Chapter Thirty Six: When the Dust Settles
Written by TheCrimsonDM
Celestia had searched high and low in the castle searching for her renegade fiancé and former student only to find no sign nor trace of her. She knew teaching Twilight all of the secret passageways was a mistake. For the sun’s sake, Twilight even knew of the entrances that Luna didn’t know. So finding her was going to be impossible.
The best she could hope for was that Twilight would show up and make a mistake. Once she did they would catch her and that would be that. At this point from the screams of terror, the galloping of hooves and one poor terrified magician that reported she would not come back out of her room until tomorrow, Celestia was less mad and more terrified.
It was her fault. She did this to Twilight. Pushed her so far with this marriage to multiple ponies that it had broken her. For her sake she had prayed that after the marriage things would calm down and Twilight would steadily return to normal but now she could see it clear as her sun on a bright summer day. Twilight was lost to madness. She might have bouts of clarity in the future but she would never, ever return to her as the innocent, happy, and studious creature she had cared so deeply for.
If only Twilight would return to her she would marry her. She would give Twilight the best wedding, the best honeymoon, and the most magic filled wedding night ever. If only her student could return to her sanity and be hers once more she would do this, for Twilight.
Alas, at this point she could see a future where Twilight chose to live like a hermit inside their walls. Pranking them when they least expected it. Stealing food and other random items to build shrines dedicated to Princess Celestia. The wedding could be cancelled but the castle may need to be abandoned after a few years of dealing with Twilight’s shenanigans.
She shook her head slowly as she entered her room. Without her magic, Twilight wouldn’t even be able to defend herself. She’d become a myth, a ghost story. Hundreds of years from now ponies would tell stories of the old haunted castle in Canterlot where an evil mare lived to play pranks on those that came inside. The mare once known as the Princess of Friendship and now known as the Ghost Princess of Canterlot.
Celestia’s head sank lower. Closed the door behind her and made her way to her bed. She climbed up onto it and laid down. This was it. She had finally done it. If only she had just told her sister the first night that this was a mistake, maybe Twilight would still be with her, still be okay…
A gentle hoof stroked Celestia’s leg. She looked up expecting to see Rainbow Dash, or maybe even Pinkie Pie there to greet her. Instead there sat Twilight, a confused look on her face.
“TWILIGHT!” Celestia cried as she sat up and threw her legs around the mare dragging her into an embrace.
Twilight nuzzled in. “Oh, Celestia… I was worried you’d still be mad at me. And then all of my hard work would be for naught.”
Celestia shook her head. “You are the most important pony to me right now, I’m not mad at you at all, I’m worried about you.”
“You are?”
“Of course I am.”
Twilight began to shiver in her embrace. It was only at that moment Celestia felt something a little off. There was a cold energy coming from Twilight. Reaching out into the aether to feel the magic coming from Twilight’s being she saw it. There was a dark energy around Twilight’s head, a familiar darkness. Not malevolent, in fact it was playful, but it was playfully dangerous. Celestia reached out and removed it.
The moment she did she could hear a voice playing in the back of her mind in Luna’s voice saying, ‘gotcha’. The moment it was gone Twilight collapsed into Celestia’s embrace. Her eyes closed, and breathing deeply. She was asleep. She began to question how long Twilight had been sleeping for? The spell she saw around Twilight’s mind was one very unique to Luna. It brought out parts of the subconscious, gave them power and usually resulted in a sort of waking dream for ponies where they wouldn’t be quite in control of themselves and may act very strangely indeed.
This prank war had gone too far. Celestia was going to put an end to it like a mature and responsible mare before anymore damage was caused. She laid Twilight down and covered her up before kissing the mare on the forehead. She made a promise to herself and she was going to keep it.
For now Twilight needed rest. She went to the door and opened just as a group of ponies slid to a stop in front of it. Luna, Cadance, Pinkie Pie and even Rainbow Dash were there. They looked behind Celestia and saw Twilight peacefully asleep. Celestia smiled at them. “I have caught her and helped stabilize her mind.” She looked at Luna directly. “You, my room, now.”
Luna swallowed and walked forward. Celestia looked at the others. “You may all return to your regular duties. We shall see you tonight for dinner.”
With that said the others left and Celestia closed the door. She could tell they were concerned but she left no room for questions as she was fairly quick to shut the door on them. She had to speak with Luna and stop this mess.
Just as the door closed Luna spoke. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia blinked. “You are?”
“I am, I did not mean for things to get so out of hoof. I expected Twilight to act like a foal but not cause so much chaos. It was wrong of me to do that to her, and I apologize.”
Celestia bit her lower lip. “I am sorry as well. I helped push this prank war of ours into some pretty unfriendly territory.”
Luna sniffled. “I… I’m so sorry.”
Celestia froze. “Luna, please, don’t cry.”
Luna looked back, her eyes were glossy and wet. “I love them, I love them all so much. I thought that with this old law of yours I could have them all and not have to pick any one above the others. Now I realize I may have misjudged… Twilight spoke truth when she said she was unwilling to share… perhaps… Perhaps I made a mistake. I shall never have the loving family I wanted with these mares and I have only caused them pain, and torment.”
