The Equestrian Monomyth - Book 2 - Complexs of Disharmony

Celestia was sadly looking to her into the big mirror in her room. Then, she looked down to her belly. With a clever combination of spells and optical tricks, she had managed to hide it until now, but soon, her bloated belly will become impossible to hide anymore. Then, there will came the questions, the suspicions, the rumors... What can she say about it? What...? And she can't have an abortion. That'll be murder! The poor foal have the right to be born! If it turns to be a foal. It perfectly could be a little gryphoon. Celestia still didn't understand how that could have happened. She never had heard of a gryphoon impregnating a pony before!

Nevertheless, she has to make a decision. The only thing that she knew for sure, is that she'll never neglect the newborn, whatever it may be. But what her subjects will think about her? She'll surely lose all the respect from them, and she'll have no other choice but to abdicate!

Well, thinking it best, that wasn't so bad. She had ruled long enough. Maybe it was time to move on, and let the nation in the hooves of the new generations. If everything turned as she had arranged to, the sun and moon movement will be automated, using the 24 hours timetable proposed by the rascal. Gone will be the times, when the days and nights had irregular duration, including harmful stoppings, backward movements and delays.

And she will finally be able to retire, and have a life like everypony else, removing that bothersome immortality curse that she has like a burden over her shoulders. She have had enough of it. She had played her part, keeping an entire planet alive, and she had earned a righteous retirement. Celestia looked to her belly and rubbed it with tenderness. Despite the traumatic event that made that new life to appear, it gave her a new perspective on her own existence. A new purpose. To have a family. A real family. Her very own family. No more fearing of her foals being taken by a predator. No more suffering seeing those she loved to pass away. No more immortality...

Celestia smiled. She wondered if Luna will agree with that too. She hadn't much like a chance to say no when she made that inmortality deal. In fact, she still haven't told her what did she do, and, preferably, she'll let it that way. Of the many things that she was regretting to have done, that was the one that she regretted the most. So, she'll rather take the secret to the grave. Luckily, it looks like Luna hasn't recalled her question, and Celestia'll happily let it that way.

Well, it looks that she had some stuff to put in order before everything ended. And one of them was getting back on good terms with Cadance. The poor filly haven't been the same after she was forcefully brought back to Canterlot. It was needed a complete battalion to reduct her this time. Oof! It seems that she's struggling even worse everytime!

So, Celestia stood on her fours, and slowly walked out of her room. From there, she took her steps up to Cadance's room, and knocked her door:

"Cadance, it's me, Tia. Let me in, please, I want to talk with you, yes?"

"No! Go away!" It was heard from inside the room.

Celestia smiled again: She wasn't going to kick the door open, so she just teleported inside the room. Cadance was there, in her bed, completely covered by a blanket.

"Come on, Cadance. We can't be like this forever. We have to talk. I'm sure that we can arrive to some sort of..." Started Celestia to talk, when suddenly, a magic dampening ring fell on her horn, and, from the bed, a green sticky goo was shot to her muzzle, impeding her to scream or even talk.

"Mmmmmmmmpfth!" Mumbled Celestia, horrified, turning around to escape, but a set of ropes wrapped her, impeding her to flee.

Celestia dropped to the floor, and there she stood, trembling and with wide opened frightened eyes. But her fear only became worse, when she saw a scary pair of green eyes looking down at her. Oh no! It was her nightmare come true!

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPFTH!!" Mumbled Celestia again, clenching her tearful eyes: Now she was going to be raped again! NO!!! Why just now when everything was finally turning out well?! WHY?!!!

But against all the horrible things she was expecting to, it was a female voice which spoke: "Scared, Your Highness? For real? The almighty Sun Goddess, scared of two or three mere changelings? Oh, I'm so dissapointed!"" She said with a mocking tone.

Celestia slowly opened her eyes, with trembling eyelids, to face Chrysalis.

"Ow! That's better, Your Highness. I'll rather do prefer to be seen while I'm speaking. That gives some sense of being listened to, you know?"

"Hmmpfth?" Asked Celestia.

"Ow! Sorry about all this, but I needed to make sure you'll listened to me before throwing all the royal guard upon us, but, if you promise to be a good girl, I'll let you speak." Said Chrysalis with a hoof in her chest.

Celestia nodded, and the changeling removed the green goo from her muzzle.

The alicorn spitted two or three times, to get rid of the goo's remains: "What do you want, changeling queen?"

"Owwww! I'm flattered! You seem to recognize royalty when you see it, don't you?" Said Chrysalis, touching her crown with a foreleg. "Well, as time is short, I'll go straight to the point. I'm here to end the ancestral enmity between Equestrians and Changelings. It has lasted too much, from my point of view, of course."

"And what's this? A ransom or what?" Asked Celestia, slowly recovering her composture.

"Exactly! Say, I'm so glad that we're getting into understanding so fast!"

