//------------------------------//
// Chapter One Hundred Twenty Two 
// Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria 
// by Charlie_K 
//------------------------------//


Chapter One Hundred Twenty Two


"This isn't something you can tell anypony about, am I clear?"

"Quite  clear, Your Highness," Rarity confirmed and nodded. "Oh my honor as a  lady, I can Pinkie Promise that not a creature shall hear from me, what  will be discussed here today."

"I suppose it'll have to do," Celestia reluctantly acknowledged. "I just  hope you're actually up for what you'll have to hear. If you regret it  later on, there's nothing I can do about it."


+++


Had Rarity known then what she knew now, about exactly what sort of horrifying details she'd be made privy to, she might've taken Celestia's offer to excuse herself, and spare her present self the extreme amount of discomfort she was going through at the moment. But she'd stubbornly refused in her ignorance -ignorance she desperately wanted back right now- and she had no one to blame herself. 

Now she had to deal with the knowledge of such things as core breaches, meltdowns, and spontaneous unicorn disintegration being frightening realities. Realities that she doubted she'd ever be able to put out of the forefront of her mind, despite her best attempts at doing so. Something like that simply didn't just go away because it was inconvenient and unpleasant.

There was, understandably, a certain degree of existentialist dread stemming from the newfound knowledge that she, her sister, their parents, or any one of their unicorn friends could spontaneously cease to exist without warning. Making it all the worse was the uncertainty of just how that end could potentially come for any single one of them. 

There was also a unique type of being disturbed to be had from the idea that the best-case scenario was simply dropping dead on the spot from rapid onset mana depletion basically bleeding them to death, whereas the worst-case was violently exploding like an atomic bomb -Ulquiorra's description of events, not Celestia's- and potentially leveling an untold amount of territory around them in the process. To say nothing of the ponies in that territory who would also die as a result.

It'd been especially painful to learn Twilight had been forced to live with these horrifying thoughts ever since she was a filly, back when she'd nearly died to a slow burn core meltdown all those years ago at her entrance exam. Nopony so young should ever have to live with that sort of information, they just shouldn't! She couldn't even look at Twilight right now without feeling her heart practically breaking at the thought. And when Twilight actually looked down at the floor in an almost guilty fashion in an effort to avoid making eye contact, it just about proved sufficient to shatter her heart.

It took every ounce of her skills at being a socialite, to not rush right over to her friend's side and hug the stuffing out of her. The poor mare had no reason to be ashamed of something that was beyond her control, and if need be she was going to vigorously remind her of that fact; but it would have to come later when the time was more opportune.

Looking at her friend now, she knew that she couldn't have left then. As much as she wanted to be terrified, there was simply no room for such an emotion right now.

"Darling, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that," was the first thing out of her mouth as soon as Celestia finished with her explanation of the matter at hoof. "Yes, I can certainly understand why that sort of information is best kept under wraps. And as I've said, not a word of it shall escape my lips," she continued, returning her attention back to Celestia.

"Thank you," Celestia replied, leaving unsaid just how bad things could be if such news ever were to get out into the general public. She just hoped Rarity did understand as well as she said she did.

"However," Rarity continued, "I honestly don't believe you would've shared the details about Twilight's... er... predicament, unless it was somehow relevant to the questions she asked you concerning her alicorn counterpart. Even I know that what doesn't get said, can be just as telling and important as what is said."

"A correct observation. There's technically a connection between the two," Celestia confirmed.

Over where she stood, Twilight swallowed nervously as she felt an uneasy lump forming in her throat at hearing this news, uncertain of why this news left her feeling even more unsettled than Rarity being told an inconvenient truth about unicorns.

"Might I ask how?" Rarity asked, very aware of Twilight's current unease but also presently driven by her own curiosity.

"Admittedly it's just a theory at the moment, one that's based primarily on my own experiences from a very long time ago," Celestia clarified. "But in theory, if Twilight were to become an alicorn, it might serve to fix her core and prevent it from detonating."

"Wait, wait. Hold up a second," Twilight spoke up. "That could actually work? I mean, theoretically that could work?"

"Theoretically," Celestia confirmed. "There's still a lot about the ascension process that's unknown, what with only three examples to go on. We know the process -what we actually know of it anyway- essentially rebuilds a pony's physical structure from the ground up at a microscopic level, transforming their physiology from what they were previously into that of an alicorn. Whether or not it actually could fix your core, we just don't know. All we have to go on, are my own experiences from a very long time ago."

