//------------------------------// // One and Only // Story: Faithless // by Cytotoxin //------------------------------// Faithless. In all fairness, it was more then a little fun. More then a little, indeed. Who`d know physical pleasure could be so... well, pleasurable? She glanced to the side, looking over the pink fluffy mane jutting from the covers next to her. Pinkie Pie. Do you even comprehend what you`ve just been doing? Beyond the obvious, that is? Oh, you`re certainly quite an experienced mare with practical side of things, but theoretical?... Did it ever occur to you that you`re cheating on princess Celestia? With her, ahem, faithful student, even? Twilight looked upwards. Soon, the suppression field around the room would dissipate, letting out all the thoughts, feelings, pleasures Pinkie had currently bottled in her head. She planned for this, planned studiously and bitterly. After all, it was something she was good at. Studying. Observing. Learning. Planning. Doing, if it came to that. She had her doubts when she found out, of course. To think that Celestia would take Pinkie Pie of all ponies as her royal concubine?... But the reality disagreed. Pinkie Pie was permitted the access to the celestial body... no pun intended. Leaving her, Twilight, to watch. She sighed, and reached out for the nighttable, pulling her saddlebag open and pulling out a cigar. A habit she picked only recently, it was of immense calming effect on her mind - and Twilight knew she needed to be rational. Pinkie wouldn`t mind. She knew Twilight smoked... and made many many many bad puns about how smokin` unicorn was. More importantly, Pinkie was accustomed enough to the smell of tobacco smoke that it wouldn`t interrupt her sleep. Still... Reaching out with magic, Twilight pushed the window open, letting in the cool morning breeze. It was less then hour before sunrise, a perfect time to settle some old scores. With nearly inaudible pop, the field burst, emotions, dreams, smells surging out of the room in a huge wave. She wondered idly if Celestia would be bowled over by the wave or merely staggered. Or would be totally unphased. She had the habit of doing that. A louder pop sent the show rolling. Twilight smirked slightly as she saw the flash of teleportation. All according to the plan. She could see the shock and anger written all over Celestia`s face, could see the tears and she relished in successful betrayal. Alicorn`s horn flashed... And Pinkie Pie disappeared. Judging by Celestia`s gasp, it was not what she expected at all. "She`s exactly where you wanted to send me." - offered Twilight, cloud of smoke wafting out of her mouth along with raspy voice - "Hope you can create an air bubble on the moon within a minute." Apparently, Celestia could. Still, Twilight just sat on the bed, puffing on her cigar. She was well aware that by now Celestia had poked around the magic field of the room and found the truths. ""...What have you done, Twilight? WHY?" - alicorn offered incredulously, taking a step closer to the bed. Purple mare smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I`ve cast The Mirror on myself. And yes, I`m well aware of the price tag that spells comes with." - she replied, taking another drag on the cigar - "And I`ll pay gladly." - Why did you do this, Twilight? Why would you betray me like that? - Tit for tat, princess. Tit for tat. One can subsist on faith for only so long. Eventually, even the hope runs out, and the love turns to hatred. - But why!? - You still, don`t see, do you? Years upon years. I`ve had my faith in you. I believed you were testing me, helping me to improve. To be worthy of you. And then... you pick Pinkie over me. That hurt, Celestia. I`ve tried to make peace with it. I`ve thought that maybe it`s just a passing fad. But no, it was solid. I`ve thought that maybe you wouldn`t limit yourself to just one... But no again, you made it painfully obvious nopony else needs to apply. - Twilight... I never expected of you to become my concubine. I could never ask that of you. - AND THAT`S PRECISELY WHY. If you wouldn`t have me, no matter what concessions I made?... I had someone who`s yours instead. - ...You... Just because she`s my... Twilight, you`ve gone insane. - Astute observation. I`ve been going insane for years, Celestia. You never noticed. Or perhaps you did, but couldn`t be bothered to give me something I could hold on to. If Pinkie Pie was the only thing I could find some matter of solace in, just how far gone I am?... Clearly, beyond recovery. - Twilight, please. Let go of The Mirror. I can help you. It`s not too late. - After I forced your hoof like that? After you stormed in here, fully intending to send me to the moon? I don`t think it`s going to