"Alright, changeling queen. What are you terms?"

"What?! But what's this? Are you going to be so impolite to not even inquire for my name, Your Majesty?" Asked Chrysalis, a bit upset.

"Why that would even matter? You're going to kill me, anyway." Said Celestia with disdain.

"Oh, ha ha ha ha ha!" Evily laughed Chrysalis. "Nooo! I'm not going to kill you, Your Highness, if you agree with my terms, of course."

"Then, spit them already!" Blurted Celestia.

"Shhh! Not so loud, or the guards would hear you, and then I'll do have to kill you." Chrysalis waved a foreleg, with a 'Shut up' gesture. "I want you to organize two royal weddings, one between 'Shirring Almol' and Princess Cadance, and the other between me, at disguise, of course, with some prince of your liking."

Celestia looked the changeling mare with despise. "And I presume that you have something to bargain with, didn't you?"

"Of course! We do have the real Princess Cadance held hostage, and if you don't comply with our request, we'll return her decomposed corpse in a gift box to you."

Celestia smiled, don't buying it: "Yeah? And how are you expecting me to believe that you have her hostage? It can be another of your dirty tricks, you filthy changeling!"

Chrysalis looked to herselef, dumbfounded.

"Well, I have her crown, and her tiara and her shoes." She pointed to the items she was wearing.

"And so what? You could have had stolen them!"

"What do you want then, a leg?" Asked Chrysalis, upset. "Bring the prisoner here!"

And two Changelings stallions came from inside the wardrove, with Cadance tied and gagged. Then, Chrysalis took out her dagger and walked to Cadance, raising a leg of the alicorn:

"Sorry, princess, but your auntie wants a leg to prove you're here." She said, raising the dagger as if she was going to cut the Princess' leg.

"Mmmmmmpfth!" Mumbled Cadance, scared to death.

"NO!" Exclaimed Celestia, but she quickly backed her head off when she realized that she had raised the voice too much.

"It's something wrong in there, Your Highness?" A guard's voice was heard from outside the room.

"No no no no!" Quickly denied Celestia. "Everything is alright! Everything is alright!"

"Ah. Let us know if you need something, alright?"

"Yes, yes! I will!" Replied Celestia.

"So well? Convinced enough, Your Highness?" Mocked Chrysalis, with a triumphant smile.

"Yes. Convinced enough." Confirmed Celestia with wariness.

Once Celestia was untied and allowed to leave, Chrysalis untied and ungagged Cadance as well:

"Well played, Princess! It looked pretty convincing, even for me! I didn't know that you had it on you, honestly!" Chrysalis chuckled.

Cadance looked at her with half-lidded upset eyes: "That's enough, Chrys. I'm only doing this because I don't want your race to starve. But don't push your luck."

Chrysalis looked to her, dumbfounded, but she regained her mocking tone almost instantly: "Oh, come on, little Princess. You can't take us too serious, remember?"

Cadance's left eye twitched.

Twilight took out her surgery's gears ans washed her face with plenty of water: "Ooof! That was such an ordeal! Eh, Rares?"

"Ow! Indeed it was!" Agreed the white unicorn, washing herself as well. "I thought we're taking forever in there!"

When both mares left the hospital's restrooms, Fluttershy came trotting, very concerned for her friend:

"Twilight, Rares! How was it? Did AJ made it?" She asked with concerned tone.

"Of course! She's particularly straightforward on her innards! I thank that's consistent with her honest nature!" Twilight giggled. "Also, her blood type was easy to get, so, I'm giving her a very good prognosis so far."

"Oh, thanks to Celestia for hearing that!" Said Fluttershy, but Twilight couldn't skip a disgusted grimace. She didn't like 'thanking' to Celestia.

"Alright... humm... Twilight... could you found out something about..." And Fluttershy looked around, like what she was going to say was something awful, and whispered. "What did I told you?"

"That's right. I've conducted a quick research, and what you did look very alike to what in the ancient times where called 'The Call of the Silence'"

"'The Call of the Silence'?"

"I know that it sounds like poetry, yeah!" Twilight giggled. "But, according to my experiments, it's an ultrasonic wave, with the exact frequency to harm the gryphoon's auditive organs!"

"It's that? But...! But... how that's possible!" Fluttershy got surprised.

Twilight finished organizing the table that she has before her: "Well, it just make sense, as, on the ancient times, gryphoons were the natural predators of the pegasis. So, some of them should have developed that defense system, to protect themselves."

"But I've never heard of anypony using it before."

"That's probably because all this thousands of years of relative peace and stability, so, with no reason to use it, the ponies forgot or lost the ability. But, fortunately, it looks that you still had it, Flutters!"

"Ohhhh." Fluttershy amazed, with a hoof in her muzzle. "But, what about if I harm somepony by accident? I don't want to let my Flashie deaf while we're sleeping together!"

