//------------------------------// // The Two Sisters // Story: ...And Then Everypony was an Alicorn. // by Wanderling //------------------------------// Princess Luna, the Ruler of the Night, the Mistress of the Moon, the Star Scatterer, the Dreamwalker and one of the Diarchs of Equestria, was up past her usual bedtime. She was not best pleased. The night had begun like any other, with the lowering of the Sun and the rising of the Moon. Luna had prowled the edge of her balcony to look mysterious for a few minutes, before attending her Night Court. Most of the ponies were there because Celestia had, very politely of course, refused their plans for this and that tax on drinking water, or some crackpot idea to install mane-dryers down every hallway of the castle that day, and they wished to try the younger sibling in hope that Luna would overturn the judgement purely because she was her sister's opposite. Of course, these poor deluded souls were very quickly dissuaded from their follies by the Night Princess, as more often than not she found herself laughing them out. Celestia might be the finest example of royal decorum, but Luna was determined not to remain so aloof from her little ponies. The stream of ponies stopped around an hour before midnight, so Luna closed her court and returned to her room to tackle some paperwork. Celestia did most of it these days, but since Luna had returned she had taken to passing some of the number-work on to be double-checked. At midnight, Luna had felt... something very strange pass over her. A slight tingling and a few moments of intense drowsiness. The only reason she hadn't fallen asleep then and there was because as her head fell forward, her muzzle had hit the desk she was working on. The pain had jolted her back to full consciousness. She had stepped outside to ask her guards if they had felt anything as well, and found them absent. "This is most strange." She had whispered to herself. Her face set into an expression of determination, and then a grimace of pain as her muzzle complained. She had cast a small healing spell and set off through the corridors, which were unusually empty. She had reached her goal - her sister's door, and tapped lightly with a silver-shod hoof. There was no response. She rapped louder and called out. "Sister, are you awake? A very strange occurrence has, well, occured. Celestia? May I come in?" "L-luna? Of course, yes, let me just unlock..." There had been a sound of bolts being scraped along their fastenings, and the door had opened softly. "What happened?" Luna had trotted into Celestia's room. "I was working on those blasted taxes, when I felt some sort of magical distortion - a slight tingling sensation and a powerful sleeping enchantment." Celestia had frowned slightly. "A sleeping enchantment?" "Yes. A powerful one. If I had been a normal pony I would have likely been unconscious for an entire day. As it was, I almost succumbed myself." "Ah. Oh dear." "Why, what is wrong?" Luna had looked Celestia in the eye with an expression of concern. "Luna, do you remember the book we were going to give to Twilight?" "I do, certainly. It was Starswirl the Bearded's special spellbook with all of the unfinished magics," Luna had narrowed her eyes suddenly at her elder sister. "Why, you didn't try to experiment with it again did you?" "I. I think might have." "You think?" "I think I was sleep-casting. I was having a strange dream about the book before you came to wake me up, and, well. I remember casting a sleep spell. A big one." Luna had stared at Celestia with a mixture of incredulity and outrage. "You were sleep-casting. With that book." Celestia had folded her ears back against her head with shame. "Yes. It seems so. We just need to find out what exactly I've done while asleep, and try to rectify it." "Celestia, I believe it is daybreak," Luna sighed, her horn lighting up as she lowered the Moon. "We have only the kitchens left to search now." "Already? My goodness," The sun was drawn up into the sky, casting the land in a bright, warm glow. Celestia yawned. "Well, let's go and finish our search then." The pair made their way down into the kitchens. Celestia began poking through the cupboards large enough for a pony to hide in, while Luna decided to investigate the pantry. She growled at the sunlight streaming in from a window. Celestia's day was beautiful and glorious and all of that, sure, but it didn't half cause the eyes distress. Not to mention that she ought to be asleep by now. Princess Luna grumbled to herself. "Sleep-casting, pah! Like a newborn foal. She better pay me back big-time for making me lose my sleep over this." Luna glanced into the pantry. Empty. Typical. Wait, no, something moved! The Night Princess lunged forwards eagerly, and found a mouse nibbling at a cheese-wheel. It