Late Afternoon
Canterlot Castle

Twilight Sparkle was sleeping in very, very late. She had gone four days without sleep and then topped it off with a feat of neuromancy that had only succeeded because Princess Celestia had bolstered her. Then on top of that had come the emotional reaction of what she had done with Side Slip. Twilight had been physically, mystically and emotionally wiped out. She had barely made it to her quarters in the castle before collapsing on the bed. Where she had been sleeping the sleep of someone who had worked hard and well. She wanted to keep sleeping but someone started shaking her.

“Mistress,” said whoever the mean pony was shaking her shoulder, “you need to wake up.”

“Five more minutes, Spike,” she mumbled, rolling over.

“Mistress,” the mean pony was shaking her harder now and their voice took on a note of desperation, “we need you to save the castle before Luna or Celestia destroys it!”

“Mawha?” Twilight mumbled, opening bleary eyes. Which saw the form of Side Slip the pegasus learning over her and shaking her shoulder.

“Mistress Twilight, you are needed in Princess Celestia’s rooms, right away,” said the pegasus with growing urgency in his voice.

Twilight sat up in the bed exclaiming, “Side Slip! How are you doing and why are you calling me -” A thunderous detonation cut her off. “What in Tartarus was that?”

Side Slip grabbed her hoof and started pulling. “Please Mistress, we need to hurry!” he begged her. Twilight pushed aside the bed covers and began to scramble out of bed.

“NO SISTER! I SHALL NOT CALM DOWN,” literally thundered a voice from somewhere above. Dust began to float down from the high ceiling as Twilight began to register the cries of panicked ponies fleeing the epicenter of the vocal earthquake.

“Follow me, Side Slip,” yelled Twilight as she opened the door to her room and began to break into a run. “That was Luna using her Royal Canterlot voice! But I’ve never heard it that -”

“IF THEY HAVE HARMED EVEN ONE HAIR UPON HER HEAD, I SHALL VISIT SUCH DOOM UPON THEM AS THIS WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN. I WILL FIND THEIR CRIES FOR MERCY SWEET UPON MINE EARS, BUT THEY SHALL FIND NO SUCCOR FROM MY WRATH!”

“Wow! Princess Luna’s furious,” gasped Twilight as she galloped around a corner and started up a flight of stairs. “Side Slip, can you tell me what happened?”

“Yes Mistress,” said Side Slip as he kept pace with her. “When Princess Luna found out about what the Diamond Dogs have been doing to ponies, she got mad. She’s been mad ever since the Griffon Ambassador gifted me to Celestia. Then she found out about your friend,” He paused, “The servants said they had never seen smoke actually come out of someone’s ears before.”

They finished the climb up the staircase and entered the corridor leading to the solar monarch’s sitting room. The once immaculate marble floor of the corridor was crazed with cracks and one of the double doors of the sitting room leaned drunkenly from its single surviving hinge. The other door was missing completely. Spilling into the corridor could be seen bursts of ebon and golden magics Together the pair of ponies charged down the corridor, past a pair of stunned senseless guardponies and into the doorway.

Twilight and Side Slip looked in on a scene of utter devastation. The furniture and accouterments of the room weren’t just broken, they had been shattered into splinters. Princess Luna, the Lunar Diarch, was hovering three feet off the ground. Her eyes shone white and she was wreathed in the crackling nimbus of her power. She wore black armour, and on either side she bore a sheathed longsword. Twilight recognized the hilts of the blades as belonging to two of the famous Zodiac Swords. A set of twelve blades, made of pure star stuff and enchanted by Star Swirl the Bearded for Princess Luna’s personal use. They were said to be strong enough to cut through a mountain and sharp enough to cut a sigh in half.

Opposite Luna was her sister. Celestia, for her part was also wreathed in her own mantle of power but was otherwise unarmed and unarmoured. The floor around where she stood was clear, and though Celestia’s stance was neutral her face showed a mix of emotions. Prime among them was concern for her sister as she tried to defuse Luna’s rage.

“Luna, they are desperate. I’ve spent all day talking with our contacts in the other nations and they all say the same thing about the diamond dogs. That their crops are failing. That their young grow weakly and sick. Illness and disease are rampant. The other nations all thought we knew. Luna, the diamond dogs are dying!” pleaded Celestia.

“LET...THEM...DIE,” pronounced Luna, each word like the hammer stroke of an angry god.

“Sister, you can’t just go charging in,” Celestia begged with her sister. “They have the weapons to destroy you at best and make you their plaything at worst. You know that. You are too important to Equestria, too important to me, to be -”. Suddenly both diarchs took notice of the pair in the door at the same time.

