Chapter Twelve

Twilight smiled, and with a nod, she gave a small flourish as her horn lit up within a few moments. Trixie sat where she was, watching with even more bated breath than before. The lilac unicorn's horn then began glowing brighter, and even more so, the area under Luna's hooves shown a mostly translucent purple as she gave a small gulp. Not that she didn't have faith in Twilight, she just didn't have enough to share, per say.

However, before she could give a thought on deciding not to do this, the purple rose in a nearly instantaneous motion, hiding Luna from view. It wasn't any real spectacle, though it did produce enough light for the alleyway to look not so dreary and more menacing than anything.

In about ten seconds, it was already over. Twilight gasped lightly, her front hooves sliding a bit forward before she righted herself. Looking up to see if the spell worked, she got a small grin. The Lunar Princess finally had back her regal form, and she sighed, the magic which was holding her in place having already dissipated. Taking a step forward, Luna let only a minuscule smile find itself on her features as she began trotting towards the castle, saying as she passed the two, "Come now, we must make haste to the Castle."

Celestia was walking to the dining hall, one of her royal maids following behind her as they chatted, "...but yes, I do enjoy speaking with guards and servants. I have no inclination as to why you would think otherwise, Miss."

The pony beside Celestia, in an admittedly embarrassing maid outfit was more of a stallion, and he cleared his throat, "Um, Princess I'm...not a uh, mare..."

The Princess came to a halt, turning to them and looking them over. The stallion had a faint blush on his face, and Celestia began to see the resemblance. Strange, she thought, How did I not notice before? Clearing her throat, Princess Celestia then responded, "My apologies, I didn't...well, I usually don't see anypony but mares in those outfits. More over, you have a...feminine body, and ah, your voice isn't..."

With a shake of his head, the stallion replied, a bit shakily, "I-it's fine Princess, I just...when I started working here, they thought I was a mare too, and then there was the whole thing about the others telling me that there were no more outfits for males..."

Celestia widened her eyes by something like an inch or so, before turning to walk forward and gaining a small grin, though she hid it from the stallion for his sake, "I see. They must have been playing they're practical jokes on you, my little pony. There are more than enough outfits for a stallion as yourself to wear. Come, let us continue our walk."

The pony quickly picked up their pace to meet with Celestia as they neared the dining hall, "Oh, um, Princess I really shouldn't be going here, it's not time for food yet a-and..." There were a few words mumbled, which Celestia couldn't hear. Her ears flicked slightly.

"What was that?" Celestia inquired, curious. The stallion simply sighed and said, in a timid voice, "My name's Winter D-Dust, your highness." He gave a quick bow before continuing, though Celestia didn't see it anyways.

Smiling, though more in her trademark heartwarming and gentle way, the Princess opened the door with her magic and held it for Winter, "It is a very nice name, Winter. Please, after you."

His jaw would've fallen off if it wasn't attached to his skull, and Winter simply said, befuddled, "But Princess, I can't, it's not time for me to eat yet and this is-"

Hushing Winter Dust with a small clearing of her throat, before continuing on in a slightly quiet tone, "Yes, well, I may just need your help should there be something to clean."

However, Winter Dust seemed to not want any of it and quickly ran to the door, holding it open for Celestia instead, though she was still holding it. Celestia would've said how futile it was, but the poor thing was just trying to be curtious, and honestly she was almost pushing him to be a blabbering mess.

Sighing lightly, the Princess of the Sun walked into the dining hall, bidding a small 'Thank you' to Winter Dust as he said, automatically almost, "M-my pleasure Princess."

Just as he was to step out into the dining hall, albeit very slowly and trying to be quiet as possible in fear of something terrible being alerted to his presence, Winter suddenly got pushed aside as Twilight ran through the door. Figures, he thought to himself.

Looking over, if only for a brief moment before being hugged tightly, Celestia noticed a lavender mare that she knew very well giving her a warm embrace, before backing up a few hoofsteps and saying, "Princess, it's good to see you again."

Fully turning around, Celestia saw that her sister, Luna, was walking in with another pony in tow. Trixie, she mentally noted. Normally the Princess would give the pony her evil eye for doing what she did, but at the moment she seemed fairly concerned and not so Great and Powerful, so Celestia decided to ignore it.

Luna began to speak, just about interrupting Twilight's next sentence, "While we would love to make introductions my dear Sister, we have to make haste, and speak to thou in thy private chambers, or somewhere in which we may not be disturbed by the general public."

The tone was a usual I-mean-serious-business one that Luna dished out constantly, almost at least, and Celestia gestured to the table in the middle of the room as she trotted over to take a seat, "Then come dear Luna, join us for some dinner. You must be starving to come here in such a hurry. Wait."

Celestia counted the several ponies in the room. Which, right then, was the problem. There were only ponies, and the Marceline girl was nowhere to be seen. The Princess sat, watching her sister Luna approach and take a seat opposite of her, "So, we see that thou'st noticed. Indeed, Marceline is...for lack of a better phrase, kidnapped."

