Chapter 1: Through The Broken Glass
Author's Note
In order to distinguish between the two Celestias, sometimes the original Celestia will be referred to with her pet name, "Tia", while the alternate Celestia will be referred to as simply "Celestia", but not always.
Chapter 1: Through The Broken Glass
The shadows cast by the moonlight shifted in angle, signaling her that time was running out. She moved to the window and opened it, preparing to fulfill her duty. She had, after all, to raise the sun before departing. As soon as the moon began to sink in the horizon, she did her magic, raising the sun that immediately greeted her tired eyes with its piercing light.
“I have to make this quick,” she said to no one, leaving the window and going back to her secret work. There stood a great mirror, and beside it was a table flooded with scrolls and blueprints.
“Let’s go through this one more time.” She levitated a massive checklist and went through it quickly, but still careful to not miss anything. It didn’t help that her hoof was shaking due to the speed of her heartbeat. “Alright, everything is checked!” She wiped sweat that she hadn’t realized was on her forehead.
She looked at the cracked mirror, only to find a small hole in it. Her heart skipped a beat, but she face hoofed once she realized the mistake. “Of course, everything but the one thing I didn’t put on the checklist for some reason!” She pushed some scrolls aside and levitated a little bag. She opened it, extracting a small piece of glass.
“Now, this is the final touch, Celestia. It must work. You worked so hard for this,” she said, before giving a nervous chuckle. “And now I’m talking to myself...again. Totally a good sign.”
Carefully, she placed the piece of glass in the hole in the mirror, fitting in it perfectly. Celestia held her breath when a moment passed without anything happening, but soon the cracks in the mirror healed, and it looked as if it was never broken to begin with. Celestia let her breath out, giving a triumphant smile.
The smile, however, quickly faded once she reminded herself of what she was about to do.
Giving a deep sigh, she lit her horn, causing the jewels on the mirror’s frame to glow, the mirror’s surface becoming liquid-like.
“Only one thing left.” She levitated a note and stuck it to the mirror’s frame. She carried her saddlebag, then brought a long, thin object covered in fabric and placed it on her back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before finally stepping into the other side of the mirror. As soon as she did so, the mirror’s jewels dimmed and the glass surface hardened again.
“Celestia? Are you here?” came Luna’s voice as she descended the stairs to Starswirl’s room. “You don’t usually miss on the...breakfast.” She looked around the empty room, until she came across the object that, to her knowledge, shouldn’t have existed anymore.
“Is this...no way!” Her face reading concern, Luna galloped up to the mirror. “How did this happen?!” It wasn’t long before she saw the note and picked it up, her heart racing as she read the contents.
“Dear Luna
I believe you know very well where this mirror leads, and I believe you know why I would go through it again. I’m sorry for going alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to get anypony else from this world involved in the problem that I created in another one. Don’t bother trying to follow me; I placed a lock on the mirror that only I can open.
I’ll try my best to come back safe, sister. If I don’t, know that you, Twilight and Cadance are more than capable of ruling Equestria without me.
Take care, Luna.”
“No…” Luna looked up from the note, tears welling in her eyes. She tossed the note away and threw herself at the mirror, trying her desperately to go through it, but to no avail. “NO! Why did you do this?!” She lied on her stomach in front of the mirror, burying her face in her hooves. “Why…”
Celestia stepped out of the portal, her eyes still closed. A breath of fresh air gave her enough reassurance to open her eyes. She didn’t know what she had expected, but it was worse than this. Her eyes were greeted by a Canterlot tarnished with trees, bushes, and small gardens with flowers of all colors. Some buildings were still being repaired, but they took nothing away from the beauty of the scenery.
I didn’t expect this place to look almost more beautiful than MY Canterlot. Color me impressed, Celestia thought, starting away from the portal, which was in the base of a statue of Sir Discord.
