• Published 20th May 2012
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Mirror's Image - Evilpresident



Twilight never was a unicorn. And she didn't even know it.

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Chapter 10

Chapter 10

This day had been just perfect for Celestia. She had just had a very relaxing bath and a very filling dinner, and now she was on her way to her chambers, to prepare for bed. The sun had already set and the moon was raised to its spot in the sky. It was still rather awkward for her to handle it. She was so used to the sun and its massive weight, that she had almost launched the much lighter moon into deep space the first time she brought it up above the horizon.

Her guards, ever vigilant, escorted her to her room. After the incident earlier that day, they were ready to draw their swords at the first sign of a threat. Fortunately that wretched creature had quickly learned its place and left with tears in its eyes, or so Celestia was told by the guards stationed at the gate.

Celestia made a mental note to give those two a bonus this month. If they hadn’t alerted her, that thing might’ve made it up to her palace.

The princess was no fool, nor was she blind. She recognized that creature, she would always recognize her former student, no matter what form she had.

It was just a convenient opportunity to get rid of her without raising too much suspicion. The guards had already been informed of this and were bound by honor and magic to never speak a word about what happened today.

“Good night, princess,” one of her guards said, his left front hoof raised to salute her.

“Thank you,” Celestia said as she walked into her room. She quickly closed the doors behind her, sealing them with a minor locking charm. She knew that, even if Starlight was foolish enough to come back, that she couldn’t break a lock to save her life.

“Poor Starlight,” she said to herself as she shed her golden boots and set them at her bed’s end. “All alone. Just like her.” Celestia walked up to the window. The moon was full tonight, making the shadow of Nightmare Moon clearly visible.

Where had it all gone wrong? Celestia wondered. Her ex-student was the Element of Magic, so why had she failed? Nightmare Moon wasn’t defeated, she was merely banished.

Celestia knew the Elements of Harmony like the back of her hoof. Over the many millennia of her life, she had seen their use quite often: Tirek, Scorpan, the Smooze, Discord. Each time, the Elements had chosen their bearers and, under Celestia’s and Luna’s guidance, they would save Equestria from certain destruction.

So why not this time? Celestia just didn’t understand what went wrong. Discord had been turned to stone, Scorpan had been turned back into the prince he once was and the Smooze had dried up. They would never prove a threat to Equestria again. Except Discord, perhaps. He was still alive inside the statue and could break free if she were to lose her own connection to the Elements. But the chances of that happening were minimal. Though Celestia was afraid of what the years of solitude might do to the already insane and violent Draconequus.

But Nightmare Moon hadn’t been destroyed. Luna hadn’t been freed. Instead, she was now sealed within the moon. She was still a threat to Equestria, one that was only stopped momentarily . The Mare in the Moon could break free at any moment.

“Ha, ‘Mare in the Moon,’ what a ridiculous title,” Celestia said, though no one was around to hear her complaints.

Her magic latched onto the book on her desk. A ‘gift’ from her former student, telling of how Princess Celestia defeated Nightmare Moon.

“How funny that you forgot to mention your own part in this,” Celestia said as she opened the book. The drawings were nice though. One of Starlight’s friends had made them for her, to illustrate what happened when Luna snapped. Starlight had given her a copy of the book, hoping for the princess’s approval before having it printed.

“The ponies still think of me as a tyrant,” Celestia grumbled. “Isn’t it bad enough that you failed to save her?” she shouted as she tossed the book against a wall. It cracked along the spine and fell to the floor broken in half. “Must you shift the blame to me for her banishment?!” she shouted.

Nopony answered her, but then, she didn’t expect them to. Her guards had probably heard her but Celestia didn’t care. And neither would they, if they knew what was good for them.

Venting her anger on the book caused her to calm down again. And it caused her to think.

Perhaps she had been too harsh... to just banish her beloved student like that.

She had loved the filly like her own daughter. Celestia had pulled her from the smoldering ruins of her parental house, huddled underneath her dead mother who had tried to shield her filly as the house collapsed. Poor Starlight had experienced a massive magical surge, resulting in her father’s death and the implosion of their house.

Celestia knew that the filly would become a danger to herself and to eveypony around her, if left unchecked. She had used her royal status as a means to bypass the adoption process and simply took the filly home with her.

Ever since then, Celestia had enjoyed the filly’s company. Starlight didn’t take her magic lessons all too serious though, preferring to write her own little stories about princes and dragons and grand adventures.

As she grew older, Starlight more than once proved herself to be quite the author. No wonder she ended up with a quill and ink jar as a cutie mark.

They had their good times. Celestia could recall several occasions where she and Starlight would just sneak out the castle, disguised as common ponies, to have some fun away from their duties.

But they had their bad times as well. Luna’s banishment had made Celestia angry. Angry at herself, angry at Luna but most of all, angry at her student. She had been this way for a few months now, ever since Nightmare Moon, the wicked and twisted version of her sister, had been sealed away in the moon. That anger festered and turned into hatred, hatred that she held for Starlight.

