//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Sudden Instability // Story: #277 // by Unwhole Hole //------------------------------// The day was, as always, beautiful. The sky was clear and brilliant blue, dotted by fluffy and perfectly manicured clouds. The entirety of Ponyville was happy and cheerful with its quaint earth-pony-built houses and happy, cheerful citizens going about their respective days. Everything was brightly lit and colorful, and as Celestia passed the ponies would wave to her and greet her by name. But some aspect about the whole of it was terribly unnerving. A strangeness that Celestia could not ascribe to any particular place, thing, or pony. It was cheerful and happy, but somehow felt disturbingly wrong. She felt herself instinctively wracking her mind to try to figure it out, while at the same time trying to stop that very process from occurring. Whatever incorrectness was seeping into this happy, fun place, she did not want to know. Her breathing accelerated. Something about the cheerful buildings disturbed her as she passed them. Despite being brightly lit and vaguely Germanic, they were somehow managing to loom overhead. Something about the glowing, pleasant sky and beautiful weather was pushing something deep within her closer and closer to the verge of panic—and she could not remember why. “Is something wrong?” asked Twilight who, even with her slightly greater than normal alicorn height, had to move at a breathless trot to keep up with Celestia’s lanky gait. “Of course not,” liked Celestia. She looked around. “Is Trixie not joining us?” “She had some errands to run. You would not believe how much maintenance it takes to keep that cart she lives in from collapsing into a heap of dust and assorted nails.” She paused. "Then again, I'd be really surprised if she could even afford nails at all..." “You could let her sleep inside, you know.” Twilight shrugged. “Trixie is...abrasive. Both in terms of personality and coat softness.” “You haven’t tried living with Luna.” “Do you want me to?” Celestia stopped and turned to Twilight. “Do you want to?” Twilight blushed and her wings foomfed outward. As they did, Starlight arrived, trotting cheerfully, a pink box at her side. “Twilight, stop doing that in public. Also, I got the cupcakes, and these little things that are like tiny pies.” “Tarts,” said Celestia. Twilight and Starlight looked up at her, shocked, and spoke in unison. “What did you just call us?” “I...no?” “Regardless,” said Starlight, continuing, “Sugar Belle makes some premium goods.” “I heard she’s almost as good as Pinkie.” Starlight frowned. “Well...” “Well what?” “I never liked Pinkie's stuff all that much.” Twilight and Celestia both gasped. “What? It was too sweet..and I kept finding confetti in the frosting.” “That’s the best part,” said Celestia. “Don’t tell Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight. "She'll switch to glitter again." “Don't ell me what?” said Pinkie Pie. Twilight and Starlight cried out, jumping in shock from Pinkie Pie’s sudden presence. “PINKIE!” “Yes,” said Pinkie. “I am, generally.” She looked up at Celestia. “Hi, not-princess-anymore!” “Hello Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie Pie faced Twilight and Starlight. “Hello, Twilight and other Twilight.” A look of surprise came over both Twilight and Starlight’s faces, and they looked at each other. “Pinkie,” said Twilight, exasperated. “We’ve gone over this. Starlight and I are not the same pony.” Pinkie looked from one to the other, and then back again. “Um...no. I’m pretty sure you are. You even have ‘light’ in your name. I mean, it’s confusing as nuts. Like, why do they have shells? Why do squirrels like them so much? Why did that walnut never come back out of me? These are the questions, Twilight and Twilight, I have to know!” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Pinkie, I thought you were supposed to be in Canterlot today?” Pinkie shrugged. “Eh. Probably. But I don’t make the rules around here, I just do what the voices tell me.” “What is that supposed to mean, exactly?” “No idea! I don't question the voices!” Pinkie Pie giggled, and then departed, bounding away and making an audible springing noise with every small leap. Celestia found herself wondering what part of Pinkie exactly those sounds came from. “She seems like such a fun pony,” said Celestia, chuckling to disguise her growing unease. Twilight laughed. “Yes. She’s so random.” “And I’m definitely not second Twilight,” muttered Starlight. “I mean, she literally helped you defeat me like, seven times!” Twilight frowned. “We only ever defeated you twice, and Pinkie was only there the first time.” “Two times you know about, sure.” “Were there more?” Starlight, realizing what she was saying, scrunched. “No.” Twilight sighed and looked around. “Where did the cupcakes go?” Her and Starlight looked up to see that Celestia had