//------------------------------// // Guest Chap-Jumbled Thought // Story: Tiny Twilight Tales // by Foals Errand //------------------------------// “A-a-Achoo!” Celestia stopped as she heard the noise, her ears flickering in response as she stared at her bookshelf. She tried telling herself that she heard nothing, or that what she had heard wasn’t anything. She should just continue pulling out her little Twily’s next lesson book. It was just a simple case of the- “Sniff.” Twilight recoiled from the blazing light that erupted from her mentor as Celestia zipped over to her foal. Celestia winced herself, not really being able to recall the last time that she had used this level of magic before. It was necessary though. She was not to let some foul curse overtake her little one! The first set of incantations were basic, advanced, and super, ultimate, fantastica(a name given to it when she had made it as a foal herself) scans, all set off at the same time. They showed the foal as having a regular heartbeat, regular blood levels, but… wait, low blood sugar! She then blinked as the most thorough scans showed it was due to empathic interference, as the foal really wanted a cookie. But they showed no real issue. Or in other words, they showed lies! Celestia let the second set of prepared spells release. They were the far more taxing ones, but with them, even the bubonic plague, or excessive snuggles could not do her filly in. Twilight for her part, was rather confused as three pairs of wings sprang out of her back, she felt healthier than she ever had, minus her stuffy nose, and like she could play with the solar system like it was a dollhouse. This was normal though, as centuries of paperwork had taught Celestia to always do everything in triplicate, even when it came to protective Alicorn statuses. Of course, it was just a temporary measurement for the moment, and she had to get to work. Her hooves thundered on the tiles of the castle as she shot out of the playroom. The guards assigned to Twilight attempted to salute her, but were quickly against the wall as the sound barrier snapped in front of them. As for other servants of the castle, they tried to get out of the way, but many were not so lucky, soon finding themselves needing to be caught after having been accidentally launched into out a window. Celestia, for her part, didn’t notice them, having been moving so fast that she had to shut her eyes. She knew the way to where she needed to go though, having memorized the whole layout of the castle over the years. She just had to deccelerate n- Wham! Celestia stepped back from the wall, having left a rather firm, Alicorn shaped impression into it with her propulsion. Despite seeing stars in her eyes, she didn’t dare let it slow her down, not when she had such important things to do. Instead, she stepped before the secret entrance to her lab, and yelled, “Pull the lever, Celestia!” She then zipped to the space right beside her, saluting as she pulled the lever. She then leapt into the hole that it created in the floor, screaming, “Wrong lever!” all the way down. Once she was back up, she pulled the correct lever, and found herself in her secret lab after a zany rollercoaster ride. She didn’t have time to remark on it though, already having formulated a plan. “Alright. Celestia-” Kibitz, sitting comfortably in a chair in the lab, having come down the regular stairs when he heard about the jet going through the castle, sipped his tea as she walked in. “I’m here, princess.” “Ah, perfect!” Celestia clapped her hooves together, before straightening out and clearing her throat. “Alright, Kibitz, here is the plan. First, we’ll take a foal from one of the orphanages, paint them like Twilight, and give them a potion to make sure they’re just as gifted as her. Then, after a few months of intensive training, I will use them as a guinea pig to test any sort of treatment I could need for Twilight, before sending them to, I dunno, the East?” Kibitz, for half a moment paused. Not out of shock, but because the plan sounded oddly familiar. And then, it clicked. “Didn’t that not work when you did it to that Starlight filly to try to protect Sunset?” Celestia rubbed her chin for a moment as she frowned, before nodding, and throwing a potion to the side. “You’re right. Besides, far too much paperwork. I suppose we’ll just need to use plan B then. Always much simpler.” “Cthulhu?” “Cthulhu.” Celestia walked into the back room of her lab, hidden only by a curtain. Within, blood red curtains blocked all outside light, with only the candles she had made from the wax and sap of the trees on Malkior Seven, bathed in darkness and the abyss at the same time lighting the sparse room. All for just good lighting. Unfortunately, the giant plumes of black fire they made creeped out the other ponies in the castle so they stayed here. Otherwise, she’d use them all over the place, even if they messed with reality from time to time. She turned to Kibitz, who looked rather concerned. Unfortunately, he could not be here, and he knew that. So, with a wave of her hoof, she found herself completely alone with the pentagram on the floor, trying to remember the incantation she needed. It was hard, but she thought she had it. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Count your hooves, and do a little shake!” As Celestia turned around, she could see the eldritch behemoth turning around too, his tentacle maw turned up in a wide smile. Or, at least, she always assumed it was a smile. Unfortunately, her own expression could not match. “I’m sorry, Cthulhu, but I bring you here for matters of utmost concern. You see… Twilight is sick. Not only that, but I fear the illness will be fatal.” For a moment, no sound emitted from Cthulhu as he reeled his head back. However, around Equestria, abominations of the utmost extreme, dragged from parts of his realm that he had not looked upon in millennia. Volcanoes erupted, the ground shook, and tornados descended upon the helpless. All before they vanished to his jovial, warbling laughter. Celestia frowned, before slamming a hoof down, and yelling, “How can you find this so funny?” The eldritch being leaned forward, whispering in his tongue the truth. Celestia’s eyes widened for a moment as he explained that the threat was indeed ancient, as old as the ponies themselves. However, it did indeed have a name. A name hated by most, but a name nonetheless. The sniffles. Celestia blinked a few times, before smacking herself. “Thank you, sir. I suppose I shouldn’t have reacted so quickly… should I?” Cthulhu merely warbled out another chuckle, before his form evaporated, and he went home. Celestia went back to where she came from as well, undoing the enchantments on Twilight as she walked back into the room. “Sorry for heading off, my little one. I merely thought something was more than it was. A mountain out of a molehill, and what not. I promise never to do that agai-” Cough. ”Cthuhlu!”