work. - I apologise, I was acting rashly! I had no idea it was something like that... - And that`s why I will say no. Because you had no idea. Or could not be bothered to address it. You are immortal. You could`ve humored my affection. It`s not like you`ll ever run out of time. It`s not like I would`ve lasted all that long either. Not with all the magic experiments I`ve undertook on your request. Were you even aware I had just a few years left to live even if I were to never cast another spell from now on anyways? - I`m sorry, I didn`t know! - Pinkie did, though. Which is why we`re where we are now. Because she is willing to brave your rage to try and give me some peace. If I had more time? If I had any control over love? I`d love her. I`d fall in the love with her the moment I met her and I`d never let her go. Because she could see. But alas, I`m not in control. I have to love you. And hate you for never noticing. - Twilight, I never wanted you to... to hate me. I didn`t know my tryst with Pinkie would hurt you so badly. It all started so silly I never had the reason to pause and think just how serious things became between me and her. - Do believe me, I`m well aware of that. I`ve tried to let you know how I feel about it. I`ve tried to work around it, too. I even sent you a treatise on it. How it was customary for you to have numerous lovers, how your students invariably were your lovers at one point or another. How indicative of a trend it were. And let me tell you, your reply left me smitten. Shattered to pieces, even. It`s not every day your beloved tells you "Haha, don`t be silly, of course I`m not going to be your lover." Really puts things in perspective. - Wait so... so that`s what it was about!? I thought you were worried you HAVE to. - And never paused to think I might WANT TO? I`m not the most secretive pony in the world. Anyone with ears and eyes could tell what exactly I feel about you. For crying out loud, Pinkie Pie came to ME. ME! Asking if it`s OK if she continues sleeping with you. - So why didn`t you tell her not to do it? - On what grounds? If Pinkie knew, what doubt there could be you knew as well? No, it was the final proof that you just don`t want me. So what choice did I have, really? - Oh Twilight... I`m so sorry. But, I swear... I had no idea you felt this way about me. I never noticed. Please, let go of The Mirror. There`s a lot we need to... to fix. - The first thing you need to do is to recover Pinkie. If I`m not mistaken, you`ve used the Binary Banishment? Why don`t you use it on me again to set the things in motion? - ...Fine, but as soon as Pinkie is here, I want you to drop The Mirror. - Very well. Sighing, Celestia rubbed the wetness off her cheek as she prepared to recast banishment spell. She was vaguely aware she`s been crying, but her mind was mostly in a state of shock. Had Twilight been in love with her all that time? Had she really been so blind to miss that? Did she cause Twilight to try and use spell that destroys one`s body in order to work? Madness. Pure madness. She tossed the banishment spell at Twilight, expecting The Mirror to bounce it right onto Pinkie. Instead, Twilight... vanished. Twilight grinned. Moon. She dropped The Mirror just before Celestia cast her spell. She managed to hide it from Celestia, but her body was mostly gaseous by the time she arrived to the moon, more then half-way to becoming ghost. Amusingly enough, Pinkie Pie was still right in front of her. Twilight couldn`t help but giggle as she seeped into the air bubble, surrounding Pinkie Pie in a lavender mist. "..T-twilight?" - offered party pony nervously as the mist started seeping through her coat. "Shh... It`s alright, Pinkie. Now I can be with you, forever." - she couldn`t even tell where did the voice of Twilight Sparkle came from. Air swirling, she felt herself hurled though the space, ending up sprawled in front of Celestia, coughing and hacking. "Hahhh... Oh, no, that party wasn`t fun at all." - pink mare moaned, looking up. Celestia looked relieved but also very sad. "Pinkie Pie... Oh, I am so glad you`re OK. Did you happen to see Twilight Sparkle up there?" - she offered, leaning down to pick up and hug the pony. Pinkie sneezed, her head jerking violently as the horn suddenly popped out of her forehead. "Twilight? Yep, sure did! I think she`s a part of me now!" - she offered cheerfully, looking at Celestia. Day princess backed away a little, her eyes taking in the changes. She was Pinkie Pie, of course, but... but with unicorn horn. And just a bit darker coat that had almost a lilac sheen. She was Pinkie... but she was also Twilight now. Letting out a nervous chuckle, Celestia looked up, in the eyes of mare she would have to love from then on.