...And now all that hate had been used up in one day, on one pony. A tired sigh passed Celestia's lips; she felt empty, her pent up rage now gone. But as soon as she was relieved of one overruling emotion, another began to take it's place. Stirring up pleasant the memories of their time together caused regret to form inside her. It quickly took over, filling up the void in her heart left by the now-gone hate. She had reacted in a foolish and petty way and now she had lost both Luna and Starlight. The high she had gotten from punishing her student for failing was wearing off quickly. There was no more anger, no more hate, all she felt now was self-loathing.

Her magic picked up her boots once more and placed them back at her hooves. She got up from bed and walked towards the window.

“I’m so sorry, Starlight,” Celestia whispered. “I-I’ll find you and bring you back home.” She had to fix this, she just had to. “I’ll make things right, somehow.”

“No. You won’t.” Celestia heard a voice that she didn’t recognize. “You trampled her little heart, you have no right to come for her.”

“Who are you, to dare and forbid the solar princess from anything?” Celestia turned around to look at her bedroom intruder. Her eyes widened and she took an involuntary step backwards, bumping into the window behind her.

A black pony-like creature stood next to her bed. It was unlike anything Celestia had ever seen. It had holes in its legs, insect-like wings and a horn that rivaled her own in length. It seemed like an taller and older version of her beloved student, which instantly put Celestia on guard.

“Who am I?” the creature asked. “I am Amethyst, queen of the Changelings; but tonight, I am your worst nightmare!”

“My worst nightmares are losing my sister and my beloved student,” Celestia said as she approached the queen, her mind already preparing to fling several spells at this creature. “I’ve already lost one but I might be able to save the other,” she said with a shred of hope in her voice.

“But she’s already gone,” Queen Amethyst said. “You rejected her, told her to stay out of your sight, am I correct?” The queen would be lying if she said that she didn’t take some pleasure from this confrontation.

“I can still fix things!” Celestia cried out. “I was angry! I wasn’t thinking straight!”

“You weren’t thinking at all,” Amethyst said with a sneer as she took a step closer to the princess. “You rejected my daughter, even though she loves you with all her heart. Do you know how jealous I am of you? Even now, she’s crying her eyes out because of you!”

“She’s you daughter? And you know where she is?” Celestia asked. “Where is she? I need to speak to her immediately!”

“Do you think that you can fix this?” Amethyst laughed. “Oh my, you actually do think that,” she stated as she looked Celestia in the eyes.

“I can try,” Celestia said, her voice but a whisper. “I was a fool to dismiss her at the first opportunity I got. I shouldn’t have done so.”

“Indeed,” Amethyst said. “But even now, you still hate her. Don’t even try to lie to me, I can feel the hate rolling off of you. It’s sickening.”

Celestia opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it again. Was there part of her that still wanted to hate Starlight? There probably was, Celestia figured. No matter how deep she buried it, a part of her still remained the tyrant from before. The tyrant that would punish those that failed her.

The solar princess suddenly didn’t feel as confident anymore.

“You don’t deserve her,” Amethyst said. “All you ponies are the same, from the lowest peasant to the highest diarch, oops, I mean monarch,” the queen said with a toothy smile. Celestia could see fangs sticking out, probably laced with a venom of sorts.

“My sister’s banishment…” Celestia said.

“What about it?” the queen asked. “Were you not brave enough to face her alone?”

“The Elements don’t work that way,” Celestia said, her teeth clenched together. “She had to be the one! She was the only one suitable!”

“Now we’re getting to the heart of the problem,” Amethyst said, her smirk having disappeared and her expression serious again. “Luna was my best friend. You and I were in the same position, having to watch as she turned into that monster.”

“You’re a friend of Luna’s?” Celestia asked. “I wasn’t aware she befriended… non-ponies.” She had to think for a few second to come up with an inoffensive word to describe the queen.

“Indeed she did,” Amethyst said. “You didn’t know that, did you? Did you know anything about your sister?”

“Of course I do!” Celestia stomped her hoof in rising anger. “She’s my sister! I love her more than anything else in this world!”

“Yet you stood by and reveled in your little ponies’ affection while she became that beast, hungering for attention and love.” Amethyst glared at Celestia. “If only she had accepted my offer, she might still be with me. But because of you, she’s gone.”

“She’s not gone, at least not permanently,” Celestia said, her voice trembling. “Starlight failed to properly use the elements.”

“Did it ever occur to you that it wasn’t her fault?” Amethyst asked, her voice filling with anger. “You were the one that shoved the Element of Magic into her hooves, knowing that she may not be the one to wield it.”

The princess shook her head. “The Element of Magic appeared before her, it chose her!” Celestia yelled. “She should have been able to use it!”

“Yet you simply discarded her when she failed,” Amethyst muttered. “Normally I would be pleased with such a clean severing of family ties. But you hurt her badly.”

“And I’m sorry!” Celestia said. “I still love her.”

Amethyst shook her head. “Whether you loved or hated her, it won’t matter anymore. You can stop lying to yourself now...” She changed her stance, her eyes turning as cold as a winter’s night, “because you won’t be able to remember it.”


The Changeling queen charged at Celestia, catching her off guard. Her fangs flashed as she drove them into Celestia’s neck.

