The Equestrian Monomyth - Book 2 - Complexs of Disharmony

Ponyville, the night just after Twilight and Luna's duel and before Cadance's betrayal:

Celestia opened her eyes, realizing, dumbfounded, that she wasn't at the hospital anymore. Instead, a pair of scary green eyes were looking at her with a predatory look. Celestia sharpened her eyes and lit on her horn: She wasn't going down without a fight. But suddenly, her horn lit out, her coat bristled, and a frozen wave passed through all her body, as she realized that the eyes wasn't looking to her neck, like a regular predator will do, but to her lower parts. Horrified, she opened her eyes wide and scrunched her muzzle: She was... she was going to be... raped... AGAIN!!

NOOOOO!!! NOT AGAIIIIIIIN!!!

Celestia quickly put her both forelegs between her hinderlegs, covering her private parts.

"NOOOOO!! NOOOOO!! AHHHHH!! AHHHHH!!" She screamed with sobbing voice, frightened to death...

Celestia's screams woke up Pinkie and Rarity, making the pink mare to quickly jump to the Princess's bed to calm her down, while the later turned on the light:

"Your Highness, Your Highness! What's happening?! Calm down, please, calm down!" The self-proclaimed Princess's ponyguard asked, very concerned.

Celestia was bucking and screaming desperately, but Pinkie's known voice made her to react, and to quickly hug Pinkie: "Pinkie! Oh, Pinkie! It's that you! I was having such an horrible nightmareeee!" She panted, trembling, still horrified by her experience.

The guards waiting outside opened the door too, worried for their liege: "Your Highness! What's happening?! Are you in danger?!"

"No, no, no! It's just a nightmare, it's just a nightmare!" Rarity waved a hoof, calming them too.

After Celestia finally recomposed herself, she commented: "That horrible nightmares... I think I'm going to have a heart attack the next time I have one... I... I guess I should ask for Luna's help... this is her area of expertise, anyway."

So, she looked to her sister's bed, getting surprised by finding it empty.

"Ow! Luna? Where's Luna?" She asked around.

"She said that she has to go to the bathroom, but that was more than a hour ago." Informed Pinkie.

"What?! Pinkie, but why didn't you let me know?!" Asked Celestia.

"Sorry, Your Highness, but I don't know how long a Princess takes in her bathroom's duties. I've had my own times by myself everytime I made a mistake with my recipes, and after trying them, I had to go to the bathroom for a very looooong time and..." Joyfully started to explain Pinkie.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Celestia interrupted her, getting the point. "Guard, please go to the bathroom and check if my sister is fine." She ordered to one of the guards that was still on the door, watching just in case.

The guard returned in a hurry a while later: "Your Highness, your sister isn't in the bathroom, and not even in the hospital!"

"What?!" Celestia stood up a bit, worried.

Suddenly, another guard came galloping too: "Your Highness, miss Twilight has just arrived carrying your sister, and she looks pretty beaten up!"

"What?!!" Celestia jumped from the bed.

"Be careful, Your Highness! You're still in recovery!" Pinkie warned her, very concerned.

Paying no attention to her ponyguard, Celestia galloped to the hospital's entrace, finding Twilight and Rainbow Dash there, getting interrogated by Shining Armor.

"Brother, I'm telling you that she attacked me first! She was rambling about some stupid duel or something!" Was explaining the lavender unicorn.

"Twilight Sparkle! What's the meaning of this?!!" Almost roared Celestia, enraged, when she found out how bad Luna looked like.

"Your Highness, likewise I was explaining to my incredulos brother, your lovely and obvioulsy swellhead sister, called me to a secret meeting of some sort, and there she attacked me!" Calmly explained Twilight, putting a hoof in her chest, trying to not to exite the tempers.

"She attacked you?! Then, why aren't you hurt?! Not even a scratch!" Celestia inquired, doubtful.

"Ow, I think that's the result of my latest experiment, so I think that's proof enough that it works!" Happily raised a hoof Twilight, full of herself.

"And that's all you care about?! Your stupids experiments?!!" Angrily roared Celestia. "Look how you left my sister!! It looks like a giant had stepped on her!!"

Rainbow Dash quickly came on her friend's defence: "It wasn't a giant! It was a huge hail and lightning storm! It even woke me up, and I'm a awesome sleeper!"

Twilight slowly looked to the cyan pegasi, shrugging an eye and slowly shaking her head: "Dashie... What side are you?"

Rarity come closer to Celestia and whispered to her: "Your Highness, just to the record, Twilight is behaving strangely lately. Fluttershy told me that she came yesterday, all covered in bandages, asking if she still had skin... She thought at first that she was an imposter..."

Twilight hoofslapped her face: Damnation! Fluttershy told her that she was gonna keep her mouth shut!

Now, all the ponies where looking suspiciously to Twilight. Then, Celestia asked again: "Twilight Sparkle, you said that my sister called you to a secret meeting. How did she do that, exactly?"

"Well, she sent me a message and..." Twilight stopped short, realizing what was the next logic question: 'Where is the message?'

"And where is that message, Twilight Sparkle?" Sternly asked Celestia.

"I... I burned it..." Confessed Twilight, embarrassed.

"So, you burned it..." Celestia repeated, shrugging the eyes.

Twilight opened the eyes and the muzzle wide, scared, realizing how bad this misunderstanding could get, if she don't stop it on time:

"But Spike saw it! He can give credit of what I'm talking about!" She rapidly waved her hoof.

