Why would Princess Celestia do such a thing?
”That’s not how it went.”
Twilight watched as the world went into rewind. What's going on? Time's going...backwards? The world went back into motion at around daytime. Twilight felt Booker's loose hold around her waist as they zipped through the skyline on amazingly fast speeds. Still, every so often, the frightening shriek of a mechanical bird whizzed by every few seconds.
Subsequently, Booker lost his grip and the two went into free fall. The plummet went straight into the ocean, where Twilight flailed her legs to regain control. Except, it wasn't Twilight. It was Elizabeth moving her legs. She was in control of her body as Twilight could only watch from her point of view. Elizabeth got herself back of control of the violent tides and made her way to shore.
When Elizabeth made land, she was too exhausted to focus on anything besides breathing. She slumped right there on the sandy floor to regain her energy. The last thing she saw was the fuzzy robot flying away from the ocean.
* * *
3 Weeks Ago
“Spike…. Spike?” Twilight was busy once again in the basement working on another experiment. “Spike, can you grab me the book over there? I’m busy revising the spell.”
Her #1 assistant was always ready when Twilight needed that extra claw. And this time was no different than the rest. Spike answered the call in less than a minute.
“Spike,” Twilight said. ”The book is on that table over there. Can you please fetch it for me?”
Twilight looked a bit weary, but definitely in better shape than previous times. Every time, Spike would check to see if she forgot to care about her physical condition. Normally it would be as simple as making sure he made her a daisy sandwich or checking when was the last time she slept.
“Just a pinch of salt…no that can’t be right.”
Spike looked at the book she was referring to, Of Dreams and Memories: The Equine Archives of Starswirl the Bearded. Spike hesitantly handed her the book. “What do you need this book for Twilight?”
“One day, I was reading beside a bookshelf, when suddenly, something hit me on the head. That something is the book you’re holding. It has got to be the only book from Starswirl I never read, because I own all the collector’s sets. One read and idea later, I think of this.” Twilight gladly presented in front of her a flask. “This is, or, is soon to be, a memory potion. It will allow the host to enter another pony’s memories. The pony with the memories just needs that memory casted into the flask, and the host will experience it in their own hooves. I’m almost close to running another test trial. This time it’ll work. I just know it.”
Spike decided to leave this be. Twilight needed absolute focus in order for things to work properly. The sooner things worked for her, the sooner she could leave the basement lab.
...
...
...
“Eureka!”
Twilight cantered out of the lab. “Spike, I got a sample of the working potion!”
She stopped dead on her trail upon realization that it was nighttime. She turned around to see the bathroom's lights were on, but the door was closed. It could only mean one thing. Spike's taking another seven hour bubble bath. She rolled her eyes realizing that Spike uses that place almost as mush as everywhere else in the house combined. It was like a secondary bedroom to him.
*Ding Dong*
Oh, I wonder who could be at the door so late. Twilight placed the vial on the center desk to open the door. The mailpony who rang the door was holding a letter and a book. Twilight's eyes bulged as she saw a key symbol on the book's cover, a symbol belonging to none other than Starswirl the Bearded. Twilight quickly snatched the two items and slammed the door. She needed total concentration to see the task at hoof.
First, she looked at the letter:
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
The spell contained on the last page of this book is Starswirl the Bearded's secret unfinished masterpiece. He was never able to get it and thus abandoned it. I believe you are the only pony who can understand and rewrite it.
-Princess Celestia
Twilight took no time to start observing the relic draft of the Master Unicorn Magician. She flipped all the way to the last page and recited the incomplete spell:
"From one to another, from another to one, a mark of one's destiny singled out alone fulfilled."
That was it. Twilight looked at the incomplete page again and again. The riddle held no identifyable clues. "That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't even rhyme."
If she weren't tired to the point of collapsing, she might have given it a shot. However, such a task required patience and precision to decipher. Twilight was defeated, and would be forced to have a go at the unsolved spell tomorrow. Little known to Twilight, the following day would change her life forever.
