A cloud moved through the royal palace. Even though it hardly met the definition of “cloud”. Looking at it was like looking through the world at skies behind it. It was dark bluish and filled with stars. It was Nightmare Moons favoured form of travel.
Luna felt terrible for taking this old spell out for a ride. She imagined that this was how it felt to wear the horseshoes somepony died in. It was much too comfy and filled with bad memories.
But it was necessary.
The gaseous princess floated through the halls, just outside the view of her guards and squeezed through the doorframe of her sisters private rooms. Luna had a very specific goal. Another door later, she was floating inside Celestia’s personal bathroom. Swiftly, the princess carried out the first part of this phase. While an observer would only see the cloud tug on the shampoo bottle for a second, Luna had actually added a very special ingredient.
Just a faint note of belladonna.
Not enough to poison her sister, of course. Celestia would have to drink three bottles of the shampoo before she would feel the belladonna. She would probably feel the soap, though.
But enough to paralyze a few of her eye-muscles for just a few minutes.
Then the princess waited.
Princess Celestia entered her bath just a few minutes later. She had a tiring day ahead of her. The sun had just been raised and there were several important duties were waiting. Just a quick shower and she could take on her duties.
Luna saw her sister enter. She saw her get a towel and enter the shower. A sting of spite ran through her. -You love to take long baths, Tia! You should enjoy them whenever you feel like it. Not rush into the shower.-
Finally, the sun princess did her best to enjoy the short wash, humming a soft tune. Finally, as usual, she grabbed the bottle of shampoo and administered a generous dose of it. Using her hoofs, she rubbed it into her flowing mane. The solar wind was a bit distracting, but Celestia had gotten good with it over the years. Poor Luna had to deal with quasars or novas.
Luna moved to strike. Quietly, she removed the towels and put them back in their original place. It was a good distraction. The moon princess had no interest in watching her sister shower.
But it was necessary.
Celestia finished and turned to get the towels. She blinked a few times. The world had become blurry. Not too blurry, but she couldn’t look too far. The princess wondered and shrugged. Maybe she was just tired.
As she turned to the stand next to the shower, her eyebrows rose.
Were those signs of her getting old?
Anyhow, the towels were on the other side of the room. Not a problem for an alicorn. Celestia focused... and stopped. She had bad vision. If she used the spell now, she could end up ripping the wall out. Being among the most powerful beings know to ponydom could get messy.
“Well... this is how earth ponies do it, so why not?” the princess whispered and left the shower dripping wet.
Luna watched and took a deep breath. This was the hardest part. All pieces were in place and the die had just left her hoof.
She moved and possessed the statue next to the drawer. As Celestia approached, she measured the height of her face, her speed and the angle.
Everything was in place.
Luna twisted the statue just a little.
“OWWW!”
Luna’s heart broke.
But it was necessary.
---
Just to inform everyone: I will continue this story in a bit of an unusual way:
Every odd chapter will be a phase.
Every even chapter will be the planning and preparation of that phase.
This will still be the story I only go to when I need to write some romance or Luna scheming. My main energy is in Draconic Troubles.
But that's enough of me rambling. Enjoy and Comment!