"Yeah?! Like the time he told me that you and your friends hated me, and doesn't wanted to know about my parties again?!" Angrily replied Pinkie.

"That was because we wanted to give you a surprise in your birthday!" Explained Twilight, deeeply blushing.

"Minute surprise! I almost commit suicide! You know?! If Shinny doesn't happens to arrive at that moment, I wouldn't be here right now!"

"Sorry, Pinkieeeee, I'm sorryyyy, forgive me pleaseee, I didn't know I was gonna hurt you so muuuuuch... Forgive me pleaseeeeee!" Cried Twilight, sitting on her haunches and covering her eyes with her forelegs.

Pinkie's face turned to a joyful one and turned around to face Celestia: "It's her." She happily assured.

"What?!" Everypony was dumbfounded.

"Of course. Only the real Twilight will remember such an event. And even if she was an imposter who could know about it, only the real Twilight will react like this." The pink mare explained, pointing the unicorn with a foreleg.

Celestia backed off her head a bit, astounded by the simplicity, but yet geniality, of Pinkie's lie detection.

"Ow... That was... Wait a sec... Did you almost commit suicide?"

Pinkie deeply blushed: "Come on, Your Highness. I was just teasing Twilight, you know?" She smiled nonchalantly, swinging her tail.

Twilight sharpened the eyes, pondering if hugging or killing Pinkie.

Suddenly, another guard came galloping, this time to Shining Armor:

"Captain, the prisoner has escap...!" And he stopped talking, when he saw Celestia there too.

"A prisoner has escaped? One of the gryphoons?" Asked Celestia. "Weren't they all already moved to a high security prison?"

"Yes... t-they were..." Shining Armor stuttered a bit.

Celestia raised a brow: "Captain, I have the feeling that you're hidding something from me. Come on, speak it out."

Shining Armor looked to the sides a couple of times, and spoke: "You have no need to worry, Your Highness. All you need to think about is on your full recovering." He forced a smile.

Celestia disdainfully looked to a side, putting a hoof under her muzzle. "I've wondering if I have truly need of two royal guard captains. It looks like that Storm Chaser is good enough by himself..."

"Alright, alright!" Shining Armor raised a hoof, scared, realizing what that means. "This is another prisoner, an assassin!"

"An assassin?! In my kingdom?!!" Celestia put both forelegs on her head, shocked. "Oh no! Did he... killed anypony?!" She asked later, terrified.

"Unfortunately, yes, Your Highness. She murdered one nurse, and if it isn't because miss Pie caught her, she'd probably had you killed too."

"But why didn't anypony told me anything about this?!" Exclaimed Celestia, shocked. Then, she closed her eyes, raised the head a bit and put a foreleg in her forehead, grieved. "Holy heavens, the rascal is right, I should make some MAJOR changes on my security measures." Then she put the hoof back on the ground and sat on her haunches, and asked with ragged voice, swinging her forelegs with fury: "When this happened?! When I was still unconscious?!"

"Yes, Your Highness, just after Cadance arrived with reinforcements, so we suspect that she was imponiating one of the royal guards of Canterlot."

Celestia stopped her furious bucking, and fixedly looked to her royal guard captain: "Wait a sec. Imponiating? Like an... imposter?"

"Yes, Your Highness. She seems to be very good at shapeshifting. Miss Dash by herself caught her turning from a pegasi to an unicorn."

"Yes, she did that. I saw a strange green flash behind a curtain and that warned me." Confirmed Rainbow Dash.

"And when I was fighting her, a freaky twisted black horn grew and shrunk on her head!" Added Pinkie Pie.

"And one of the guards was under a powerful hypnotic spell. I had quite a hard time removing it." Also explained Twilight.

With every explanation, Celestia's fear was growing bigger and bigger: All the hints pointed to a... changeling! But that damned race wasn't extinguished already?! And getting killed wasn't what was scaring her. She had dealt with changelings and death before. It was... her... NIGHTMARE!! It was just like a... premonition!

Her eyes went up, as she was imagining the worst of scenarios, where she had been rendered disabled and defenseless, with a magic dampening ring on her horn, and her four legs spreaded and tied, as well as her wings, and a degenerate changeling stallion were putting his dirty and disgusting forelegs in her flanks, while evily saying: "Now, let's put some little changelings inside you. Shall we?" And an evil laughter right after that.

Celestia shooked her head. NO! Not raped again!! ANYTHING BUT BEING RAPED AGAIN!!! Then, she looked around, sweating cold and panting. As far as she knew, changelings always infiltrated in groups. It could be anypony!

"Your Highness. Are you alright?" Asked Shining Armor, coming closer, concerned.

"No! Stay away from me! Stay away from meeeeee!!" Celestia bucked back, freaking out, and, seeing no other exit, she shot a light beam to the hospital's walls, opening a huge hole, and escaped through it.

"Your Highness, nooooo, waaaaaait!" Exclaimed most ponies, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash, along with almost all of the pegasi royal guards, darted behind her.

Pinkie's tail twitched, and she desperately galloped after them: "Twilight, Dashie, nooooo!! Don't go after her, don't go after her! Something awful is gonna HAPPEEEEEEEN!!!" She screamed, scared too.

Shining Armor looked back, about to go for Princess Cadance, when he noted a royal guard pegasi that haven't taken the air. He had an awfully familiar expression. Shining Armor walked to him: "Guard. Weren't you watching Princess Cadance?"

