//------------------------------// // Splitting The Party // Story: The Royal Fillies REDUX // by blazikenking //------------------------------// "Inova, Skyla, for one of your Hearth's Warming presents from us, you will learn a spell that is exclusive to alicorns," Aunt Celestia said. Skyla and I were at Canterlot Castle for the holiday, as usual, while mom and dad were back home. It was our first trip leaving the Empire without them, and Skyla had been nervous until we arrived and had our guard escorts. The week after our arrival had been pretty fun, and even a bit productive with some princess lessons. I raised a forehoof. "Aunt Celestia, why are there so many pillows around here?" The room we were in was filled with them. "It's for a pillow fight after you learn and use the spell." Aunt Luna took over. "As you know, alicorns have the magic of all three types of ponies. This spell will split you into those components, giving you multiple bodies and allowing you to be in multiple places at once." Aunt Twilight lit her horn up. "Each part of you will have her own mind, but only one of them will have the main personality associated with you. With time, practice, experience, and introspection, you will be able to synchronize yourselves. Having a common goal for all three to focus on will help." She released the spell and glowed a bright white. When the light died down, a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony with her colors stood where she had been, all of them just a little bigger than normal ponies and smaller than she had been. I was simply amazed. "That's so cool! What happens when you combine? And how do you do that?" Unicorn Twilight answered. "The same spell unites all three parts. The first time I did that, it took some time for me to catch up and sort things out. It took most of a day of doing nothing. After some more experience and practice, it became a matter of seconds for me to sort out. Celestia will teach Skyla and Luna will teach Inova." “We’ll just sit back and watch for now,” Earth Twilight said. She sounded very laid back and unconcerned. Pegasus Twilight happily used her wings to pull her fellow unicorn and earth pony parts into a hug. She didn’t say anything, and seemed content just being there. Aunt Celestia took Skyla to one pillowy corner of the room while Aunt Luna took me to the opposite pillowy corner. "Start by looking inward to your magic. You can do that, right?" "I'm not a total flop in magic class." I closed my eyes and found my magic core easily enough. "Just a serious flop." "Now work on splitting it." As I worked on splitting my core, a vision of a giant explosion, a fiery mushroom cloud, and some kind of alarm sound briefly flashed through my mind and broke my focus. "Try again, Inova. You can do it." Before I started my second attempt, there was a flash of light from across the room. Skyla had managed to split herself. The three of her looked at each other, smirked, and then ran out of the room. "Skyla, get back here!" Celestia split herself and ran after my sister(s). "I'm not leaving you unsupervised!" All three of Twilight ran after them, with Unicorn Twilight telekinetically closing the doors behind her. "She's probably going for the kitchen," Luna and I said at the same time before laughing. "Sisters, right?" Some more laughter was shared between us. Luna caught her breath shortly after I did. "Alright, back to the splitting spell. Try again." I closed my eyes and began working my magic on the spell while keeping the explosion imagery out of focus. Unlike literally every other spell I tried before, the casting was going remarkably well. It soon felt like I was getting pulled four ways. "Unicorn, pegasus, earth, and probably some kind of shared link," I concluded as I pushed the spell to completion with surprising ease. Luna was no stranger to feeling proud of somepony. There were many times that she had given encouragement and guidance in dreams that led to success in the waking world, and she was proud of every single one, even if she couldn't remember or name them all. She was no stranger to confusion either. Associating with Pinkie Pie, Discord, and most of the modern nobility would teach somepony how to take it in stride and ask questions later. Sometimes, very pointed questions. Feeling proud and confused at the same time was incredibly rare. On one hoof, Inova successfully performed the spell and cast it with greater ease than anything else she'd tried, and even picked it up faster than basic levitation. On the other hoof, there was a pale skinned female human in the middle of the three expected ponies. Her eyes were just as blue as the others, her black hair had the same light blue streaks in it, and the equine parts were looking at her in confusion. "Inova, I need you to stay calm," Luna calmly said to the quartet. "I don't know if this is some kind of trick or curse, but I promise we can figure it out together." None of Inova's parts responded to Luna's assurances or noticed her casting some scanning spells, as they were too busy watching Human Inova flexing and moving her hands. The door to the room suddenly burst open, a brawl of alicorn parts coming through and