As she trotted, ponies would eye her with either raised eyebrows or shock, but she would just smile and wave at them. She approached a small garden that was full of blue flowers. Staring at them gave her a warm feeling in her chest, a weird sense of accomplishment, but at the same time, it caused puddle of sorrow in the pit of her stomach. She inhaled the perfume, then stretched her foreleg in an attempt to pick a flower.
“Picking flowers from a public garden under my watch will cost you a fine,” a voice approached Celestia, a familiar voice. So familiar that it sounded just like her own.
Celestia turned to face herself. Her other self. The other Celestia had an Anugyptian cape on her head, accompanied with the iconic black lining of her eyes.
“I thought I would never see you again,” alternate Celestia continued, smiling warmly.
“You and me both,” Celestia chuckled, leaving the flowers to give her counterpart a short hug.
The other Celestia widened her eyes, taken aback by the hug. As the original Celestia broke the embrace, alternate Celestia avoided eye contact, covering her eyes with a hoof.
“Anything wrong?” Celestia asked, tilting her head.
“Yeah yeah, I’m just a little drowsy,” alternate Celestia answered, rubbing her eyes.
“If you’re okay, then I really need to test something, and I need to test it quickly.” Celestia approached her counterpart with nervous steps.
“What is it?”
“I apologize in advance.”
“Wait, wha-OOF!” Before alternate Celestia could look up to see what was happening, she found one hoof on her shoulder and another in her stomach.
She...she punched me! alternate Celestia thought, the moment of the punch feeling like a minute as her thoughts raced. Does that mean she still hasn’t forgiven me? But she just hugged me. This doesn’t make sense!
Celestia took a step back after her successful attack. She looked at her foreleg, chuckling.
She chuckled. She’s enjoying my pain! I knew she hadn’t forgiven me yet! She must have come here for revenge! What am I going to do now?!
“I’m so sorry! But I needed to test the portal,” Celestia apologized.
Alternate Celestia blinked twice before looking up. “What?” she coughed.
“I needed to make sure that the counterparts were no longer connected. I just punched you, but I didn’t feel any pain! I succeeded!” Celestia chuckled in a mixture of happiness and disbelief, scratching her head.
“Oh...really…” alternate Celestia muttered with a forced, twitchy-eyed smile.
“Yes!” original Celestia replied, before her smile started to subside. “Wait a second...now that I remember, I must make the test in both ways.”
“Here.” Before Celestia could react, her counterpart approached her and delivered a punch to her stomach. “You can thank me later.”
Damn...good thing I haven’t had breakfast yet! Celestia thought upon receiving the blow.
Alternate Celestia sighed, placing a hoof on her counterpart’s shoulder. “I didn’t feel that. Are you happy now?”
“D...Definitely!” Celestia coughed, grinning sheepishly.
“Now, could we please move to the castle? We’re making quite the scene here.”
Celestia took a look around her, and quickly noticed the weirded out ponies. “Sounds like a good plan.” She placed a foreleg on alternate Celestia’s shoulder, before the two trotted in the direction of Canterlot Castle.
“So tell me, why didn’t you just, you know, test a slap?” alternate Celestia asked.
“Because it might not be enough to trigger the connection. Maybe the counterparts could only feel sharp pain? It was all a part of the equations Starswirl had created.”
“Yeah, tell me more about that later.”
A stallion had been watching from the beginning. He stared with a gaped mouth as the twin Princesses trotted away.
“I stopped drinking, why am I still seeing things?!” the stallion exclaimed.
“I like what you did with the place,” Celestia said, as she and her alternate self trotted down a hall in Canterlot Castle. Turns out even the castle was adorned with nature. Green vines hagged the windows from the outside and flowers hanged on the walls, planting peace in the heart of the beholder. “And I’m not just talking about the castle.”
“Well, I guess adding green to a place that had previously been barren was the best way to show our good intentions to the ponies of Canterlot, don’t you think?” alternate Celestia replied.
“This is some lovely lavender!” Celestia admired, approaching one of the flowers on the wall.
“Um, this is not lavender,” the counterpart said, raising an eyebrow.
