The Science of Mind Merging

Author's note:  First and foremost, thank you for choosing this piece of literature of mine to read.  No writer is anything without their readers, and I would like to properly recognize this.

Second, while I have been working on this story for a while, it is far from perfect, and I recognize that.  Thus, I impart a task on you, the reader.  If you find anything that sounds off, from incorrect or boring descriptions to out-of-character behavior or awkward phrasing, please do not hesitate to tell me, through a comment or a private message.  You would be doing me a service in doing so.  You don't need to do any of this, but if you want to, thank you very much.

Third, the cover picture was made by Eternal-Equilibrium on dA.

Anyway, without further ado, onward to the story.

PROLOGUE

“Princess, I implore you...”

“No, you may not.”

“Princess, I am dying.  I... I must...”

“You must obey your princess.  You know that.”

“Please...”

“Death is as natural as life.  You were a wonderful pony in life, but all things must come to an end.  Everypony dies eventually, even us.”

“P... Please... Princess...”

CHAPTER 1

“Your room is just to the left, Miss Sparkle,”  The royal guard said, clad in the standard golden armor.

“Thank you, sir,”  Twilight Sparkle politely responded.

The guard took his leave while Twilight entered her room and made herself comfortable.  His pace was brisk, but not rushed.  He gave the impression that he was sure where he was going and why.

Twilight listened to his rhythmic, calculated hoofsteps on the stone floor until it was clear that he was gone.  She gave a relaxed sigh and examined her room.  It was quite lavish compared to her quaint and simple library.  Between the canopy bed, beautiful silk sheets, rich burgundy rug, and sizeable stained glass window depicting the banishing of the Windigoes when Equestria was born, the room could easily be mistaken for the quarters of one of the princesses.  If Twilight knew one thing about Canterlot, it was that style and grandeur were always top priority.

Twilight laid on the bed.  Despite the fact that she had spent her entire life at Canterlot Castle, it was rare for Twilight to see the beauty of the place;  she always had her head in a book or some pressing matter to attend to.  She had never walked around the castle just to see it.  She regretted this; whenever she described Canterlot, she couldn't say much except for the generic “It's beautiful”.

She turned her mind to a more important matter, the reason for her solitary trip:  Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were due to return from their honeymoon that day, and Twilight wanted to get to know her brother better.  She had become far too distant from him ever since she moved to Ponyville, and she thought she could rectify that by spending some quality time with him.

She glanced out a nearby window just long enough to notice two pegasi dressed in royal armor pulling a rather fancy looking chariot.  Much to her delight, attached to the back of the chariot was a large white banner, which read “JUST MARRIED” in large, intricate letters.  What perfect timing, she thought.

The two newlyweds hopped out of the chariot to be greeted by Princess Celestia.

“Good to have you two back,”  she said in her usual, comforting tone of voice.

Shining Armor bowed while Princess Cadance gave her a hug.

“Oh, and Shining Armor,”  she continued,  “you have a visitor waiting for you.”

He rose to his hooves.  “A visitor?”

Princess Celestia, still engaged in her hug, gracefully pointed a hoof to her left.  Naturally, Shining Armor's eyes followed the hoof straight to his little sister.

Twilight beamed,  “Hey, big bro!”

His eyebrows arched and his mouth formed a smile.  It was just the sort of eyebrow-mouth combination that could only be described as pleasant, but unwanted surprise.  “Twilight!  What are you doing here?”

“Well, I've been thinking, and I think we've grown too far apart,”  Twilight said,  “Remember when we were little?  When we were the best of friends?  We've grown too far apart, Shining, and I don't like it.  Remember when the changelings attacked?  I felt like I didn't even know you!”  There was a twinge of sadness in her voice.

“Oh, Twily...”

“So I'm going to stay here until I know you like the brother I know I knew!”  The twinge of sadness disappeared from her voice like a hipster hearing a classic hit song on the radio.

“Oh, uh, that's great, Twily, but...”  He was trying to go soft on his sister, but he couldn't find the right words to get rid of her while sparing her feelings.

“Is there a problem?”  Twilight dearly hoped there wasn't.