"Don't worry, Flutters. Ponies haven't the capacity to detect that lenght of wave. Have you heard the bats while they're flying in the night?"

"The bats...? Humm... not really. Why?"

"The bats use ultrasonic waves to fly in the darkness. Nopony can hear them, because our auditive system can't."

"Ow. Wait. Then, basically, are you telling me that I have a bat-like ability?"

Twilight facehoofed, looking pensively up: "Well... if you put it that way... then... yes, it is." She nodded.

Fluttershy gasped, horrified. "Oh no! Could I be turning into a... a vampony?!"

Twilight lowered the head and looked into Fluttershy's muzzle, shrugging the eyes: "Oh, my god! I think you're growing the fangs already!" She backed off the head, facehoofing with a fake horrified expression and a fake gasp.

"What?!" Fluttershy freaked out. "Oh no. Oh no! OH NO! Twilight! Quick! Find a wood stake and pierce my heart before is too late! Hurry up, please!" She exclaimed, sitting in her haunches and opening the fur on her chest with her forelegs.

Twilight broke out in laughter: "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Flutters, I'm teasing you! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" She waved a hoof up-down.

But her laughter was suddenly stopped by a Rarity's faceslap: "Twilight, how could you do that?! You made her cry!"

The pegasi was crying the snots out.

"Oh, sorry, Flutters, I didn't mean..." Tried to apologize Twilight, but Fluttershy turned around and galloped away, crying inconsolably.

"Well done, jerk." Rarity angrily scolded her, and left too, galloping after her friend. "Flutters, wait! Don't do any madness! Waaaaaait!"

Twilight just stood there, angrily looking down: "What I'm doing? I have to think before act! Think!" She hit two times her forehead with a forehoof.

None of the mares were a speed demon or an athletic portent, so, the pursue wasn't specially fast or long. Rarity was a bit faster than Fluttershy, so she finally caught her in the town's outskirts.

"Come on, come on. Flutters. Hug me. Don't cry, don't cry anymore." Said the unicorn, hugging the pegasi.

"Twilight is so meaaaaaan!" Sobbed the soft pegasi.

"Yes, yes, I know. But she didn't do it on purpose, I'm sure of it."

They still spent some time more there, Rarity comforting Fluttershy, when they happened to hear two ponies talking:

"Shinny, what was that so important that you wanted to tell me?" Pinkie's happy voice was heard.

Rarity's face enlightened: Fresh gossip!, so she whispered to Fluttershy: "Keep silence, Flutters, let's hear what they say."

Fluttershy slightly smiled and silently nodded.

"Miss Pie, I have been thinking..." Shinning Armor's voice was heard.

"What's that about 'Miss Pie'? Haven't we agreed in call ourselves...? My looooove?" Interrupted Pinkie with a romantic tone.

"Silence! Let me finish! Miss Pie, this cannot continue."

"What? 'This cannot continue'? What...? What do you mean, Shinny?" Pinkie's voice turned into a concerned tone.

"We can continue being lovers, that's what..."

"Whaaaaat?!!" Pinkie almost cried: "But why, Shinny, whyyy?!! What did I do?! What did I doooo?!! Please tell me and I'll fix it right awaaaayyyy!!"

The face of Rarity and Fluttershy turned into a concerned one, and they looked each other, and both sneaked on the bushes, happening to see Pinkie, walking on the knees of her hinder legs: "Please, Shinny, don't leave meeeee! I can't live without you!! You're everything for meeeee! Please, noooo!" She desperately extended her forelegs to her coltfriend.

"I'm sorry, Miss Pie, but Cadance is the mare of my dreams, and she's the one I'm going to marry. Not you."

"WHAAAAAT?!!! NoShinnyNoPleaseNoDontDoThisToMeNoPleaseIBegYouNoPleaseNo!" Pinkie cried in the deepest of despairs, but her plead had no effect on the stallion.

"So, I'm bucking out you. Farewell." And he turned around and left.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" Cried Pinkie, crossing her forelegs in the chest, her mane and tail flattening, as a piercing pain beyond description was causing her heart to fail.

"Pinkie, no! Stay with me! Stay with me!" Said Rarity, galloping to the pink mare, who was already loinside on the floor, with her hinderlegs extended and her forelegs bent over her chest, giving agonic stertors.

"Pinkie, it's me, your friend Rarity! Listen to me, listen to me please! Don't go! This's not the end! You're a strong mare! You can't die just because of this! Please, don't leave us! We need you! All of us!" Said Rarity, gently raising Pinkie's head with her foreleg.

"Yes, Pinkie! You're an example for us all! Please, stay with us, for our friendship, for our love!" Also added Fluttershy.

"Flutters, go back to the hospital and get Twilight! Fly!"

And Fluttershy flown as fast as she could to look for Twilight.