Celestia cried out in pain and kicked at the Changeling queen as best she could. One of her kicks hit her assailant in the gut, forcing her to release her grip on Celestia’s neck.

But the queen wasn’t that easily deterred. She dodged the next kick and jabbed her horn into the princess’s chest. Green lightning ran over it and Amethyst looked up to see Celestia look down at her with fearful eyes..

Celestia screamed as the magic coursed through her system like lightning, paralyzing her entirely. She slumped over onto the ground with the queen looming over her like some vast predatory beast.

“Seems like my venom doesn’t work on you. But that’s where magic comes in to help,” Amethyst said as she noticed that Celestia was still awake. A drop of Celestia’s blood ran down the side of her mouth, which she wiped away. Doing so left a thin red streak on her cheek that the queen didn’t notice.

“I had to stock up on a few dozen ponies worth of love. One doesn’t take fighting the princess of the sun lightly, after all. Of course, I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere tonight.”

Celestia’s eyes were still moving, fear clearly showing in them. “You will forget this ever happened,” Amethyst whispered into the princess’ ear before moving her horn to Celestia’s. Green light engulfed both their horns and Celestia began to whimper as Amethyst invaded her mind.

“You will forget banishing her, you will forget hating her,” she whispered to the princess-turned-prey. “Instead, you will think of her as missing. You will want to find her but you never will. This is your punishment, Celestia, for crossing my daughter. You will worry about her for the rest of your natural life, never knowing what happened to her, never getting to hold her in your hooves again.”

One by one she sealed the memories that Celestia had of the day, taking care to seal them all individually. It was a long and painstakingly tedious process but it had to be done. If she didn’t, a single trigger could undo all of the seals and Celestia would remember everything instantly.

Now, Celestia would just remember bits and pieces if the seals broke, not enough for her mind to work with and unseal the rest of the memories. Or so she hoped. Amethyst had never worked her mind magic on an immortal before and she was quickly running out of love to power her spellwork.

But it should work, though Amethyst had to dedicate the last of her energy to sealing away the memory of the sealing itself. She just hoped that it was enough.

Celestia’s eyes were white and unseeing. Only when the Changeling queen removed her horn did they return to normal. The princess instantly fell asleep, her mind needing rest after the intrusive process.

“You will never know what happened to her,” Amethyst snarled. “Never.”

-

Celestia’s eyes shot open. Her back was aching and she didn’t feel rested at all. “When did I end up on the floor?” she asked herself as she pushed herself up onto her hooves. “Strange…” she said to herself as she moved to her window.

The moon was just now finishing its set path across the sky. Celestia closed her eyes and magically lowered the moon. She then moved on to the sun. The magnificent celestial body started to peek over the horizon as Celestia pulled on it.

“That’s done,” she said to herself, before moving back to the bed to fetch her boots. “Huh? Now where did I put those?”

She looked down and noticed that she was still wearing them. “I must have been more tired than I thought,” Celestia said, her face a bit red with embarrassment.

A knock on the door drew her attention. “Come in,” she said. Her staff never knocked, Celestia asked them not to.

“I can’t, princess,” the servant said through the door. “The door is sealed.”

“Really?” Celestia moved to the door and undid the rather simple locking spell. “My apologies,” she said to the servant, a white Pegasus pony with a yellow mane.

The Pegasus bowed. “Not your fault, princess. I’m sorry for intruding while you clearly desire your privacy.” Celestia noticed she was shaking in fright.

“Do not fear, my little pony,” Celestia comforted her. “I merely forgot to remove it, I think.” She couldn’t exactly remember casting the spell though.

The Pegasus pony nodded and went to work. “Princess? What is this?” She held out a torn book.

“That… that’s a gift from my beloved student,” Celestia said, a frown forming as she saw the condition the book was in. “It must have fallen off the desk. Put it back there, please. I’ll fix it up later.”

The Pegasus nodded and went to work as the door closed, the princess having left the room. She noticed how the princess’s bed was still mostly made. The sheets were very slightly wrinkled, as if the princess had only rested on it for a few minutes.

But Surprise knew better than to question why the princess hadn’t slept in her bed that night. It wasn’t of her concern and it just made her job that much easier.

-

Celestia didn’t know why but she felt the need to visit her student. She had been rather angry with her the past few months, since Luna’s banishment. But she had some time to calm down and put things in perspective.

And besides, she hadn’t seen or heard from her beloved student in two weeks. Not all that strange, since Starlight had moved out the castle some time ago. But Celestia was still worried.

She quickly made her way to Starlight’s little house in Canterlot and knocked on the door. No answer came. Celestia knocked louder.

Still no answer.

“How odd,” Celestia said. She then noticed that the mailbox was currently overflowing, almost as if it hadn’t been emptied in weeks.

This caused some alarm in the princess. “I hope you won’t mind,” Celestia said as she lowered her horn to the door and placed her magic on the lock, forcing the tumblers into place and unlocking it. She pushed the door open and walked in.

Everything seemed nice and tidy, though there was a very thin layer of dust on everything. This drew Celestia’s attention, as her beloved student had a minor allergy to dust. She would never allow dust to build up like this.