Twilight's questions immediately ceased, her full attention now on Celestia's words, anxious to hear what she had to say.

"Long ago, long before Luna and I ascended, before Equestria was even properly founded and Discord was still a force of evil, I lost my left eye for one dumb reason or another that simply wasn't worth remembering. For years there was nothing but an empty socket hidden behind an eye patch. When we became alicorns, my eye was back like it'd never been gone in the first place," Celestia explained. "And I'd just gotten used to my lack of depth perception being a thing, too..."

There were a couple of polite chuckles, but the mood quickly returned to its previous seriousness.

"Admittedly, it's nothing more than a mere theory to go on. There's no way of knowing for certain if it'll work," Celestia stressed. "But at the same time, it may soon become something we'll actually have to try."

The nod from Twilight that followed was stiff and awkward as far as Rarity could tell, bordering on downright mechanical. Something about it just felt wrong to observe. This was going to require far more information to go on.

"If I may ask, why exactly would Twilight have to become an alicorn?"

Celestia looked to Rarity, before looking back to Twilight.

"Do you want to explain it, or should I?"

"I will," Twilight replied softly and sighed, before turning to better face Rarity. "Do you remember what happened in the Everfree Forest? Right before Celestia turned herself into a dragon?"

Rarity thought on the question for a moment as she tried to recall the details her friend was referring to, before giving an involuntary shudder of discomfort and quickly nodding.

"That was my core going into a meltdown," she clarified. "It was also an indication that things are worse than we initially believed. Back when the first breach was discovered during my entrance exam, a number of preventative measures were placed on my core to try and prevent that from happening again. Binding spells, shielding charms, power limiters, etc. They're probably the reason I was even allowed to ever travel to Ponyville in the first place. And for well over a decade it looked like they were working and keeping everything in check. But... that incident proved that wasn't the case.

"Whatever happened out there, every protective measure we've been relying on was shredded like tissue paper that night. Either they never worked in the first place, and my core had simply been stable up until then, or something caused them to fail. And based on the accounts of Celestia and Luna about how terrified she was when I was going critical, I don't think it was another one of Nightmare Moon's tricks as a distraction. She stopped fighting them so I could be tended to and brought back under control. That's not exactly what a villain does when things are going according to their plans."

Rarity shook her head, agreeing with Twilight's assessment. It seemed unlikely at best that what happened was another trick to keep them unbalanced.

"How exactly it happened, though, it isn't important. All that matters is the fact that it did happen. And even though all the safeguards were put back in place again, there's no guarantee that a third meltdown might not occur at some point in the future. Becoming an alicorn might be the only way I can keep everypony around me safe," Twilight stated.

"I'm afraid I still don't quite understand why becoming an alicorn would be necessary to keep us safe. I was there when everything went wrong, we all were. We all saw Celestia bring you back to normal; you were just fine the rest of the night while we fought for our lives," Rarity pointed out.

"I'm afraid the matter is far more complicated than whatever you saw would suggest, Rarity," Celestia stated as she took over the explanation. "What you saw transpiring doesn't do anything to detail just what was involved with bringing Twilight's core back under control. It's not so much a spell that was used, as it is a process of basically walking it back and locking it down again. It's not something that Twilight can learn to do on her own, there needs to be a second outside party able to intervene before it's too late. If I'd been two minutes slower, it would've been too late to do anything except try and evacuate the area. 

"Ironically, if you hadn't come along on what Ulquiorra might call the boneheaded move of all time, a lot more ponies could've ended up dying, simply because we wouldn't have been able to respond in time. There's no way I would've been able to get away from Nightmare Moon if you had all stayed back in Ponyville."

"I'm really sorry about that," Twilight replied weakly, it being the only thing she could say in response as her ears folded against her skull.

Hearing this, Celestia shook her head as she extended her left wing to stroke Twilight's back in a comforting manner.

"Nopony is blaming you, Twilight. A core meltdown isn't something that any unicorn has control of. You're no more at fault for what happened, than a tree is for one of its limbs snapping off. And please, don't try and reason that it being your core somehow makes you at fault. I really don't want to go through that discussion yet again," she implored her.

Twilight simply nodded in response, even if the look on her face suggested she didn't actually believe it.

"So... let me see if I'm understanding all of this. I feel like my head is starting to spin from all the details," Rarity spoke up in an even, measured tone. "Twilight needs help from an outside pony in order to keep her core in check, if something like that ever happens again. Preferably somepony who's close enough at hoof that they can respond in less than two minutes. Am I correct?"