"Yes, I was, but she left, and I was dismissed." The guard said, with the tongue out, with a dumb voice.

"What?! She left?!! To where?!!" Asked Shining Armor, worried.

"I don't know. Canterlot?" Answered the stallion with the same dumbness.

Shining Armor lit his horn, realizing that the stallion was under an hypnotic spell too. Worried, he turned to the guards:

"Guards, quick, we have to get to Canterlot! Princess Cadance is in danger!"

"But she can't fly? We'll never catch her!" Protested the sergeant, as all the guards that remained were unicorns.

"Don't worry, she's not a great flyer, so she'll have to rest two or three times before getting there! Come on, we might still have time, move!"

Then he galloped to Pinkie, who was mourning, sorrowful: "If I just could fly..." and told her:

"Pinkie, my love! I have to go! Keep an eye on Luna for us. Will you?" And they both gave a quick kiss, and the stallion unicorn left with his troops.

Using a combination of teleporting and speeding up spells, Celestia had already put a good distance between her pursuers and herself. But not even her could rely on magic all the time, and when she ran out of it, Rainbow Dash started to getting closer. Celestia looked back, horrified, as she could see the cyan pegasi to come closer and closer everytime.

Desperate, and not seeing any other solution, Celestia gathered the last of her magic, and when Rainbow Dash was about to get her, she cast her huge lighting spear and stroke the cyan pegasi.

"DASHIE, NOOOOOOO!!" Screamed Twilight on her flying cloud, putting both forelegs in her head, while she saw, horrified, how Rainbow Dash were falling to the ground, leaving a trailing jet of blood.

Without hesitation, Twilight darted after the falling body of her unconscious friend, catching her in another flying cloud before she hit the ground. The rest of the pegasis had already flown away, continuing on their useless pursue, leaving Twilight alone to attend her badly injured friend. She tried to heal her with some conventional spells, but it didn't work, as them, like any regular healing spell, needed the target's ability to regeneration.

Twilight lit her horn to check on her friend's vitals, realizing with horror, that they were going down. Fast. Her life was slipping right between her hooves, and there was nothing that she could do. Tears started to fell from her eyes. She pondered her options: Her coltfriend was in Cloudsdale, too far to get there, she wouldn't get there on time, not to mention that moving Rainbow Dash will surely haste her death. What can she do? What...?

Her eyes opened wide, and quickly turning her head to her sidebags, she took out the Life-force spellbook. She looked to the book, lit by the moonlight, thus giving it an even more gloomy look. She knows what that means: A life in exchange of another. Twilight clenched her tearful eyes, as she was about to lose everything. She sadly looked to the moon, while mourning: "Sorry, my love. I only hope that you find another marefriend, who can love you as much as I do..."

And sobbing, she opened the book in the required page, and her horn lit on with a purple glow, while the book fell to the ground...

I was shocked when Celestia arrived to Cloudsdale that morning, or the morning arrived when she did. Not sure in what order. She galloped to me and hugged me, all sweated and panting: "Rascal! Please, protect me! Please!!"

"Protect you? From who?" I asked, dumbfounded, looking around, as I couldn't spot any threats.

"From the rapists." She whispered in my ear. "They're everywhere, stalking me, waiting to catch me off guard to... rape me..." She whispered again with sobbing voice, hugging me even tighter.

Suddenly, a stallion wearing a worker's cask came flying: "Director, we have a doubt about... Your Highness! What an honor!"

"Ahhhhhh!! He's one of them, he's one of them. Quick, get rid of hiiiiim!" Screamed Celestia, frightened to death, pointing the shocked stallion with a trembling foreleg.

"Cellie! What're you talking about?!" I replied, concerned about her strange behavior.

"Didn't you heard?! He called you 'Director'! That's not your name! He's one of them!"

"I told them to call me 'Director'! Everypony here does!" I informed her.

"Ow. You should've told me that!" Angrily replied Celestia.

"How, if you're just arrived?" I replied back.

"Ow... You're right. Sorry."

"Alright. What was all that about the rapists?" I asked her in lower voice.

"I was flying here to visit you, and a huge swarm of changelings appeared from nowhere, and almost got me! Luckily, I took out my lightning spear, and took down their vanguard, and barely could lose them. Please, protect me, rascal! You're my only hope!" She told me with sobbing voice and tearful eyes. She looked so helplessly cute!

I looked down, concerned: First, a gryphoon attack, and now, a changeling attack? Yep, the things are starting to get dangerous. I'll better keep Cellie by my side. Also, I got another piece to my puzzle, as it looks like that it was a damned changeling degenerate who raped Cellie at first instance. Curious, I thought it was a gryphoon...

"OK, Cellie, then I guess I should inform you of what I'm doing here. While you were out, Twilight and me agreed to upgrade your army's weaponry, so I'm using Cloudsdale's cloud factory to create firearms, and the snowflake one, to create the ammunition. It was relatively easy, all what I actually needed was a change of the molds, and with the technical part, it turns that we already had an expert in explosives with us." I pointed to Trixie, who was visibly flattered.

"Yes, Your Highness. That's me, aaaaaaall an expert." She pointed herself, with a wide smile. "Who'd say that I'll be so important!" She bragged.

"And so pretentious." Mocked Celestia, and we all three laughed.

