Fingers combed through her hair, leaving her scalp tingling. A pillow supported her neck and head. Hands softly tugged as they plaited her hair loosely then eased the strands apart, letting her hair cascade. She hadn’t realized just how much it had grown. Fingers poked into her hair and massaged her head, relaxing her.
“Come in,” came his voice from above Celeste’s forehead. Her door clanged and swung on grumbling hinges. ”I had asked you not to disturb me, Alice.”
“She’s demanding to see you.”
“She’ll see me later—“
“She’s also demanding to see her,” she said before a slight pause. “She looks terrible.”
“I blame Sombra for that,” Dr. Cruebel said, gathering her hair and running his fingers through it.
“What are you doing?”
“I discovered a while ago that this calms her down. I have no idea what her mind is doing at this moment. Whatever it’s doing or figuring out needs to be done with as little tension as possible.”
“Can she hear us?”
“I have no way of knowing.” He lifted a strand of her hair and she felt it slide from his fingers. He was right. The tingling sensation caused by him playing with her hair was almost as effective as an anesthetic. If her eyes were open she could easily close them and fall asleep right now.
“She said she’s terrified, thinking about her.”
A sigh caressed her forehead.
“Fine. You may bring her in. Just be sure to warn her.”
Warn her?
His fingers burrowed into her hair and rubbed her scalp in small circular motions with the tips of his fingers. The door opened again.
“What are you doing to her?” Twilight demanded, horrified.
“I’m just helping her.” The fingers moved from her scalp, braiding her hair loosely and letting it drop again. Footsteps hurried to Celeste’s side.
“Why is she...”
“I think you might have been a bit of a shock to her. We weren’t hiding her from you, we were protecting her,” he growled. A warm hand slid into hers and Twilight gasped.
“She’s so cold.”
“Thank you for stating the obvious, Twilight Sparkle. I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your marvelous powers of observation among those books of yours.” Despite the agitation in his voice, his movements through her hair never changed their pace.
“Is she going to get better?”
“How should I know?”
“Doesn’t this even bother you?”
He stopped playing with her hair.
“Don’t lecture me.”
“She needs to be home.”
“That all depends on who ‘she’ even is.” The tingling in her scalp resumed as he once again ran his hands through her wavy locks.
“She’s Princess Celestia—“
“That’s the simple answer.”
“It’s the right answer—”
“Wrong.”
“You’re trying to confuse me!”
“Don’t shout. You might wake her up. Speak softly around her. To say she is confused would be a gross understatement.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“From what I can guess her mind retreated in on itself when she saw you. She was fully prepared to push towards her new life when you came in and tried to rescue her. Of course it’s not all your fault but still you certainly didn’t help.”
“You’re the one who made her crazy!” Her voice dropped. “She didn’t even recognize me...”
“I’m not the one to blame for that.”
“Then who is?”
“That is a path you shouldn’t even attempt to trot down. There is a lot you don’t know about your precious Princess Celestia.”
“I still trust her, if that’s what you’re trying to do.”
“I never said I wasn’t trying to break your trust in her. All I ask is that you don’t try to get involved.”
“I am not giving up on Princess Celestia, Discord.”
Celeste felt Dr. Cruebel’s sigh brush her forehead.
“You just don’t understand, do you?”
“Understand that you’ve put some spell on her to make her believe—“
“What’s happened to her isn’t magic. Magic can be undone too easily.”
“But... what’s happened to her?”
“Right now there is no concept of ‘her’. She’s here but there is no answer to the question of who she really is.”
“But she’s Celestia...”
“I don’t think she is anymore.”
“That’s impossible. She can’t change who she is.”
“Except she can, all too easily.”
“But... then who is she?”
“Haven’t you been listening?” he growled suddenly. His hands let her hair drop. “She isn’t either thing right now. She is simultaneously Princess Celestia and Celeste Marlowe. If she chooses to be Celestia, her human side will constantly battle to change that. If she chooses to be human, her alicorn self will always struggle against that. No matter how many times she ‘decides’ who she is, she will never truly know again. Do you understand, Twilight Sparkle?”
The silence rang. Twilight’s hand was limp in Celeste’s. Dr. Cruebel tried to resume playing with her hair but his hands kept dropping. The door to her room opened.
“Is she done?”
No one said anything. Twilight’s hand withdrew and her footsteps retreated. For a while silence continued as he continued to massage her head. It was easier just to sleep here, not think of anything; say that Twilight was just a dream.
Could she change her destiny? Could she have a brand new life as a human with no repercussions? But, could she really say no to Canterlot? To Equestria? Then again, could choosing to be Celeste Marlowe destroy— What if she really had dreamed it? What if Equestria wasn’t real?
Dr. Cruebel stopped massaging the area behind her ears. His right hand shifted and his thumb traced a teary path slowly advancing down her temple.
Coming out of darkness, Celeste opened her eyes to see Sombra standing over her, a smug half-grin under his wide eyes.
“So who are you now?”
She sat up, groaning from soreness that had set in overnight.
“Just leave me alone.”
“Come on Celestia.”
“I said leave me alone.”
“I’ll get you home.”
“Just go away!” He stepped back, stunned. “You! This is all your fault! Don’t you understand? I’m not going with you. I’m staying here.”
“Wouldn’t you rather be my queen?” She pushed him away. “Didn’t you curse me for that very reason? You wanted to be—“
“I’m not Princess Celestia!”
“You really are insane...”
“I won’t listen to you!”
“Are you going to throw a temper tantrum?”
“No, temper tantrums are your thing, Sombra.”
Celeste caught herself against the floor then raised her hand to press on her cheek. Sombra had struck her with the back of his hand. Her ears rang.