Celestia nodded. "Quite correct."

"And the fact this is even being discussed, would at least suggest this isn't a problem that Discord can rectify with his abilities," Rarity continued.

"I'm afraid not," Celestia shook her head as she tucked her wing back in at her side. "If only it were that simple. I asked Discord, I asked him the first night of his reformation under Fluttershy. Twilight's situation is one of the reasons I wanted him to be reformed in the first place. But sadly even his power has limits as to what can and can't be done. This is, unfortunately, outside the scope of his abilities to deal with; much like resurrecting the dead turned out to be. The way he explained it when I asked him, the best he could do is transform her into another species that doesn't actively use magic, like an earth pony, so that she wouldn't have a core anymore."

"Yes, that does sound very problematic," Rarity agreed as she rubbed her chin in thought. "Er, not that there's anything wrong with being an earth pony. That's not what I was getting at."

"I know you didn't," Twilight replied and shook her head. "Becoming a different species doesn't bother me; it'd actually be a very informative and educational experience to see how others live their day-to-day lives. The only problem is that with most options I'd be without my magic; an aspect of me that I've been heavily relying on for everyday tasks since I was a filly. By comparison it'd be like Rainbow Dash losing her ability to fly. Or Fluttershy not being able to talk with animals anymore. Or you losing your sense for fashion. It's a very jarring and even frightening thought to consider undertaking."

Rarity gave an involuntary cringe/shudder in response, trying to wrap her head around just how drastically her life would change if something like that were to happen to her.

"Out of all the available choices, becoming an alicorn would be the least objectionable. If the theory pans out then nopony will be at risk of my core going into meltdown again, I won't have to move away to keep them safe, and I could still use my magic," Twilight stated in a somewhat optimistic tone, before eventually giving a sigh. "But at the same time, there's the matter of the functional immortality involved, and being forced to watch as everypony and everything I've come to love and appreciate grows old and dies around me, while I remain untouched by the sands of time.

"At one point in time I wouldn't have minded that. I would've had all the time in the world to learn about every field of science and magic imaginable. I could've even revolutionized society itself with the knowledge I could accumulate over the centuries. But that was before I discovered what I was missing out on all those years by not having friends, and suddenly that quest for absolute knowledge seemed much less fulfilling to consider. If I become an alicorn I'll have to watch as my friends die. Then I'll have to make new friends, all the while knowing those friendships will eventually end sooner or later, even if they last for decades. I'll end up being too afraid of them ending, to be able to enjoy them while they last. I'll be too afraid of the pain of loss to keep putting myself out there when the end is always going to be the same. I-"

Twilight suddenly found herself silenced as Rarity thrust her right forehoof against her lips.

Rather than address her friend and potentially add more fuel to the fire that was her emotional/psychological downward spiral, Rarity turned to look at Celestia instead.

"Are there any other options that could be used? If you had more time to work with, could some other alternative be found or developed? Some new type of spell or magical intervention to solve this problem?"

"It's possible, with enough time," Celestia admitted, "whether or not it works, though, is always the question."

"Just like the hypothesis that ascension will do the trick," Rarity noted as she withdrew her hoof from Twilight's lips and placed it back on the ground. "I believe I've heard all that I need to know on this matter. I only have one other question. Exactly how difficult would it be to learn that process you were referring to earlier?"

"I'm sorry, what now?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"It's quite simple, darling. I'm hereby taking over this matter at once," Rarity stated firmly as she once again turned her attention to her friend. "Celestia never said that only she was capable of bringing your core under control, only that you needed an outside party to help. And if she can teach me exactly what I need to know about the process, then I fully intend to do that myself."

Celestia quirked an eyebrow in response.

Twilight was left speechless, and was quickly cut off as Rarity continued speaking without missing a beat.

"I've been paying close attention to everything that was said since you arrived, and I'm quite certain even Ulquiorra would agree it's the most logical course of action to undertake. Twilight needs an outside party to help her, and you need more time to find a solution that can be used to help all unicorns in the same position she currently is. I'm simply the best available choice in the matter; I'm already in the know about what's going on, and I can make it here from the boutique in about a minute if I'm ever needed."

"I must say, that's certainly a generous offer to be making," Celestia commented, while doing her best to not smile just yet. "Not many ponies would be so willing to help a friend in this type of predicament."

