Ranma wanted to argue with — what seemed to be — his male counterpart, to say that he wasn't their curse, but the words weren't forthcoming. Not only had this been a very unexpected outcome, just from the travel between universes itself, but it was a new and scary predicament. It was one thing to prevent him from changing back to his birth form, which had happened many times in different ways, but what was the solution to having his two bodies separated? Based on past experience, he doubted that it would be as simple as going back through the portal.
As preoccupied by this discovery as he was, and because he was looking at his other self, he didn't notice the golden glow that appeared around the horn of the tall, white equine that was still standing nearby, which covered her ears in quick succession. However, he did notice when the ears of his counterpart were briefly surrounded by that same golden glow for a second, and felt his own tingle at the same time. Before surprise and confusion could escalate to alarm, he heard the white equine calmly query, "Excuse me, but who might you two be, and what brought you here?"
Ranma turned his gaze toward her, noticing that his other self did as well. They must have also thought that she might be a princess, if not the princess, because they politely replied, "I'm Saotome Ranma, and I was told that a princess might be able to cure my curse. It's supposed to change my sex back and forth, with hot and cold water." He gestured toward him. "Except, well..."
"I'm also Saotome Ranma," he picked up where his other self had left off, doing his best to quell his concern until he knew whether or not the princess that they were looking for would be able to address what happened to him. "I got split in two when I went through the portal."
"I see," the white equine temporized, giving him the impression that she had a lot on her mind. Before the length of her pause could become too awkward, her stoic expression softened and she continued. "I am Princess Celestia, and I will provide aid to you in whatever capacity I can."
Relieved that they had found their quarry so soon, he joined his other self in pulling himself completely onto the carpet before standing up, wanting to be ready for whatever came next. He watched the princess look over her shoulder and speak to another equine creature who had been quietly observing them from the base of a dais, politely telling them that their meeting will need to be postponed. Then she told another one, who was stationed by the throne, to inform the petitioners that there would be a delay, and to reschedule "anypony" if necessary.
After the two who had been addressed by the princess began to make their way toward the exit, said princess returned her attention to them and said, "Now, first, I am going to inspect this curse of yours. Please remain still and don't be alarmed by the tingly or prickly sensations that you will experience."
He shared a look with his counterpart before returning his gaze to Celestia and nodding his head, to convey that they were ready.
He watched as Celestia turned her head to face his other self first, before closing her eyes and lighting up her horn. It only took a few seconds for her to stop and reopen her eyes, at which point she stated, "I did not detect any foreign magic, apart from a few benign remnants of spells that will dissipate completely on their own."
Seeing his other self relieved upon hearing the result, for a reason that made him anxious instead, he gulped and turned his attention to Celestia, who chose that time to close her eyes and begin her inspection. His body began to tingle immediately, and he became worried when the inspection didn't end as quickly as the last one, especially when he saw the princess' brow furrow.
When it finally concluded, Celestia fixed her gaze on him, who would be affected most by her words, and somberly said, "I'm afraid that your curse still persists, although — based on what you've told me — in a diminished form."
He felt his ears drop along with his stomach. "What do you mean?"
"That body was created by magic," Celestia gently explained. "And that magic remains to enforce that it is young and female. The magic involved with the other aspects of the curse were dispersed in the separation."
After he bowed his head and began to wrestle with his emotions, so he wouldn't do anything embarrassing, he heard his other self ask, "Why were we separated?"
He heard Celestia hum thoughtfully before answering. "I can't say for sure, because not much is understood about the place between universes — if it can be called a place. However, perhaps this is an indication that what keeps our universes separated has more to do with what's between the universes than the universes themselves."
After chewing on that for a moment, he raised his head and regarded Celestia with pleading eyes as he asked, "Can you do anything to help me?"
Celestia closed her eyes and appeared to be considering her words carefully. "You have to understand," she evenly began, opening her eyes, "even if I knew how to recreate every aspect of your curse, it will be undone when you go back through the portal."
He felt what little optimism that he had been holding on to begin to slip away.
"Additionally," she went on, "from what I've read about your side of the portal, time flows much slower over there when the portal is closed; a month there is nine here. Unfortunately, right now I'm probably the only pony with the skill and power to accomplish what you desire, and there are many reasons for why I can't enlist the aid of a regent while I spend years in your universe learning a new method of harnessing magic and new spells."
"...So that's a no," came his quiet and despondent response as his gaze fell.
"I didn't say that," Celestia softly replied, causing him to look up and see her sympathetic expression as they made eye contact. "If your female body experienced growth since you've had it, that means I could make you younger. Given time, replaced cells in your body will eventually take enough magic with them for the spell to break, and then I will be able to reliably — and safely — change your sex."
He exchanged a look with his other self before switching his gaze back to the princess and asking, "How long would that take?"
Celestia looked up thoughtfully. "Hmmmm... My conservative estimate would be between fifteen and twenty years." When she lowered her gaze and saw the displeased expression on his face, she tried to soften the blow by adding, "However, it is possible that it could take ten, and only about a year of time would pass in your universe by the time you return home, with your desired sex and no curse."
"That's kind of like taking another training journey," his other self interjected, trying to be helpful, which earned them a dirty look from him.
"Would you two like to think about it in the privacy and comfort of one of our guest rooms?" Celestia offered them, although her gaze was on him. "It will include an en suite bathroom and free room service, so you can take as much time as you need to decide what you want to do."
A pair of growling stomachs pretty much dictated their answer.
Several hours later found him lying prone on an enormous bed, facing the wall. He had spent most of his time brooding and sulking about his situation; neither the opulence of the room, or the hay and flowers included with his dinner, could distract him from it.