Suddenly, Trixie started to slowly sink in the cloud: "Hey... friend... could you... could you cast that cloud walking spell on me again? I think that mine is dissipating already..." She asked, blushing, with an apologetic smile.

"What's so, Trixie? It was about time you had dominated that spell already. It's not so complicated." I scolded her with a smirk.

"Come on, friend, I haven't had time! I had to concentrate on... Could you hurry up, please?! I'm FAAAAAAAALLIIIIING!!" She screamed, sinking up to the neck.

I quickly cast the spell on her again, and pulled her up back to the cloud's surface.

"Why did you always do the same thing to me, huh?! Waiting until I'm almost in free fall!" Trixie angrily protested, sweating cold and panting.

"Because you have to dominate that spell, Trix. I can't be always near you to save your flank. You know?"

"You could had come out with a better way to remind me, you know?!" Trixie angrily protested again, getting back to work.

Celestia looked me with an angry stare: "You're terrible..." Then, her expression changed to a lewdly one. "But I love you to be like that..." She smiled and suggestively blinked several times.

I scrunched the mouth. "Alright, Cellie, let me get you to some royal-like room. You should be tired from your trip."

I walked with her until I found a spot not too far and not too close, and there I started to form a new cloudhouse for Celestia. She took some magic-regaining potion and quickly put herself to help me out, while she was rubbing her body against mine, and petting me with her wings with tenderness, until that pissed me off:

"Alright Cellie. What's up with you?" I angrily blurted, putting both fists in my waist.

"What? You don't like to be loved? I don't think Twilight to be capable of such tenderness, does she?" She replied, with mellow voice.

I looked up, annoyed. "Come on, Cellie. I thought we had got past this. And if my marefriend catch us so 'tangled', she'll leave me sterile."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Celestia laughed. "She'll dare! I'll give her an one way trip to the moon first!"

I looked to Celestia, concerned. She was worring me. "Cellie... what?! You're kidding, right?!"

Celestia walked in front of me, looking at me with a predatory stare and relicking: "I'll do whatever it takes to protect my stud!"

That's it. Now she was freaking me out: "Cellie...? Are you alright?"

"I never was better off." She said with a raptured voice, starting to walking towards me.

"Cellie, could you... stop it? You're scaring me." I started to slowly walk backwards.

"Why should I stop? I'm the ruler of Equestria. I'm the sun goddess. Why can't I have what I want?" She asked, smirking.

"And what...? (gulp) what's that you want?" I asked her, even I feared to already know the answer.

"'And what's that you want?'" She mocked, tilting her head while speaking. "I want you, silly. I want you inside me... filling me with your seed... warming me with your body... handling me with your... hands." Celestia continued with her cute sexual harassment, walking toward me, until she make a cloud wall to appear behind me, impeding me to keep walking back. Damn, dude. This is bad.

Gently, but firmly, I pushed her back: "No, Cellie. I'm engaged with Twilight. Snap out from this horseshit already."

Celestia looked me with quivering and tearful eyes: "Then... then... you don't... love me...?" She asked with sobbing voice, trembling, sitting on her haunches and putting a hoof in her chest, hyperventilating.

"No, Cellie. I DON'T LOVE YOU." I told her, denying with my finger, trying to sound secure, but without raising the voice, to not to hurt her.

However, my words stroke Celestia like a punch in her jaw, and she, raising her head and putting a hoof on her forehead, with a pained grimace, fell backwards, fainted, and her cloud walking spell disappeared, and she fell to the vacuum, with a short dying moan.

Luckily, I was close enough, so I had spare time to catch her in mid air. Come to think, I haven't fully carried her before. She was surprisingly light, given her size. Compared with an earthling counterpart, as Twilight weighed like the teeneager she is, Celestia weighed like a grown-up slender woman. And now that she was fully supported by my hands, I had a more accurate feeling of her coat, which was so soft, that it felt like skin. I almost had forgotten how a woman's skin felt, and boy, this was the closest one I ever had on Equestria. That reminded those days, among people, among my kind, and a nostalgic wave drove me into some sort of daydreaming.

After all that cascade of sensations, I couldn't help but stare to the gorgeous unconscious alicorn mare I had on my arms: Oh, boy, she looked so cutely helpless and vulnerable, with her muzzle half opened and her closed eyes still pouring tears, which were glimmering with the reflection of the sunlight, and falling along with the breeze, like shooting stars! And her multicolored mane, sagging and limply swaying with the wind, with a grace and a beauty that simply bedazzled me! It was like an angel coming from the heavens, and the clouds all around only were making that impression even stronger!

Suddenly, I couldn't gave credit to my eyes, as a brightly holy ring appeared over her head. That was simply too much to bear, and I momentarily lost all capacity to reason. When I regained my thinking power, I found myself... kissing her. In the muzzle...!

With a gasp, I quickly backed my head off, breaking the kiss. Damn! I shouldn't had done that!

Celestia smiled and gave a romantic sigh of relief, and slowly opened the eyes, regaining conciousness: "Rascal... my love... I knew it... I knew you loved me.." Then, she slowly reached me with trembling forelegs and hugged me: "I love you... I love you... I can't live without you, my beloved rascaaaaaal..." She sobbed, while our hearts started to beat as one. Again.

Oh boy... this is bad...

The first rays of the sun woke up Rainbow Dash. She looked around and tried to move, but she was unable to. Then, she looked to Twilight, who was sitting on her haunches in front of her, with her eyes closed, with a defeated expression.