“TWILIGHT,” boomed Luna in the Royal Canterlot Voice, turned down only slightly, “THOU ART THE PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP. EXPLAIN TO MY SISTER THAT AS FRIEND TO FAIR RARITY I MUST BRING AN END MOST FINAL TO THOSE WHO WOULD HARM HER, NO MATTER THE COST TO MYSELF.”

“Luna, please, lower your voice and let’s talk about this,” said Twilight, trying to calm the princess.

“Sister, if you won’t listen to me, listen to Twilight,” Celestia added. “She is your friend too.”

Luna’s eyes stopped glowing but she held onto her power as she spoke to the lavender alicorn in a much more normal volume, “For you Twilight, I will try to moderate my anger. Twilight, you, Rarity and the others are mine closest friends. I owe you all so much. How can I not go to her in her time of need?”

Twilight could see that Luna was poised on the edge of deadly violence. Only the need to explain herself to Celestia had held her back so far. The wrong words could push Luna over the edge. But the right ones could also pull her back from it. Choosing her words with care Twilight said, “Luna, you ARE a good friend, but Rarity wouldn’t want you putting yourself in danger for her and she really wouldn’t you becoming some sort of avatar of death and destruction to save her. She wouldn’t consider it fashionable.”

The words seemed to strike home as Luna lowered herself to the floor and released the hold she had on her power. Looking down she said, “Rarity would say that, wouldn’t she?” With a swirl of her magic she dismissed both armour and blades sighing. “Sister, I’m sorry. My rage stole my reason. Rarity and the others brought me back to you after a thousand years. They healed my soul by helping me defeat the Tantibus. I want to help Rarity so badly it hurts. Can you forgive me?”

Celestia released her own mantle of power. The golden glow fading away. “Oh sister,” she said, folding Luna into a hug as tears began to flow from the eyes of both diarchs, “of course I forgive you. You are only worried about Rarity like the rest of us. It shows how much you care that you are willing to risk so much for a friend.”

Twilight smiled, seeing the exchange, tears pricking at her own eyes. She felt a warmth across her back. Side Slip had stepped up beside at some point and had now spread a wing across her in an unconscious gesture. He too was taking in the scene between the two royal sisters and his eyes were also suspiciously wet.

Twilight spread one of her own wings across Side Slip in a matching gesture of comfort. The two wings crossed each other, primary and secondary feathers intermingling, into a lavender and brown blanket that spread a comforting warmth between the two. It just felt right to stand there like that.

Sniffling a bit, Luna looked up from the hug with her sister toward the pair, “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. You said what I needed to -” She paused, eyes widening and horn igniting, “Oh my, we had no idea that you had taken a mate. Please, introduce us to your special somepony.”

“Um...aba...What?” Twilight babbled in shock. Then she looked at where her and Side Slip’s wings were interwoven. At how close the two of them stood. She suddenly realized how they must look like a couple. “No, we aren’t, we haven’t,” Twilight stuttered, blushing. Panicked with embarrassment, Twilight jerkily tried to retract her wing, only to discover that her sudden movement had fouled her and Side Slip’s feathers together.

“Twilight, Side Slip, freeze in place,” quietly commanded Celestia, releasing her sister from their hug. “Both of you, relax your wings. Let them lay where they were.” Both ponies obeyed and the two wings lay flat again.

“Sister,” interjected Luna. “Did I say something wrong? Look at how their auras are mingled.”

“Luna, that’s Side Slip. The pony I told you about. The one I helped Twilight heal last night,” Celestia explained.

“Oh, OH!” said Luna, in obvious understanding.

“Well, could someone explain it to me?” Twilight asked.

“Hush for a moment, Twilight,” replied Celestia, “First we have to see how extensive this is. Side Slip, Twilight, please close your eyes.”

“Of course, Princess,” “Yes, Celestia,” replied the pair as they obeyed the command of the solar monarch.

“Now, Side Slip. I want you to picture Twilight in your mind’s eye. Picture her hooves, her legs, her body...now picture her wing across yours. Can you feel it’s warmth?”, asked Celestia in a quiet but clear voice.

“Yes, yes I can. It’s a good warmth. I can feel it coming off of her.”

“Good,” said Celestia in a quiet, almost rhythmic voice. “Sink into that warmth, become part of it. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, my princess,” said Side Slip in an almost murmur, “I’m a part of the warmth, it’s a part of me.”

“I thought you would be able to do it,” said Celestia in that same rhythmic voice. “Now, follow that warmth, follow it into Twilight, into the heart of the good mare that she is.”

“Yes, princess,” murmured Side Slip. “I’m there. Oh, Princess. I can feel her,” he added with awe in his voice.

