//------------------------------//
// The Search 
// Story: True Love Never Dies (Cancelled) 
// by ocalhoun 
//------------------------------//

Twilight stepped out onto the astral balcony for the second time today. The intricate curving lines etched into the floor still retained a faint hint of the glow that had been imparted to them this morning.
“Good. You have arrived. Are you ready to perform your part?”
Twilight nodded, looking away and hardly hearing Luna.
The night princess narrowed her eyes. “Are you certain? You seem... distant.”
“Magic is what I do. Yes, Luna, I've got it.” Twilight glared at the other alicorn before glancing away. She glanced at her, then away again. “It's just... the public address this afternoon. I'm not used to that kind of thing.”
The look in Luna's eyes didn't soften in the slightest. “And this is the only thing that bothers you?”
Twilight growled. “I'll deal with my own issues, okay?” She winced. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... Let's just get this done. Do you need any help with the moon?”
Luna finally softened. She rolled her eyes. “I needed help with the sun only because it was unfamiliar. The moon, I can handle. That is what I do.” She gave the slightest smile. “Do you know if Cadance has arrived yet?”
“I haven't heard anything.” Twilight shrugged. “Let's do this.”
Luna dipped her head. “Indeed.” She stepped to the center of the designs on the floor and cast her spell of the evening.
Twilight rushed to catch up to Luna, weaving her own spell into the mix. It was simple, really, just a basic scrying spell keyed to her own nature and the energy it took to lower the sun – it would pick up any magical being with enough power to move celestial bodies. Shunt that into a simple vision matrix, add in a few limitations to avoid known alicorns, and...
A ghostly image projected up from the designs on the floor. A pegasus with a brightly-colored mane dove down into a pile of rubble and flung away broken stones, digging for some survivor. Twilight would recognize Rainbow Dash anywhere.
She let the spell fade. “Well, that was a bust. We already knew about Rainbow,” she said, falling back onto her haunches.
Floating back to the balcony, Luna shrugged. “It is poor luck, true, yet not surprising that Rainbow Dash is the closest potential alicorn. I hear she has not slept since the eruption – that she has been working with the rescue teams ceaselessly.”
“I should talk to her. She can't keep going on like that.” Twilight shook her head. “I know Rainbow likes being a hero, but even heroes have their limits.”
“Is that the only thing you should talk to her about?”
Twilight glared at Luna and crossed her hooves in front of her chest. “Yes. I am not discussing this again. I don't care how much you think the people need another alicorn after losing Celestia, I am not about to end Rainbow's dreams.”
“Twilight, you are letting your feelings for Celestia cloud your–”
“No.”
“Judgment. I know Rainbow Dash cannot replace my sister for you, but for the people of Canterlot, for the–”
“No!”
“People of Equestria, it is important to see that their protectors have not been weakened. Even more importantly, the enemies outside our borders need to see that–”
“No!” Twilight jumped to her feet.
Luna pointed a hoof out toward the wastelands in the South. “The dragons are still out there, Twilight Sparkle, and we do not know if they...”
Twilight stormed away from the balcony, paying no more attention to Luna's arguments. She knew her reasons for not awakening Rainbow were selfish. Some part of her even realized she was doing it so she could vicariously enjoy living out her greatest dreams through the new Wonderbolt, since Twilight's own dreams had been crushed by that volcano. She didn't care. Not enough to change her mind, anyway. Twilight promised herself that somepony would get to live out her dreams. As long as somepony was happy, that was enough.
Right?


* * *


Cadance hesitated, just outside the magical inscriptions. “You're sure that neither of you need any help?”
“We're fine.” Twilight giggled. “Just like the last five times you asked. This is simple stuff, really.”
Cadance's face scrunched up. “But... we've been trying for years to do this locating spell.”
“And it's easy.” Twilight winked at her.
“Twilight Sparkle? It is time.”
Twilight turned to Luna, only to see her already hovering up, preparing to raise the moon. She rushed to prepare her own spell, setting all the elements in place just in time to harness the excess energy from the falling of the sun.
Magical energy coursed through the tracings on the floor, and again, an image appeared. It was blurry at first, but soon coalesced into a row of cribs, each one holding a tiny infant pony.
The image included more than a dozen little cribs, but Twilight immediately knew which one had drawn her there. Right in the center, wrapped in blue blankets, was a pure white unicorn foal with a mane showing all the colors of the sunrise.
She could barely breathe. That was her! That was Celestia, back again already. It had to be.
The image began to fade, and Twilight rushed forward into it she just wanted to see that beautiful foal more closely. As soon as she stepped into the image, it dissipated like fog in the wind, swirling away from her hooves.
“So, it seems we have found what has become of my sister, but the alicorn of earth eludes us still.”
“That was her!” Twilight ignored Luna's intrusion. “That was Celestia!”
“I am certain she has a new name, now, Twilight Sparkle.”
“I have to go see her! Where is she?”
Luna shook her head. “That would be unwise. She will not remember her old life, and it is important that her new childhood not be interfered with. She must grow up naturally, or she may never reach her full potential and never mature into her full self.”
“It looked like the maternity ward of Canterlot General. I've been there before.”
Luna shot Cadance a glare that could have stopped a rampaging dragon.
Cadance just rolled her eyes. “It won't hurt to just go see her, as long as we don't interfere. And, well, I kind of want to go see her, too.”
Luna's head drooped. “Very well. We will go see this new foal, and I will come along as well, to ensure the two of you do not interfere.” She stepped over to the edge of the balcony and spread her wings. “Shall we?”
“We're going to go now?” Cadance's mouth dropped open.
“We're going to fly?” Twilight asked at the same time.
Luna didn't answer either of them. She just jumped off the edge of the balcony, into the dusk. Twilight wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw the night princess roll her eyes.
“Well, I guess we'd better follow her,” Cadance said, trotting to the balcony.
Twilight nodded and took off herself.