"Twi...? Twilight?" Meekly asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight seemed to react to her voice, moving her head around, and raising a foreleg, but without opening the eyes: "Dashie? Where are you? I can't see you... I can't see anything at all... I'm blind!" She facehoofed, horrified.

"I'm here, in front of you. What happened?"

"Celestia hurt you, very badly. Don't you remember?"

"What?! Her?! No way! She wouldn't..." Rainbow Dash stopped short speaking, as she made a recollection of what had happened.

"Oh, Dashie! You're alright, thanks to Celest... wait, this was actually a FAULT of Celestia!" Twilight realized, turning her head to a side, putting a hoof under her muzzle. Then, she rectified the statement: "Dashie, thanks to God you're alright! How do you feel?"

Rainbow Dash looked to herself: "Actually, I don't feel any good. I'm so cold, and I can't feel my legs..."

"And I can't feel my legs either... and I'm so cold too..." Said mournfully Twilight. "Dashie, I think we were both dead..."

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes wide: "What?! No! I can't be dead! I have to be a wonderbolt! And I'm speaking with you...!"

"Dashie... Can you move?" Asked Twilight with sobbing voice.

Rainbow Dash tried to, and she couldn't: "Noooo... I caaaaan't... and I'm so cooooold." She said with sobbing voice too.

"And I'm so cold either... and I can't see... How could I be so stuuuupiiiid? I cast a deadly spell without practicing befooooore, and now I've killed us boooooth!" Cried Twilight.

Both mares started to cry, saying at the same time: "We're deaaaaaaaad!"

"Twilight! Dashie! Where are you?!" Pinkie's voice could be heard.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash stopped crying and started to call her: "Pinkieeee! Pinkieeee! We're here! We're here!" And they started to laugh: "We're not deaaaaaad! Hoorray!"

Suddenly, Pinkie arrived there... by flying! Rainbow Dash looked to her, doubtfully. Pinkie flying? Maybe she was dead, after all.

"Friends! You're alright, thanks to Celestia! But what are you doing over that ice block? Come on, hop down, you're gonna catch a cold!"

"Huh, an ice block? When I cast it...?" Twilight rubbed her forelegs over the icy surface, while Pinkie was taking Rainbow Dash out from the ice.

Right after that, Pinkie helped the chilled to the bone unicorn to get to the ground: "Twilight, why do you have your eyes closed?"

"I rendered myself blind, Pinkie. I cast a spell which I wasn't ready for." Mournfully said Twilight.

"Yeah? I think you're overreacting." Joyfully assured Pinkie, cleaning the frozen tears from Twilight's eyelids, opening one first, and the other one later. "See?"

Twilight blinked two or three times, realizing that she could still see. "Ow..." Then, she turned her head to a side, annoyed. "Damnation! I should had checked first!"

Rainbow Dash skeptically looked to Pinkie: "Pinkie. How's that you can fly now?"

"Ow! Is that I was wondering how could I catch you, when I came out with this!" Pinkie explained, surrounding herself with levitating earth clods, and using four of them to put her hooves over, and thus ending about a foot above the ground. "And then, the rest is easy. Look!" And she gave some turns, flying all around the place. "Wooooooo! Where's Pinkie Pieeeeee?!"

Rainbow Dash and Twilight only could turn their heads around, looking dumbfounded to Pinkie's inexplicably flying ability. Another inexplicably feature for an inexplicably mare.

Twilight shooked her head, pointing the pink mare with a foreleg: "But that... it's not scientifically possible!"

"No, Cellie! I can't just ditch Twilight like an old piece of cloth! Not after all what we had been through!" I was angrily arguing with Celestia, trying to convince her to snap out from her whim. Or at least I hoped it was a whim.

"But if I told you that I love youuuu! Why don't you believe meeee?!" Celestia was sitting on her haunches, pouring herself in tears. "What do you want me to do to prove my loooove?! To kill myseeeeelf?! I'll kill myself!" She mourned, casting a smaller version of her lightning spear and pointing it against her chest, closing her tearful eyes and raising her head a bit, with an affected expression.

"No, Cellie, no! Damn it!" I quickly grabbed her horn, casting a magic dispelling glove and thus dispelling the spear. "I don't want you to hurt yourself!"

"Then, why are you making me to suffer like thi-i-i-i-is?! Why can't you love mee-e-e-e?!" She protested with crying voice, crossing her forelegs over her chest, and shooking her head in despair.

"Because this is wrong! You had your chance and you blew it! Or don't you remember?!" I pointed her.

Celestia raised her forelegs to her face and started to cry: "It wasn't my faaaaault! It was Cadaaaaance's! She's a shameless whorse, who plays with other ponies feeeeeeeliiiiings!"

That pissed me off. It was breaking down all the respect I had for her, as the purity personified, or, in this case, ponified: "That's enough, Cellie! Or do you want me to spank your flank like I did with Cadance, huh?" I threatened her, with my fists in the waist.

Celestia stopped crying, and looked to me, blushing. Then, she stood on her four legs and turned around, giving her flanks to me: "Go ahead. Spank. Hit! Make a mess of me!! If that's what it tooks to make me yours, then so be it!"

I cast a surrounding acoustic-proof cloud, and direfully raised my finger: "This is gonna hurt, Cellie. Don't say later that I didn't warned you."