Then, Rarity looked to her barely alive friend, and told her: "Pinkie, you saved me, so, let me return the favor." And her horn lit with a white glow.

Meanwhile, 'Shining Armor' looked around, making sure that nopony was watching, and turned into Hakim, who smirked: "Mission complete."

Shining Armor entered Cadance's room, where 'Cadance' herself, was waiting for him: "Did you called for me, Princess." He asked, with a cold courtesy.

"Indeed. Look, there's somepony that wants to talk with you." She said, pointing to 'Pinkie'.

"Ah. Hello, Captain." She said, with half lidded eyes, and a disdainful tone.

"Pinkie, my love! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Ponyville." Said the stallion, surprised.

"I had to come to tell you that I don't want to be with you anymore." She said with serenity.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Laughed Shining Armor. "I didn't get it, but it was funny anyway! Alright, what's the catch? A new party, perhaps?"

"Nope. We're not having anymore parties. I'm bucking you out."

"What?" Shining Armor's face turned into a pained one: "Pinkie, my love! What are you saying? You're scaring me!"

"Exactly as you heard. You're an unworthy and boring stallion, and I don't want to know about you anymore." She turned the head away and closed the eyes.

"Noooo... Pinkie, my love, please... don't do this to me... Why? Why did I do?" Shining Armor cried.

"That's none of your business. Farewell." Said 'Pinkie', and walked away with the eyes closed and the head raised with disdain.

"Pinkie, my love, wait! Don't go, please, don't abandon meeee..." Sobbed Shining Armor, with tearful eyes, but 'Pinkie' left with indifference.

"Noooo..." Mourned Shining Armor, bending his four legs and drooping to the floor, crying, heartbroken.

Then, 'Cadance' trapped him with an enthralling spell:

"She doesn't love you anymore." Said 'Cadance'.

"She doesn't love me anymore." Repeated the stallion, hypnotized.

"Cadance is the only mare you're in love to."

"Cadance is the only mare I'm in love to."

"Good. Now, leave, and ask Celestia for permission to marry Cadance. She's waiting for you."

"She's waiting for me." Said Shining Armor like a robot, and left.

'Pinkie' walked back to 'Cadance', and the later said: "Well done, Faria. Everything is going according to the plan."

When Twilight and me found Pinkie, she was about to give her last breath.

"Pinkie, no, Pinkie, no, please!" I desperately hugged her, because that was the only thing that came to my mind to do.

Suddenly, our hearts started to beat as one...

The pink mare returned to life with a deep gasp, and I, relieved, pulled her a bit off: "Pinkie? Are you alright?".

She stayed silent, looking at me, dumbfounded: "I'm a... little confused here. Wasn't I in love with Shining Armor, not mere ten minutes ago?"

I scratched the back of my head, looking to a side, hesitating to answer straight: "That's kinda... hard to explain right now. It's like..."

"Yes?" She asked me with sobbing voice and quivering eyes, and a sad expression.

"That... sometimes there are things that you have to let go and..."

"Noooo." Pinkie refused with crying voice. "Please, don't leave me. I love you, I can't live without you."

Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and me looked to her, dumbfounded: "What?!" We said at the same time.

Pinkie hugged me, closing her tearful eyes: "Don't leave me! I love you!"

"Hummm... Pinkie, I think you're a bit confused here." I told her, looking nervously to my enraging marefriend.

"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Pinkie confirmed. "I was in love with Shining Armor about thirteen minutes ago, and now I'm in love with you! How could that happen?! I can't understand!"

I looked to Twilight, but she was as confused as me.

"Love, what did you do?" She asked, frowning.

"Nothing!"

"You can't have done 'Nothing'! This isn't the first time that this happens!" She pointed us each with a foreleg. "So, you MUST have done something, and you're gonna describe it EXACTLY to me!" She demanded with certain anger in her voice, pointing herself with a hoof.

I put my finger in my jaw, thoughtful: "Well, I just hugged her, and then our hearts started to beat as one..."

"Like ours?!" Twilight asked, pointing to her chest.

"Exactly! Like ours too!" I confirmed, pointing her and me each.

"Hey, that happened with me too!" Said Rarity.

"And with me!" Said Fluttershy too.

Now Twilight was pissed off: "What?! How could you?! Did you do it on purpose?!" She blurted.

"No! It just... happened. I had no control in that!" Then, I looked back, putting two plus two: "And that happened with Celestia too, and with Luna, with Dashie... I guess that the only ones missing was AJ and... and Pinkie, because, you know, we didn't get along."

Twilight was listening to me with great attention, then, she looked downright, with a hoof in her muzzle: "I think that I know what's happening... It seems that when your heart and somepony's synchronize beating, it produces some kind on enthralling effect... That'll make sense."

"An enthralling effect? Could you please... remove it? I don't want to stand between Gus and you... again." Pinkie pleaded, without releasing me.

