//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Millennial History Cure // by Foals Errand //------------------------------// Luna chuckled as she pushed the door open. “And thank Mother for that, my niece. They once more forgot the magical suppressors, as well as locking the door.” She shook her head and snorted. “Could you imagine them trying to lock, oh I don’t know, Discord down here?” She paused and face hoofed. “He’s in the cell right next to ours isn’t he?” “Don’t be silly, Lulu.” Discord stretched out from where he was lying on a bunk bed on the ceiling of their shared cell, dressed in a black and white polka-dotted prison uniform. He brought a harmonica up to his snout, blowing a rather energetic electric guitar riff on it. “Sitting alone in a cell gives me the blues.” “Hello, Discord,” Celestia pleasantly said, not looking up. “Have you been here long?” “It would not surprise me if he had been following us since we arrived at Twilight Sparkle’s home.” Luna rolled her eyes before considering. “Wait a moment. Discord, were you aware that our destinies had been switched?” Discord waved a hand. “Eh… Destiny, schmestiny, I’ve never been much involved in any of that. I noticed that you two were a bit off, but I figured that was just because of your little tantrum and losing your trinkets.” He pouted. “Really, do you think I wouldn’t have helped Fluttershy if I’d known what was wrong? Friendships aside, watching her try to be an entertainer was almost as painful as watching her pink friend buck apples.” “That is fair.” Luna sighed. “Well, do you plan to stay in here or accompany us to attempt to explain what occurred?” Luna blinked as she heard a soft snore and swatted Celestia with her wing. “I am aware the daylight is draining Tia, but we need both of us to be conscious at this time.” She rolled her eyes. “Last thing I need is more accusations of the Nightmare having returned.” “Well now, that should be no problem. Just let Dr. Discord fix your little narcolepsy problem.” He appeared down on the floor in a flash, prison uniform exchanged for a surgical mask and long rubber gloves he was dipping into a jar of strawberry jam. He shook off the jam, then pulled out a water pistol and held it right to the snoozing Celestia’s head, pulling the trigger. “Hu-wha?” Celestia’s horn lit up as she jerked awake, a bolt of magic jumping off and blasting a large hole into the wall right next to the cell door. “What? I’m awake. What was that?” “Espresso shot.” Discord tossed his gloves and the pistol into a convenient trash can. “Perfect for waking up sleeping alicorns and breaking out of prison, in no particular order.” Cadance stared at the hole before turning to Discord. She opened her mouth before pausing and looking to her aunts. “This is like what Twilight was saying about Pinkie Pie, isn’t it? I really don’t want to think about it.” She blew her mane out of her eyes before repairing the wall with a quick patch. “Alright. Well I think it’s time for you to face the, er, music as the saying goes, Aunties.” She hugged them both, beaming. “But don’t worry. I’ll be right here with you. Twilight and her friends are on their way as well!” “I am glad to hear that.” Celestia smiled, hugging her back before pulling away again. “And yes, I suppose we should face…” She paused as Discord played another short riff, glaring at him until he put the harmonica away. “...our little ponies to explain ourselves and the situation.” “No musical accompaniment is nor will be required I assure you.” Luna sighed as she started up the stairs, mumbling about ponies and why the hay they keep breaking into song at the drop of a hat. Cadance grinned before quickly following after her Aunt Luna. Celestia chuckled as well, moving ahead to address the small crowd of guards already waiting at the top of the stairs. “At ease, my little ponies. I commend your initiative in trying to keep the order in this confusing situation, but I do hope that seeing both myself and my niece calm and unharmed will convince you all that we are not under threat. This time.” “O-of course Princess! Just doing our jobs!” one of the stallions stated as he puffed out his chest.  Luna walked around him and over to where Raven was standing. The poor unicorn looked politely puzzled. “Raven, would you please announce that my sister, Princess Cadenza, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and myself mean to call a press conference within the next twenty minutes to half hour.” She shook her head as she chuckled fondly. “It is my hope that this will both give the media time to gather, as well as allow dear Princess Twilight Sparkle to remember that she has wings and as thus is no longer bound to the train schedule.” She paused with a small sigh. “Have a chair prepared for Discord as well just in case.” “No chair nor stool will ever be prepared for Ser Discord Dat Chord, Esq.!” Discord animatedly waved around a balloon sword for a moment before pausing as he noticed everyone staring at him. “What? I thought you would appreciate it if I get these all out before the press conference.” Luna cocked her head. “Truthfully thou-er you mean to be serious during the press conference?” She paused “Tia I believe I must be severely ill, mayhaps dying even.” Discord huffed. “Really now, it’s like everyone only ever focuses on the parties I crashed instead of the hundreds of events I didn’t.” “He does have a point, Luna.