* * *


She came down with a wobbly but safe landing in front of Canterlot General's front doors. Twilight hadn't had wings for all that long, yet, and she still felt a bit unstable on them.
Luna and Cadance watched her from the dark alcove of the entrance. They had been waiting for some time, of course. Twilight tried to keep up by wing, but she was no match for the more experienced flyers.
“Are we ready to proceed?” Luna asked, as soon as Twilight set down.
Twilight nodded.
“I do not need to remind you that we cannot interfere in this foal's life. We must not attempt to make contact yet.” Luna glared directly at Twilight. “You both understand this?”
“Of course,” Cadance answered.
Twilight just matched Luna's stare, holding her eyes steady. She said nothing.
One of Luna's eyebrows rose. “Twilight?”
She shook her head. “I know, I know.”
“Good.” Luna held the stare a moment longer before turning around and heading for the front door.
Twilight followed her into the entrance. The four big glass doors along the front were all broken, with freshly cut wood planks covering now. She glanced up at the cracks running across the ceiling and wondered if Canterlot's building inspectors had gotten here yet. Was the hospital really safe, or were ponies just using it anyway because they had no other choice?
Inside, the chaos from the volcano still lingered. Even in the reception room, injured ponies laid on cots, most of them sleeping already, although a few lifted their heads at the sight of three alicorns entering. A thin coating of grey ash covered the floor still, despite obvious efforts to sweep it up.
Two nurses ran across the room, heading down a hallway in a terrible rush, but no other hospital staff was visible. Nopony sat behind the reception desk.
Luna glanced around at the different hallways splitting off from the room. “Do you know where the maternity ward is, Princess Cadance?”
She ran a pink hoof through her hair, looking around for herself. “Not really. I'd been visiting a sick couple, and we never went near it.”
“We shall have to find one of the staff here.”
Twilight rolled her eyes at the both of them, but mostly Luna, as she tip-toed between the beds of two sleeping patients. Had the other princesses become so used to being royalty that they'd forgotten how normal ponies find out things?
She reached the wall where the directory was posted, and after a moment of searching, found what she was looking for. Maternity – 322. She wormed her way back to the middle of the room, careful not to disturb any of the sleeping ponies.
“Well, how should I know where the hospital staffers are? Just because I've been here once doesn't mean I'm an expert on the place.”
Luna glanced down, away from Cadance. “For all we know, most of them may be victims as well. We must choose a path and simply explore to find–”
Twilight spotted the stairwell sign down the hallway in the middle. “Excuse me, ladies,” she said, pushing in between the two arguing princesses, “just follow me.” She strutted down the hall to the stairs – she wouldn't dare take the elevator after the damage to the building – and took the turn into the stairwell without even checking to see if the other two were following.
A smirk broke out on her face when she heard the hurried hoofbeats of the other two behind her. Maybe this would garner a little respect.


* * *


Twilight opened the door labeled 322 with her magic and stepped inside without hesitation, once again followed by the two other princesses.
A narrow room painted in pastel colors greeted her inside, a change from the usual sterile white of the hospital's corridors. Five ponies, one of them wearing a nurse's cap and the other four all sitting on chairs along one wall. Along the other wall ran a big glass window, cracked from the mountain's violence, but not broken.
The ponies in the seats jumped up to their feet, wide-eyed, as soon as Twilight stepped inside. All five of them bowed low when they saw two more princesses file in behind her.
“Please, rise,” Luna said from behind Twilight.
Twilight shook her head. She still wasn't quite used to this 'being royalty' thing. She walked over to the big window, eager to see the new foal inside. Several rows of cribs were lined up inside, most of them full. Two more nurses tended to the babies, seemingly oblivious to the princess now watching them.
The nurse stepped up next to her, standing alongside and looking in as well. “Can I help you, your majesties?” she whispered.