All five of them were sitting at the table, eating awkwardly while everyone listened to Luna and Celestia speak about what they were to do. Of course, Trixie wasn't much hungry and more conflicted with her own thoughts and emotions, while Twilight just sat there and enjoyed having both Princesses near her. Winter wasn't so much sitting and eating as walking about and not really paying much attention to what the regal ponies were saying. Not that he didn't care, but it simply wasn't his business.

After discussing who, or what, took Marceline, the two sisters began talks on what to do in the first place, "You do realize, Luna, if we were to go and get her in a calm and dealing manner, everything would turn out fine. It's nothing short of saying that she was a friend, not some wild animal with a striking resemblance to ponies."

In turn, Luna nodded slightly, and after swallowing a bit of the food in her mouth she asked, "Indeed, and while things would be nice if they would turn this way, the Queen of Changelings seems to have a very disturbing habit of lying, Sister. How shalt we know if the liar isn't using her skills?"

Leaning back a bit, and in a calm manner as always, she said, "Then we simply use the anti-disguise magic that Shining was testing before the negotiations. It's nothing that will harm the normal Marceline or a Changeling impersonating her. Not only that, but, no offence sister, you seem to just have a deep seeded hatred towards the Changelings, perhaps more or less their-"

Before she could finish, Luna cut her sister off abruptly, "It is not as thou says, dear sister. It's simply the fact that we enjoy considering all...variables, before moving forward. Secondly, the Queen most likely will not approve of the fact that we did those experiments at all."

Wrinkling her nose up a bit, Celestia replied after a moment, "Well, hiding it from her would simply make matters worse. Plus," the Solar Princess looked across the table in a quick sweep, catching Twilight and Winter's gaze, before turning back to Luna, "If she wanted to break the deals and treaties, she would have by taking our places, Luna. Somepony of high importance, at least."

Having almost neatly wrapped up the problems, Luna simply sighed a bit heavily, rubbing her forehead slightly, "We know, Sister. It is simply the fact that...bah, we will tell thou in more private terms." Waving her hoof dismissively, not to any of them, simply in a small act of annoyance.

Seeing the signs that Luna was nearing the point in which they get into mindless arguments, Celestia gave a forced smile and said, "Well, I'm simply glad that we got that straightened out. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to my chambers. Luna, please show Twilight to her observatory room, as renovated as it has gotten. Trixie, you're welcome to stay here, or somewhere else if you feel the need to."

A slightly aghast Trixie nodded silently, already brimming with excitement over being able to sleep in a castle, and in the Canterlot castle no less. Twilight gave her mentor a small hug and friendly nuzzle, bidding her good night as she walked to the door. Luna looked to Celestia and opened her muzzle to say farewell, but Celestia simply nodded, got up, and walked out. She sat there for a moment, her mouth hanging open before closing it and going to Twilight, "Come, Twilight. We shall show thou to thy quarters."

Winter quickly dashed out the room with the empty and half full plates, bringing them down to the kitchen so he could wash them. A small crash was heard, which brought Trixie out of her small daydream. Shaking her head a bit, Trixie looked to the door as Twilight's voice called out to her, "Trixie, you coming?"

Scrambling up a bit, though straightening out her trotting and pace once she was at the door, Trixie began towards where the other two ponies were waiting.

Celestia's study was quiet, as usual. The only sounds were the clock ticking, the occasional shuffle of papers and a feather pen writing on parchment. Half rimmed glasses adorned Celestia's face, and though she didn't like to admit it, she usually had to wear them while reading documents. Being alive for a couple thousand years doesn't exactly help your eyesight, Celestia mused to herself.

A soft knock of a hoof sounded on the door, and the Princess looked up. She sighed, dragging a hoof down her face slightly as she worked her jaw a bit, putting on a small smile. Setting the pen and work down with her magic, her glasses also floated off and onto the desk, folded.

She quickly put a brush to her hair, levitating it along to seem more orderly as she spoke in her usual, warm voice, "Come in."

Celestia's sister slowly stepped in, giving the elder a small look of half open eyes, annoyance, and exhaustion, "And good night to you, Tia."

The facade adorning Celestia quickly dropped, and she set the brush down, leaning on her desk a bit, "Not to be rude, Luna," That was a lie, "But what is it?"

Twilight, personal protege of Celestia, lay awake in her bed. Or rather, her old bed. It almost didn't fit her, but for now it worked. With a light sigh, she turned on her side, sleep not exactly coming forth to her just yet. It was plainly obvious why, but she didn't care to think about how long she was asleep for.

Looking up, Twilight was looking through the window and, with a small grin, slowly crept out of her bed. Maybe some late night astronomy will help me sleep, Twilight half pleaded and half thought to herself as she took a seat on a cushion. A shiver ran up Twilight's spine, the cushion fairly cold as it was, but disregarding the cold temperature, she used her magic to slowly tilt the telescope sight downwards, leaning forward.