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Considering he could theoretically interrupt anything at any time, Discord has shown some great restraint in letting us run our country mostly unimposed so far.” “Yes, well…” Luna hummed. “How long do you think it will be until Twilight Sparkle recalls she has wings?” Luna asked as she desperately attempted to ignore what Celestia had just said. Equestria run by Discord? I think I’d rather be back on the moon. “Oh, her wings remind her quite often about their existence, or so Spike told me. It’s rather the hot air balloon and the royal chariot that are both available to her, that I think she keeps forgetting about.” She looked up at the sky towards Ponyville. “I think there she is now, though.”  Luna stepped out of the way and watched as her best friend attempted to land. She winced before hurrying up to her and lifting her back to her hooves. “Are you unhurt, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight groaned as she brought her hoof to her head “Ooooh I’m alright… ugh, note to self request landing lessons from Fluttershy and stop trying to imitate Rainbow Dash.” “If that was you trying to imitate me, I don’t want to see your own landing style.” The pegasus in question snickered as she touched down easily next to Twilight, before giving a short bow to Luna and Celestia. “Princesses.” “At ease, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia smiled. “Seeing as we are in a similar situation here and you, in a way, have the seniority, I think we can forgo some formalities.” “Er, right. Fluttershy should be here in a few and Glimmer was going to teleport the others.” Rainbow Dash paused as she rolled her eyes. “Once Rarity decided what to wear. You may want to send somepony to pull her away from her mirror.” “I’m sure she will be fashionably late as usual.” Celestia nodded, before turning and waving a wing for them to follow. “Shall we, then? I’m sure the guards and reporters will be getting impatient by now.” Luna gently wrapped a wing around Twilight watching as Fluttershy quickly landed. “Yes, let us attend the media.” She glanced down at Twilight, who was starting to breathe quickly “Calm, Twilight Sparkle. ‘Tis simply a part of being a Princess.” “C-calm right, um...a-are you sure they aren’t going to try and lynch me for...for you know, destroying every ponies’ belief system of how you and Pr-Celestia operate?” Twilight glanced over at her former teacher, a touch hysterical. Celestia quietly giggled. “I would hope not. Ponies have had quite a few beliefs about me over the years, and most of them were quite thoroughly destroyed, I hope.” “If they think this is bad, they should see you eating cake.” Cadance smirked as she moved in from the side to join them. “Oh they have, or a least a few have.” Luna chuckled as she gently urged Twilight forward “You do recall Gabby Gums, don’t you, Sister?” Twilight groaned. “Don’t remind me. That whole thing was a disaster…” She fluffed her wings and straightened up again, just as there was a flash of magic down the hallway. Starlight Glimmer appeared with the rest of her friends in tow. “Starlight! Thank you so much for your help.” Rarity huffed. “You could have at least let me try that hat on, darling!” Starlight’s eye twitched as she turned to her teacher, “I brought your friends, Twilight.” “Oh, so when Rarity goes on a fashion binge she’s my friend?” Twilight smirked at Starlight before giggling. “Thank you, again.” “Indeed, Starlight Glimmer.” Celestia clopped a hoof on the floor. “That said, we really should be moving towards the courtyard. The sooner we can clear this up, the better.” Luna nodded in agreement. “Shall we issue the statement and then take a few questions?” Celestia nodded as well, before inclining her head. “Do you wish to begin with the main statement? Seeing how you are the princess of the day, now.” Luna blinked a few times. “How do you think the country would feel about becoming nocturnal.” She grinned Celestia snorted. “I think they would take some exception to that.” ‘“It was only a suggestion.” Luna tossed her head as they finally reached the courtyard. She released the gentle wing hug from around Twilight and stepped up to the lectern. She cleared her throat. “Good afternoon, fillies and gentle colts. Thank you for coming on such short notice.” She paused for a moment to make sure she had everypony’s attention. She absolutely did have their attention, although most of them seemed rather nervous. The other three princesses as well as the Element Bearers stepping up next to Luna helped, however. “As you are well aware, at eleven AM both the sun and moon vanished from the sky, leaving the world in pure darkness. I am happy to report that this did not occur due to myself nor Celestia being injured in any way and was rather due to… shock? Surprise may be a better term.” Luna considered for a moment. “It is of no consequence. The reasoning for this was that a problem that Celestia and I were not even aware of had been corrected. All of you are aware of the matter which allowed Twilight Sparkle to ascend, are you not?” There was a row of confused murmuring from the crowd. Celestia coughed into a hoof quietly, muttering, “I only told the news that Twilight discovered a new kind of magic. I thought the simpler explanation would lead to fewer complications in that case.” Twilight scuffed her hoof on the floor as well. “I barely understood what had happened myself, so I didn’t exactly go into much detail explaining things to other ponies