"Do it!" Exclaimed Celestia, full of confidence.

And I spanked her flank. Several times and hard. But, despite how hard I hit, she didn't withdraw, and the only sounds I could get from her was just constrained mournings and neighings. Finally, I gave up, and she looked to me, deeply blushing and panting: "See, my beloved rascal? No matter how hard you hit, you will never break my resolve!" She assured with tired but determined voice.

Then, she turned around to face me and dropped to my feet: "Oh, my beloved rascal! I have proven that I am worthy of your love! Please, allow me to be your queen! I will make you the happiest and proudest king ever on Equestria! Be my king, I beg you!" She begged, sinking her head between my legs.

I sighed and looked down in defeat. Oh boy... This is bad... No, is not bad, it's a disaster...

"Then, are we getting back to Ponyville?" Asked Pinkie to Twilight, after the unicorn finished making sure that Rainbow Dash's life wasn't at risk.

"No, actually, I'm taking Dashie to Cloudsdale. We're closer, and I want to visit my coltfriend. I have some sort of bad feeling, not sure why." Explained Twilight, a bit worried.

"Well, then I'm getting back. I was supposed to keep an eye on Luna. I'm so informal!" Pinkie giggled, putting a hoof in front of her muzzle. "But I'm getting good vibes from her, so I guess it's OK."

"Ow. Are you expanding your Pinkie Sense's capabilities too?" Joyfully asked Twilight.

"Oh, girl. I'm EXPANDING a lot of things lately, if you know what I mean." Pinkie mischievously winked.

That comment left Twilight with her muzzle scrunched: "No... I actually don't know what you mean... Well, that doesn't matters. By the way, I'm a bit worried about that assassin at loose, so, please make sure that the food and drink given to Luna are safe. I think I still have a spare on my freezer. Here, take the key of my house. And report me via Spike from any strange thing happening in town! Anything at all! Understood?"

"Oki doki loki! See ya!" Pinkie giggled, and casting her earthly flying spell, or whatever that was, flown away, leaving Twilight wondering what she could have meant with 'expanding things'.

Then, realizing that it probably was some sillyness, she turned around to Rainbow Dash: "Well, Dashie, time to go to the hospital."

"What?! But if I was just released!"

"No complaints. Hop on." Commanded Twilight, casting a second flying cloud.

When Twilight arrived to Cloudsdale, Celestia was announcing to the other ponies her marriage with me. You can imagine the scene:

"What?! But what's the meaning of this?!!" Twilight blurted, shocked, galloping to us, and quickly turning back to take Rainbow Dash to the hospital, and then galloping back to us.

"Your Highness!! But what are you doiiiiiing?!!" She inquired, with fury and fear, and ragged voice.

"Exactly as you heard, Twilight Sparkle. I hereby decreed that the rascal will break his engagement with you and now we're getting married soon." Explained Celestia with a royal tone, putting a hoof in her chest. "Pay your respects to the new King of Equestria, young unicorn!" She pointed me with a foreleg.

"What?!! Love!! She's not Celestia! She's the imposter!" Twilight desperately waved a hoof.

I scratched the back of my head: "Humm... Lo... I mean, Twilight, I'm pretty sure that she's Celestia."

"What?!! But aren't you hearing what she's saying?!! She's trying to tear us apart! Celestia will never do that!" She argumented with tearful eyes and sobbing voice. She even lit her horn, to make sure I wasn't under any enchantment: "She's deceiving you! You can't trust what she's sayiiiiing!"

"Twilight, there's a life-force detection spell..."

"Yeah, and so what?!" She angrily inquired.

"That can be used to say if a pony is herself. Every life force is unique to the pony, like a fingerprint."

"A finger-what?!" Angrily blurted Twilight.

I faceslapped: Ponies haven't fingers, so she didn't get the point.

"Enough with this nonsense!" Celestia ordered with her royal tone. "Twilight Sparkle, I order you to back off and return to Ponyville, and wait there for further instruct...!"

"I'm not going anywhere!!" Twilight screamed, defiant, closing her eyes. "I won't allow you to take my coltfriend!! Not now, and not ever!"

"Are you defying me, Twilight Sparkle?! How dare you?! Don't forget who you are! I made you who you are, and I can't undo it if I see fit!"

"And what do you mean with that?! That you'll disown me?! That you'll strip me from your favors as your protégé?!! Do you think that I care anything about it?!! Think again!!" Twilight bravely defied her.

Celestia backed her head off a bit: "Twilight Sparkle, show respect to your liege, or I'll be forced to banish you from Equestria!"

All the ponies gasped by that statement, and I scrunched my mouth: This only could get worse. But, against my best judgement, which was screaming to me to say: 'Go away, Twilight.' I decided to wait to see how far this could get, before it becomes unavoidable to interfere. Seeing two powerful girls, or ponies, fighting for me, was quite of awesome, anyway.

"Make me!" Defied Twilight.

Celestia trembled of anger, but she constrained herself: "Twilight Sparkle, don't make me do this! I have the right to love! I've kept this ungrateful world living for the past five thousands of years, without asking nothing in exchange! I think I've earned my right to love! I deserve it, and I won't allow a naughty filly that was born yesterday, to take it from me!"

That made Twilight to back off. She looked to Celestia with despair, and then to me. Later, she lowered the head, crying, and closing the eyes, she turned around and started to slowly walk away. Wow, that was... heartbreaking.

