//------------------------------// // Caught in a landslide. // Story: Dear...Princess Celestia? // by Distorted Flare //------------------------------// Chapter three “Introducing Princess Twilight Sparkle.” "Not good," I nervously mumbled. Looking around, I searched for an exit, not wishing to risk a confrontation. “Wait, Princess Twilight Sparkle?” I squinted, scrunching up my nose as I tried to process the fact that my other half was royalty. The gentle clip of horseshoes against tiles seemed to drown out all other noises. Licking my lips, I noticed just how dry my mouth was. My body was shaking. A bead of sweat ran down my forehead as Celestia gave me a small smile. “Princess, I am glad I caught you. I have been...” Twilight Sparkle’s words died in her mouth, her eyes wide as she gawked at me. Pausing, the mare observed me silently. She was like a clone of me, same coat colour and all. Adorned on her flank was the familiar six pointed star. On her back was a stunning pair of wings matching the colour of her coat as I found myself in awe of her. Was this my future? Would I follow the mare’s path, or would it be different? “Who’s this?” The simple question made me shiver as I looked to the princesses helplessly, hoping they would step in to explain what was happening. With naught but an encouraging nod, I took a hesitant step forward. “M-my name is Dusk Shine, Former student of Prince Solaris, and I am, well... you!” I finished lamely. My counterpart physically recoiled at my statement, a look of disbelief crossing her face, followed by shock, and then fear. Taking a step back, she looked to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for confirmation, the two giving stiff nods in response. The two princesses watched the exchange silently, neither wishing to interfere. Trapped in an awkward silence, I cleared my throat awkwardly and rubbed the back of my neck gingerly, the mare mirroring my action. Looking at me hesitantly, Twilight Sparkle approached with her head low. Her wings flared up in a defensive display, causing me to nervously bite my lip. Her eyes hesitantly looked from me to Prince Sol- Princess Celestia, unsure of how to process what she was saying. I completely understood her reaction, as I was simultaneously feeling the same fear and uncertainty. “This can’t be real... This... this is impossible. This has to be some sort of joke... Right, princess?” Twilight questioned, her eyes looking to her mentor for guidance. Celestia gave a small shake. My clone persisted. “No, this can’t be. This is not possible... You... You are not possible!” she hissed. The fur on the back of her neck stood on end while she advanced aggressively. Despite the fact that I was nearly a head taller than her, I still found myself retreating. The small mare reminded me eerily of my sister Gleaming Shield. Their glares sent shivers up my spine. With her eyes only inches away, she inspected me critically, but I stood stock still. She started circling me while eyeing me from top to bottom. I honestly felt like I was on display; Princess Luna chuckled whilst Princess Celestia tried to stifle her own amusement by holding a hoof over her mouth. “What is Star Swirl’s Fifth Law of Magic?” the mare questioned. “‘The strength of one’s spell cannot surpass the strength of their magical core’, though this was later corrected in modification ‘892 NTN Banishment,’ as certain magical artifacts and amplifiers can increase the power of a spell, but not the pony’s magical core. Modern technology also allows ponies to amplify magical blasts to be far greater in power than their own magical core could create naturally,” I replied casually. That wasn’t even a tough one, but her eyes still narrowed. “What abou-” “Twilight, this stallion speaks the truth,” Princess Celestia spoke up, cutting my other self off. Huffing, she turned her back to me with her tail twitching back and forth in agitation. My eyes wandered downwards for a second too long, and my face immediately blushed. Going beet red, I coughed. ---------------- “Interesting. It seems our worlds have more in common than I previously thought,” Twilight stated, gently sipping on her tea. I had just finished my explanation and sat back on my haunches with a final breath. Luna continued to watch me intently, silently frowning. The mare was still suspicious about me, but she at least seemed to believe my story. “So... will I still be able to live in my- I mean her... treehouse?” I questioned, motioning my forehoof around the library. “I still don’t believe he’s telling the truth.” Twilight scrutinized me, squinting in suspicion. “Who’s to say you didn’t use a memory replication spell? For all we know, he could still be a changeling!” “You already used a detection spell! What more do you want?” I chided, shocked that my counterpart would make such a blatant accusation. Her wings flared up in annoyance, and she stomped forward right before Celestia raised a hoof in front of her. “Twilight, please calm yourself,” Celestia instructed, causing her student to freeze. She lowered her ears and glanced at her mentor apologetically. “Your worries are not unfounded, my little pupil, but both Luna and I have assessed his story thoroughly. We have no reason to believe he is lying.” “Are you sure?” Twilight questioned, eyeing me dubiously. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle, I am sure,” Celestia responded with a warm smile. “Well... if you say so...” Twilight said slowly, her face laden with suspicion. “I believe that until we can determine how he arrived here, he will remain trapped in this dimension. Princess Twilight Sparkle, I ask that you put your suspicions aside and help our guest in his time of need,” Princess Celestia finished. Her sister nodded in agreement as she huffed but stayed silent. “Dusk Shine, I understand that you are confused, but I ask that you co-operate with us for the moment. All I ask is that you listen to Twilight and, until we contact you, try and integrate with our little ponies,” Celestia said, giving me a warm smile. “I will try my best, Princess.” I smiled. The look on her face made it clear that she did not trust me, but I knew that if I were in her shoes, I would be equally suspicious, especially after the recent Changeling invasion. “OH ho ho ho , so you are Dusk Shine,” a male voice sounded from behind. I turned around to see a towering draconequus stand before me, causing me to yelp and tumble backwards. “Eris!... Wait... you’re not Eris,” I mumbled. The mismatched creature dwarfed even Prince Solaris. “Discord, what do you want?” Twilight inquired impatiently. I glared at the chaos maker and lit my horn, preparing to defend myself if necessary. “Oh, please! Princess, what makes you think I want anything?” Discord questioned, lazily floating in the air. With a snort, he glanced over at me with his multi-colored eyes. Twilight slammed her hoof down onto the tiles, cracking it. I didn’t like this Discord character one bit, so I stood rigid beside Twilight. He chuckled at the two of us. “If you even think about causing any trouble, I will tell Fluttershy!” The mare threatened the draconequus, pausing in response to glare. “Me, cause trouble? Twilight, I am shocked by the viciousness of your hurtful words. I’m reformed, after all.” He grinned, his eyes glowing as he gave me a predatory grin. “Besides, it seems that my other self has already caused more than enough trouble.” He grinned wider, my eyes going wide as I stepped forward. “You mean Eris is behind all this? How?” I asked perplexed. “How indeed!” Discord smirked. “Discord, if you know a way to send him home, tell us now!” Twilight hissed. Discord was unaffected by Twilight Sparkle’s shouting. "Why should I?" he childishly replied. Twilight's eyes twitched as I decided to step in. “Discord, if you are truly reformed as my other self here says you are, then surely you would lend a hand to help a pony in need, no?” I questioned, hoping that I could appease him as he paused. “If only it were that simple. All I will say is that I cannot help you. Only the one who sent you here can, and I doubt she is in a helping mood. It seems you are stuck here, Dusk Shine.” He chuckled, snapping his fingers as the purple alicorn lunged at him. The mare froze in mid air, huffing as she struggled to break his spell. “So rude! If you had let me finish, I would have said that there is a way to get you home. You see, I can travel across and ‘persuade Eris to bring you home’. The problem is that Celestia would have to unseal my full power. The only problem with that is they do not trust me. You will have to somehow convince them that in order to help our guest here, I must be fully unsealed,” Discord finished, floating above us. Paintbrush in hand, he was, to my shock, vandalising a portrait of Princess Celestia. The beautifully painted picture was now replaced by a crude stick pony with a large flank. On the stick pony’s side, the words “Princes of Cake” had been childishly scribbled where her cutie mark should have been. “You may be reformed, but what makes you think for a second that they would agree to this, Discord? You may match Princess Celestia in power as you are, but do you really think they would risk you going rogue at full power?” Twilight barked, the mare’s body slumped as Discord still held her in mid air. “That is your problem, not mine. If you do this for me, I will see to it that little Eris returns Dusky here to his own world.” He cackled, snapping his fingers as he vanished. Twilight yelped as the spell that was supporting her suddenly ceased, causing her to land on top of me. “Ow.” ------------------------ Celestia POV “I do not like this. If this Eris can send ponies to our world, then can Discord do the same? Could he remove one of the Elements and leave us defenseless?” I questioned. “Luna!” I barked, my sister miles away as she sat upright, blushing as I snorted. “Thinking about our new guest, I assume?” I chuckled. “T-Tia!” Luna squeaked, her cheeks flushed a bright crimson. I laughed at my sister’s discomfort, gently nuzzling her. I had missed this over her thousand-year banishment: the little sister that I could so easily wind up with my teasing, the shy and awkward mare that hated being the center of attention. “I missed this,” I chuckled, resting my chin on top of my sister’s head as she giggled, “but back to the matter at hand. I fear that we may have to have a chat with that mischievous draconequus at some point. There's goodness in his heart, and he is generally fond of Fluttershy, but can he be trusted?” I questioned, watching as the sun slowly started to set, courtesy of my magic. “My fear is that if we return to him his full power, that he will be corrupted by it. With the elements recharging the Tree of Harmony, we cannot afford to use them, for fear that the plunder seeds return and kill it. Despite his promise that they have all been destroyed, I am finding it difficult to believe him,” Luna replied breaking the embrace. “Sister, if what Dusk Shine and Twilight have told us is true, then the only way we can