Celestia's Sacrifice

by Thunder Seethe

Ch.4

Celestia's Sacrifice

Thunder Seethe

Special Thanks: AppleMLP < Editor | Grim Reaper < Proofreader ~ Check out his story!

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Ch.4 - Successor

You see sister, it has been some time since the filly started to spread the word, but with much failure she had given up. For years she had come to visit me on that mountain, just to talk to me; to be a friend. She started trying out for my school of gifted students to help me with my studies, which almost came to a breakthrough. I made her my successor when she was only nine! She was indeed, a very talented pony.

She sent me letters everyday of her discoveries, findings, breakthroughs, and on occasions, something that benefited my stupid book of failed spells. When she came across the spell I used on you many years back, when we were both new to ruling Equestria, she figured out something that I had missed. Something careless, and could have cost you your life. So I'm glad she made her way there in time. You should thank her for me; not that I haven't already, but do it again.

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"Ms. Sparkle, this letter is to you, from the Princess." A white coated stallion in full golden armor said while holding out a scroll.

"Thank you." Ms. Sparkle said accepting the scroll. Once the guard left the room, she proceeded to read it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I was wondering if you had any updates for my Book of Failed Spells for me. Specifically the one I tested on Luna, which should be on page thirteen. Once you get some results, please inform me on your progress, or completion.

Many Thanks,
Princess Celestia

"Seems simple enough." She put the scroll on her desk, and started going through her library in search of the Book of Failed Spells that the Princess made when she was younger.

Most of the spells that had to be fixed were already worked on by the other students. Not to mention that Twilight Sparkle was the smartest student in Equestria, so nothing really ever confused her. The only thing that would ever bother her was being tardy, getting an A on a test instead of an A++, or when ponies asked her to go out and have a good time. To her, a good time was studying, reading books and novels, then re-reading them to memorize the novel word for word, or joining book clubs which she never really did much of.

The young mare stared at the spell, performed it on the mannequin pony to fully understand how it works, then she went towards the mechanics of the spell. She performed it on microorganisms to see the effects of it on life. The microorganism is a species created by Twilight Sparkle herself. The organism is used for testing spells, or other chemical anomalies. Despite its great use, it still is unnamed.

The average lifespan of this organism is supposed to be three hours upon its summon. When the spell was cast, the microorganisms lived for only four minutes. This means the life span has been decreased by roughly ninety-eight percent. "She performed the spell on Luna many years ago, about one-hundred twenty-one to be exact. Since Princess Luna is immortal, it shouldn't have any effect to her... unless..." She grabbed a few books from the library shelves and began reading through the pages with haste.

"The spell is eternally lodged into the body..." she muttered to herself as she flipped through more pages, very familiar with the book. "If used with a massive instantaneous transportation, the spell may get leaked and turn the immortal being, mortal. The lifespan will be longer than a normal being, but only by fifty percent of its average life expectancy..." She grabbed another book from the shelf that contained the census, along with the deaths of all ponies. It was a more depressing book to read, nonetheless, she read it anyway and got very familiar with the book. She mainly grabbed it for a reference.

"Eighty-eight years is our average life expectancy if I calculated correctly..." she paused again to double check her math. "Yup, it should be right. Now added the fifty percent, she should have about one-hundred and twenty-two years. Given the fact that this really is the average life expectancy. I need to inform the Princess." She said to herself once again.

Twilight was not like the other ponies. She never went out, never had many friends, except for Princess Celestia. She was more a friend to her than all the books in the library. She sometimes called her Aunt Tia, or Momma Tia. Twilight practically considered her family, and the Princess thought the same.

Twilight grabbed her quill and ink bottle and frantically began writing the letter.

"Dear Princess Celestia," she spoke aloud as she wrote. "I have come to a breakthrough in page thirteen, and I have really bad news. I thought that it'll be best if I'd tell you personally, so please meet me in my room when you're ready. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle." She quickly tossed the letter into the fireplace where it would be transported to the Princess.

She sighed as she went to put away her books and readied herself for the Princesses arrival. She usually responded quickly to her letters, and reacted just as fast. She didn't know how she would break this to her, but she wouldn't even have enough time to plan it out if she tried.

Once finishing the setup for two chairs, she just sat down and waited.

+++

"Twilight, what's wrong?" The Princess asked, uncertain of what news she was to bare.

"I'm afraid I discovered something about your sister. I know how much you care for her, so thank you for coming down quickly." Twilight said with a bit of hesitation. "Your sister, is on the verge of death..." she looked down at the table.

"Death? She's immortal. Upon her return, she'll be fine right?" The Princess replied optimistically, but the facts were there. Twilight laid the research she had done on the table, and passed them over to the Princess.

"Apparently, when you cast that spell; who knows how long ago, you had accidentally given her a spell to shorten a life by roughly ninety-eight percent." The Princess shuffled through the papers as Twilight continued to describe the situation. "But since your sister is immortal, she was immune to it; it had no effect. Unfortunately, the spell was lodged in her soul. It still would have no effect unless she were to travel in any massive instantaneous transportation... which unfortunately... yeah." Both of them looked down at the table feeling hopeless in this situation. However, the Princess had an idea to save her sister... with a cost.

She hadn't planned on doing this until she reached at least ten thousand years old, but she had no choice now.

"Twilight?" The Princess said dropping the papers on the table. "How much time does she have left?"

"Depending on the date she was sent to the moon, approximately one year... if not, less." Twilight said putting her two fore hoofs on the table and rest on them.

"Okay... I understand. Twilight," The Princess said, raising her head back up with watery eyes. "How would you like to come with me back on the mountain tonight?"

"I'd love to."