Celestia reached out with a wing. “Sister, the last time I was married was over five hundred years ago to a gentle kind hearted stallion, Time Turner is his name. Though I think he’s changed it to something simpler now. That was the last time I opened up my heart like this but having had so many mares so attracted to me, so in love I began to crave their affection much like you. I love how Rarity looks beautiful even when all has gone wrong and how she is willing to be so generous with herself, her love, and her time. I love how Pinkie Pie can bake, can always make me smile, and can bring such joy to my Twilight’s lips. Rainbow Dash’s willingness to learn something new and spend time just getting to know me is much more than I could have hoped for.
“Most of all, Twilight. I love Twilight and the more I’ve gotten close to her, the more I realize that I want her, need her in my life more than just as a platonic partner, but rather I want her in a much more intimate light.”
Luna sniffled. “S-so…”
“So you have made me think about possibilities I had not considered.”
Luna wiped a hoof at her eyes, wiping away the tears beading up in the corners. “So?”
“So I still have some time to think, and think I will. Tonight, let’s have a wonderful full dinner with everypony and enjoy their company. Tomorrow we have a big day regardless of whether we decide to go through with the wedding or not.” Celestia said this but she already knew the answer in her heart. These six ponies had brought so much excitement, warmth and comfort to her these past few days. If she had known that all it would take was getting married to a few too many mares, she may have thought of this plan herself ages ago.
Luna nodded. “I still need to apologize to Twilight. It was wrong of me to manipulate her mind like that.”
Twilight’s voice came out of the blue. “Yes, yes it was. I just wanted help to not feel bad about breaking all of Celestia’s stuff again and the next thing I know, I’m in bed and my head feels like there's a drill going into each side of my skull and they are meeting in the middle.”
Luna looked over. “My apologies. I only meant to… I don’t even know.”
Celestia offered. “To win a prank war that is now over and done with.”
Luna nodded. “Precisely.”
Celestia let out a sigh. “Well, to be fair, laws are still laws and as the rulers of Equestria we do need to follow them to the best of our ability unless doing so would destroy Equestria.” In this case, she also realized that not getting married meant it may destroy the Elements of Harmony which would in turn destroy Equestria.
Luna smiled. “Understood. I shall see the two of you at dinner then. I… have to take a nap beforehoof.”
With that Celestia let Luna leave and then returned to the bed where Twilight was sitting. Celestia took a seat next to the mare and watched as she winced from the pain in her head. A golden glow surrounded two points on Twilight’s forehead, rubbing small circles on her temple. Twilight’s face eased.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like the one time I tried drinking alcohol.”
Celestia laughed. “Well, at least you can make jokes.”
Twilight opened an eye. “Celestia… do you really love me?”
“Of course I do.”
“N-no, I mean like… not just as a student, or an adopted daughter, but as a lover.”
Celestia bit her lower lip. That question had come up far too many times in the past few days. Now she was staring at Twilight after having suffered from a few too many mental breaks and a mind warping spell. She could lie, and Twilight would surely accept it. However, Celestia was sick of lying. It really wasn’t something she enjoyed and if she was going to get hitched to Twilight at some point she couldn’t keep it up.
“I don’t know.”
Twilight winced, but this time Celestia doubted it was from physical pain.
Celestia clarified. “I don’t know, Twilight. As you said, some part of me still views you as my daughter, and it probably always will. These past few days have taught me much about how much you’ve grown, and what you really need now as you continue to grow and mature.” She reached out with a hoof and stroked Twilights’ flank. “I also keep finding myself looking at you, or thinking of you in ways that are far too inappropriate for a mentor. These thoughts are not likely to vanish any time soon, and I can’t continue blaming Cadance for them.”
Twilight looked at her. “I… I don’t think I understand.”
Celestia gave her a patient smile. “It means I think you are very attractive and if you weren’t getting married to me tomorrow I might just throw you down on the bed and to quote something you said earlier, fill you up with my love.”
Twilight’s cheeks turned beet red. “Um… I mean… um…”
Celestia gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek. “I would still rather wait until our wedding night, where I can tear that dress off of you properly. Rarity may be upset with the state I leave the dress in.”
Twilight eeped and stayed quiet, but the smile on her lips was genuine. Was this creepy and weird and all sorts of wrong; yes. Was it also something Celestia was planning to do regardless; probably. Was Celestia going to just try and forget that this was essentially her daughter in front of her that she wanted to deflower with as much force as a solar flare; yes, yes she was.
At least when it came to Luna, that mare did not have the same level of concern for such things. Yet, it felt like it had finally sank through Luna’s thick skull that maybe this whole affair was a disaster, and only barely functioning as it was.
Well even so, Celestia was just happy to have her Twilight back with her now. Not to mention her phoenix just came in through her window and from here she could see that it was holding a scroll in its talons. With a bit of magic she levitated it over and read it. It was just a number, a simple number that could mean anything but she knew exactly what it meant and now that number weighed more heavily than it ever had before.
“265.”
There was only one copy of the law left.