“Starlight?” Celestia called out but she only got silence as her answer. She made her way up the stairs, calling out her student’s name as she went. Eventually she arrived at Starlight’s bedroom. It looked the same like the rest of the house, untouched in weeks.

Celestia was beginning to worry now. She quickly made her way back to the castle and ordered a regiment of soldiers to come to her throne room.

“My beloved student, Starlight Twinkle, appears to be missing,” she told the guards. “I want you all to look for her. Start with her friends, they might know something. Return here tonight with your findings."

The guards all nodded and saluted her, though two of them seemed rather apprehensive about the task. They wanted to voice their complaints, only to be silenced by the spells they had willingly undergone. So instead, they just followed the rest of their squad.

Celestia sighed as they left the throne room. “Where are you, Starlight?”

The book her student had left for her sat next to her throne. Celestia had fixed up her own copy and she had send word to the distributors to print and send out copies of Starlight’s latest book. She just hoped that it wouldn’t be her last.

-

Present day

“Princess?” Twilight scrambled to her hooves and took a step backwards, only to bump into the door again.

“Starlight, Starlight, Starlight, my beloved student,” the princess said disapprovingly as she walked towards Twilight. “You, of all ponies, should know that my orders are to be obeyed. You disobeyed me, and for that you will be punished severely!”

Twilight’s eyes widened as the princess’s horn began to glow. Using agility that Twilight didn’t even know she had, she managed to narrowly dodge the bolt of lightning that the princess summoned.

“Y-you nearly blasted me with that!” Twilight cried in disbelief. Her princess, the mare she loved almost as much as her own mother had just tried to kill her!

“It seems my aim is a bit off,” Celestia said casually, though her eyes remained as cold as the void of space. Twilight had never seen her eyes like that. She was used to the kind, warm eyes of the princess but those seemed to have completely vanished.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight pleaded. “Please, I am not Starlight!”

“Then why do you look just like her?” Celestia asked, preparing another bolt as she spoke.

“I inherited her good looks?” Twilight offered.

“You must take me for a fool!” Celestia launched the bolt at Twilight, who teleported away.

Celestia stared blankly at the spot where Twilight had been. “Where did you go?” she demanded, her head moving from left to right as she scanned the room for her stray student.

“Princess,” the voice came from behind her.

“Attempting to sneak up on me, are you?” Celestia turned and unleashed a torrent of flames from her horn as she went.

Again, Twilight teleported away, only to pop back up behind the princess.

“Such an interesting trick you’ve picked up,” Celestia said, not even bothering to turn around and face Twilight. “You haven’t been away that long, have you?”

“Princess Celestia, you taught me how to teleport,” Twilight said calmly. There was obviously something wrong with the princess. Something must have happened when Chrysalis was banished, Twilight figured. But right now, she needed to try to get Celestia to come to her senses.

“I did no such thing,” Celestia sneered. “You never managed to do it. You only had eyes for those damn novels you insisted on writing!”

“I teleported into the wall between your bedroom and the broom closet,” Twilight reminded her. “That was the first time I tried and it took you an hour to free me. I was screaming and crying all the while.”

Celestia fell silent. She slowly turned around to look at Twilight.

“I didn’t want to try again after that. I was so afraid that I’d disappoint you again,” Twilight said, approaching the princess slowly. “Do you remember what you said to me back then?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Celestia said, though she did not seem so certain of her words anymore.

“Twilight Sparkle, there’s no reason to waste your tears just because you made a mistake.” Twilight closed her eyes as she recalled the fond memory. “Don’t look back at it for too long. Learn from them and try again. Because the greatest mistake in life is…”

“ENOUGH!!!” Celestia screamed, using the traditional Canterlot voice. Twilight choked on her words and only managed to produce a weak whimper in response. Something intangible was emanating from Celestia. Twilight didn’t know what it was. All she knew was that it made her sick to her stomach, worse, it was causing her physical pain.

“You are making my head hurt, Starlight,” Celestia sneered. “And I tire of playing around.”

Twilight could only stare at Celestia as she stepped closer towards her. While Celestia’s eyes had been cold up to now, they were now a slate gray.

“You know how I punish disobedient ponies,” Celestia stated. “Well, I’m not sure if you still count as a pony, but it doesn’t matter.”

Twilight wanted to turn and run but her hooves wouldn’t budge. “Look down,” Celestia said, traces of twisted amusement in her voice.

Twilight did so... and screamed. Her hooves were petrified! Twilight had read about this spell before. As long as Celestia’s eyes were fixed on her, the stone would continue to creep upwards. It would turn every bone, every cell of her body into stone and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Please, stop!” Twilight pleaded, hoping to reach the kind and warmhearted princess inside of the monster...

“No,” Celestia said, shattering Twilight’s last hope. “If anything, I might just speed up the process. Your whining is annoying me!”

Celestia’s horn glowed grey and Twilight closed her eyes. She didn’t want the last thing she ever saw to be the face of her beloved teacher and friend, twisted in anger.