I lowered my head too: That was it. My history with Twilight has arrived to an unhappy end. Long live the queen.

"Wait a darn minute there!" Rainbow Dash voice was heard, and all the ponies looked to the cyan pegasi, who was walking, limping, toward us: "I want you to explain me... Why did you tried to kill me?!" She accused Celestia with a hoof.

"Dashie, your wounds! You're not still recovered! Please, go back to the hospital, you could die if...!" Twilight galloped to her, concerned.

"That's enough, Twilight! I can't allow this murderous mare, who calls herself the righteous one, to take the most important thing that my friend has! It's not fair!" Rainbow Dash interrupted her, giving token of a loyalty beyond words.

I looked to Celestia, shocked: "You tried to kill Dashie?! Cellie, how could you?!!"

Celestia nervously looked to me, and around, and to Twilight, and to Rainbow Dash: "I... I was just following your advice! 'Shoot first and ask later', wasn't it?"

I faceslapped: "That's only with unknown folks, Cellie! You can't 'Shoot first and ask later' to your own subjects!"

"But I didn't know if she was my subject! She could have been a changeling!"

"But she wasn't!"

Celestia shooked the head, confused: "You're confusing me!"

"Exactly, you're confused, and that's why you're acting like this! Snap out from this horseshit, I'm telling you!" I demanded.

Twilight looked to me, and a glitter of hope sparkled on her eyes.

Celestia looked down, and turned to Twilight: "Sorry, my faithful student. I think that I know what's happening to me. I'm having some horrible nightmares, and they're getting the best of me..."

Twilight smiled, relieved: "Then, that means...?" She hopefully asked, with tearful eyes.

"That means that I'm overreacting. But that doesn't change the fact that you defied me, Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia said with a rather angry tone.

The smile dissapeared from Twilight's face: "Your Highness...? What...? What's gonna happen with me?" She asked, scared.

"Given the current events, and given that I'm still this kingdom's liege, I demand some sort of compensation!"

Twilight became pale, and started to sweat cold: "What kind of... compensation?" She asked, afraid of hearing the answer of her question. What could Celestia be wanting as a compensation? Imprisonment? Banished to the Tartarus?! To the moon?!! NO!!! She'll never be with her beloved one again! Death will be better! Please, ask her for commiting suicide, and she'll gladly do it best!

Twilight raised her head, put a hoof in her chest, closing the eyes and hyperventilating, scared to death, as she was waiting to hear nothing but the worst.

"So, I'm challenging you to a duel! The winner keeps the stallion!" Announced Celestia.

Twilight shooked the head, surprised: "What?! A duel?! Another one?!"

"That's right! And nopony dare to interfere! I have to teach my student a lesson!" Celestia ordered, swinging horizontally a foreleg. Then, she put her head closer to Twilight: "Or are you afraid? You can forfeit if you want to. Nopony will scold you for that." She suggested with a smile, turning the head away from the unicorn, but still looking at her.

Twilight looked to me, concerned, and I smiled and told her: "Don't worry, love. It's not showing off if you can back it up."

Twilight shrugged her eyes: "And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked, slowly shooking her head, dumbfounded.

I made an annoyed gesture: "That means: 'Go for it', love! Or are you unwilling to fight for our love?!"

Twilight raised her eyebrows, getting it at last: "Ow! Sure!" Then, she looked to Celestia again: "Challenge accepted, Your Highness! I hope you'll be ready to lose!" She added with a smirk and sharpened eyes.

Celestia smirked too, and they both flown to some distance away from Cloudsdale, so the city could be safe, as the duel could become big and nasty very quickly.

"Any rules, Your Highness?" Asked Twilight.

"Just fight with honor." Answered Celestia.

"You can bet I will." Confirmed Twilight.

Rainbow Dash was trembling: "Oh, sweet Celestia! I should had kept my muzzle shut!" She commented, apologetically.

I smiled again and told her: "Don't worry, Dash. Celestia is just doing that what any good teacher will do."

Rainbow Dash looked at me with wonderment: "What? Do you mean, like a test?"

I nodded. "That's right." Then, I looked to the two mares in the distance. "Twilight was complaining that she wasn't ready to fulfill her destiny, so Celestia is gonna make sure she will be."

Rainbow Dash looked to me with surprise: "Destiny? What destiny?"

I formed a bench so we both could sit, and finally told her: "You'll find out when the time is right."

"But I want to find out right now!"

"Shut up and let me see the battle!" I swung my arm, upset.

Once they were far enough from Cloudsdale, Both mares stood one in front of the other. In one side, was standing an amazing inteligence and the strenght and the vigor of the youth. In the other, the experience of thousands of years and hundreds of battles.

Celestia cast a smaller version of her lightning spear, about the size of a regular spear used by the royal guards, just a bit longer. Twilight, on her side, cast three iceballs of about her own size, and kept them levitating and orbiting around her.

Celestia smiled: "So, it looks like you're the counter-attack type, huh?" And with that comment, she launched herself to attack Twilight!

Twilight tried to stop and inmobilize Celestia with her iceballs: she doesn't wanted to hurt her, but Celestia, showing a great spearsmanship, managed to break the ice balls and forced Twilight to teleport to safety, above of another flying cloud!

"Lesson number one: The best defence is a good offence!" Explained Celestia, and then, she pointed to Twilight. "Guess you should check that cheek."