"What others might or might not do in a given situation isn't any of my concern; a pony could positively drive themselves insane worrying about that sort of matter. I have more important matters to focus my attention on," Rarity stated. "I won't lie, though, this isn't purely about helping Twilight. This is also about Sweetie Belle and her well-being. She's a unicorn as well, meaning it's entirely possible her core could become destabilized one day, putting her in the exact same position as Twilight. If I can help Twilight, then I can help her. What sort of friend, or big sister, would I be if I didn't do everything I could?"

Celestia's response was interrupted as Twilight immediately moved in to hug Rarity in a manner that would rival what even Pinkie could manage.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she choked out. "I was so worried what my friends would say if I ever told them!"

Rarity frowned, but said nothing as she simply patted Twilight's back reassuringly. Now certainly wasn't the time to get into the finer details about what sort of reaction might be had. The poor mare needed rest for her own mental health, as well as her clarity, and this ongoing discussion wasn't doing her any favors. The longer it went on, the worse things would go.

"Just one thing before we get down to the details," Celestia spoke up and gently prodded Twilight's back to make sure she was paying attention before she continued. "To answer the question that brought me out here in the first place, Twilight, it's no. You are not destined to become a Princess like Luna and I are. I never selected you to be my successor to the throne one day down the line. Whatever you become in the future is entirely your decision to make. There might be outside factors to account for that sway your intended course, but that same caveat goes for everypony; it always has been.  The day may eventually come when Luna and I have to abdicate the throne, but I certainly don't expect you to just upend your life in order to take over for us if ever that should happen."

At hearing this, Twilight's entire demeanor appeared to improve rapidly, as if a burdensome weight had been lifted right off her withers.

"Although if that ever were to happen and you assumed control, I know the kingdom would be in some of the best hooves available for the job. I'd be very hard-pressed to find anypony better."

Rarity couldn't help but smile when she saw Twilight smiling at the comment. Not that she could really blame her with that degree of praise.





The sofa in Princess Luna's room was decidedly less comfortable to rest on than the bed was. But in all fairness, it was doubtful anything could be quite as comfortable as the bed that the night princess called her own.

Not that Princess Twilight was going to complain. It'd been a very busy and hectic morning after a very long night with no rest, she'd been very tired, and Luna had been all too willing to let her stay over again while she rested the day away. Something about enjoying the company of another who appreciated rest when the sun was out and about. 

Actually sharing the bed while it was in use had been a bit off-putting to think about attempting. That just wasn't something she was too comfortable with trying out; not just yet anyway. It might take a few days before the idea stopped feeling weird to consider. Provided she was actually still here for that.

The sofa had seemed like a suitable compromise. And in truth it was still quite comfortable to rest on, and easy enough to fall asleep on. It could quite possibly put other general issue beds to shame in that department.

But still, that bed Luna had, had been the gold -or maybe platinum- standard of furniture comfort for this world.

Regardless of the relative comfort level, however, the rest she desperately wanted just seemed to elude her. Despite needing to rest, her brain simply refused to let her rest with everything that was currently running through it.

At the very top of that list of thoughts demanding her attention right now was Tempest Shadow. Had Ulquiorra found her yet? Had Ulquiorra delivered Princess Luna's message to her? What had her response been? Were they on their way to kill the Storm King even now? There were far, far too many unknowns currently interfering with her ability to rest properly.

The conversation she'd had with Dr. Malar about crystal horn prosthetics was also weighing heavily on her mind. She'd barely been able to keep her curiosity contained while putting the message together, and had more or less grilled the older physician at the first available opportunity, asking him question after question about the procedure. So many bases to cover, so much new information to try and remember for taking back home.

The incognito spell that Princess Luna had gifted her wasn't quite that high of a priority, but it was certainly up there somewhere on the hierarchy of important things to think about. It'd made things so much easier for her already, as various palace staff just seemed to ignore the fact she was an alicorn, and treat her just like they would any other pony they encountered in their daily routine. That one was definitely on the list of things she was taking back with her if -when, she corrected herself- she figured out how to get back home.

Despite her best efforts, getting an adequate amount of rest, to enable her to stay awake the rest of the day, while still enabling he being able to sleep through the night and get her schedule back on track, simply didn't look like it was actually going to happen.

She rolled over with a frustrated grunt, growing more and more fed up the longer she laid there, torn between her desire to continue just laying comfortably where she was, and getting up to do something to alleviate the growing restlessness she was playing host to. Maybe a jog around the palace would help tire her out, get her mind at ease, and let her rest.