Shining Armor's voice suddenly and jarringly turned cold,  “The royal guard needs to set up a contingency plan in case the changelings attack again.  The fact that they tricked us all so easily is a clear sign that we need to step up our defensive measures here at the castle.”

Twilight was caught off guard.  She couldn't think of any words to say.

Celestia cut in, putting an end to the very long hug,  “Shining Armor, I would like to speak with you alone for a moment.”

He suspected that she wanted him to let Twilight stay.  He really didn't want that, but he could never turn down a direct order from the princess.  He gave a resigned sigh and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

The two of them walked off a distance and started talking.

Celestia got straight to the point,  “I'd like you to let Twilight stay with you.”

Shining Armor grimaced,  “I thought you might.”

“If I know one thing about friendship, it's that it should never go to waste.  You want to get to know your sister, don't you?”

“Yes, but I have more pressing matters to attend to right now.  Any other time would be fine, but-”

“She could help you, you know.”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I disagree.  We've got a lot of work to do, and having to look after Twilight isn't going to help that.”

“I don't think you give your sister enough credit.  In times of stress, a pony's true self is revealed.  You could learn a lot about her, and she could learn plenty about you.”

“I don't think she'd like my true self very much.”

“She cares about you a lot.”

Shining Armor didn't speak.

“If I need to make it an order, I will.”  Celestia giggled the sort of giggle that you wouldn't expect to come from a princess, especially one as revered as Princess Celestia.

He sighed and smiled,  “Well, I guess I can't argue with that.”

“Well?  Can I stay?”  Twilight excitedly asked.

Shining Armor sighed,  “Yes, you can stay. But only-”

He couldn't finish speaking before Twilight leapt at him for a hug.  “Oh, thank you!”  He couldn't help but smile.

He continued, “But only for today.  Tomorrow you have to go.”

“That's all the time I need!”  Twilight said, squeezing her brother tighter.

He turned to Cadance, “I might be home a little late, honey.”

Cadance smiled,  “Oh, that's alright.  I understand.”  She leaned in and kissed him,  “Take as long as you need.”

Shining Armor turned back to his sister, “Alright, Twilight, let's go.  I've got a lot of work to do, and you're going to help.”

Twilight jumped to attention,  “Great!  I can't wait!”

With that, the two started their brisk walk to the local barracks.

The barracks was fairly mundane, despite being full of royal guards of all creeds and colors marching about.  Shining Armor showed Twilight Sparkle the various rooms and their functions: meeting rooms, tactical planning rooms, exercise rooms, and the cafeteria (which was serving a delightful little meatloaf dish which almost precisely resembled vomit in the right light, and cerberus excrement in the wrong light).  Along the way they were greeted with various shouts of “Hey, Shining Armor!”  and  “Good to have you back, boss!”  After a few hours, they arrived at Shining Armor's personal quarters.

“Well, Twilight, I've got some private work to do in here, if you don't mind.”  Shining Armor tried to retreat to inside his humble room.

“What kind of work?”  Twilight's curiosity knew no bounds.

“It's... private.  You wouldn't be interested.”

“C'mon, big bro.  We're family, right?  You can share anything with me.  Please?”  Twilight begged with her eyes as much as with her words.

He averted his gaze from hers and tried to escape inside his room again,  “No, Twilight.  Just go talk to Princess Celestia or something.”

“But she told you to let me come with you, didn't she?  Why can't I see what you're doing?  Maybe I could...”

Shining Armor cut her off,  “This is a private matter, Twilight!  Just go away!”  He slammed the door behind him, leaving Twilight Sparkle suddenly, bitterly alone.

She knocked on the door.  He didn't answer.

Twilight was thoroughly confused.  In their years together, he had never snapped at her before.  What could be so important that he would want to get rid of her?  The question baffled her.  He clearly wanted her gone, but why?

She put the question out of her mind.  She had always heeded her brother's advice, and that wasn't about to change.  She was going to talk to Princess Celestia to try to find out why he was suddenly so grumpy.  So off she went, bounding down the halls with unusual gusto, drawing plenty of attention from the guards in the barracks.  This attention mainly consisted of the occasional glance or sneer, and even a catcall or two.

