Wish of a Princess

by Tales Trails

The Argument

Twilight paused at the large double doors to the throne room, she had never hesitated to enter it before, it was just another room in her house, but there she stood caught in a moment of indecision. She could swear that there was a competition between her heart and her mind to see who could race the fastest. The night court was over and there would be a few hours before her mother opened the doors to day court and her mother was most likely already in there going over a few last details with her secretary. She wanted to talk with Celestia; she needed to talk to Celestia. The conflicting memories she had unlocked, were causing her to question everything about her life. She did the magical forensic work. The greatest spell in the history of spells had her ethereal hoof print on it. Her mother, no Celestia cast spells that altered reality and destiny across Equestria. The worst part was that the spell meant she belonged somewhere else, to someone else. The young alicorn princess needed to know why. Why was she in effect magically foal napped?
The anger and indignation began to build she had been sitting on the information for weeks trying to find the right time and courage for the confrontation. The drive to get the answers gave her the strength to push open the large gilded and march down the long hallway to the regal alicorn sitting on the throne.
“Twilight,” Celestia said with a smile happy to see her youngest child. “You didn’t tell me you were coming home? Not, that you ever need an excuse.”
Twilight smiled in spite of herself as allowed herself to accept a nuzzle from the white mare.
“What do we owe the visit then?” Celestia said with genuine happiness in her eyes and a smile that Twilight knew was reserved for her family.
“I need to talk with you,” twilight said trying to usher up as much command as she could. “In private, please.”
Celestia looked over at her sectary and nodded the grey stallion sitting at a desk off to the side scribbling some notes who wrapped his collected papers in his aura and began to leave.
“Guards, you may go now,” Celestia smiled. “The day guard will be here soon. I don’t think the princess will harm me.”

Twilight stood silently as the guards left and the doors of the throne room sealed leaving her and her mother alone.

“So, my dear daughter, what is it you needed to talk to me about,” Celestia asked sitting back down on the cushion of her throne. The word daughter grated her for some reason. “Have you been feeling well? You haven’t had another episode have you? I’m your mother you can always talk to me.”

“No, no, I’ve been okay. The nightmares have been,” she paused trying to find a way to soften the truth, “less frequent.”

“But, you’re not are you?” Twilight said.

“What makes you say that?” Celestia said in confusion.

“My mother,” she replied.

“Whatever do you mean?” Celestia said her confusion growing.

“I know. I know what you did,” she said. “You foal napped me.”

“I don’t know where you got that idea but you are my daughter,” Celestia questioned her tone a little more stern than she intended.

“Discord,” Twilight said plainly.

“You should know by now that you shouldn’t take what he says at face value,” the princess said with a dismissive gesture of the hoof. “He is probably just messing with your head.”

“No, he’s right,” she said trying to be clinical and forcing her torrent of building emotions down. “I’ve been doing some research. I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re not related.”

“You’re being rediclous Twilight. I carried you for 11 months,” Celesita countered with all the proof she thought she needed.

“Unicorns have a familiar aura the same thing goes for alicorns,” she continued. “Ours don’t match at all and that goes without saying the obvious we don’t even look alike. Shiney sure, stick some wings on him and he’s defiantly your child. His aura doesn’t quite match but, that be because he’s a stallion and not an alicorn.”

“Twilight you’re spouting nonsense,” Celestia said trying to understand where this argument was coming from.

“Of course you’re my daughter,” she said softening her tone and draping one of her soft feathery wings over Twilight.

“I’m not. I have memories, memories of another life, memories of parents that loved me, parents you took me from,” she said her anger building and shaking off Celestia’s wing and stepping away to turn and face her.

“I’m telling you, you are my daughter. You are my foal. I loved your father and he gave me you,” Celestia pleaded, knowing what could happen when Twilight began to spiral. “It must be Discord playing a trick on you. He must have planted a suggestion in your mind.”

“No, it wasn’t Discord!” she shouted back.

“These are memories, you or someone locked away in my mind,” Twilight argued her temper beginning to flare. “What did you do to my parents? Why did you take me away from them? Were you just so desperate for a daughter you thought you’d just steal one and use your magic to cover your tracks.”

“I did no such thing,” Celestia said confused her voice betraying her breaking heart. “You are my daughter.”

“I am NOT. YOUR. DAUGHTER!” Twilight shouted and the solar princess, the soverign of Equestria, the steward of the sun, shrank back as though she had been stabbed in the heart. “Admit it! Admit to me what you’ve done! Tell me where they are? What did you do to them?”

Smoke began to build around the young alicorn, her mane began to float and wave in a wind that wasn’t there as she began to slowly rage shift.

“I didn’t do anything, please believe me,” Celestia begged as the tears began to flow. “You, you are mine. I . . . I . . I love you.”

“You never loved me,” Twilight said. “What kind of parent would send their child away to fight monsters for them?”