causing a ruckus. This got a response from Unicorn Inova. "YOU WILL STOP!" Her horn lit up and she easily captured the nine fighters in a single telekinetic bubble, catching all of them off guard and drawing their attention to her. Unicorn Celestia's first attempt to unite herself fizzled out in the bubble, then she put more power into the spell and pulled herself together before easily breaking the confining magic. "What happened?" Her voice held only inquisitiveness as she approached Inova's parts. "She cast the spell perfectly on the second try," Luna explained. "There was no chaos magic, no dark sorcery, and no interference that I could detect, though I admittedly wasn't looking for any of that while she was casting. That being said. . ." Unicorn Inova cast the splitting spell to reunite into an alicorn, Human Inova getting pulled in just like Pegasus and Earth Inova. The reformed and hyperventilating alicorn nervously looked with wide eyes between all of the ponies in the room before running out in a panic and going down the hall. Twilight reformed herself. "So, I think the pillow fight's been cancelled." "Yeah." Skyla pulled herself together and stumbled a bit. "Whoo, dizzy." "After a fight like that during your first split, that sounds about right," Celestia said. "Take your time to recover. Twilight, I believe you are the most qualified to try and help Inova right now." "I'll do my best," Twilight confidently said before leaving at a relaxed pace. Even without the aid of a location spell, she knew where Inova most likely went. There was a knock on the door. "Inova, can I come in?" Aunt Twilight asked. "I'm worried about you." "I'm a freak, Aunt Twilight!" I shouted from my curled up spot on the bed. "There's a human inside me and I don't know why she's there!" "Inova, I know what it's like to be a human." "NO YOU DON'T! I have a human in me and I don't know what it's like!" "We just found out about that a few minutes ago, so nopony is expecting you to know that. In fact, I'm coming in." I looked away from her and covered myself with the blankets as she entered the room. "I get that you have no idea why you have a human part in you, and the truth is that none of us know either. But now that you do know, well, we're here for you. We'll help you figure out how to go forward with it." "And how are you going to do that?" I growled out. "I make up the entire human population for the planet, and I'm a pony. There's nopony and nobody that can understand." "I can." "YOU ONLY SPLIT INTO THREE PONIES! YOU HAVE NO HUMAN IN YOU!" "No, but I have been one." I scoffed at the notion. "That's impossible. There's nothing that can change your species like that." Twilight audibly took a calming breath. "Then that means your human part is just as much a part of you as your pony parts, and always has been. It's just not visible while you're an alicorn." "Is that supposed to make me feel better? Because it doesn't." "It's just the truth. At least I believe it is." Some shifting of the bed let me know that Twilight was sitting on it with me. “When you get back home, gather your friends and let them help you figure it out.” “Okay. . .” I grumpily said. That night, four alicorns met in the dream realm. “Just tell me what’s going on,” Cadence stated, quickly figuring out that something was going on. “We taught the girls the splitting spell as you asked us to,” Luna said. “Did Skyla cause any trouble?” “She-” Celestia started. “I had to chase down Celestia and Skyla’s parts before they could raid the kitchen,” Twilight quickly interrupted. “It turned into a nine mare brawl pretty quickly.” “None of them won,” Luna added. “The real urgent matter at hoof is Inova. She performed the spell after only a couple tries.” “That quickly?” Cadence asked in surprise. “I thought she would have taken longer to perform it.” “There is an issue though, and it’s why we have you here.” Luna conjured her memory of the split, showing Cadence the Inova quartet. “What the. . .” Cadence walked up to the floating image to get a better look. “How is that possible?” “And when they reunited, Human Inova went in with the rest.” She played the memory of Inova reforming and running away in fear. “She’s in a tough place right now,” Twilight said. “We’re going to keep this quiet, and that includes Skyla. It didn’t take much to get her to agree. On the other hoof, the presence of a human in Inova probably explains a lot of her difficulties and oddities. I’ll throw some theories together and see if I can figure out how that might have happened.” “We will comfort and support her as much as we can,” Celestia offered. “In the worst case scenario, we can house her at the castle or teleport her back home.” “Is she asleep?” Cadence asked. “Yes,” Luna answered. “However-” “Take me to her.” “Cadence, her mind is a mess right now, and her dreamscape is even worse. Being stuck in a rowboat in the middle of a maelstrom at sea would be safer than going there. Relatively speaking. Not even Discord would like it.” “Take me to her,” Cadence firmly repeated. “My filly is hurting, and I need to be there for her.” Luna sighed. “If you insist. Just remember that you were warned. Twilight, Celestia, I will see