His male counterpart was probably really bored and wanted to celebrate being curse-free, but they had enough sense to not advertise it and awkwardly tried to be supportive with their continued presence. They didn't need to say anything because both of them had been the same person not that long ago, so they knew what all the issues were, even if most of them either wouldn't apply to them or affect them much. Among those issues, there were five notable concerns that he kept coming back to.
The first two involved his mother, in the event that he remained female. If he indulged the things that he enjoyed about being a girl, would it reflect badly on his male self for having hid or lied about them, to the point — in particular — where his mother would want them, and perhaps himself as well, to commit seppuku? Or, would his mother try to fashion him into a traditional girl instead of letting him be his own type of modern girl? He didn't even want to contemplate what might happen if the subject of his sexuality came up, since he doubted that either admitting his continued interest in girls, or lying about it, would lead anywhere good for him.
The remaining three concerns would require him to be a guy again. The most significant one was his relationship with Akane, since either his male counterpart would advance their relationship while he was gone and Akane would be out of reach, or he'd have to make a choice on whether to compete with them for her affection or give her up. After that was whether his parents would push him to fulfill the arrangement with Ukyo, even though he was pretty sure that he would never see her as anything more than a friend, and had no interest in her business on top of that. Then there was the worry that Cologne might perceive him as being superfluous to everyone else, but still legitimate enough to satisfy Shampoo's and her own stake in him, and would actually put serious effort into forcing him to be together with Shampoo.
Apart from that, there was the thought of staying with the "ponies" — as they seemed to be called — and building a new life from scratch, even though he knew next to nothing about the world and its inhabitants. He couldn't even motivate himself to get up and look in a mirror, to see if he liked the way he looked or not. But the thought still made its rounds, because it was tempting to avoid all of the aforementioned concerns, as much as abandoning some aspects of his life would hurt, and let his male self move forward without him complicating things.
He heard someone knock on the door, followed by the voice of Celestia asking if she could enter, then his male self giving her permission. He continued to stay where he was on the bed and kept his gaze fixed on the wall, since he hadn't figured out what to do and wasn't feeling any better about his choices.
A few seconds after the door closed, Celestia asked, "Have you figured out what you want to do?"
He assumed that his male self hadn't answered verbally, because there was a notable amount of silence before Celestia said, "If you wish to go home, ask one of my guards and they will escort you to the portal. I'll do what I can to help them."
A few seconds later he heard the door open, which closed a bit later than he would have expected it to. After a brief moment of silence, his ears twitched when he heard several objects thump softly on the carpet, followed by a thud from a heavier one. Then something metallic was set on the nightstand, the sharp sound causing him to imperceptibly jump. Soon after he felt the bed shift, and he couldn't help looking askance long enough to catch Celestia — sans her accessories — laying down nearby.
"Do you feel like talking about it?" She gently entreated.
His first instinct was to shake his head in response, but he was feeling really off-balance from the situation to act upon it, and — although he tried not to acknowledge it — even vulnerable. He was in a foreign setting and body, facing a tough life decision where his other self had the advantage regardless of what he chose to do, and he was with a princess who seemed so... nice.
In the end, he felt too conflicted to answer. A small part of him wanted her to press the issue, to give him the excuse to say that he only opened up so she would stop bothering him. However, she seemed content to silently keep him company, either until she was dismissed or he was ready to talk. It made it kind of uncomfortable and awkward for him to keep staring at the wall, knowing that a princess was watching over him with patience and poise.
He didn't know how much time passed, but Celestia eventually spoke up and casually said, "Excuse me for a moment; I need to lower the sun."
He couldn't help turning his head to watch her leave the bed with an incredulous look on his face, thinking that she couldn't be serious. Even if it were somehow possible, the implications boggled his mind. Not just that someone had that kind of power, assuming that it would still be considered a feat of astronomical proportions in this universe, but that it was someone's responsibility.
When Celestia reached the window, she turned to regard him and said, "If I remember correctly, the sun moves on its own where you come from. Would you like to watch the sun set on another world?"
He was too curious, and intent on seeing if Celestia could literally move the sun, to even think to say that it wasn't the sun that was responsible for its movement in the sky, back on Earth, as he went to join her at the window. It didn't feel right to have the sill a few inches under his chin, and he wanted a better view of the sky besides, so he placed his new forehooves on the sill and raised himself up until his torso was parallel with the wall. When he looked up, to convey that he was ready, he noted that his eyes still didn't reach her jaw.
He watched Celestia look out the window and light up her horn before turning his attention to the sun. His eyes widened when it suddenly picked up speed and fell beneath the horizon in seconds, the moving shadows across the land, followed by the ebb of the sunlight's direct assault on his eyes, leading to the unveiling of the starry night sky, convincing him that the princess had manually made the sun set. She raised the moon a few seconds later, although he was so stunned that he barely registered it.
His reverie was broken when he heard Celestia lightly chuckle, who said, "It's been a very long time since I've gotten that kind of a reaction from somepony your age." Seeing that he was staring up at her, but still speechless, she gently added, "And it would seem that I successfully gave you a reprieve from your thoughts."
Since it was so rare for someone to go out of their way to be friendly and treat him well, without having an ulterior motive, he couldn't help regarding her with suspicion and asking, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"I have several reasons," Celestia replied, calmly meeting his gaze. "First and foremost, I can't ignore somepony in need of help when they're right in front of me."
He simply nodded his head, willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Second," she continued, more solemnly, "your situation is not too unlike an experience I had a long time ago, with somepony very dear to me, so I feel compelled to help you avoid going down a similar path if you find yourself envious of your male self."
He didn't know how to respond to that, so he remained silent.
She hesitated before earnestly admitting, "And lastly, I am interested in adopting you."
That came as such a surprise to Ranma that his hooves slipped off of the window sill and he fell over.