A flash of light and the tell tale pop! sound of a teleport erupted between the two alicorns revealing a third, “What is going on here? The guards were near panic and afraid to even enter the room,” Luna questioned in her strongest non-royal Canterlot voice.

“I don’t know? Twilight is convinced of some conspiracy that has me foal napping her and raising her as my own,” Celestia said perplexed and sadden.

“You, know it’s true Luna,” Twilight accused. “You saw it.”

“Luna, tell me you don’t believe this,” Celestia said in disbelief to her sister.

Luna knew she needed to calm the situation, since a fight between two alicorns could level several city block. The darker alicorn took a deep breath and looked at her sister, “I have been helping Twilight deal with what we once thought were nightmares. She had a lot of post traumatic stress from her dealings with Discord, and the other trials she has had to confront in your name. We went into her mind and found some,” she paused choosing her words carefully, “inconsistencies. She has two distinctly separate memories of her early foalhood, one involving you and the other involving a unicorn mare.”

“Proof you foal napped me,” Twilight spat.

“I DID. NOT. FOALNAP. YOU!” Celestia roared.

“Sister!” Luna admonished.

The solar princess took a deep breath, “So sister, you believe this?”

“I’m am not sure what to believe,” Luna said.

“What? You’ve seen the memories. How could it be anything else?” Twilight turned to Luna.

“I don’t know what is wrong with you Twilight but I am sure we will figure it out,” Celestia said. “I love you.”

“There is nothing wrong with me,” Twilight argued. “I know what you’re thinking, pour little Twilight can’t handle stress, the poor princess with the fragile pschyie.”

“Twilight, ponies know that’s not true,” Luna said trying to calm her niece.

“Sure, and you’re only happy for it,” Twilight said now feeling threatened from both elder alicorns. “I bet your glad that ponies think somepony else is the one who is unstable now.”

“Twilight you need to calm down,” Celestia pleaded. “We will get to the bottom of this. We can summon the best doctors, and spell casters, we can summon Discord we will get you the help you need.”

Luna momentarily shrank back at the stinging comment.

The young princess hung her head, to some it might have meant she was surrounding, but she was thinking. She felt the slightly tingly feeling of magic reaching out to her. The spell was familiar, it was a binding spell. She summoned her own magic and in a flash she teleported out of the grasp of Celestia’s spell.

“Twilight, stop please,” Celestia pleaded and reached out with a second spell.

“Twi-“ was all Luna got out before the young princess teleported again to an outside balcony and leapt into the air.

A second flash of light came from behind Luna the white alicorn teleporting away leaving only the stain of tears on the marble floor where she had stood.
* * * *

Luna knocked on the golden doors of her sister’s apartment but didn’t wait to be asked inside.
“Tia? Are you okay?” she called.

The sun princess didn’t answer; the only sound was the sound of a shakily inhaled breath, coming from the darkness. The alicorn of the night, had given her sister sometime alone as she dealt with the immediate concerns of court saying something had come up and she had to fill in for her sister for a few hours. The nobles, grumbled and many of them chose to reschedule leaving her the chance to close court early to check on her sister.

“Tia?” she said coming upon her sister lying on her bed the photos spread hap hazard across the bed and a small rag doll in her forelegs.

Luna had never seen her sister so emotionally distraught before, in the thousands of years they have lived, the older alicorn had always been the steadfast rock of pony kind. The dark alicorn climbed up in bed and spread her wing over the slightly larger alicorn. “What did I do wrong?” Celestia asked.

“You did nothing wrong as far as I can tell,” Luna said trying to comfort her sister.

“I must have done something to bring this out in her?” Celestia blamed herself. “Did I push her too hard?”

“No,” Luna said.

“She is right. I sent her out to fight my battles in the name of lessons,” she hung her head. “I am a terrible mother.”

“You are not a terrible mother,” Luna said. “You have been a good mother, raising two amazing ponies.”

“Then why? Why does she want this other life? Why does is she convinced that I stole her,” she asked in between sobs.

“I have grown to know my niece very well over the last several years and we have grown close. I would say she is, after you, my best friend,” Luna said. “She is also deeply troubled. She spoke the truth she had two very different sets of memories of her foalhood.”

“But, I didn’t do this,” Celestia looked at her sister, tears streaming down her face. “I carried her for 11 months and nursed her and changed her. I am her mother.”

“I do not know,” Luna said indeed not having any answers. “But, when Twilight calms down we can talk this out.”

“She can’t stand me Lulu,” Celestia said looking at a picture of her and foal twilight. “What makes you think she will come back?”

“I am sure her friends will calm her down,” Luna said. “Besides, it doesn’t matter how long she is gone she is family and will always return where she is loved.”

Author's Note:

I'm sorry for the late post. I've had a lot of work getting in the way of posting on Saturday this week. I have just a tease for next week as Luna begins a search for her missing niece, she comes across a scene similar to one of my favorite fim writers Dlazerous. I hope you enjoy and remember comments always welcome.