It all happened so fast

A loud noise echoed through the throne room as the door was slammed open. Hissing sounds filled the air, along with a single ‘crack’ like that of a stone hitting and breaking the marble floor-tiles.

Twilight cautiously opened one eye. The fact that she could still do that meant that she wasn’t made of stone. Not entirely, at least. Her hooves were still too heavy for her to lift.

Something gray laid on the ground in front of her. One of her guards had put itself in between her and Celestia, taking the brunt of the petrification spell that Celestia was casting.

“No…” Twilight muttered, pulling at her own stone hooves in an futile attempt to get to him. He might still be conscious, Twilight hoped.

That was the last thing Twilight had wanted though, to have somepony lay down their life for her.

A grunt caught her attention. Only now did she notice that Celestia was still standing there. Changeling soldiers surrounded her, five of them had their fangs stuck deep in her flesh. Twilight didn’t know if their venom would be very effective though, as Celestia was supposedly immortal.

Eventually though, the princess succumbed to the venom and collapsed.

Twilight’s legs returned to normal and she rushed over to Celestia. “Get away from her,” she ordered the Changelings. They quickly moved away but not too far, so they could intervene at any time.

“Princess Celestia? Are you okay?” Twilight asked, hoping that the princess had been returned to normal.

“Twilight?” the princess muttered. “I don’t know if I am… what happened just now?” Celestia struggled to get back to her hooves. Apparently the venom wasn’t potent enough to bring her down entirely.

The Changelings hissed, before running towards Twilight, pushing her away from Celestia and forming a living shield in front of her.

Celestia blinked a few times. “Where did they all come from?”

“Good question,” Twilight said, a tad annoyed by the Changelings that had pushed her away. “Princess, what do you remember from just now?”

“Everything,” Celestia said. “It was strange… you were running around, you fell and then you were like this… you’re still beautiful, by the way,” Celestia added, causing Twilight to blush.

“And then… I remember being outside the Canterlot walls. Two of my best guards were there… and you were there. I said horrible things and this hate… this awful hate filled my heart, Twilight.”

“Hate?” Twilight asked. “So that was what I just felt…” The sensation she felt when Celestia yelled at her. It felt awful and Twilight never wanted to feel that again.

“I think so. That hate filled my heart. Or maybe it already was there.” Celestia shook her head. “I don’t know anymore. All I know is that just now, I was riding in the backseat of my mind. I saw everything that was happening but I couldn’t do anything. Forgive me Twilight but part of me didn’t want to do anything.”

“It’s okay, princess,” Twilight said, though she was still a bit apprehensive of the princess. “But could you…” She motioned towards the stone Changeling. “… can you fix him up? Please?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course.” She walked around Twilight and her living wall of Changelings and towards the stone Changeling.

The other Changelings hissed even louder as Celestia settled before their fallen brother. “Quiet,” Twilight ordered. They quickly fell silent but they didn’t take their eyes off of Celestia.

Celestia was not deterred by this. She had often done magic before judgmental eyes and this was no different. But she had to admit, the insect-like hissing was very intimidating even for somepony as old as her.

It seemed as though Celestia had caught the guardian just as he landed in front of Twilight: his wings were spread and his legs were braced for impact. Gravity had worked its own kind of magic though, causing him to topple over.

The princess bent down and touched her horn to his upturned one, sending a wave of curative magic through his body.

The Praetorian regained his color as his limbs became flexible again. He gasped for air and scrambled to his hooves, before collapsing to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“I am fine, princess,” the Praetorian hissed as he stood up again and dropped into a defensive stance. The threat was still there and he had to protect his charge!

“Stand down,” Twilight said. She knew that her guard would instantly target Celestia again.

“Of course, princess,” the guard said reluctantly, though he remained ready to lunge at Celestia if she so much as looked at Twilight wrongly.

“Well, this is my new family,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh. “We’re still working things out.”

“I can see that,” Celestia said. “Are you the Changelings from the dungeons?”

“We owe you no answer,” one of them said.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then,” Celestia said. “How come you’re active now?” she addressed the eleven Changelings that had been passive up until just now but got no answer besides another angry hiss.

“I hope you don’t mind that they escaped,” Twilight said. “I didn’t order them to, if that’s what you think…”

“I know you didn’t and frankly, I’m glad they did,” Celestia said. “If they hadn’t… I don’t know what I might have done to you, Twilight.”

“Place me in the statue garden?” Twilight offered.

“There’s a spot open between Discord and Feather Fiend the Terrible,” Celestia joked, despite the severity of the situation. “If you’re interested.”

“No thanks, I’ve been a statue before and I don’t recommend the experience.” Twilight shuddered as she thought back to her experience with the cockatrice.

“All jokes aside, I think I need help,” Celestia said seriously. “What happened just now, shouldn’t have. I’ve never lost control like that. It was like watching a movie, and no matter how hard I tried to change it, nothing happened.” She shuddered at the thought of the experience. “I do not want to go through that again.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Twilight said. “Uh, princess? Would you be angry if I send these Changelings back home?” The group chittered and hissed nervously as they stared at Celestia, daring her to make a move.