Somewhat settling her head against it with one eye open, she began adjusting the knobs and such on the side, looking around the dark blue and purple sky, the bright white stars shining brightly. Twilight felt herself recede back to her own little world, one which she remembered and loved greatly. It was a better place, though of course her life was good, it was simply more to her seclusion-like style.

A complex, if not small place, almost like a library full of subjects, but not miles long. It's shelves lined with groves of knowledge, all of which Twilight had collected. It calmed her in more than one sense, most definitely because it was knowledge and calmness. Perhaps having a place to just sit, read and learn was something of a personal wish for Twilight. In either case, she continued slowly drifting to this place, and felt a smile spread on her muzzle.

Just as Twilight glimpsed the Orion constellation for the third time, a sound disturbed this perfect state of mind. More than just a simple sound, it was one she always tried to fix and detain, and this sound was something like a yell. Of course, it sounded as if another was returned, this time from a different voice. Both sounded familiar, yet different to her ears.

Twilight leaned back, her left ear flicking a bit as the voices quieted down a bit, but she had most certainly heard it. And more than anything, it sounded like somepony was quite angry, and it surprised the lilac unicorn greatly when she realized it sounded so much like her loving mentor, Celestia.

Having slipped out of the observatory, thankfully not waking Trixie, Twilight made her way down the well known halls to her mentor's study. The castle was dark, not eerily so, but only a guard her and there, as well as perhaps a servant rushing back to their quarters or performing duties was her only real companion.

Of course, they passed quickly after excusing themselves, Twilight simply nodded in response. She was thoroughly intrigued, as well as worried, why Celestia sounded so strangely angry. Never before has Twilight heard her angry. Yes, yes, threatening, but not angry. It wasn't inviting, and it wasn't even gentle. Instead it was harsh, laced with poison and wanted to cut deep, which was nothing like the Celestia that Twilight grew up knowing.

As she turned a few corners and arrived at her destination, the sounds were most definitely behind the door. Leaning against it slightly, Twilight put the left side of her head against the door and listened as best she could, though she couldn't hear the voices clearly anyways. One wasn't...distressed, really, but more angry like a pony being bullied into a corner.

The other was easily describable, the best way to put it was a bully. Just rude, uncalled for comments, annoyed with whomever was in there and it, again, most certainly was not the gentle, kind and loving pony she knew. Hoofsteps moved towards the door, and Twilight quickly moved to the edge of the door, hoping the pony coming out didn't see her.

Princess Luna trotted out, rage and sadness deep in her eyes as she simply moved away briskly, an angry voice saying after her, "Can I have one mature conversation with you, without you walking off like a filly in a huff!"

Agonizingly slowly, Twilight slowly stepped around the corner, coming almost face to face with the pony who, most likely, just yelled at and hurt Luna. Celestia didn't notice the lilac unicorn for a moment, but she then looked down and saw her. At first, Celestia's mouth hung open, and Twilight stared on. Her mane was a complete mess, and a light pink, no longer radiant or flowing like it would usually. The eyes that Twilight couldn't help but look into had dark circles under them, looking tired and over worked.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat and reached out a tentative hoof, "Twilight, my dear student, I-"

A step back from the Princess, as Celestia's heart was gripped like a vice in cold fear. Twilight's eyes narrowed slightly, looking behind where Luna retreated, then back to the subject at hoof, a look of disbelief plastered there. The voice was calmer and collected, but...Is it all some kind of mask?

Again, the Princess tried, "Please, I can explain, just-"

A simple question, though with many implications, interrupted her, "Why?"

Once more, the Princess froze. The gaze held by Twilight was powerful, holding many questions. More than anything, it was filled with confusion and, worst of all, hurt. Slowly, Princess Celestia lowered her hoof, hesitantly looking away. Of course she was the one to, as she just didn't want to take the emotional strain for the moment.

"Twilight...I-" Celestia began, doubting her words from the intense argument from before. However, as she looked to the spot the mare was standing, only air remained, as the unicorn walked towards where Luna had headed to. Her eyes watered up slightly, threatening to spill over but she shut them letting out a breath. Opening her eyes again, Celestia stared longingly out the door before shutting it with a slight slam, trotting to her bed and collapsing in it.

The Princess pulled the covers up, burrowing her head into the pillow a bit, Why is it that I keep making these mistakes?, she thought to herself.

Author's Note

And there's chapter...something? I don't recall right now, it's almost 11 on a school night, WOO HOO!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And yes, it's meant to be sad and such, I've been wanting to get this point out there for some time now. Will this be the basis for everything now? No, of course not. Sorry it took so long for this piece-a-crap chapter, though I can't promise any better.

Have a good morning/night/day/evening!