“Side Slip, describe for me everything you can feel from Twilight,” Celestia paused, then added, “and anything you can hear from her as well.”

“She is feeling love, and trust for you. Friendship towards Princess Luna. She’s embarrassed and concerned about me. Worry for her other friend. Oh, and curiosity about how I’m doing this. And, if I concentrate really hard I can almost hear her thinking that bit as well,” said Side Slip in an almost monotone.

“Well done, Side Slip,” praised Celestia continuing in that rhythmic cadence. “In a moment I’m going to ask you to open your eyes. When I do so you will be fully back within your own body, but any time I ask you in the future, you will again be able to find Twilight’s warmth and follow it to her heart.”

“Yes, my Princess,” said Side Slip, “I would do anything to be part of her warmth.”

“I know you would,” said Celestia, who then suddenly shifted to a normal tone. “Now, open your eyes.”

Side Slip did as he had been bidden and opened his eyes. He blinked them a few times, like someone emerging from a restful sleep. He looked around and noticed the wing that had fouled with Twilight’s was no longer tangled with hers and was now properly furled at his side.

“While my sister spoke with you, I took it upon myself to untangle you,” supplied Luna with a smile. “She and I have run into similar problems in the past with each other.”

“Yes, we have,” agreed Celestia with a smile herself at past memories. “Now, Side Slip, could you please head down to Twilight’s room and wait for her there?”

“Of course, Princess Celestia,” said Side Slip as he left the room.

“Twilight, did you catch all of that?” asked Celestia.

“Yes, Princess. But how was he able to do that? How could he sense my feelings and even hear my thoughts?” asked the puzzled pony.

“I will explain everything in a moment. But first, I’m going to ask you to do something. When I do, I want you to obey instantly without question or thought. Can you do that for me?” Celestia asked Twilight.

“O-okay Princess. I’m ready,” responded Twilight.

“Twilight, I need you to point to where Side Slip is right now,” Celestia commanded Twilight in a voice that begged, no demanded, instant obedience. In response to the command of her mentor and monarch Twilight immediately shot out a hoof down and to one side.

“Twilight, open your eyes and look where you are pointing,” said Celestia in much gentler voice. “Tell me why you pointed in that direction.”

“Um, it just felt like the right direction,” Twilight paused, then continued, “and it’s weird, but I can almost sort of see Side Slip through the walls as a kind of warm ball of light.”

“That’s pretty much what we expected. Luna, could you explain what’s going on to Twilight?” asked Celestia. “I need to arrange for a cleaning and repair crew.”

“Of course, Sister,” Luna replied. “But please, let me take care of the cleanup once I explain to Twilight what has happened. It was my anger that caused this mess. Let me be the one to fix it.”

“As you wish Luna,” said Celestia with a smile and then stood back as Luna began to speak to Twilight.

“Well, Twilight. First, my apologies for assuming that you and Side Slip were mates. However, in my defence I have to say it was a reasonable reaction seeing the two of you together and seeing how blended your auras were.” said Luna.

“You said that before, What do you mean, our auras are blended?” asked Twilight.

“Twilight, you and Side Slip may not have physically mated but you have been almost as intimate with each other as it is possible for two ponies to be. You see, you put a part of yourself into Side Slip when you performed your feat of neuromancy on him. That part of you is still there. Still bridging the gaps within his mind and psyche. In time, with some luck, his own magic will use your framework to heal himself fully and take the place of those bridges. But until then, he will have a direct link to you, through that part of your essence that resides inside of him. And in turn, you will always be able to know where he is. Much as you know where your tail or your ear is, by sensing that part of yourself in him.” Luna paused, noting how wide and unblinking Twilight’s eyes had become.

“Um, Twilight, didst thou hear all I said?” Luna asked, poking Twilight in the shoulder with a hoof. Getting no response, Luna looked over at Celestia, grinned, and said, “Sister, I believe I may have broken thy student.”

Celestia giggled a little and walked over to the two other princesses. She waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s eyes, “Equestria to Twilight Sparkle. Come in, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight blinked and focused, “Oh! Star Swirl’s Law of Thaumic Transference. I should have realized.” The royal sisters exchanged a look and an eye roll over Twilight’s head.

“Yes, Twilight. And it is part of the reason why neither Luna nor myself can risk ourselves being within a hundred miles of the Badlands,” said Celestia.

Author's Note

So, this chapter is in two parts. Part two will be out in a couple of days as it just needs checking and re-writes. This chapter was sketched out way back in the beginning because there needed to be a reason for Luna and Celestia to not deus ex machina a resolution right off the bat. Part one here helps lay the mechanics of that reason. Part two will demonstrate it.

Hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy tomorrow's episode.