you later.” Cadence went with Luna through the dreamscape, each pony’s dream a miniature world of its own. Something Cadence had wondered about came to mind, and she asked. “Luna, is it possible for you to see the dreams of other sapient species?” “Alas, I cannot. Just as minotaurs and griffons cannot breed together, so too am I unable to view the dreams of those that are not equine. It would make the dirty business of spying so much easier.” “And the issues within Equestria?” “Cadence, I am but one mare. An alicorn of great power, yes, but still just one and with only so much time I can use. It’s better for me to help individuals where I can so they can help others.” A few seconds later, a particularly turbulent dream appeared before the princesses. Shifting spires of stone amid swirling sand, thunderclouds that were more lightning than clouds, bubbling magma, blizzards, and more, all shifting around with no regard for how things worked in reality, were visible from outside. “This is Inova’s dream. Are you still certain you wish to go inside?” Cadence took a calming breath and steeled herself. “Yes.” Luna opened the dream and watched from the outside as Cadence went in. The response from the dream was immediate, and she was bombarded with all the elements she’d seen and more. Determined to help her daughter, she powered through it all. After the churning magma, crackling ice, and booming lightning, she flew over the shifting terrain, watching for any signs of something amid the swirling sands. Finally, she found it. A swirling sphere that seemed to both absorb and radiate the sand around it. From above, she could see Inova inside, curled up and oddly shaped, but it was her. “Inova!” “Go away.” The irritated statement was punctuated by a stone fist violently erupting from the ground to punch Cadence out of the sky before defensively coiling around Inova. Luna pulled Cadence out of the dream. The princess of love appeared physically unhurt, but all the signs of feeling betrayed were there on the pink pony’s face. “Don’t worry, Cadence. She did the same thing to me and worse the five times I tried to reach her here.” “Luna, what can I do?” Cadence asked, desperate to help and shaken by the outlash from Inova. “Keep being the good mother you are in the waking world. Be there for her, as you always have been. I have a feeling that this is something that must be settled only when Inova is ready.” I decided to leave Canterlot early, and I insisted on not having any guards escorting me. After telling Skyla, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna of my plan to head home, all they had me do was promise not to use the splitting spell or reveal my human part on the way. As grim and dark as I felt, it wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t want the extra attention. My one stop before the train station was a houseware store. “Hello, Princess Inova,” the unicorn mare at the desk said. “How can I. . . Did something bad happen?” “I just want a thick warm blanket,” I dryly said. “Something I can easily wrap myself in.” “Of course.” She went through some of the nearby options and got one that was black with two golden eagles back to back on it. “Would this-” “How much is it?” “Forty bits, but-” “I’m buying it.” I set my saddlebag down to get the bits while the mare folded the blanket and tied it up with a ribbon. Once she had her bits and my bags were back on, she set the blanket on my back. “Thank you.” I didn’t even wait for a response before leaving. I went through the motions like a machine at the train station. I bought my ticket, waited patiently for the train to the Crystal Empire, and got onboard when it arrived. Unlike previous trips, I didn’t take a seat in the passenger car I got on. Instead, I went through to the caboose, sat down on the rear platform, and waited for departure. Once Canterlot was far enough away, I wrapped myself up in my new blanket and watched everything go away in the distance as the raging storm in my brain continued. Adding to the internal storm was the golden double eagle design, and how weird it was that I somehow linked it to humans. The door opened and the conductor stepped out. “Princess Inova, what are you-” “My ticket’s in the caboose with the rest of my stuff,” I said without turning to face him. “Just let me know when we’re fifteen minutes from the Empire.” “But you’ll freeze out here!” “I’ll be fine.” I had my blanket and my immortality. Mere cold would not keep me from my misery. I got off the train with the blanket roughly folded up on my back. Despite being all wet and feeling chilled to the bone from the melting snow and ice in my fur and wings, I couldn’t have been bothered to shiver. My trek home followed the usual route. The only attention I paid to the ponies around me was as obstacles to avoid. I didn’t have to think too hard about that since most of them got out of my way on their own. As soon as I stepped into my home, mom was on me with a hug from her forelegs and wings. “It’s okay, Inova. No matter what, you’ll always be my daughter.” “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.” I walked out of the hug and went on with my plan. I wasn’t in a mood to talk.