Celestia blinked twice, before realizing the flower was blue, not purple. “Oh. Um, yeah. I didn’t mean to say ‘lavender’.” She blushed, scratching her neck.
Alternate Celestia laughed. “Looks like you’re tired.”
“You don’t say,” Celestia muttered, rubbing one of her eyes.
“Now come, there’s a pony I’m sure is dying to meet you.”
The two Celestias resumed their way until they reached a door. They opened it, revealing a table with various breakfast foods on it, and a dark-purple Alicorn with a curly mane putting everything in place, her back facing the two counterparts.
“Luna?” Celestia whispered.
“You came just in time, sister,” alternate Luna said in an almost monotonic voice without looking who was behind her. “The breakfast is…” She finally turned around, taking a moment to adjust to the scene.
“You’re talking to me?” original Celestia said playfully, a wide smile on her face.
“T...Tia?!” Luna’s voice suddenly gained emotion, as she galloped towards Celestia and threw her to the ground in a tight hug. “I can’t believe you came back! How?!”
“Yeah, good morning to you, too. We have plenty of time to talk later,” Tia said, patting Luna on the back. She took a glance at the other Celestia, and found her staring at the ground away from them, a tiny smile barely visible on her face. Tia stood up and dusted herself. “Don’t you think you should give your sister a hug, too, Luna?” She nodded towards the other Celestia.
“Well…” Luna hesitated, eyeing her sister for a moment, then facing Tia again. “I see her everyday. Same can not be said about you!”
“If you say so,” Tia giggled, but inside she felt something was up. She trotted towards the table, admiring the delicious treats. “You did well preparing this, Luna! These are some fine cupcakes!” she said, levitating the pastry from the plate.
“Um, that’s an eclair, not a cupcake,” Luna said with a raised eyebrow.
Tia blinked twice, realizing she was indeed levitating an eclair. “Oh, yes! Eclair. That’s what I wanted to say!”
Luna and the other Celestia both burst laughing, causing Tia to blush.
“Looks like you really need to sleep,” alternate Celestia said.
“No doubt about it,” Tia agreed, taking a bite from the eclair.
“I believe I already know why you’re here,” Luna said, her expression serious.
Tia stopped munching, swallowing hard. “I guess it was very obvious,” she replied. “Looks like I don’t need to explain much.”
“Yes, but I need you to explain one thing,” alternate Celestia said, clearing her throat. “What is that long thingie on your back? A staff?”
Tia blinked, glancing at the long object on her back. “Oh, this? Well...you’ll find out soon,” she answered, finishing the rest of the eclair. “Right now, I really need you to…to escort me to the closest bed,” she yawned, swaying in her steps.
“Gotcha,” Luna said, rushing to Tia’s side and, with a wave to her sister, she escorted the drowsy princess.
Alternate Celestia watched the two trot away, hanging her head low and releasing a long sigh.
“This is the bed, right?” Celestia yawned. “I don’t want my drowsiness to cause me to sleep on a cactus by accident...or something.”
Luna laughed. “I assure you this is a bed.”
“Thank goodness!” Celestia sighed in relief, tossing her staff and saddlebag to the side and throwing herself on the bed.
“Sweet dreams,” Luna said, using her magic to place a blanket on Celestia.
“I need an alarm to wake me up in time to…”
“To what? Lower the sun?” Luna teased. “You’re not the Princess of the Sun in this world, Tia. You’re a guest. Just sleep well.”
Celestia chuckled. “Fair enough.”
Luna was about to leave the room, but Celestia called her. “Hey, Lulu?”
“What is it?”
“Take care of your sister, okay?”
Luna seemed taken aback by the statement, her smile waning. She looked away for a moment, then answered, “Sleep well, Tia.” With that, she trotted out the room, closing the door behind her.
“Hm, that’s weird,” Celestia muttered to herself, pulling the blanket over her body. “I must see to that issue...when I wake up, of course.” She yawned, turning to her side.
Hold on, Sombra. I’m coming for you. With that thought on her mind, Celestia let herself drift to sleep.