either.” Luna mentally face hoofed. “Alright. The short answer is that Twilight Sparkle fixed and completed Star Swirl’s final spell. Today Celestia and I learned that it was used on us over a millennia ago. And it switched our destinies.” Luna paused “Though our parents were of the opinion that I would join my Mother in bringing the night and Celestia would join Father in bringing the day, they could not have been more wrong. What I mean to say is that ‘tis I who is the Princess of the day and Celestia who brings the night.” Celestia stepped forward, nodding. “Indeed. This was before even the time of Nightmare Moon, so it was quite a long while ago. However, now that the spell has been reversed we do not wish to continue acting against our destinies. As such, we wish to trade the rest of our duties accordingly, with my sister taking the ruling of the day while I will keep guard over the night. After a small adjustment period, at least.” “For the next few days we will be teaching each other our duties, so for that short time, we are naming Princess Twilight Sparkle as regent to the lunar court. And Princess Cadenza shall be named regent to the solar court. And we thank them for taking time from their own lives to assist us. Now I believe we have time for a few questions.” She points to a pegasus stallion “Yes you.” “Quick Story from CloudsDaily. Princess, You say a spell caused you both to have switch destinies so long ago. Is there any reason for ponies like myself to worry about something similar happening to us? I just want to get this out now because sadly I can imagine some parents thinking their foals’ destiny is wrong for them, so to speak.” Twilight stepped forward. “Not at all. The spell is intrinsically tied into the Elements of Harmony, which means only ponies connected to them can ever be affected by it. So no, unless those foals somehow become chosen bearers of Harmony they have nothing to be concerned about.” The pegasus reporter quietly snorted. “I’m not sure that’s as reassuring to those parents as you think… “Thank you, Princess Twilight.” A unicorn stepped forward next. “Inkblot from The Sun. Will ponies have to prepare for any changes to the cycle of sun and moon?” Luna shook her head. “My sister and I are still quite capable of handling our charges. The only difference will be that Twilight Sparkle and Cadenza will be handling the day-to-day affairs while my sister and I teach each other. I don’t believe it will take longer than a few days.” She stretched her wings out before folding them back. “Any other questions?” “Quick Wit from The Turnip.” Another pegasus mare raised her press badge with an innocent smile. “Can you confirm that the spell switches not only the targets’ destinies but also their genders?” Twilight blinked slowly. “I, um… That is the first time I hear about that, but all the ponies involved were mares. So… wouldn’t the point be moot?” “Taking that as a yes. Thank you, Princess.” The mare jotted down onto her notepad, humming cheerfully. Luna attempted to put a hoof to Twilight’s mouth but sighed as she was too late. “What Princess Twilight Sparkle meant to say is that there is no evidence that a change of gender is possible with any type of magic. Including that of Star Swirl the Bearded.” She mentally rubbed her temples, feeling a headache building. “One final question?” An earth pony raised his hoof. “Steel Reserve from The Sentinel. Thank you for taking my question. It is a well-known fact that you employ a Lunar guard as well as a Solar guard. Will you be asking them to continue in their normal posts or to switch from Solar to Lunar and Vise versa? Or will they be allowed to make that choice?” Celestia glanced over at her sister before turning back to the earth pony. “We don’t expect anyone to change their shifts just to accommodate us. The Lunar Guard is to a large part made up of nocturnal thestrals for a reason. That said, we also recognize that some ponies joined the guard to serve a specific princess, so we will do our best to review and honor any requests for shift changes from those ponies.” Luna nodded in agreement and smiled. “And that is our last question. Thank you all for attending, and remember for the next few days any problems or questions should be reported to the Solar court regented by Princess Cadenza or the Lunar court regented by Princess Twilight Sparkle. Once more thank you for being patient during this… confusing time. Hopefully, things will be basically back to normal very soon.” Luna backed away from the podium and when she had entered the palace again she gently paused Twilight in mid-step. “Come with me, Twilight Sparkle. We are going to have a long talk about tabloids and why the truth isn’t the best policy with them.” Celestia chuckled, walking along after them. “The Turnip is a gag paper, sister. I do agree to the sentiment, though. It easily could have been a tabloid asking a question like that. I suppose I’d hoped to keep Twilight safe from the press a little longer than this, still.” Cadance held back her giggles as she walked beside her aunts, trying not to laugh at the pout on Twilight’s face as Luna levitated her. “Just make her about three feet smaller and I remember that scowl and pout oh so well!” She shook her head “Well, for a press conference that wasn’t so bad!” Twilight looked over from where she had her forelegs crossed. “Wait! That wasn’t bad?” “Oh, Twilight…” Cadance finally let out a small laugh “You have no idea, little sister!”