“I’ll allow it, only if you forgive me for what I did just now,” Celestia said, using her serious voice. The one that Twilight knew she only used when she was fooling around a bit. “Of course, you can. Think of it as a sign of good will towards the Changelings.”

“Then I forgive you,” Twilight said. “Come on everypony, assume a disguise,” she ordered the Changelings.

The thirteen soldiers nodded, before assuming disguises. Celestia vaguely recognized some of them as guests at the wedding. “I want you all to return to the hive. Don’t talk to anypony on the way there and don’t stand out, okay?” Twilight said and the Changelings nodded.

“You’re taking quite well to giving orders,” Celestia commented.

“It’s weird,” Twilight said with a shrug. “You know me, I’m not one to boss ponies around but…”

“It comes to you as a second nature, doesn’t it?” Celestia asked. “You’ve always been a natural leader, Twilight. I think you’ll do well in your new position.”

Twilight blushed and thanked the princess for her praise.

“Guard,” Celestia called out, summoning one of her royal guards to the throne room.

A single guard came running in through the open door. “You called, princess?” he asked as he bowed before her. His eyes widened as he saw Twilight, his hoof reached for his spear but a glare from Celestia stopped him.

“Escort these ponies to the entrance of Canterlot, please,” Celestia ordered.

“Yes, your majesty,” the guard saluted her. “Come along then,” he addressed the disguised Changelings.

The thirteen ‘ponies’ bowed before Twilight and followed the guard.

“Why didn’t he come in?” Twilight wondered.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

“When we were fighting, why didn’t he come in? Your guards were stationed outside, right?” Twilight didn’t know how anypony could have missed the ruckus or the more than a dozen Changelings charging into the throne room.

“Knowing them, they were either patrolling or playing cards.” Celestia sighed. “I’m leaning towards the later. Worst of all, they were the ones so adamant about increasing the security in the throne room.”

Twilight laughed at that.

“Twilight, I need to get something off my chest. But not here,” Celestia said once Twilight was done laughing. “Let’s take a stroll through the sculpture garden.” She moved towards the door, expecting Twilight to follow her.

“Wait a minute, I need to reapply my disguise,” Twilight said but Celestia shook her head.

“No, you will not. Twilight, I am not ashamed of you,” Celestia said. “I don’t want you to pretend that you’re somepony you’re not.”

“But… I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight frowned.

“That’s not what I meant, my faithful student,” Celestia walked over to Twilight and pulled her into a hug. “What I meant is that you should not be ashamed to walk around in your true form.”

“Thank you, princess,” Twilight said as Celestia pulled away again.

“Call me Celestia from now on,” Celestia said. “We’re of equal title, aren’t we? Princess Twilight?”

Twilight blushed and nodded.

“Come Twilight, let’s walk.” Celestia led the way.

“This is too familiar…” Twilight muttered, her thoughts turning to hallways and tunnels without beginnings or endings.

-

“Everypony’s staring at me,” Twilight whispered to Celestia as they walked through the castle. All the servants stopped what they were doing to point and gawk at her, as if she was some circus animal.

“Then let them stare,” Celestia said at her normal volume. They had reached the entrance to the castle, passing a wide-eyed Brass Bit on the way there. Twilight gave him a little awkward smile, which he hesitantly returned.

Even the guards were sneaking peeks at Twilight. A few of them even pointed their spears at her, though a quick glare and a silent promise of suspension from Celestia caused them to back down.

Twilight wasn’t used to this kind of attention and she didn’t like it. Having Celestia near her made her feel a bit more confident though. Having her three Praetorians out in the open helped too, though Twilight didn’t know why. Perhaps the fact that they’d willingly lay down their lives for her had something to do with it.

Celestia had ordered three of her own guards to come along on their walk. And they too kept glancing at Twilight. But they were even more interested in the Praetorians. The royal guards wondered whether or not they were friendly. Hard to tell when somepony kept a neutral face at all times. The irony wasn’t lost to them…

Eventually, the royal pair and their respective guards arrived at the sculpture garden. Every tourist there simply scampered off as the two princesses came in, leaving Twilight to wonder whether they left because of her or Celestia.

“Twilight, there’s a reason I brought you here,” Celestia said as they passed Discord’s statue.

“You needed to get something off your chest?” Twilight remembered.

“Indeed. Twilight, that spell I tried to use on you… I used it often. Thousands of years ago, I used it whenever somepony crossed me. Traitors, badmouths, Neighova’s witnesses, criminals, anypony that I thought should be silenced or could be considered a threat.”

“I…” Twilight didn’t know what to say at first. “So Discord wasn’t lying? When he said that…” she eventually managed to say.

“I know what he said.” Celestia lowered her head in defeat. “I, Princess Celestia of Equestria turned ponies to stone on a whim. I’ve done terrible things in my life, Twilight. Most of them to make life better and safer for my subjects. Others were to satisfy my own petty desires. It may sound strange, coming from the mouth of an immortal, but I feel as though I have matured since Luna’s banishment.”

“We all make mistakes, Celestia.” Twilight still found it weird to call her mentor like that. “But you realize that what you did was wrong. That means you can work to make things better,” she tried to comfort her teacher.

