he smiled in appreciation of her bravery. “Well… this is awkward.”

“What else can I offer you instead?”

He chuckled darkly and closed his eyes. “Oh, ho-ho… that was really the only thing I wanted, sunshine. If you can’t give me that, I think I’ll just…” He grabbed hold of her horn suddenly. “Take it.”

He flicked his hand away from her head, and she felt a part of herself disappearing. She stared at the human in awe, watching him as he stuffed the horn into his pocket.

“Well, what do you know? Turns out I CAN always get what I want!” he joked evilly.

“Y-you… you’ve got what you wanted! Now tell me where my sister is!” she yelled, putting on a brave look.

“I suppose a deal’s a deal, isn’t it?” he reasoned, nodding in agreement. He vanished for a moment. When he reappeared, he was holding a struggling, horn-and-wing-less princess Luna in his hands.

When Luna saw her sister, her struggling stopped. “Tia!” she yelled, reaching out to Celestia. “He…” She noticed Celestia’s missing horn. “He took…” Her struggling resumed. “Give it back! You can’t take her horn as well as mine!”

“Oh, I can, moony,” the human replied, smirking. He moved closer to Celestia. “Here’s your sister. Enjoy being mortal.”

He disappeared suddenly, leaving Luna hovering in the air for a moment. Celestia darted forwards and caught Luna before she could fall.

“Sister, he took your horn!” Luna yelled. “Leave me and go after him!”

“No, Luna,” Celestia replied, flapping down to the ground. “I need to make sure that you’re safe.”

“I’m safe now! Go after him!”

Celestia said nothing as she landed and let Luna stand again. Luna shook her head disbelievingly and marched away.

“So you’re letting him get away with this?” she asked incredulously. “He’s robbing Equestria of two of its princesses! How can you let him get away with that?!”

Celestia blinked in recognition and smiled hopefully. “I’m not,” she said. “I know where your wings and horn are. We just have to hope he’s forgotten about them.”

With that idea in mind, she led the way back to Ponyville at a gallop.

-=-=-=-=-

“Guards!” Twilight yelled as she approached her castle, where four guard ponies were waiting for their princess to return. They snapped to attention. “I need your help!”

“Yes, princess!” they barked in unison, saluting quickly.

“I need one of you to head back to Canterlot and round up some more guards,” she explained. “The rest of you come with me. Princess Luna is lost in the Everfree forest and we’ll need a search party to help find her!”

“Yes, ma’am,” one of them replied, taking off to head to Canterlot.

Before he could get anywhere, however, the human appeared in front of him and stopped him.

“Hold on there,” the human said, holding a hand up to the guard. “That won’t be necessary. Moony’s been found.”

“She has?” Twilight asked, smiling widely. “That’s great! How did you find her?”

“Sunshine and I made a deal she couldn’t refuse,” he said with a grim smirk.

“What kind of deal?” Twilight asked, moving toward the human apprehensively.

“A secret deal!” He put a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise. “Can’t tell you that!”

“Well, where are they then?”

“They’re heading back now. Moony can’t fly, remember?”

“I suppose not…” Twilight reasoned, looking down at the ground.

“Anyway, I have people to see and chaos to make,” he replied, giving a quick wave. “Ciao!”

He vanished before Twilight remembered that she was supposed to be angry at him for what he’d done. She looked back at the guards and smiled nervously.

“He’s… supposed to make chaos,” she explained anxiously, rubbing the back of her neck. “He’s Discord’s… replacement.”

The guard’s didn’t question it; Celestia had probably already explained it to them. Twilight sighed and headed back towards the edge of the Everfree forest, where she would hopefully meet up with Celestia and Luna soon.

As she did so, there was a niggling feeling in her mind that told her she was forgetting something.

Author's Note

I have a horrible feeling that I made a mistake somewhere that I missed in proofreading. Sorry if there is one