From the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed the royal garden out the window.  For some reason she felt drawn to it.  She closed her eyes and focused on a nice patch of grass, shielded on three sides and on top by a number of large trees.  This spot was conveniently visible from the window.  With a glimmer of her horn and the flash and sparkle that usually comes with her magic, she was there.  She always felt a wisp of self-satisfaction when she successfully teleported.  Not many unicorns could, and she was proud to count herself among a gifted few.

The spot was surprisingly cool, despite the beating sun.  The ground was moist, but not too wet, and the air was crisp, but not too strong.  It felt like the perfect place to lie down, forget about your troubles, and just be happy.

Twilight curled up on the ground and shut her eyes.  She let out a deep, relaxed sigh.

Not a moment later, she heard a familiar voice.  “Hello, Twilight Sparkle.”  It was Princess Celestia.

Twilight jumped.  “Oh, hello, Princess.  I didn't see you there.”  She gave a quick, deep bow.

“Oh, no need for formalities, Twilight.”  Celestia let out a small grin.  “You know, I come to this same spot all the time just to sit and think.”

“I didn't know that.”  Twilight said.  Of all the places to go, what are the odds I picked this one, she thought.

“So, what brings you to the royal garden?”

Twilight sighed,  “Shining Armor got really upset about something and told me to leave him alone.”

“Oh?”

“I just want to bond with him, but he just wants to get rid of me.”  Twilight said.   She sounded more than a bit crestfallen.  “We've known and trusted each other for years, and now he won't even share his work with me.”

“If you really want to be closer to him, I could help.”  Celestia said encouragingly,  “There's a spell in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the library.  I think it could help you.”

“A spell?  What kind of spell?”

Celestia smiled,  “You'll find out.  All I'll say is, it will definitely help you understand how your brother is feeling.”

Twilight's eyes filled with excitement,  “Really?  That sounds perfect!  Thank you, Princess!”

Celestia smiled,  “Anything for my most faithful student.”

Twilight immediately started galloping to the library.  Celestia smiled again as she watched the excitement in her young pupil's eyes.

Twilight entered the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the library.  It was unusually aligned, with a circle of bookshelves radiating from the centre of the room, as opposed to the standard ordered rows of shelves.  On the floor in the center of the room was a beautiful carving in the floor of the sun, the moon, and, oddly, no beards.  The plethora of books lining the shelves immediately excited Twilight, but what really caught her eye was the glass-covered exhibit at the end of the wing.  It was out of place for a library; it was more fitting to a museum.

She began the long walk down the cold stone floor.  When she arrived at the display, her eyes turned upward to a bronze plaque, which read, “The Final Project of Star Swirl the Bearded”.  Dozens of pieces of parchment sat in the display, all of them creased, worn, and yellowed to a dingy brown, leaving the words barely ledgible.  All sorts of notes and drawings were haphazardly scrawled on every page.  The notes were not so much notes as short phrases which didn't seem to relate to each other.  Twilight was a bit frustrated that she couldn't understand any of it.

The rightmost piece of parchment stood out, in that Twilight could actually make out what was written on it.  This was because the only words it bore were “TWILIGHT SPARKLE” in bold letters filling the entire page.

Twilight was caught off guard.  She certainly hadn't expected such a message, especially to her.  Was this what Princess Celestia was talking about?  She looked around.  There wasn't another pony to be seen.

The display case emitted a deep, slow creak as she opened it and carefully took the parchment.  On the back was another instruction, “CANTERLOT DUNGEONS, WING B, CELL 29.  PERFORM THE SPELL.  ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED,”  followed by a long incantation.

This last line piqued her curiosity.  Was it referring to Star Swirl's work?  Twilight had always known that Star Swirl the Bearded was often hailed as the greatest sorcerer of his era, perhaps the greatest of all time, and her heart raced at the prospect of his greatest work being unraveled to her.”

But, the Canterlot Dungeons hadn't been used in years...

...Right?