"Let me see if this works." Said Twilight, casting a Love Dispelling spell on Pinkie.

Pinkie blinked two or three times. "Did it work?"

Twilight shooked the head: "I have no idea. How do you feel?"

"Weird..." Said Pinkie, with half-lidded eyes, releasing me and closing the eyes, wandering in her hinder legs like a sleepwalker all around the place.

"Oops. I think I overdid it." Twilight smiled apologetically.

I have to grab and to carry Pinkie, so she didn't wander aimlessly around, and she fell asleep in my arms.

"Will she be OK?" I asked, worried.

"I think that we'll have to take care of that later. Now, we must figure out what's happening. I mean, my brother will never do that to her. All this is very suspicious! He might be an imposter!" She put a hoof in her muzzle, gasping, horrified.

"What're we waiting for?! Let's go!" I told her, and the four of us ran back to find Shining Armor.

But we were unable to. Twilight sent a letter to Canterlot, asking for Celestia's advice, but she said that Shining Armor wasn't came back yet. So, we had no other option but to wait and check how Pinkie's doing.

After three hours, Pinkie finally came back to her senses. We told her that the Shining Armor she saw was an imposter, and that prevented her to had a heart attack, but she was still so shocked, that we had to leave her in her home, with Rarity and Fluttershy watching her, while Twilight and me headed to Canterlot.

Once there, we were shocked too by the news: Shining Armor was marrying Cadance. We couldn't believe it, until Celestia confirmed it by herself.

There was nothing else that we could do, but to hid that from Pinkie until we found out a way to avoid her heart to explode of grieve and pain.

And we hadn't the least idea how to do it...

A desperate bucking waked me again, and I, still sleepy, almost punched Twilight's face again, but I held back the arm on time.

"Love! Love! Have you heard?! Celestia is pregnant!"

I raised may head: "What?!" Then, it came to me: "That filthy changeling!"

Twilight looked to me, dumbfounded: "Love. Did you...? Did you knew it?"

I looked apologetically to her: "Sorry, love. I should have told you..."

A messenger mare came to Celestia: "Your Highness, Miss Sparkle wants to see you."

"Please, let her in."

Twilight trotted to Celestia, and when she got to her, she hugged her mentor: "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Your Highness! I didn't... I didn't know! And I treated you as horseshit! Please, forgive me, I beg you!"

"There's nothing to forgive, my faithful student. In any case, I should be the one apologizing, for hiding all this from you."

"What are you saying, Your Highness?! You could have told me, and we'll had found a solution to this!"

"There's no solution to this, but to keep calm and carry on until the delivery time arrives." Said Celestia with happiness. "And I want you to know, that I'm retiring shortly after that, and that you're my succesor."

"What?! No! I mean... I'm not ready! For real!" Said Twilight, scared.

"Don't worry, my faithful student. We still have time, so you'll be ready when the time comes."

"Ow."

"And I also think, what that's the perfect moment for you and your friends to marry your respective coltfriends!"

Twilight shooked the head: "What are you saying, Your Highness? I haven't had my duel with Luna yet."

"You're talking like you're going to lose."

"What?! No! Me losing? Prrft!" Twilight nonchalantly waved her hoof, trying to look very self-confident in her victory.

"For real? Have you prepared enough?"

"Oops. Nope. I haven't. I had this problem with AJ first, and now we're dealing with Pinkie's one. We still don't know what we're gonna tell her. I mean, that doesn't end up killing her."

"I see." Said Celestia. "But, I have faith in you, Twilight. If anypony can solve this, it's you." She smiled, encouraging her.

Twilight half-lidded the eyes: "That wasn't any helpful, you know?"

Celestia giggled: "Come, my faithful student. There's something I want to show you. Just don't tell my sister."

"What's that?!" Asked Twilight, horrified, when Queen Chrysalis and her drones was presented to her. "Your Highness, they harness dark magic! Dark magic users are very likely to be evil! How can you be so calm...?!" Twilight stopped short speaking: "Your Highness... is this a trap? Did you brought me here to turn me evil?!!"

"No, Twilight, listen to me..." Started to say Celestia.

"Stay away from me!" Screamed Twilight, lightening her horn and her four hooves and giving some steps backwards. "You'll not taint me, evildoers!"

"That's enough, Twilight Sparkle! They aren't the enemy anymore!" Exclaimed Celestia. "They've come with an offer for a peace teatry."

Twilight looked nervously to one, and then to other, two or three times, trembling and unconvinced.

"Hello, miss Sparkle. I'm Queen Chrysalis, and I've come to marry Prince Blueblood. That way, our kingdoms will be united by a royal bond." Friendly said the changeling, extending a foreleg to greet Twilight, which she refused.

"And the ancestral enmity between Equestrians and Changelings will be over!" Happily announced Celestia.