And then she was jolted by the sound of something blaring from within the darkened room. Something she realized only afterward was a ringing alarm clock. This was eventually followed by a tired, resentful groan, as a hoof thudded down on the offending appliance and silenced it.

Was it actually time for Princess Luna to get up? Was it really that late in the day already? Had she been cat-napping the afternoon away without even realizing it? The lack of clear answers did nothing to help her current mood.

"Are you awake, Princess Luna?"

"No," Luna grumbled, followed by what sounded a great deal like covers being pulled closer to her, as if she were trying to burrow deeper into her bed.

"Shouldn't you be?"

"I abdicate," Luna replied, muffled by what most certainly sounded like the covers pulled up over her head.

"Come on, now, you don't actually mean that."

Luna merely grunted in response, showing no signs of rising.

Twilight sighed. Obviously this wasn't going to be easy. So with a grunt, she sat herself up on the sofa, and clapped her forehooves together twice. Immediately Luna's chambers were flooded by every light in the room coming on at once.

The pile of covers on Luna's bed growled and retracted in on itself in response to the assault, before two forelegs were thrust out from under the edge and clapped together,shutting the lights right back off.

Twilight frowned in response and turned the lights back on with a clap. "I'm not getting dragged into a clap-off duel with you."

"Would you prefer swords instead?" the lump in Luna's bed asked.

"What? No!" Twilight answered quickly, horrified by the very idea.

"A pity," the lump sighed, "I need a sparring partner I can practice my thrust and parry against."

That last bit left Twilight uncertain whether or not Luna was actually joking. And that uncertainty left her more uncomfortable than she cared to admit.

"I wonder how Ulquiorra's doing at the moment," she announced, desperately wanting to change the subject to something less violent.

At that, Luna finally showed signs of stirring as she slowly peeled the covers down from her head and yawned as she stretched.

"How he is doing may ultimately depend on a number of variables we have not accounted for," she stated as she begrudgingly emerged from a bed that was far too comfortable to leave. "Accounting for the differences between our respective reality, there may not even be a Tempest Shadow in this world. For all we know she may still be Fizzlepop Berrytwist, living peacefully in whatever remote town she grew up in. She may not even be a unicorn at all, but rather an earth pony. These are all things we cannot possibly know for certain."

"I never even thought of that," Twilight admitted. "I got so hung up on the possibility of time travel being at play, I completely blitzed off the fact this isn't my reality. There's no telling how many different variables we didn't even consider when formulating our plan. I could've ended up making things even worse by meddling. We could've ended up sending Ulquiorra on a wild goose chase, when he was needed here more."

"I suppose that could be a possibility. But in all fairness, there were times we have needed Ulquiorra Cifer to constantly travel back and forth between Canterlot and Ponyville, essentially pulling double duty in keeping both locations under his watchful eye should something develop. I do not see this as being any different than that," Luna replied as she walked over to the couch. 

"I suppose..." Twilight reluctantly agreed. "I just... I'm worried that any little thing I do in the name of helping, could potentially make things worse down the line."

"If it is going to happen, then it will happen. And we will deal with it accordingly when it arises; just as we have done countless times already," Luna explained, before extending her right foreleg. "Welcome to Team Fuckup, my young friend."

Twilight flinched, but accepted the offered hoof regardless. "Does it really have to be called that?"

"Would you prefer Team Butts instead?" Luna asked.

"Well..." Twilight paused in thought, "if those are my only options, I suppose it would work."

"Excellent," Luna replied chipperly. "I am Moonbutt, Sister is Sunbutt, you can be Starbutt."

"I suppose it's fitting," Twilight commented, "although I don't have a clue how you came up with such a team name."

"You would have to ask your counterpart's sister-in-law. Princess Cadence is the one who originally came up with it. She is Lovebutt, by the way."

The very notion that Cadence of all ponies was behind the whole "Team Butts" idea was so hard to believe, it left Twilight momentarily speechless as she tried to process the information.

But the process was interrupted as a flash of fire appeared in front of Luna as a scroll materialized and dropped to the ground.

Wordlessly, Luna levitated the scroll of the floor and unrolled it to read over whatever the contents were.

"It is from Sunbu- er, I mean 'Tia," she stated. "Apparently she is tending to some small matters outside the palace and may not make it back in time for dinner. She advises we do not wait and eat without her."

"Does she at least say what kind of matters she's tending to?" Twilight asked, finding the whole thing a little bit odd.

Luna shook her head as she rolled the scroll back up. "She does not. But if it were important, she would likely say something. Or at least... I believe that she would."