Twilight rubbed her cheek, finding out that she was bleeding. 'What?! Celestia was up to this?!!' Enraged, Twilight opted for knocking her down, like she did with Luna, by casting the locking on spell with her horn, a hail storm with a forehoof, and a lightning storm with the other. She could have used the four hooves, but she didn't.

But, instead the result she was expecting, Celestia raised her spear and exclaimed: "Lightning Bind!" and the spear absorbed the lightnings, and to protect herself from the hailstorm at the same time, she exclaimed "Soul Mirror!" driving the hailstorm back to Twilight, who had to dispel her attack, and when the ice rain stopped, she used her overcharged spear to shot a gigantic lightning to Twilight, who, despite of raising her shield, ended all bristled and with little electric arcs appearing on her coat!

"Lesson number two: Use your opponent's strength against them!" Explained Celestia, twilrling her spear.

Then, she started to quickly teleport around Twilight, attacking her with lightspeed spear lunges, giving her almost no time to cover herself with her magic shield or with protective ice walls. Twilight tried to create some sort of safe points, teleporting and leaving a flying cloud in the spot, but Celestia thought ahead that, and started to put the clouds closer, until Twilight found herself with her vision covered by her own clouds!

Then, coming from inside one of the clouds, Celestia appeared like a lightning from behind Twilight, and pushed her some meters down, threatening her with her spear in Twilight's backneck, both mares standing in a flying cloud!

"And lesson number three: It's not about quantity and size, but precision and power! Class dismiss!"

I put both hands in my head: Twilight... lost! Oh God! My last hope is gone!

Twilight, who had been forced to bent on her four legs, sadly looked to Celestia: "Great battle, Your Highness. I give up..."

Celestia raised her spear and put it on her loin, and smiled: "What are you saying, my faithful student? I only won because you were holding back. Come on, get serious and give me a challenge this time."

Twilight looked at her, dumbfounded: "Your Highness... I can't get serious with you. What would happen... if I come to hurt you too badly?"

Celestia smiled again: "Twilight, you can't expect to win a duel thinking like that. Just fight me like you did with Luna. I'm pretty sure you didn't hold back with her."

"But that's different!" Twilight protested.

"Different? In what is different? I'm trying to take your coltfriend from you too. Are you going to give him to me, nice and easy?"

"NO!!" Denied Twilight, concerned.

"Then give me a proper fight, young filly. I know you can."

"I caaaan't!" Protested Twilight, with sobbing voice.

Celestia dispelled the spear and sighed, dissapointed: "Well, then so be it. Now, excuse me, young unicorn, but the rascal and me have a royal wedding to attend."

"NOOOO!!" Twilight protested, crying and scared, turning to face Celestia, raising her both forelegs in front of her.

"Ow! Are you ready to fight, then?!" Celestia smiled again, hopeful.

"Noprft...!" Twilight stopped short speaking. "Your Highness!! Why are you doing this to me?!! Why are you forcing me to do something that I don't want to?!!" She protested with tearful eyes and sobbing voice, swinging her forelegs.

"I had to do that too, hundreds of times in my life, Twilight. But I did them anyway, because they were the right thing to do, even if it hurts like a Tartarus. Like that time that you renounced to the rascal in my behalf. It's the same thing right now." Explained Celestia.

"It's not the same thing!" Replied Twilight. "Your sister and you are the only ones that can make the sun and moon to rise! All Equus will die if you both die! All my family, all my friends! I can't allow that!"

"That's... not entirely true." Assured Celestia.

"What?" Asked Twilight, dumbfounded.

"Believe me, my faithful student. That's not a hitch anymore, if that's what you're afraid of. I've made all the needed arrangements already, in the case that I..."

"NOOOO!!" Twilight raised her forelegs again, scared to death. "Your Highness, you can't be serious! You can't take your own life! How are you gonna...?!"

"That's enough, Twilight Sparkle! I'm not going to take my own life! It's just a backup resort, if the worst come to happen!!" Celestia interrupted her.

"You can't fool me, Your Highness! I know already how this 'falling in love' stuff works!" Twilight still insisted. "Now I understand why you remained single all this millennia!"

Celestia's face became somber: "Yes, I knew you'll found out, sooner or later. That was the main cause of death of ponies in the ancient times. You know? And it was specially bad with us alicorns."

Twilight looked to her, concerned: "Then... that's why there are so few of them. Isn't?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes. That's why I tried to create an utopic kingdom, where everything was happiness and friendship. But that didn't solved the problem. Only made it worse. Nowaday, ponies are raised weak, impressionable, manipulable. Anyone with an evil intention could make a damage beyond any description. The recent events had opened my eyes and shown me that awful truth. But I'm trying to end with such hideous prospect, starting now. And you're my best hope to correct my mistakes."

Twilight stood in her four legs, even more dumbfounded: "Me...? How...? Why...?"

"Because you were brave enough to defy me, and for the right reasons. Not like my sister, who did that driven by jealousy. So, that's why is so important for us to finish this duel, and to finish it right! No holding back!"

Twilight lowered her head, still hesitating.

Celestia laughed, looking at Twilight's face, putting a hoof in her muzzle: "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" But there was no evilness in her laughter. It was clear, pure, angelical. "Come on, Twilight! It's not the first time that I have to duel for a stallion! So, are you going to get serious or what?"

Twilight raised the head again and smiled: "You can bet I will..."