“Yet, it’s never enough,” Celestia said. “And now, there are things I’ve done wrong which I don’t even remember properly.”

“I wish I could help you, Celestia,” Twilight said. “But my mind magic isn’t that strong. I can barely keep up my own blocking spell.”

“What are you blocking?” Celestia asked, curious as to why her student would use that kind of magic. Celestia herself had warned her that the pony mind was not something to be toyed with, especially not their own.

“Let’s not talk about that,” Twilight said quickly. “Trust me on this.”

“YOU!!” somepony screamed from the other side of the garden. “Get away from her!”

Twilight and Celestia turned to see Prince Blueblood come running. His eyes were fixated on Twilight and for a moment she wondered why.

That was until she got knocked off her hooves by the prince and onto the ground. “How dare you approach Princess Celestia? After what you’ve done to her and my sister?” Blueblood had a front hoof on Twilight’s chest and pressed down, causing her to wheeze in pain. Blueblood seemed to be near hysterical now, something that Celestia had never seen before with her nephew.

“Stand down, Blueblood,” Celestia said coldly. “You are crushing my guest, Princess Amaryllis. She had nothing to do with the attack on Cadance and she is here to discuss a peaceful resolution to this situation.” If Celestia ever grew tired of being a princess, she could join the theatre business, as her acting skills were superb. As was her ability to come up with stuff on the spot. One can’t deal with politicians every day and not pick up a few tricks...

Blueblood stared at her, his mouth open in shock but quickly did as he was told to. “You are actually considering talking with these creatures? Right here, in the open?”

“You were rather supportive of your other aunt, when she left to the Wastelands,” Celestia commented as Twilight got back onto her hooves. “Why not now, when the Changelings do the same for us? Princess Amaryllis here wishes for no conflict between our nations.”

“Because that means that they have to set hoof on our land,” Blueblood looked at Twilight with a scrutinizing look. “If you can call ‘those’ hooves at all.” He indicated her rather strange and hole-riddled hooves.

“Blueblood, my patience is running thin,” Celestia said. “Please, refrain from insulting our guest. You might just spark an international conflict.”

Blueblood glared at her. “And what do you call assaulting and impersonating Cadance? How about attacking Canterlot? And kidnapping Twilight, huh? Are those not enough reasons to limit our contact with these… things?”

“Our nation apologizes for those incidents,” Twilight said in Mayor Mare’s voice. The politician came to mind for some reason and thus Twilight decided to just roll with it. “Be assured that those were isolated incidents and our Changelings bear no ill will towards your ponies.” If only Applejack were here, Twilight thought. The farm pony would be ashamed of her for lying through her fangs. Either that or she’d be proud because she didn’t slip up, as Twilight was a bad liar.

“We’ll see about that once Aunt Luna comes back,” Blueblood said. Twilight could feel the hate rolling off of him. To be honest, Twilight couldn’t really blame him. She too had some choice words to share with the queen when they meet up again.

Still, it didn’t bother her as much as when it came from Celestia. Perhaps the significance of the pony had something to do with it as well, something that required further research.

“Very well then,” Celestia said. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I have much to show to our guest.”

Blueblood grumbled something and took off, but not before shooting Twilight a glare that made her shiver.

“He took it rather hard,” Celestia whispered as Blueblood walked away. “He and Cadance are very close, you know.”

“I know,” Twilight said, her normal voice restored. “We played together sometimes when we were foals, when Cadance would foalsit me. How come he didn’t recognize me?”

“Well, it’s been a few years since that incident between your and his parents. I don’t think you’ve seen each other directly since,” Celestia mused.

“Let’s not talk about that either,” Twilight muttered.

“That could be the reason,” Celestia continued. “And there’s the obvious, of course.” She touched Twilight’s wings, amazed at how fragile they felt.

“Yeah but my cutie mark should’ve…” Twilight turned white. Literally. Her coat turned snow-white for a few seconds. “M-M-My cutie mark! It’s gone! No...No. No. No! No!”

“Twilight, calm down,” Celestia said soothingly. “It doesn’t matter.”

“To you it doesn’t! But it’s my mark and now it’s gone!” Twilight cried. “I worked so hard to earn it and now it’s gone! She said it would happen but I didn’t know it would happen so fast!” Tears were running down her cheeks now.

“I… didn’t even get to say goodbye.” She sniffed. Twilight knew it was foalish but that mark had been her guiding light in her early life. It was like losing an old friend…

“Dry your tears, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia embraced her and Twilight eagerly leaned into the touch. “Your cutie mark may be gone but it’s just a symbol. The real you is still there, right?”

“Right,” Twilight sniffed. “I’m just… I had it for so long and now it’s just gone. It’s not fair!”

“I know, I know.” Celestia patted her back, hoping that the comforting gesture would be appreciated.

“Thank you, Celestia.” Twilight sniffed one last time, before moving a hoof to dry her eyes.

-

Meanwhile, outside the garden.