“You’re coming with me,” he growled.
“No.” The breath was driven from her by his vehement kick to her ribs.
“You forget that even if we were in Equestria, a king would outrank a princess.”
“I’m not going back without a fight...”
His laugh hurt her ears as it barked wildly.
“A fight? You know of fighting only as shooting magic at an opponent, as casting spells. You’re not a fighter. I however am fit and ready to use not just magic but force to return you and I back to Equestria. When I’m asking you to come back with me... I’m being polite.”
Celeste pushed herself off the cold floor. Her abdomen stung where his foot made contact. How could someone not wearing shoes kick so hard? A smell sprang up behind her eyes as his next kick struck her head. She needed to lie down and close her eyes.
“One last chance... are you going to agree to come with me or do I need to force you? This is no way to begin your monarchy by my side...”
“I can’t...” she tried to say. Her mind heaved. In panic, her lips screamed for Dr. Cruebel. He would kick her again. He might even kill her. Did he even need her alive to return to Equestria? Did she need to be conscious?
She was lifted up by her shirt, forced to look into terrible eyes glowing green with tendrils of black and purple snaking out to mingle with his wavy hair.
“Wrong answer, Princess Celestia,” he cooed. She waited for him to strike, smelling iron as her nose bled.
The door to Celeste’s room flew into the opposite wall, covering the window as it became embedded in the brick. Thin, clawlike hands pulled her back as Dr. Cruebel flew at Sombra. His hands landed on Sombra’s shoulders, pushing him back as he fell on top of him.
“Where is Screwball?”
“Oh, now you—“ Dr. Cruebel’s fist cut him off.
“I’m going to ask you again: where is my daughter?” He was almost screaming. His hair stood on end. Nurse Alice pulled on Celeste to take her from the room but she was dead weight. She barely had enough consciousness to keep her eyes open without throwing up.
“She’s somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
“She chose to come with me.”
“I asked you where!” he hollered in his face. Sombra laughed heartily. Dr. Cruebel sat back to lift Sombra’s upper body off the floor before slamming him back into the concrete.
“Perhaps if you had paid attention to her—”
“Tell me where she is! If you’ve touched her I swear—”
Sombra, perhaps a little disoriented, snapped his fingers and smoke trailed from underneath him to slowly form the figure of a girl. Sarah solidified, looking at her father and Sombra in horror.
“What are you doing?” she shouted at her father.
“Sarah... what is this?”
“Get off of him!” She shoved her father. He fell back, stunned as Sarah helped Sombra stand.
“What is this?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sombra snapped, putting his arm around the girl who stared at the floor.
“No... Sarah, we talked about this.”
“You talked about it...” Sarah mumbled, her face turned toward Sombra’s chest.
“Screwball... why are you doing this?”
Sarah grabbed Sombra’s hand and pulled his arm closer around her.
“Chrysalis! What have you done?” Dr. Cruebel demanded, turning to glare at Nurse Alice. Celeste fell to the floor.
“So it’s my fault?”
“I should have known this would happen.”
“I was starving! I thought she had plenty to spare—“
“I told you she was off-limits...”
Celeste pushed herself from the floor. She was still nauseated, but not to the point of collapse. Dr. Cruebel rose, crossing to Sarah. Celeste knelt shakily then looked behind her to see Nurse Alice was gone.
“I’m not your child...”
“You’re fifteen years old, Screwball! Besides that you are my daughter and you are under my authority and we already talked about this.”
Sombra’s open hand thudded against Dr. Cruebel’s chest as he pushed him back slightly.
“She’s a woman who can make her own choices—“
Dr. Cruebel shoved his daughter out of Sombra’s grasp, lifted him up by the collar of his patient’s clothes, and slammed him into the concrete wall. A growl rose in his throat.
“You stay away from my daughter. She’s not yours.” Sombra’s laugh stopped when his head slammed into the wall again. “Do I make myself clear?”
“I’m not a child!” Sarah shouted. A faint, green light glowed from her eyes.
Celeste’s arms collapsed beneath her. Her head hurt. What was going on? When was she going to wake up?
“It’s either Sarah or Celestia, take your pick—“
Dr. Cruebel’s hands went around his throat.
“Stop it...” Celeste whimpered. “Dr. Cruebel, stop it!”
Sarah rushed to Celeste’s bed and searched through the sheets until she grasped the baseball in her hand. Celeste pushed herself up again and lunged at Sarah, grabbing her legs and pulling her to the ground before she could hurt her father. Something was terrifying about her eyes. The green glow dissipated as she looked at Celeste but she still kicked her hand off, bruising Celeste’s fingers.
The room went dark. Dr. Cruebel gasped in pain.
“Dad?” Sarah called, unsure, somewhere to Celeste’s right. Moments later she called for Sombra as well but from a completely different part of the room. Sombra stepped out of the dark in front of Celeste and she swung at him. He knocked her arm away dismissively and the ball fell into dark smoke. His eyes weren’t focusing. He looked genuinely confused; perhaps stunned.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight screamed.
This will all be a bad dream. Tomorrow I’ll wake up in my bed and on the way to recovering.
He staggered towards her, his face still returning to its normal color.
“Dr. Cruebel!” Celeste cried.
He’ll save me. I have to trust Dr. Cruebel. He’ll come and wake me up.
“Princess Celestia!” called Twilight from the opposite side of the room that she had called from before. Celeste kept her eyes on him, stepping backwards and falling onto her bed.
A white sleeve wrapped around his neck from behind, pulling him back into the dark fog. Something stumbled into Celeste’s bed and Twilight fell onto her lap. After two blinks Twilight threw her arms around Celeste’s waist.
Celeste felt something pop in her mind and her eyes only saw white.