My words quickly returned to Twilight's mind: 'That filthy changeling!'

"Your Highness! But... if it was a changeling who raped you!" Said Twilight without thinking.

"What? No! It was... Silence, Twilight Sparkle! You don't know of what you're talking about!" Replied Celestia, upset.

"Of course I know! As far I know, gryphoons are not genetically compatib...!"

"I TOLD YOU THAT'S ENOUGH, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!" Roared Celestia with the Royal Canterlot Voice, interrupting Twilight. Then, she turned her head to a side, and then back to look to Twilight: "Twilight, if my sister finds out that those changelings are here, there are going to be some casualties in the palace, so remain calm, please!" She said with disgust and concern.

Twilight frowned: "Some casualties, huh? I wonder why..."

Celestia frowned: "Twilight, I'm getting tired of your sarcasms. Wait for me in front of my room. I have something to discuss with our new allies. Dismiss."

"Hmpth." Grunted Twilight, looking suspiciosly to everywhere, and turned around to leave, but Celestia added just before she left:

"And I hope that you stop being so hostile, or I'll seriously consider you succeeding me."

Twilight looked back to her with a rather angrily look: "This is not 'being hostile', Your Highness. It's called 'common sense'." and she teleported away. Then, she waited, sitting on her haunches, until Celestia reappeared, and indicated her to reenter her room.

There, Celestia closed the eyes, sighed, and then, she opened them again, and sadly confessed: "Twilight... Luna is half-changeling."

Twilight opened her eyes and muzzle wide, and then, she looked down: Now, everything made sense: Herds in the time the sisters were born; Luna's evil predisposition; her smaller size than her sister; her turning into Nightmare Moon, who featured a dark coat, cat-like greeny eyes, dark powers...

Now, everything made sense.

"Your Highness... Luna knows that she's half..., did she?" Twilight asked, shocked.

"No, she didn't. And changelings helped in murdering our family, so I want it to stay like that." Indicated Celestia. "And nopony can know about this, not even your closest friends. Nopony, no changeling, no exceptions at all, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight hesitated a while to ask: "And... and my coltfriend?"

Celestia looked up, pensive. "Well... he'll find out anyway." Then, she looked to her student again: "Now, I need you to stop being hostile, and to talk with our new allies like a civilized pony, please. It's time to forgive and forget..."

But, nearby, remaining undetected, was hiding Hakim, and he smirked, satisfied with his discovery...

"What?!" I was surprised by my marefriend's tale: "Celestia allied with the changelings?! No way!"

"Yes way!" She angrily replied, with concern. "I sincerely don't know how she could fall that low! All those freaks give me the creeps, but it's their queen, who gives me the most!"

"And how did you said that she was called?" I asked as if I didn't know.

"Chrysalis or something. And I'm telling you, love, there's something fishy about all this. I think they didn't told me everything. I had to get to the bottom of this!"

"I think the same, love."

Twilight looked to me, surprised: "Yeah, for real? You're not gonna try to convince me otherwise? Nothing about being 'paranoid' and all that stuff?"

"Nope. This time I suspect you're right." I supported her.

Twilight looked down, worried: "That's good to know... but... we still don't know what to tell to Pinkie. Can you imagine what would happen, if she assists to Shining Armor's wedding?"

"Yep. We'll lose her."

"Oh, no! Love, what're we gonna do?" She mourned with both forelegs in her head.

I put a finger under my chin: "I think that I have a plan..."

Twilight looked to me, frowning: "I just hope that you don't make it worse."

I opened both arms, smiling, trying to be reasurring: "Well, a bad plan is better than no plan at all."

Twilight looked to a side: "Love, if Pinkie dies, I'll never forgive myself. So think carefully what you're gonna do, or you could lose two for the price of one."

I shrugged the eyes, and pointed her: "Is that a threat?"

"Take it as you feel like..."

"Then, this is your 'plan'?! A memory erasing potion?" My marefriend asked me, doubtful.

"Yeah! And this, combined with a Life-Force Love Dispelling spell, will do the trick!" I told her.

"And how can we be sure that'll work? Pinkie's memory is flawless! What about if she remembers, after all?!"

I looked to my marefriend, disgusted: "Then, I think that we should test it on... you."

Twilight looked me with an enigmatic expression: "Yes... that'll... make sense."

"Alright. Ready to forget me and all we have been thru?" I told her, trying to sound happy, but dying on the inside.

Twilight looked me with tearful eyes: "Yes. Whatever it takes to save my friend..." She sobbed.

But just before taking it, she told me: "Just don't forget to make me to fall in love again, OK?"

I smiled. "I won't."

Pinkie's room door was knocked, and she opened the door like a flash, very happy: "Shinny! You've com..." But she stopped speaking when she saw that it was me. "Awwww. I was hoping it was Shinny." She said, visibly disgusted. "Gus, friend, please tell me. Why he doesn't come to visit me? Why he doesn't worry about me? I'm so so so so worried! Where's he? Please, I need to know please!"