“Damned Changelings…” Blueblood muttered. “How dare they set hoof in Canterlot, after what they did. I should have crushed that insect when I had the chance and-”

Blueblood was halted mid-tirade by somepony tapping on his shoulder. “WHAT?” he screamed, rivaling Luna and her Royal Canterlot Voice, as he turned around.

A Changeling stood there. Blueblood was just about to say something offensive when the Changeling slugged him in the jaw.

“Well, I say…” the prince muttered before falling over, clearly unconscious.

The Changeling disappeared again without saying a word, leaving the prince passed out by the side of the road.

-

Back with the princesses.

“Did you hear something?” Celestia asked.

“No, what did you hear?” Twilight asked. She noticed one of her guards to be missing. She sincerely hoped that he hadn’t done anything stupid…

“A click, I think. Never mind,” Celestia said. “Anyway, I’m sorry about your cutie mark. But know that, no matter what form you have, I will always be able to recognize my…”

Celestia’s eyes dilated, just like before.

“…my beloved student,” Celestia finished her sentence.

Twilight took a few steps back, in case Celestia turned on her again. Luckily, the princess’s eyes quickly returned to normal.

“It happened again,” Celestia said. “Just not as violent or intense as before. Twilight, if you’ll excuse me… I need to go to the hospital, before this escalates beyond my control.” She frowned. “If it hasn’t already…”

“Of course, Celestia.” Twilight nodded.

“You might be able to come and see me later, when you visit Cadance. We’ll talk about that ‘something’ of yours then.” Celestia smiled. “In the meantime, I believe there’s a certain pair of ponies that want to see you again.”

“Mom and dad,” Twilight said. “I need a cloak. Or something, I can’t go and face them like this…”

“Twilight, go as you are,” Celestia said. “Have some faith in them.” Of course, Celestia already knew how Night Light and Twilight Velvet would react. But Twilight had to discover that on her own.

“No, I can’t walk around Canterlot like this.” A flash of fire surrounded Twilight, returning her to her old Unicorn form. “This is much better,” she said.

Celestia smiled. “I’m glad to see you like this again but you shouldn’t have to worry about your appearance. I could just send some guards along with you, so nopony would bother you.”

“Won’t stop them from staring…” Twilight muttered. “Anything off about me? Wings? Extra holes? Unusual and bendy horn?” She tried looking at her forehead but failed to do so.

“Your abdomen,” Celestia pointed out. Twilight turned her head to see that she still had that distinct green part. But she had her cutie mark back, which made her smile.

“Here,” Celestia said, holding out a cloak to Twilight. “I had one of the guards fetch it before we left. I’m pretty sure it’ll fit and that it’s bat-free.”

“Thank you, Celestia,” Twilight said as she put the cloak on. “It still feels weird to call you that.”

“Twilight, can you promise me something?” Celestia asked.

“Anything,” Twilight said.

“Drop the disguise when you get to your parent’s house,” Celestia said. “Do not hide from them.”

“I-I will,” Twilight said, not sounding very confident at all.

-

Twilight walked through Canterlot again. Her parent’s house wasn’t far and she broke into a gallop to get there even faster. Nopony said anything about her strange features, so she knew that the cloak was doing its job.

Her three guards were obscured from sight as well, though Twilight knew where they were at the moment. One of them was galloping beside her, another was following her by running over the rooftops and the last one was flying above her.

The connection she had to the hive was growing stronger and Twilight was both intrigued and scared by this. She briefly wondered if those Changelings that had been sprung free got back to the hive already. Probably not, she thought, as the Wastelands were still a long way out of Canterlot.

Twilight also hoped that the Changelings’ guard wasn’t too angry when he woke up… It seemed like her guards had a tendency to beat ponies up when they least expect it. But that guard had shoved her… perhaps they took revenge, if they couldn’t intervene directly. Come to think of it, Twilight hadn’t seen miss Shimmer Shine, her old Magic Kindergarten teacher, since she graduated, despite her living in the same street as she and her parents did…

She wondered-

“Oh,” Twilight said. They had already arrived at her parents’ house. “You guys, stay out here. None of you go in the house, do you understand me?”

“Yes, our princess,” the three of them said in unison, not bothering to become visible.

Twilight knocked on the door. As she waited, she undid the disguise like Celestia had asked her too. She kept the cloak on though.

The door swung open and a blue Unicorn stood in the doorway. “Yes, can I…” he started to ask but failed to finish his sentence.

“Daddy?”

-

Damn, this chapter was hard. I wrote the Celestia VS Twilight part fifteen times! I do hope that I managed to properly portray what was going on with Celestia. Basically, she has repressed/sealed memories and seeing Twilight on the ground in the previous chapter triggered one of them, causing her to have a violent flashback. All the hate she had back then returned in an instant.


[E/N]: Bingle-bongle Dingle-dangle Yickity-do Yickity-dah Ping-pong Lippy Tappy Too-tah...

Er, yeah, I ain’t got much in the way of things to say/type/insert into this blasted note. Well, um, college starts back up on Monday...[sarcasm]that’ll be fun.[/sarcasm] I’m also going to be involved in a D&D campaign during the year, that will be fun cause I’ll get to flex my ad lib muscles. But yeah, how ‘bout dat chapter huh?