return him to his home is through Discord. But should we risk our very world for the happiness of a single pony?” Luna asked, her eyes void of any emotion. “Luna, that is not the attitude to look on this with. If it were Twilight, I would like to think that our counterparts would do the same for her and try and get her safely home. That is, unless you do not wish for him to return.” I smirked, nudging her with my wing as she growled. “Cease thy crazy talk, sister! He has been here for less than a day; hardly a sufficient amount of time for one to develop a crush,” she huffed, turning to deal with the moon as I stuck my tongue out at her. It was like we were fillies again, able to laugh and play with one another. “Well, if you are not interested, then maybe I will sample the goods,” I giggled, watching with amusement as the smaller alicorn tensed, shuddering in disgust at the implication at my words. "Sister, that is known as cradle robbing and was around even before my banishment. He is at most no older than 19! You and I have had falling outs longer than that,” Luna hissed. “Oh, like that has ever stopped you in the past! If I remember correctly, did you not give a certain young guard a coming of age gift? What was his name... Brave Heart?” I finished, watching with satisfaction as my sister’s cheeks got darker and darker. “He was a sweetie; you leave him be! I liked him because of his kindness and his raw talent in magic. In fact, had he returned from the war and I had not been banished, I would have taken him on as my student,” Luna growled, gaining a chuckle from me. “Really, and which part of that merited you rutting him?” I whispered, ducking as Luna fired a weak stunning spell at me. “He was being sent to fight the gryphons, at seventeen no less! I merely wanted to make sure that he had sampled a mare before he left. I knew he would die, so I thought I would give him something special. For... moral support,” she huffed. “He came back from the war; you know that. He was devastated to learn of your banishment. In fact, I believe the silly colt had seen your small gift as a sign of affection and had planned to wed you,” I finished, Luna’s face dropping as I gave her a warm smile. “He eventually accepted that and went on to serve the guards for many years before settling down.” I paused. “Why are you telling me this?” Luna spat, trying to hold the hurt she felt for her betrayal as I sighed. The mare had, at the time, had feelings for him, and I knew it hurt her to be reminded about it. “Because, Luna, I thought you would be interested to know that you personally know two of his descendants.” I smiled, her ears perking up curiously. “Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, sister. They are the descendants of Brave Heart. If I am correct, then Dusk Shine will have the same heritage, so in a way you could gain the right to brag that you rutted not only a very powerful unicorn, but also rutted his parallel self’s decedent,” I finished, snorting at the anger on my sister’s face as she huffed once again. “I honestly would have thought that these thousand years would have seen you mature, Tia. Sadly, it seems you are every bit the child now as you were back then,” she replied sticking her tongue out as I gave her a small grin. “Oh, I don’t know about that. The Tia I knew back then did not have quite the generous sized flank she has now. I suppose a thousand years of cake binging and comfort foods to deal with the fact that she exiled her sister to the moon would do that to a pony,” a snarky voice spoke out. The two of us tensed up as a mismatched pair of eyes glowed menacingly from the darkness of the rafters. Despite our age and power, Discord still unnerved my sister and me. Luna growled at the draconequus as he lazily floated down in front of us. His toothy grin was never pleasant as I repressed a shudder. The fun mood now dead, I was forced to wear a mask of indifference and uncaring as he circled the two of us. “Why are you here, Discord?” I demanded, my ears lying flat against my head as I angrily pawed the ground. Luna looked ready to lash out as he idly checked his claws, not in the least bit threatened by us. “I was merely checking in on my friends. That is what friends do, don’t they? And after all, we are friends, aren't we?” He chuckled darkly, making me shiver as I bit my lip in concern. “I mean, how ever would I be able to remain a beacon for good, if my friends... were not my friends? Why, I daresay I might even revert to my old ways with how broken my heart would be,” he finished, his lip quivering childishly as I groaned. “Of course we are friends, Discord, but I ask again, why are you really here?” I asked, already knowing his answer as he grinned like a cheshire manticore. “I came to see if you have considered the offer I gave to Twilight and her double. I mean, after all, I would hate to see little Dusk Shine trapped here forever, never to see his friends or precious mentor again.” He grinned, hissing out the word “mentor” as Luna shuddered. “We need a little more time to decide, Discord. All I ask is that in the meantime, you be patient.” I smiled weakly, his amused smile dropping as I tensed. “Very well, Tia, but waiting is not my strong suit,” he hissed, his tone laced with frustration as I nodded weakly. With a sharp click of his fingers, he vanished. Letting out a sigh of relief, I collapsed onto my rump, gingerly rubbing my head as I felt a headache coming on. “I only hope that in the end, you do the right thing, Discord...” I whispered.