"I told you that he's ill, with a very contagious disease. He can't come to visit you until he gets well." Said Fluttershy, aware of what I had came to do.

So, I gave my prepare to her: "Take, Pinkie, he sends this tasty fruit juice to you."

"He did?! For real?! Yippes! He didn't forgot meeee!" She happily jumped in place, and drink the glass. Then, her eyes became blank, and I cast a Life-Force Love Dispelling spell on her, and she fainted. I grabbed her before she hit the floor, and gently laid her in her bed.

"Thank you Flutters." I told the pegasi.

"Don't worry, friend. I know that you did it for her own good. How's Twilight?"

"As oblivious as you might think. Have patience with her, yes?"

"I will."

On my way back, I found... Twilight, walking around. Seems that she had woke up already. She's so strong, that powerful potion couldn't keep her on the bed for more than a hour. I happily came closer to her:

"Hi! Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"

"Yeah, that's me. And who might you be?"

"Well, I'm..."

"You know? I'm really not interested on knowing who you are. You must be some of those circus freaks that come to visit Rarity and her stupids designs. Sorry, but haven't time for this. Gotta go." And she turned around and walked away, with disdainful half-lidded eyes.

I can't believe this. That bucking memory erasing potion has turned her into a bitch...

So, trying to get her to falling in love again, huh? At this point, I hardly believe that she'll be needing anything of that... or if anything of this would worth a shit... So, I walked to the first bench I found, and curled on it to sleep. Screw it all...

Luna was sitting on her four legs, in a cliff, sadly looking to a lake behind her: "And here I am... alone again. Nopony loves me... They hate me... All of them! Even the pleb scum..." Her eyes were shedding plenty of tears, and her half-opened muzzle was trembling in sorrow.

Then, she looked to the sky, and screamed in despair: "I have nothing to live for!!"

Then, she levitated a dagger, and put it on her chest: "I only want this pain to stooooop!!" She screamed, ready to kill herself.

"Luna, no, wait!" I yelled to her. She looked to me, tearful:

"Stay away from me! I'm going to do it! I swear!"

I cast the Love Dispelling on her. She looked to me, surprised, and blinked a couple of times.

"What was that?"

I took advantage of her stunning, and teleported the dagger out of her reach.

"How do you feel, Luna?"

"How do think that I feel?! Alone, sad and despaired! That's how I feel!" She replied with sobbing voice.

"And about me? How do you feel about me?"

"About you? And are you still asking that?" She backed her head a bit, dumbfounded. "I love you, with all the strenghts of my heart! But you'll never love me, so I have no other choice but to die!"

Wait. That's what I think I'm hearing? No... damned darned... way...

"Luna... do you... do you love me?" I asked her, hopeful.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes and a thousand times yes!" She cried:

I opened my arms: "Then come to me, Looney Mooney! What are you waiting for?!"

Her sad face turned into a happy one, as happier as nopony can be, well, maybe except Pinkie, and she galloped to me and hugged me, covering me with kisses and cuddles: "I can' believe this! This's really happening! Oh, I'm so happy I'm so happy I'm so happyyyyyyyy!"

A buck woke me, and I quickly sat on the bench, looking face to face with... Twilight?

"Why did were you calling Luna?!" She angrily inquired.

I shooked the head: "What?" Suddenly realizing that the last events were just a dream.

"'What'? 'What'?! That's the only thing that you can say, huh?!" She inquired again, even more angrier.

I smiled, dumbfounded, and yawned: "I should be still dreaming."

"Of course you aren't! Why did you hid your location?! I was looking for you everywhere! I was worried sick!"

I looked her with indifference, with my hand holding my chin: "Because... I didn't wanted to be found?"

We both laughed and hugged and kissed passionately.

"Thank goodness, my love. I thought you had stopped loving me." I told her.

"How could I, my love? I'll rather die first."

"Then, why did you left and left me behind?"

"Sorry love, but I had to. When I saw you in the street, and I found out that I was still in love with you, I had such a feeling storm... I was happy and sad, angry and scared, joyful and disgusted... I can't... I can't describe it with precission. So, I gave you the first excuse that came to my mind, locked in my room, cast a sound-proof spell and screamed, and screamed, and screamed, and screamed... until I couldn't do it anymore..." Then, she broke the hug to see me directly on the eyes. "Love, didn't you cheated on me in the meantime, right?"

I looked to a side, shrugging my mouth: "I might..."

"What?!" She asked, horrified, and she was about to hit the floor, fainted, when I grabbed her for the neck.

"Of course not, my love! How could you think such thing?! Don't you know me best already?!"

She looked to me, still panting, and told me with sobbing voice: "Then, why were you saying 'Luna, Luna' on your dreams?"