opened the box and eaten several already. “What?” she said through a mouth full of frosting. “It takes a lot of calories to be an alicorn. You know that, Twilight.” She held out a tart. “You should really eat more, or you’ll get too thin.” Twilight took the tart. It apparently did not seem appealing to her. “Let’s go get some tea,” she said. “This whole day is already stressing me out. If this keeps up, I'm going to get prematurely wizened. I could use a break.” “And a tart,” said Celestia. “It has fruit. It is therefore nutritious.” For tea, they went to the outdoor area in front of Jasmine Leaf’s tea shop. To Celestia, it was adorably quaint—or should have been. She wished it could be a cute little rustic tea house, so she tried to force her growing apprehension about it out of her mind. They took their seats on a corner table on the patio. A special chair had already been brought out for Celestia, which only made her slightly more self-conscious about her weight. That, at least, was a normal feeling. She had never quite gotten used to how large she was. The waiter, a young and particularly scrawny Pegasus, arrived with their tea. He smiled at Celestia, and Celestial felt a certain tickle inside her—or, rather, the lack of an expected tickle. It gave her pause, feeling the lack of an emotion. A hole, in a way. It made her feel oddly sick, and she wondered if she should have avoided eating the whole box of cupcakes and tarts. Or if she should have at least taken the papers off. She took the tea and blew on it before gently sipping it. It tasted like leaves, as all tea did. “Probably better that Trixie isn’t here,” said Starlight, sipping her own tea. “Does she not like tea?” asked Celestia. “She hates the stuff. Most food, really. Except for—well, certain things.” Twilight leaned over and whispered. “She gets gassy.” Celestia chuckled. “Oh my,” she said. “No wonder you get along so well, then.” “What?” said Starlight, confused. Celestia sipped her tea. “I do recall the time you learned you were lactose-intolerant, Twilight.” An expression of concern crossed Twilight’s face—not one of adorable embarrassment as Celestia had expected. “I’m not lactose intolerant.” “You...aren’t?” “No.” “Huh.” Celestia sipped her tea. “Maybe I’m getting old.” Twilight laughed, perhaps too hard. “You’re not getting old at all, Princess! You still look great! I’d even totally, definitely date you if you asked!” Starlight elbowed her hard in the side. Twilight squeaked and fully regained her composure. “That would of course be inappropriate and I’m sorry.” “Perhaps,” said Celestia, taking another sip. “Perhaps somepony closer to your own age? That Flash Sentry fellow seemed quite adorable.” Twilight frowned. She seemed confused and vaguely concerned. “Do I...normally like stallions?” Celestia paused. “That...is not a question you should be asking me.” “Oh.” Starlight chuckled nervously. “Oh look, it’s Fluttershy! Look how soft she is!” She pointed, and Twilight looked. Fluttershy was emerging from the store, carrying a small bag filled with freshly prepared teas. “Fluttershy!” said Twilight. Fluttershy squeaked, momentarily frightened by somepony calling her name, but upon seeing that it was Twilight, she calmed down immediately and approached the table. “Hello Twilight, Starlight, and Princess Celestia. Are you trying the new peppermint flavor?” “I got that one,” said Starlight. “It’s minty. Almost disturbingly so.” “Just green tea for me,” said Twilight. “Usually no more than forty-seven cups. Gotta stay up late tonight, lots of reading to do. And you?” “Just getting supplies for my weekly tea party with Discord. Oh! And look at this!” Fluttershy produced a new teaset—a tiny one, identical to the one she currently owned but in miniature. “That’s tiny!” “It’s so my little animal friends can join us too! I feel so bad that they can’t have tea when we have the tea party at my house. Except for the ones that can’t have tea, because you know how animal toxicology is.” “Do I ever,” replied Twilight. Fluttershy turned to the Princess. “Oh my! I didn’t ask what kind of tea you were having, Princess. I always wondered. I mean, if you’re okay telling me.” Twilight and Starlight looked to Celestia, who had not spoken to Fluttershy yet—and found her staring wide-eyed, all the way in the back of her seat, shaking. “Celestia?” “I don’t...I don’t know who this pony is.” Twilight laughed nervously. “Celestia, this is Fluttershy. You know Fluttershy.” Celestia shook her head, turning her wide, terrified eyes toward Twilight. “I..I’m supposed to know, but I can’t...I can’t remember why can’t I...I can’t remember...” “Princess?” asked Fluttershy, confused. Princess Celestia stood up suddenly, overturnign the table and spilling the tea, causing Fluttershy to cry out. Twilight and Starlight leapt back. “What’s happening?!” cried Twilight, looking to Starlight. “I don’t know, I can’t get a