The Morning After Coronation
Even after such a big day was now behind her, Twilight still had a bit of energy left to make her way to bed. Today, like yesterday, had an unplanned schedule full of friendship problems. It didn't start light neither. It started with a bang...literally. A distant explosion woke Twilight up and got her out of bed. She'd begin the day with a lecture to the Cutie Mark Crusaders (again) that unsupervised baking was not a good idea to try for Cutie Mark Marks. For that morning and every day after, she was too busy to notice the missing vial on her desk.
* * *
Present
♪ Give me that old-time religion, ♪
♪ Give me that old-time religion, ♪
♪ Give me that old-time religion, ♪
♪ It's good enough for me. ♪
Princess Celestia stood in the center of a large crowd of ponies in white robes. All of them were murmuring in harmony. She looked to her sides to see Booker, Clopstock, and the Luteces, all were chanting along with the choir.
♪ T'was good for the prophet, Clopstock, ♪
♪ T'was good for the prophet, Clopstock, ♪
Celestia noticed that Clopstock stood no longer at her side, but at the front, where his body was slowly being lowered parallel to the water below for baptism.
♪ T'was good for the prophet, Clopstock, ♪
♪ And it's good enough for me. ♪
Clopstock's body had now vanished. He didn't rise from the water. He was completely gone. The crowd's voice started to rise.
♪ It was good for the False Herder, ♪
♪ It was good for the False Herder, ♪
Celestia spun her head. Booker wasn't alongside her anymore. Like Clopstock, Booker submerged into the waters of baptism.
♪ It was good for the False Herder, ♪
♪ And it's good enough for me. ♪
Celestia began to join the crowd. At this point, the ponies were continuing to raise their volume, now to a shout.
♪ It was good for the Lutece siblings, ♪
♪ It was good for the Lutece siblings, ♪
♪ It was good for the Lutece siblings, ♪
♪ And it's good enough for me. ♪
Likewise, the Luteces followed. By now, everypony was screaming the lyrics.
♪ GIVE ME THAT OLD-TIME RELIGION, ♪
♪ GIVE ME THAT OLD-TIME RELIGION, ♪
♪ GIVE ME THAT OLD-TIME RELIGION, ♪
♪ IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. ♪
Celestia was prepared to follow them. She closed her eyes and readied for her dive.
♪ IT'S GOOD FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT, ♪
Twilight? To her fears, she remained where she was. Twilight took the role instead as she slowly descended. This isn't right. This is not meant to be. Celestia frantically shoved her way through the crowd.
♪ IT'S GOOD FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT, ♪
♪ IT'S GOOD FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT, ♪
Celestia made her way to the stage and Twilight's body was almost completely submerged. Underneath the water, Twilight's mane turned a wavy pink and fur a brightened white.
♪ AND IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. ♪
Celestia dove into the water. Twilight, now a replica of Celestia's former self, continued to fall into the bottomless abyss. Celestia chased after her, trying to save her from the descent. Twilight's body was falling faster than Celestia was swimming. She continued to swim, willing to go as far as she could to retrieve Twilight. But, the darkness of the sea made Twilight no longer visible. Celestia felt a tug on her back forcing her back. She flailed her legs in a hopeless attempt at regaining control over her drop into the pitch-black void.
"TWILIGHT!"
Celestia gasped for air, taking in the worst nightmare she had for quite some time. Besides her, everything was as where she remembered. The Oasis remained unscathed and Twilight remained on her cushion, still shifting napping positions in her wakeless dream.
"You can come out now Luna."
A light purple smoke gathered near Celestia until it formed into a mare with a starry night mane.
"I sensed your nightmare, sister. I had to pull you out."
Celestia nodded. The two Alicorns broke eye contact to glimpse at Twilight. Her eyes were closed tightly. Only the crackling fire of the torches dared to make noise. For the longest time, neither said a word. Luna instead comforted her sister by nuzzling her neck. Celestia embraced Luna’s pity.