glanced up at her and resumed eating. Luna stared at the mouse. "Ah, you are not a normal rodent, are you?" Luna crept forwards, trying to see it better. It squeaked and tried to bolt. Luna was quicker, however, and she seized the tiny creature with her magic. "Aha! I have caught thee, mouse, and thou shalt not escape until I have examined thee thoroughly! Struggle not, for it shall be in vain," Luna pranced out of the pantry, bearing the startled mouse aloft in her aura. "Sister! Come hither! I-I mean come here! I have found evidence as to the nature of your nightly misdoings! Oh bother, I am relapsing. Blast it." "What have you found, Luna? One of the chefs?" Celestia hurried over from where she had been investigating. "Nay, sister, 'tis a mouse." Luna proudly presented the creature to her sister. "A mouse?" "Yes, a mouse. I found it on a cheese-wheel. Never-mind, look at it. Tell me something is not strange." Celestia looked at the mouse. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. Eventually, she spoke. "It... it has wings. And a horn," she stared at the mouse for several long moments. "What did I do last night?" "If I were to hazard a guess, then you turned the staff into animals. Or maybe this mouse is all of the staff combined into one strange hodge-podge of a creature, bearing in mind its possession of both wings and horn," Luna looked at the mouse, and the mouse looked back. "Or perhaps the animals were the target of your spell, and the mice made the staff disappear so that they could eat in peace." The mouse seemed more at ease about floating in the air, and set about cleaning its whiskers. "I don't know, Luna. We may need to collect more, ah, evidence to back those theories up. All we know is that the spell or spells could be sensed by you, the castle staff have disappeared, and a mouse has been found with alicorn-like characteristics." "Hm. Let us return to your room to regroup and decide our next move." "Good idea." Several hours later, the sisters were debating a matter of great importance. "His name is Enceladus!" "That's a stupid name!" "It's less stupid than 'Sebastianne'!" "Sebastianne is a great name!" "You got to name the last pet! It's my turn now!" "Yes, and Philomena is a great name! So I'm better at choosing names than you!" "I was the one who wanted to keep Enceladus!" "Enceladus is a stupid name!" "You're stupid!" "No, you are!" "Old nag!" "Silly foal!" "Fat-flank!" "I'm not fat!" "Your diet of cake says otherwise." "Yeah well your Cutie-Mark is too big!" "Yeah, well your Cutie-Mark is stupid!" "Sebastianne!" "Enceladus!" "Sebastianne!" "Enceladus!" Enceladus/Sebastianne sat in his new cage next to his food bowl. He had found a peanut, one of his favourites. He nibbled it contentedly. Just a few hours ago he'd been living in the wild, sneaking about, trying to steal food. Then, the Night-coloured pony and the Day-coloured pony had found him. They were scary at first, but then they gave him food. With peanuts. So he was a very happy mouse at that moment. Enceladus/Sebastianne's eyes were suddenly drawn to a flash of light above the Day-coloured pony, and he could just make out something hovering in what looked like green fire for a few moments. Then, the whatever it was fell, and landed on the Day-coloured pony's head. Enceladus/Sebastianne lost interest, as it wasn't flashing and shiny any more, and went back to his delicious peanut. He would have a nap soon. "Hah! Serves you right! The cosmos is telling us, sister. His name shall be En-" "Luna! This is from Twilight!" "Oh! Really? Do you think whatever you did affected Ponyville?" Celestia quickly read the letter. "Ah. That. That is interesting." "What does it say?" The Day Princess levitated the scroll to her sister. Luna read it and gulped, staring up at her sister with wide eyes. "Well, Luna. I think we now know what I did during my dream last night. It might take a while to complete an adequate response for my Faithful Student." Luna gave a nervous laugh. "Indeed. I believe your past mishaps with that book pale into comparison." "I'm sorry Luna." Celestia rubbed her temple. "Oh, no matter. What's done is done I suppose. Although," Luna's eyes narrowed mischievously. "There is something you could do to make this whole situation happier for me?" "What would that be?" When the mouse woke from his nap, he returned to his food-bowl, his new favourite place. It looked a little bit different, though. He sniffed the edges curiously. There was a funny, looping decoration on it now. His gave the closest approximation to a shrug that a mouse can, which is to say he ignored the change completely and stuffed his face with food. If he had been a creature of greater intelligence, he would have recognised the loopy pattern as a finely engraved word. It said: Enceladus.