"How I'm gonna know, love? I just dreamt with her, and that's all."

"Ow, then..." Her expression turned to an angry one: "That bucking bitch! Just wait I put my hooves on her!"

Then, I looked to her, dumbfounded: "Wait a sec, if you remembered everything, then Pinkie..."

Twilight smiled: "Love, Pinkie doesn't know that she was enchanted, and she doesn't know the counter spell either."

I looked up, relieved: "Ah."

"Alright!" Happily said my marefriend. "Now, let's solve some mysteries, shall we?"

But we weren't able to find anything. Everything was suspiciously in order, so as the man of action that I am, I applied one of my favorite mottos: 'If you want peace, prepare for war', making sure that our 'new allies' didn't know anything about.

After five months, Celestia gave to birth. It was a filly, and she was named Celeia, and the day was declared as a national holidays. Also, as she decreed, four couples were getting married: Twilight and me (In the case that she wins her duel with Luna, of course), Fluttershy and Flash Sentry, the reluctantly Prince Blueblood and a newly appeared 'Princess Farsania', who, obviously, was Queen Chrysalis at disguise. She couldn't find a better fitting name, if I dare to say, and Shining Armor and Cadance.

We're very concerned about bringing Pinkie to the ceremony, as she could remember something, but Celestia encouraged us, by telling that forbidding her to assist will be too suspicious. And about Cadance's issue, it turned to be a joke from Celestia: She just enthralled her, and then convinced Prince Blueblood to start bragging that he had slept with the Princess of Love. I knew that Celestia will never allow anypony to be taken without their consent. Not in her watch.

Pinkie behaved rather normal in the prenuptial party, and she asked some question about the couples, but she seems not to remember anything. Or at least anything about her past engagement with Shining Armor. About the rest, it seems to be well written on her memory banks, as she even recalled how to fly.

Twilight was enjoying the party, when her stomach growled, her cheeks bloated, and her eyes opened wide. With a titanical willpower effort, Twilight swallowed whatever she had in the muzzle, and excused herself to go to the restrooms... to puck.

"Buuuuaaargh...! Argh... Ooofff..." Twilight released her stomach's contents inside the toilet. "Damn! It seems that something indigested me. What could have been? I don't remember to have done any major change in my diet." She thought aloud.

She left the mare's restroom, and when she was passing by the stallion's one, she clearly heard Pinkie's voice:

"Shinny?"

A frozen wave travelled thru Twilight's loin, and her coat shivered like she was under zero degrees cold: Oh no, oh no, oh no! Pinkie remembered! Pinkie remembered it all! Quickly, Twilight turned to the door, but she thought: 'Wait, I should think before act, and check first, and don't do a rushed movement. Better let me hear what they say'. And she put her ear on the door, ready to enter in action if needed.

"Miss Pie? What are you doing in the stallion's restroom?"

"Shinny, I have something to tell you."

"Alright, but not here, let's go..."

"It must to be here! Nopony can figure out!"

"What? Why?"

"Because... 'cause my life depends of it!"

"Oh. Well then... go ahead, Miss Pie. I'm listening."

"Shinny, I knew that you had your reasons to... buck me out..."

"What? Buck you out? If it was you...!"

"Shush! Let me finish! Listen... I... I moved on, and I... I need to let it go. When... when you bucked me out, I thought I was gonna die..."

"Miss Sparkle. Could you be so kind to move from the door? I need to go to the restroom." Said a stallion guest behind Twilight.

"Huh, huh. Sorry, but the restroom is... Out of order! That is!" Said Twilight with a fake smile. "You'll have to go to another floor, sorry for the inconveniences!"

The stallion shooked the head and left, annoyed, and Twilight sticked the ear to the door again:

"... but, my friends did something to me, that made me to have a glimpse on what'll happen if... if I died. So much mishap, so many deaths, so... I made a willpower effort, and let you go. Our love was never meant to be..."

"Pinkie, I..."

"Shhh, shhh, shhh. Please don't say anything, Shinny. There's no need to. All that you need to know, is that I'll always have you in my heart, and I'll always remember you, as my first love ever."

"I will always remember you too, Pinkie. And I hope that, someday, you could find somepony worthy of your love."

Then, a hug-like sound was heard.

"Farewell, Shinny. I'll never forget you."

"Farewell, Pinkie. Take care."

Twilight barely had time to dodge the opening door and to hide beneath it, to avoid being hit. Pinkie, with tearful eyes and flattened mane and tail, walked some steps, and then, she looked back:

"Who told you that you weren't worthy, Shinny?" She said with a sad smile, and she galloped away, at all the speed she could.

Shining Armor came out from the restroom a bit later, with tearful eyes too, and closed the door, finding his sister there.

"Little sister? How...? How long have you been there?" He asked, surprised.

Twilight looked down: "Long enough..."