“The eons pass like minutes,” Luna said. “Now Twilight Sparkle will learn the truth, our truth.”
“Elizabeth’s truth.” Celestia picked up a distant blanket and placed it on Twilight. That made Twilight loosen her struggle. Her eyelids no longer held a tight grip. “The seed of the prophet shall sit the throne… 1000 years. It's been over 1000 years since the city fell. She’ll experience it herself. Then, and only then will she know what we’ve been through.”
"What's done is done. Now, we wait and watch the cogs we put in place get set into motion."
* * *
The only answer Twilight could regard as possible was the only one she didn’t want to believe true. No matter how much she looked at the situation, Princess Celestia must have known. She must’ve used the potion. After all, they were her memories, not Twilight’s. Still, acceptance was a slow cold dagger to Twilight’s heart. My mentor…she…abandoned me. It was a trap. The set-up was too well for it not to be. A missing potion at the same time as Starswirl's book, an invitation to reveal classified information hidden for a thousand years, an isolated room, the tale of a lost city: What better way to encounter the city itself than through memories? The evidence was all there. What she lacked was motive. Princess Celestia was the last pony Twilight would expect to set her a trap. It was out of character. Then again, Celestia hasn’t been herself ever since this started. But imprisoning me in her memories! It can’t be her. It just can’t.
Twilight felt like crying her heart out, yet she didn’t. She felt like shouting out until she could no longer shout; yet she didn’t. She couldn’t for one reason; it wasn’t what Elizabeth did. Elizabeth wasn’t betrayed by Twilight’s mentor. She was rescued from her childhood prison. Elizabeth had no real reason to be sad. Twilight had lost control over Elizabeth. Elizabeth opened her mouth from the uncomfortable silence.
“So,” Elizabeth said. “Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why? Why did you go through the trouble of getting me out?”
Booker gazed into the fire. “It’s business.”
“What kind of business?”
“It’s the kind I don’t question. Somepony wants me to get you out, I get you out.”
“What now then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m free now. What about you?”
“…You’re not free. You’re not free until we get you out of this city.”
“Why the rush?”
“Are you going to keep pounding me with a bunch of questions?” Booker’s voice wasn’t any bit irritated. It was a joyous tease.
“I’ll try to hold them in. I guess it’s because I haven’t talked to anyone from outside since I can remember.”
“Well, can’t say that I blame you. Trust me, those questions will answer themselves the longer you’re out of that tower.”
“I guess.” Elizabeth laid her back on the sand, looking up to the night stars. She did not sleep for quite some time. She slowly closed her eyes.
* * *
“Wakey wakey Alicorn.”
Elizabeth couldn’t feel her legs. Turning to a full panic from the null limbs and new unfriendly voice, Elizabeth rapidly tossed her head around to find some way to escape. It was useless. Her legs were chained and her horn had a magic cancellation ring around it. Around her were animals of all sorts: griffins, mules, zebras, even a few ponies. Each and every one of them covered in red. Behind them in the dark lurked countless others.
She turned her head around and around. The sudden change in scenery was hard to take in after staying in a few rooms for almost all of her life. But also, somepony else was missing.
"Mr. Dewitt? Mr. Dewitt!?"
"Aw...our valued guest misses her protector already. What, we aren't good enough?"
Dozens of sinister chuckles followed. Elizabeth could not see the source of the voice. The ring of light around her wasn't large enough for her to see any of the walls, making the group's unknown size all the more menacing.
A hoof...no...a claw slammed it's way inside the ring. The griffin slowly brought herself into the light. Her dark scowl slowly crept upwards to a malevolent grin.
"Oh, you don't know how long 'ol Daisy's waited to see your pretty little face again, love." The griffin slowly rubbed the back of her claw down Elizabeth's cheek. "What's the matter? You look nervous."