lock yet—” “I don’t know who she is, why don’t I know, I’m supposed to know, why don’t I...I…I can’t...you’re not—you’re not Fluttershy!” “Princess, you’re scaring me--” “You’re not her, you can’t be her, you CAN’T BE FLUTTERSHY!” Celestia lowered her head, her horn igniting with such force that it ignited the surrounding tables. Twilight was barely able to cast a shield spell to protect herself in time. Celestia leveled her horn at Fluttershy’s chest. Fluttershy, tears in her eyes, cried out in terror. “Celestia, why are you doing this!” Celestia answered by unleashing a devastating solar laser. Fluttershy was incinerated instantly. Celestia opened her eyes and saw only darkness. She was aware that she had been sleeping—or nearly sleeping. Everything seemed to be in a haze, with memories clamoring over each other, trying to get past her, almost as if she were remembering the past as well as the future. Dreams flashed past her, and she was sure she must have been sleeping. She must have been dreaming. She was in her bed. Or in a bed. Her groggy mind could still not determine exactly where she was. To her surprise, though, she found that she could not move, no matter how hard she tried. This caused her to start to panic, but she forced herself to stay calm. She knew what this was. Sleep paralysis. She had never experienced herself but knew it was relatively common with ponies. Her brain had simply awoken before her body and the two had not yet connected. It was a completely normal, reasonable experience, despite being absolutely terrifying. Therefore, it was simply a matter of keeping calm. Of waiting until her body woke up too. It was night, so she supposed she would have to turn on a light, and she would find herself back in her room at her cottage, where she had been before. Luna would be there, too, and they would have a long discussion about what this all meant, probably devolving into a heated discussion of the theories of Sigmund Freudberger on dream analysis—or, as Luna called him, Sigmund Fraudberger. Assuming that this was not a bizarre prank that Luna herself was playing. If that was the case, it was a very poor one and not at all funny. Second only to the old hoof-in-warm-water trick. Celestia looked around the room slowly. She knew there would be hallucinations, so she was not surprised to see the ghostly forms of what looked like ponies suspended around her. That was normal. Disturbing, but normal. They were not real. They were just empty things that did not move, dim white shapes floating around her. She supposed she could just go back to sleep and they would go away. She closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off—when suddenly she was brought to full consciousness by the distant sound of something slamming hard against metal. Celestia turned her eyes to the lower left. In the darkness, she saw something moving. Something terrible and frightening, a vast mass of pure, inky blackness. A terrible thing hunched over in the shadows, gibbering wildly to itself. “Dzlierynamandle Trexa chokkar bubudenkulu obodebs, bubuobodebs. Emkaq’le. Atlas de gemovneeb enlungileyew.” Celestia felt panic dripping down her spine as she heard the meaningless gibberish from the hulking beast, and as she heard the sound of something crunching in its teeth. She tried desperately to move, to wake herself up, but she could not. Her body was simply not responding. “Come on, Luna,” she said, or tried to say. “This isn’t funny!” The monster suddenly stopped. Then it turned suddenly and, in the dim light, its reflective eyes stared back at her. Celestia heard herself squeak and knew that she had most likely just ruined the bedspread. “Kirve!” growled the creature, suddenly standing—and, to Celestia’s horror, it was enormous. A horrendous bipedal beast coated in shadows with a pair of glowing, silver eyes. “No, please no, please no,”she cried, pleading to just wake up—even as the thing lurched toward her. Celestia, terrified, tried to take a breath but realized she could not fill her lungs. No matter how hard she tried, her chest would not respond. She could not draw breath. “Kirve, kirve, kirve!” Celestia closed her eyes, crying softly as the creature loomed over her—and as she felt its claws around her throat, strangling her. “Yelizaveta, depekt, uvikili!” “Please no, please stop,” Celestia pleaded, not even sure she was making sounds—as the lack of air began to surround her, as she began to fade from consciousness, strangled in her bed and unable to resist as the claws tore at her body and the silver, unblinking eyes stared down at her. As she felt herself fading, she wished that she could have said goodbye. To Twilight, and to Luna, and to all her friends—but she was glad they could not see her like this. To see how a once powerful princess came to her end. Powerless and weak, and alone in darkness. Exactly how she had always feared it would come.